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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBlizzCon 2009: Guild Leveling and Talents
by Matthew Rossi 
Aug 22nd 2009 at 7:30PM
However, even as things change for guilds, one thing remains the same: you will not be getting a guild hall. You're going to have to keep hanging around on the streets with us Hoi Polloi, I'm afraid. Still, what we are getting is extremely thought provoking on its own.
Frankly, the idea of leveling up your guild is not one I would have ever had on my own, so kudos to the folks at Blizzard for completely blindsiding me. At present we're hearing that there will be 20 levels of guild experience, and that levels will be earned though things people in guilds do anyway like killing bosses, playing in the new rated BGs and arena matches, and through progression in professions and reputations in game.
As guilds level, they'll gain access to guild talent specs, with talents that can directly make life easier for the guild's membership.Talents that will allow for mass resurrection and reduced repairs have been mentioned, although we're also hearing that "We're not going to be character talents in the guild talents. We don't want to put talents players have to have in the guild talents, ie: they have to have this talent in order to kill this boss." That seems like a very smart move to me, making guild talents provide convenience and perks rather than necessary boss killing abilities. Other possibilities not yet confirmed but mentioned in the Systems Panel were allowing for mass Guild server transfers (rather than the situation as it is now, with individual members having to transfer and then recreate the guild on the new server) and allowing guilds to purchase bank tabs via the leveling system. Guild Achievements will also be a part of the new system.
Other parts of the new guild system are guild vendors (selling reagents for guild currency earned during the leveling process) and guild heirloom gear, also purchased with guild currency and allowing you to level faster. These items will be bound to guilds and thus leaving the guild loses you the item. There will also be a Looking for Guild system similar to the current LFG system for grouping, and there will be a variety of new Guild UI options, including being able to look at other guild member's profession books and a percentage of all gold looted being sent as a bonus to the guild's bank. You'll even be able as a guild to invite other guilds to events like raids.
This is all rather astonishing stuff that should help make guilds a more involved element of gameplay. I'm extremely interested to see how this all plays out.
BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest!
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Guilds, Odds and ends, News items, Expansions, Battlegrounds, Achievements, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Chamual Aug 22nd 2009 8:54PM
I image there will be two paths, one linked to raiding and one to PvP. I can't see there being a profession path (or even a levelling path) as Blizz don't currently use these to progress a character past level 80 much.
Rocky Aug 22nd 2009 7:44PM
"Frankly, the idea of leveling up your guild is not one I would have ever had on my own, so kudos to the folks at Blizzard for completely blindsiding me."
This is something I'm seeing more and more from the Joystiq/WoW.com/Massively writers. It seems people are so into their niche (WoW.com -> Wow, Massively.com -> MMOs) that they don't know what's going on in the rest of the gaming world. Guild leveling has been around for years in other games, why is it something you'd never think of?
gundamxzero Aug 22nd 2009 8:00PM
im not sure why everyone is downrating this comment I was thinking the exact same thing when I read the statement as well. Warhammer online has a guild leveling up system. I admit that this sound cool the way they are implementing it but to say its something you have never heard of is strange. I guess if wow was the only mmo you have ever played it would be.
Rocky Aug 22nd 2009 8:02PM
EQ2 had leveling before WoW even launched, as well.
Kylenne Aug 22nd 2009 8:53PM
...and before any MMO ever thought of it, MUDs were doing it ten+ years ago.
WoW.com/Massively/etc are not the only ones with gaping blindspots when it comes to this stuff.
Rocky Aug 22nd 2009 10:30PM
Yeah... wasn't trying to make an exhaustive list of all the games that have done it. Merely pointing out that being surprised by it at this point is rather odd.
Lios Aug 23rd 2009 6:48AM
I was thinking the same :) The guild leveling is seen in many other games, like Warhammer Online, but many more. The mastery talents and the new (glyph) path are all very Warhammery too ;) I love it though. Makes me wonder if I should start a guild again. I would hate being in one that chooses stupid talents, spends my 'bonus' money for personal gain of the GM, gets vanity banners when I would like the vanity pet, etc.
tulipblossom Aug 22nd 2009 7:43PM
I think this sounds so incredible! I can't wait for Cataclysm.
noelkytty Aug 22nd 2009 7:47PM
When I first saw something about "guild leveling" I thought maybe they were going to make another stackable +% to experience gains when grouped with people in your guild. They could even make it +1-2% for every person in your party/raid group, up to 10%.
They could add this, and maybe other small perks to leveling with guild-mates. This could be handy for people, especially ones who do not have high-level alts due to time constraints.
