Running PUGs for the guild
by Amanda Rivera 
Nov 4th 2007 at 3:01PM
The PUG has been a subject of several discussions lately, on WoW Insider and elsewhere. Today WoWGrrl wrote about how PUGs might be used to help out your guild. I can hear you, gentle reader, exclaim from the other side of the blog, but I am in a guild so that I don't have to run PUGs, so that I will always have people to group with. Yes, I know, but hear me out. WoWGrrl explains that PUGs are an excellent way to add new guild members to your roster, since for the most part they consist of people who have never grouped before running an instance together. I know from personal experience that much of my guild recruitment in the early days was based in PUGs: a few of us would run an instance, find a player with a great sense of humor who knew their class well, and we would invite them to join us. If we were charming enough as a group, proved we could work together, then every great once in a while that person deigned to join our guild.
Once you're in the guild, however, the tendency is to try to get guild-only runs. After all, you joined the guild for support, right? Only a guild is made up of people of varying levels and interests, and while sometimes guild runs will fall magically into place, more times than not you're left feeling like guild chat is your own worst version of the LFG. This is where the PUG comes in. Where the guild might only be on at certain times, looking to work on specific tasks, a PUG is more consistently available. I say this because mathematically, there are more people who are out of your guild than people in your guild.
Reading WoWGrrl's discussion has reminded me that PUGs can be useful tools even when you are in a guild. Heck, they even strengthen the guild itself when done consistently. I think I'll log in and start a recruiting PUG of my own.
Filed under: Guilds
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Milktub Nov 4th 2007 3:31PM
I support this post.
I've joined a guild as the result of being a fifth in a PuG, and have recruited new members to a guild because of a great PuGGer. I figure, if you can show that you rock in that dark corner of the world known as the PuG, then you'll probably really be an asset when you're in a guild run and a promotion or raid placement depends on really doing your job well.
kidsmoke Nov 4th 2007 3:54PM
It's not just good for recruiting, but for establishing a positive reputation on your server.
We run a small guild who can't yet break the barrier into 25 mans, not due to number or skill, but through the fact that our guild is segregated by time. We are from inception a late night guild due to our RL jobs, etc.
But through our contacts and "good name" we've been able to partner up with another top horde guild on the server to progress at least 10-15 of us through 25 man content.
Matthew Rossi Nov 4th 2007 7:32PM
I'd DPS in a PuG, and I'll bring my resto shaman and heal PuG's. But I won't tank a PuG. People expect miracles from their tanks and are rude and condescending to them. I simply won't do it. I'll only tank for my guild.
Ray V Nov 5th 2007 12:57AM
I've used this technique to great success. A paladin healer buddy and I (a healer) would often fill a slot or 2 in a guild run with a random person. If they worked out well, we invited them to join our guild alliance channel. We ended up having about 10 nice and skilled players that would help us out at a moment's notice, most of which ended up joining our guild or at least considering it. I also got into my first Karazhan runs through people in that channel, and ended up in the guild I'm in today as a result. So, thumbs up to filling guild runs with PUGgers.
superfrank Nov 5th 2007 5:30AM
At level 70, virtually everybody in a pug run is already in a guild.