There are many things wrong with Guild Hoping. Someone that Guild Hops has no loyalty to the Guild so how can they ever be really trusted not to do something like ninja the Guild Bank or leave after they the Guild has spent much time helping them get their gear to be on par with the rest?

I hate Guild Hoppers with a passion.

Seems to me all of those things are problems regardless of how long you've been in a guild, or how many you've been in.

Me, I say don't put anything in the guild bank you're not prepared to lose, and don't gear somebody up just because you want them to have stuff, but expect something out of them. It's like money. I'll give you a dollar before I loan you a dime. Why? Because I'd rather not have to worry about you paying me back.

See, what you hate is people taking advantage of you. This is not the same as guild hopping. Believe it or not, people can and do leave guilds, and even servers, without doing those things.

So stop the hating. If you want to stick in a guild forever and ever, fine, but some of us just drift around a bit, and aren't going to necessarily stay with a group that may have goals and activities we aren't enjoying. Not all guilds can be all things to all people, and people even change their minds about what they want.

To build on the hiring analogy (accurate to an extent), my guild does not take new members lightly. This is not to say we are overly rigid or put undue demands on them, but like joining any group, it takes time to adjust and learn the chemistry of the group. If people don't enjoy our atmosphere, they are free to move on. We only ask that you communicate with us what you are doing, out of respect. We provide each member with at least that much and expect the same in return.

To that end, joining and leaving members have a significant impact on guild morale, like it or not. If I had one criticism of "guild hoppers", and we've had a few... its that they underestimate the impact they have on the group.

"I say don't put anything in the guild bank you're not prepared to lose"

Wow... I'm thankful to be in a guild where I don't have to mistrust my guildmates like this.

One thing that may come up if they tie things to loyalty or "how long joe raider has been with the same guild".

I'm in a fun loving guild where for the most part we are all friends. Sometimes:
a) An officer or will not exactly be sober IRL and decide to playfully mess with a member and boot them for a moment
2) Joe Raider jokingly doesn't like something that happened and joke emo /gquits
iii) Joe Raider does something deserving of an epic /facepalm and gets /gkicked

It's all in good fun but if records were kept to see how long I've been in guild then I know there were a handful of blips on my record. Of course I've been a loyal member for heck almost 4 years now. Something hard pressed from Bliz on individual member loyalty might be a bit frustrating in these situations.

Of course sustainability of a guild over a course of years could reward guilds who have been at it for a long time. Something that makes anniversaries exciting (above and beyond our yearly celebration week) for members.