Nieker Aug 22nd 2009 7:50PM
That is a choice you can make as a guild, leveling guilds for example are gonna pick that, for pvp guids with the new rated bg's are gonna pick pvp orientated talents.
Coik Aug 22nd 2009 7:54PM
One thing I'm not that crazy about with the guild leveling system is needing to have 75% of characters in the raid from your guild to get boss XP. I understand it's probably being done to prevent XP scumming ("Arthas kill for guild XP, 20k"), but it makes things a bit more difficult for people such as myself. I'm in a smaller guild that raids as part of an alliance, and this will likely end up being another source of headaches and political wrangling.
Perhaps it's time to start looking into a merger.
cb Aug 23rd 2009 1:09AM
We're in the same boat. And our alliance works great, each guild has its own atmosphere, and we don't want to be forced to merge.
Orisi Aug 23rd 2009 4:53AM
I'm not certain, but i would imagine that in cases like this the suggested implementation of a 'Guild Raid Invite' system, where an entire guild gets an invite, would allow you to still get a certain amount of exp or other gains.
Having said that though, someone (possibly GC i would have to check) did say that they dont really want to encourage guild alliance at the moment and isnt something they're wanting to implement.
dboobis Aug 22nd 2009 7:58PM
In my opinion this is a very dangerous proposition. Firstly, if these guild talents give guild members even the slightest advantage in terms of items gained, money earned, etc, then I can see a lot of smaller guilds collapsing as their members run off to join the larger, more advanced guilds who will be more than willing to take them on in the hopes of boosting their own position.
Secondly, from a personal point of view, I raid as part of a collective (10-man), comprised of some guild members, some former guild members, and some associated others (either friends of other raiders or people recruited to fill a role). Now, there are only 7 of our guild in this raid group. From what I can tell you need 75% of the raid to be of one guild to get credit for progression. Thus, even if we all happen to be in the raid one time, the guild will never get credit for it. It's going to be a bit stupid looking at the GuildOx rankings to see us as one of the top 25 strict 10-man raiding guilds in the world, and yet the armory shows us as having no rewards for it.
I can see how larger guilds, especially the more "hardcore" raiding ones will applaud this announcement, but I do fear for how it's going to affect the smaller, more casual guilds. If you're a casual player, and you see that you can get levelling gear, mounts, free reagents, etc. from the server's more established guilds, you're going to have to be pretty strong to not have your head turned.
Emoroan Aug 22nd 2009 8:08PM
Hardcore raiding guilds already tend to have more resources and have several advantages over the smaller ones currently. People will join whatever suits their playstyle.
What I think this might do is make people think twice before disbanding a guild
dboobis Aug 22nd 2009 8:22PM
Although bigger, more hardcore guilds currently may have more resources than smaller, more casual guilds, they do not have anything that is beyond the smaller guild. So their guild bank is overflowing with all sorts of orbs, crystals, gems, etc. The smaller guild can still acquire these things, and will have a smaller need for them anyway. What this new system is proposing is that there will be some inherent benefit to being in a big guild that you simply *cannot* obtain as part of a smaller guild. I don't like the idea that some people will be getting more "gameplay experience" out of their money because they are in a bigger, more organised guild.
XeroThree Aug 22nd 2009 7:57PM
Why not just have a 'Guild Hall' instance? Put a portal ( doorway type deal) in each major city, and when you zone in, all your guildies will be in the same area / guild hall? Dont seem too difficult to impliment.
Hammer Aug 25th 2009 1:21PM
because blizz wants you to be hanging out in a major city with all the other players. They're afraid that you'll disappear from the face of azeroth once your guild gets a hall.
Steve Aug 22nd 2009 8:04PM
The idea is great, just so long as they keep to what I believe is the basic premise, and that is offering rewards for your play within a guild, rather than it being a penalty for those who aren't in guilds and don't really want to be.
Guild life can be good. Hell, it can be great. But I think many will agree that there are times when it's anything but. Some just don't want to be in a guild. If there is something that offers a positive motivation for playing within a guild, great. But I do hope they don't start tying stuff into guilds which make achieving one's goals in regard to gear, achievements, etc., impossible if you aren't in one.
I'm in a guild and one I enjoy. But I think everyone should have the option of not being in one without feeling that they are almost guaranteed less options when it comes to game experience.
All in all, it's a wonderful idea.
ciserman Aug 22nd 2009 8:04PM
my only question, and this probably only pertains to a few guilds, but i am a member of alea iacta est, which currently has over 4400 members, but the ingame guild tab only shows up to 500 random members, offline, online, alts, and otherwise... i hope they somehow fix this as the ingame guild tab is completely useless to us because of the limitations...