Breakfast Topic: Does your heart follow your main?
by Chris Henderson 
Oct 17th 2010 at 8:00AM
I've been playing World of Warcraft for quite some time now and have been exposed to many different guilds, both good and bad. I was only part of one guild before the first expansion came out, and I was very happy with it. When The Burning Crusade hit, the guild fell apart, and I tried to pry myself into a spot in one of the top raiding guilds on my server. It went pretty well for a while, but after the raid leader and the guild master had a little tiff with each other, the guild split and I ended up going to the newly formed one. This is the guild in which I spent the rest of my Burning Crusade days.
With the coming of Wrath of the Lich King came an abundance of newly formed guilds and old guilds trying to get a jump on all the new content. I was searching for the right one, but I didn't entirely know what I wanted. Throughout the complete span of Wrath, I have found myself in seven different guilds. This may sound like a whole lot to some people, but I'm sure there are those of you out there who have been in more than that.
The first guild was one that was pretty good in The Burning Crusade but lost their muster when they couldn't get through Naxxramas's Arachnid Quarter. Good old Maexxna had it out for them. The next few guilds were ones that were "high up" in the raiding industry of the server. Some of them I had to leave because progress wasn't even an afterthought. Another turned out just like my guild in The Burning Crusade; there were people who didn't really like how things were run, and we ended up needing to make a new guild because the guild master jumped ship with all of our guild bank.
Now for the guild I am in now. Six of us were in a guild together prior, where we were not appreciated for our hard work and willingness to do what was best for the raid. Our top priority as players was progression, and the raid leader and the guild master did not seem to see the point. We then split off and formed our own guild, and I have honestly never been happier. Of course, we focus mainly on 10-mans, but the amount of fun and excitement that we have now is at least double of any I have experienced prior to this guild. We quickly moved the top five of our server for 10-mans and it was extremely satisfying to have our work pay off.
Where does your heart truly lie? If your main character is in one guild, do you have your alts in the same guild or in another? If the latter is the case, which guild do you spend more time with? I know of a person who has each of his alts in a different guild, and every guild he has a character in one of the top guilds on the server. Do you put your main character in the guild that has the most progression or the most fun to play with people? Are you worried more about gear, progression, or fun?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Tim Oct 17th 2010 8:05AM
I like progression just as much as the next person but if you get in a guild with a bunch of assclowns; not so much fun. I am in a guild on the horde side that is very social and pretty cool. I view them as my friends and finding I can't wait to log on to chat with my MMO friends. So I think the fun for me is the interaction with other people from different walks of life and different areas of the country.
Wuvlycuddles Oct 17th 2010 10:18AM
Well, i find when your in a guild of people you call your friends instead of a bunch of randoms, the leveling feels less boring and long, the wipes don't seem so bad and the progression is made so much sweeter. It also feels great logging into a guild where everyone will care enough to say hello and bye instead of ignoring your comings and goings.
So knowing that, all my characters on my server/faction are in my guild and all the rest are unguilded, if i can't be with the ones i love, i'd rather be alone :)
Gendou Oct 17th 2010 10:30AM
I've often told my guildies, "I'd rather wipe with you guys than clear content with a different group."
feniks9174 Oct 17th 2010 12:14PM
I couldn't agree more. I've been in everything from hardcore progression guilds to small social guilds of 5 or 6 people. As much as I love progressing raid content, min/maxing characters and getting a boss down after weeks of wiping (Putricide was especially gratifying), some of my best memories of this game are from staying up til 4AM chatting on Vent with guildies and friends about AddOns, lore and other random stuff.
I've said it dozens of times over the last few years. I'd rather do pointless outdated content with friends than bleeding edge progression and nail Realm Firsts with people I can't stand.
