Nice post. As a contrast, there *are* guilds that span several games at once (or over time). Our guild has been around for over a decade (started in 1995 with Darksun Online), and we currently have chapters in WoW, City of Villains/Heroes, Pirates of the Burning Sea, etc. I'm constantly running into people in game and in vent who've been around for almost the life of the guild. This arrangement is great for players, who can start a new game and have a ready-made group of people to answer newb questions. It's also great for the guild because some players end up sticking around for the long haul, despite the common flakiness of online gaming relationships.

That said, we still have to manage each chapter as its own independent entity. Problems of recruiting, retention, etc. are not magically solved because we've been around for awhile. But we're raiding SSC/The Eye at the moment, people are having fun, and I'll probably sign up for another game with guild presence when WoW has run its course.

FYI, the guild is Lords of the Dead (lotd.org).

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