Guilds are a pillar of the World of Warcraft community. Whether you're a dedicated raider or part of an easy-going leveling guild, we've made a number of changes to improve your guild experience. In patch 4.0.1, players will find that guilds are no longer part of the Social window, but instead have been given their own dedicated user interface (default: J). This interface has been completely redesigned to increase efficiency, aesthetic appeal, and ease of navigation for all guild members.

For this post, we'll be examining three core features: the professions roster, guild news and upcoming events, and improved guild controls. While the new interface contains a wealth of awesome improvements, we feel these features in particular deserve to be highlighted. This also gives us a chance to provide a bit of additional clarification.


Profession Roster

Under the "Roster" tab in the new Guild window, players will now be able to view the professions of all guild members.

All primary professions will be listed in the professions roster alphabetically and guild members with at least one active primary profession will be placed within the roster according to their current professions. Members of the guild will be able to search for guild recipes, patterns, blueprints, and schematics in two ways (for the purpose of the post, going forward all professions' spells will be referred to as "recipes"):

• By player. When a profession's section in the roster is expanded, all guild members with the profession will be listed along with their skill level and current zone. Clicking on the guild member's name will open up a separate window listing all their known recipes. Players will be able to filter this list by slot (head, shoulder, etc), sub-class (item enhancement, modification, weapon type, etc), materials, and whether or not the recipe will provide a skill-up.
• By recipe. Players will also be able search all guild recipes by clicking on the "View All" option next to the profession name in the roster. This will open up a separate window that will list all known recipes for that profession in the guild. Once the particular recipe is found, the player will simply need to click on "View Crafters" to see who in the guild can craft that particular item. If any of the eligible guild crafters are online, the player will be able to send that crafter a message by clicking on the guild member's name.

As with searching by player, the same filter options will be available.


Guild News and Upcoming Events

We've also made it easier than ever to plan guild events and keep up with the latest happenings in your guild organization.

• Guild news. Guild news will include guild achievements, member achievements, raid encounters, epic items crafted, looted or purchased, and guild levels. These news items will appear in reverse chronological order, organized by date, in the Guild News window and can be filtered according to news type to fit a player's preference. The Guild Message of the Day will also display in the Guild News tab at the top of the window.
• Upcoming events. Guild members with the appropriate permissions will now be able to create guild-specific events and announcements. Guild events and announcements will function similarly to normal events and can be scheduled through the in-game calendar or guild window. Unlike normal events, however, these events and announcements will be viewable by all guild members, displaying both in the default "Guild" tab under "Guild News and Events" and in the "Info" tab under "Events." This feature will help ensure that all guild members are aware of scheduled activities and important information.

New and Improved Guild Controls

Last but not least, we'll be adding more functionality to guild management.

• Streamlined guild rank controls. Guild Masters will now be able to add, remove, raise, or lower guild ranks, as well as rename them on the fly.
• Improved permissions interface. Guild ranks, rank permissions, and bank tab permissions will now be managed in separate windows. We've also added new permission options and better organization, allowing Guild Masters greater control over a rank's access to certain guild and bank features.
• A new Battle.net Authenticator permission. Security-conscious Guild Masters will now be able to add a permission to certain guild ranks that will require all members in that rank to have an authenticator associated with their Battle.net account.

With respect to the new Battle.net Authenticator permission, there are certain restrictions Guild Masters should keep in mind.

• You will be unable to promote or demote players to ranks that require an Authenticator if they do not have one associated with their Battle.net account. If you attempt to promote/demote a player without an Authenticator to a rank that features this permission restriction, you'll be given the option to either move the player to the next eligible rank or cancel. (Please note that it may take a few days for a new Authenticator to be recognized by the guild controls.)
• If a player is in a guild rank that requires an Authenticator, but then removes the Authenticator from their Battle.net account, they will be automatically demoted to the next eligible rank.
• The Authenticator requirement cannot be assigned to the lowest (Initiate) and highest (Guild Master) guild ranks or to a rank that is currently in use.

A Look to the Future

Keep in mind that this is only a taste of what's to come and additional features (like guild rewards) will be available once Cataclysm launches. We'll also be revealing more information about guild leveling and reputation as 4.0.3 draws closer, so stay tuned!