Shadda Oct 18th 2010 3:41PM
Generally I agree with you: it's great to consider the people in your guild as friends. The trouble comes when friendship gets in the way of progression. If a friend repeatedly messes up an encounter, you might be reluctant to switch him out for another more competent player. After all, the point of the game is to have fun, right? You don't want to hurt his feelings, and you can probably down Putricide even if he forgets to target the ooze... Eventually, though, others in the group get fed up. As a player who is doing an encounter correctly, it's very frustrating to repeatedly fail because of something you have no control over. Angry words may fly, players may quit your guild, or they may simply opt to spend their time on something other than WoW. In any case, you now have one player who can't (or won't) learn to do a fight correctly and another untested replacement player who has never seen this fight at all.
As a guild newcomer, close-knit guilds can seem cliquish, and again it's annoying to not be invited to raids when the less competent friends of the raid-lead are. You might try to circumvent this by joining a friend's guild (they can pull you into raids) or having you and your friends join a guild together, but this doesn't necessarily work. Some friends being invited to raids while the others are not can put a strain on pre-existing friendships. Old friends may feel abandoned, or feel like the raiders are showing off. They may ask the raiders to "put in a good word for them" or "step out one week so they can have their slot". After all, it's just a game, right? It's only fair to let everyone play.
It's a complicated issue. Ultimately, I guess it comes down to personality. Some people play for social reasons, others for the challenge, some play for both.
Revrant Oct 17th 2010 5:15PM
I agree entirely, the author is definitely progression oriented, and would likely play with tolerable assclowns if it meant good progress, I wouldn't play with assclowns in any situation. The ideal guild is the one that offers all these things, but they're incredibly rare and usually the most inconspicuous of guilds.
I'm a guild nomad, I was in a guild on my original server that I loved, they had casual raiding dreams and the GMs were married and wonderful people with great friends, but the server was immensely skewed toward the other side. I was tired of such a dead server and transferred, since then it's been nomadic life, either the guild is incredibly dead, or they like my gear in a raid and invite me, and they turn out to be huge pricks that only care about progress and create mountains of drama.
I'd like to just find a nice casual guild that's active and stay there, permanently, the incredibly active pug raiding scene guarantees I will see end game stuff, minus the negative personalities of a hardcore raiding guild!
InfiniteAbyss Oct 17th 2010 8:06AM
I like keeping all my alts in the same guild mainly cos i get along with all my guildies and wanna chat to them whenever they're on
Piros Oct 17th 2010 8:11AM
I'm in the same guild now as I was when I started playing back in 2007. I may take some breaks, but my guild has been here for me whenever I've returned. We don't always make as much progression as we may like, but we have fun doing it, and we're a much more personable guild than some, in that we use real names and consist of several different groups of real life friends and family.
The only alt that isn't in my guild is my bank alt, which needed its own guild bank space.
pancakes Oct 17th 2010 8:11AM
I have real trouble leaving guilds, so my main has only really ever been in two guilds. I left the first because I wanted to raid, and they didn't, but I left an alt in there to make sure I wasn't completely gone. My current guild currently has my main and my major alt in it, & I don't want to leave it until the guild falls apart or WoW shuts down, whatever comes first.
Big Shoe Oct 17th 2010 8:14AM
It's all about fun and friendship for me, but progression is a great fringe benefit. However highly ranked your guild is, when raiding starts to feel like a full time job, it's time to stop and smell the roses. Luckily, I've been blessed with a great guild who can do well in progression raiding, but also knows how to relax and have fun.
Sibelle Oct 17th 2010 8:16AM
I've been in many guilds but only one that I really liked: Riders of the Armageddon, Tichondrius. We were not very advanced in the raid progression but I loved that guild: everybody was friendly and nice, I felt among real friends.
I left the guild after some months (personal problems) but I have really great memories of my time with them. I can say I was really to lucky to find a guild like that with so many childish players in this game.
ambermist Oct 17th 2010 8:21AM
Most of my characters stay in the same guild. I've only ever been in 3 guilds on my main--the first one fell apart about a year after I removed my main, the second one I raided with for three years, and the one I'm in now I just joined two weeks or so ago.
My alts under 80 are usually not guilded or in leveling guilds. 3 of my 4 level 80 toons (one of them being my main, of course) are in the same guild, while the fourth alt is in a guild with friends. I definitely spend more time in my main's guild, but I like being able to pop over and hang out occasionally.
I play to raid; I love progression, and I'm fiercely loyal to my main and usually to my guild as well.
Groth Oct 17th 2010 8:22AM
My old guild fell apart due to major burnout. Since 4.0.1 though, lots of people have resubbed, and the guild has reformed. It's the people that make the guild what it is, and hopefully, once Cataclysm hits, we'll be back to our former glories.
Chris Oct 17th 2010 8:34AM
totally depends on if your playing wow for entertainment, every one starts off having fun with wow but when you get some of that purple stuff you want more purple stuff and when u get more you want better purple stuff , and the wheel keeps turning,
MusedMoose Oct 17th 2010 8:38AM
The guild that I'm in now is the one I'm going to stick with and probably have all my new alts join once Cataclysm hits. They're a great bunch of people, there's no drama, and the general attitude is that you always help out your guildies if you can. There are two 10-man groups currently working their way through ICC, and while I'm not really interested in that, I definitely want to start raiding with them in the new expansion.
Azizrael Oct 17th 2010 8:39AM
My guild has a core of 6-7 people who play exclusively in the group, most with multiple 80s or levelling alts. There's a few more with a character in the guild to stay social but alts/mains in other guilds for more hardcore progression. When we do raid as a group it always seems to go much smoother than PUGs but real life gets in the way of running regularly more than once a week or so. I'd rather be playing with friends than get phat loots (although we're 7/12 in ICC and we've all got full tier 10 on mains.)
Zach Oct 17th 2010 8:47AM
I am pretty much the polar opposite, I guess. I've been with my guild since Vanilla, when we were raiding MC. We have evolved over the last two expansions, slimming down to our current form of a 10-man casual raiding guild, but I consider the people whom I've been playing this game with for the last five years to be some of my best friends, even if the majority of us have never met face-to-face. And all of my Alts are in the same guild. Anything else just feels wrong to me somehow.
Alphasim Oct 17th 2010 8:54AM
Persoanlly I don't leave guilds, guilds leave me. I don't know why, but I feel like guild plague some days. My first guild I was in lost all but two members besides me in a few months. The next disbanded within a month or so with no warning. My next guild was ok for a while and then I didnt' see anyone for over two months so I left. My next one was great and they brought me into dungeons, heroics and raids for the first time, but then I took a month away from the game and came back to a near-empty guild roster - all my friends were gone. Finally I joined my current guild, and while I enjoy their company I fear this one too will go *poof* on me one day.
As for 'following my main', if I have an alt in a guild, they're going to be in my main's guild. I had four in my most recent previous guild, but now I only have one in my current one. I want to spend time with my friends and not have to juggle multiple social circles.
Trilynne Oct 17th 2010 8:56AM
I'd love to find a balance between friendship, fun, and progression, and I think I might be able to in Cata. I'm part of a small guild made up mostly of people who know each other IRL, and we hope to start raiding 10mans casually after the expac drops. I do keep all of my alts in this one guild, I don't know of any other place I would keep them, tbh. :P
Face Oct 17th 2010 9:22AM
We had a bunch who hit 80 at the same time and started pounding heroics and raiding together. That was fun, but the next group up thought that gear should be handed to them and didn't take the time to learn what they were supposed to do. They didn't WANT to spend time in heroics so that they could take the steps they needed to take skill wise (and gear wise) to be ready for raids. Arguments over loot with the GM and his wife made it fall apart. It later reformed with the same core and leaders, and another argument over a loot system (EPGP for a casual guild ... barf) sent the GM and his wife packing to a different server where they name changed and then came back. Perhaps they need thicker skin.
I was in one of the higher-up guilds on my server for a while and it was fun, but it got to be exhausting... the people were great but the expectations regarding how often we'd raid was a little much - two nights of 10 man, two sometimes three of 25... it added up, I burned out, and quit the game for months. I'm back in a casual guild and while we're only 11/12, I like it a lot because I don't feel obligated to be at something just so I don't get left behind.