Patch 4.1 introduces guild finder feature
by Mathew McCurley 
Apr 23rd 2011 at 2:00PM
The new guild finder feature is available to leaders of established guilds and guildless players, making communication between prospective recruits and leaders easier. Only guilds that are actively looking for new members through the finder will appear in the guild finder interface. Guildless players can browse recruitment ads, while guild leaders are given the option to choose playstyles, types of content the guild is interested in doing, availability of members, and an optional comments section to discuss specifics. Hit the jump for the full announcement.
Patch 4.1: Guild Finder
In patch 4.1 we'll be introducing the Guild Finder, a new system designed to enable easier and faster guild recruitment. Guild leaders and players who are looking for a guild to call home will use the Guild Finder to meet one another and begin communications that can lead to a prosperous membership.
The Guild Finder is intended to act as an in-game bulletin board for guilds that are actively recruiting. Previously in World of Warcraft, your options were limited. You would have to publicly post on your realm forum message board, or speak to other players directly via private messages or the chat channels. That can be a time consuming process. Guild Finder will allow your "looking for new members" message to work 24 hours a day, accessible to all of the characters in your faction, from anywhere in the game.
A new Guild Finder button will now appear on your Micro Menu if you're either a guild leader or currently unguilded.
As a guild leader, you will indicate one or more of the common guild interests (such as PvP, Raids, or Role Playing), a general time of the week availability you're looking for (Weekdays or Weekends), and which class roles you seek from new members (Tank, Healer, Damage). The Comment field is where you can say anything you like about your guild and/or the sort of members you seek. Do you only accept female orcs? Is your guild slowly transitioning from 10-person to 25-person raiding? Perhaps you'll only accept new members who are available to play on Thursdays at noon? This is the place to say so, and help potential recruits determine whether your guild is what they're looking for.
From the perspective of an unguilded player, the Guild Finder allows you to browse through a list of the guilds currently looking for new members. Just launch the Guild Finder, tell it about your availability, class role, and the sorts of guild activities you're looking for, and then click "Browse Guilds." This will take you to the second tab, where you'll see a list of recruiting guilds that fit your profile. Here you can read about them, and if you like what you see, submit a request to join.
Requests submitted to recruiting guilds appear in the Requests tab. From this third tab, guild leaders can examine potential recruits and proceed with the final steps toward new membership.
Whether you're a guild leader looking to fill your ranks or a player looking for a guild that meets your strictest requirements, the Guild Finder provides an easy way to make new friends!
The Guild Finder is intended to act as an in-game bulletin board for guilds that are actively recruiting. Previously in World of Warcraft, your options were limited. You would have to publicly post on your realm forum message board, or speak to other players directly via private messages or the chat channels. That can be a time consuming process. Guild Finder will allow your "looking for new members" message to work 24 hours a day, accessible to all of the characters in your faction, from anywhere in the game.
A new Guild Finder button will now appear on your Micro Menu if you're either a guild leader or currently unguilded.
As a guild leader, you will indicate one or more of the common guild interests (such as PvP, Raids, or Role Playing), a general time of the week availability you're looking for (Weekdays or Weekends), and which class roles you seek from new members (Tank, Healer, Damage). The Comment field is where you can say anything you like about your guild and/or the sort of members you seek. Do you only accept female orcs? Is your guild slowly transitioning from 10-person to 25-person raiding? Perhaps you'll only accept new members who are available to play on Thursdays at noon? This is the place to say so, and help potential recruits determine whether your guild is what they're looking for.
From the perspective of an unguilded player, the Guild Finder allows you to browse through a list of the guilds currently looking for new members. Just launch the Guild Finder, tell it about your availability, class role, and the sorts of guild activities you're looking for, and then click "Browse Guilds." This will take you to the second tab, where you'll see a list of recruiting guilds that fit your profile. Here you can read about them, and if you like what you see, submit a request to join.
Requests submitted to recruiting guilds appear in the Requests tab. From this third tab, guild leaders can examine potential recruits and proceed with the final steps toward new membership.
Whether you're a guild leader looking to fill your ranks or a player looking for a guild that meets your strictest requirements, the Guild Finder provides an easy way to make new friends!
Personally, I am a huge fan of this system. Joining a new server on a whim is a headache sometimes, especially if your WoW friend base is relatively small. Joining up with like-minded people to level and play together could very easily transition into a capable and coordinated endgame group, plus the experience and reputation bonuses that come with guild leveling are excellent bonuses.
WoW Patch 4.1 is on the PTR, and WoW Insider has all the latest news for you -- from previews of the revamped Zul'Aman and Zul'Gurub to new valor point mechanics and new archaeology items.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Boocat Apr 23rd 2011 2:26PM
Cool feature, too bad you can't look at their gear level or experience in raids like in the armory in a tab.
Arrohon Apr 23rd 2011 2:35PM
Or you could quickly open up your internet browser and look them up that way. It would be nice but the alternative is still pretty easy to do.
Boocat Apr 23rd 2011 2:40PM
Yeah I know, just saying it would be cool to have armory in a tab.
Boocat Apr 23rd 2011 8:49PM
Really?
Downgraded because I would like to a feature that gives you information without leaving the game?
REDMJOEL Apr 24th 2011 5:12PM
Downgraded because gear is temporary but stupid is forever
hjunk Apr 23rd 2011 2:38PM
Is it just guild leaders or can it be delegated down to officers?
Noyou Apr 23rd 2011 9:21PM
Looks like the recruit feature will only be on the GM's tab/UI. And from the other side you have to be unguilded for it to pop up on your UI.
Birong Apr 23rd 2011 2:42PM
Cool feature. Wonder if it will allow you, as a guild leader of a small guild, to add your own alts rather than find someone else to do it. Also would be nice if you could, as a guild leader, delegate the acceptance of new members to other ranks.
lemonzingers Apr 23rd 2011 3:04PM
I agree with delegating! Please Blizzard, My husband is the guild leader & I've been the go to druid for new recruits. I would love to be the "Contact Me" button on this feature instead of my husband. He's a DK and lets face it, they are not very personable:) *Don't tell him I said that.*
kdiddy Apr 23rd 2011 3:10PM
So, if you currently in a guild, but looking for a change, will you still be able to search the guilds and apply?
Edenvale Apr 23rd 2011 3:12PM
Nope, You'd have to drop guild & then look.
Zura Apr 23rd 2011 4:15PM
....or roll a new character and browse before you drop guild and lose your guild xp.
kdiddy Apr 23rd 2011 5:01PM
You shouldn't have to drop just to search the open market. Hopefully they implement a change in a later patch.
omedon666 Apr 23rd 2011 8:14PM
Don't join the guild that you'll want to leave...?
Choline Apr 24th 2011 4:40PM
Omedon, sometimes it's not that simple.
Sometimes your guild goes in a direction you don't like - starts focusing on raids, perhaps, when all it used to be about was PvP. Or sometimes it's not performing at a level that you enjoy, and perhaps you want to progress more.
Sometimes you've had all the "human conversations" that you can have, and sometimes your guild just isn't a fit for you any longer.
Guilds are made of people, and people are rarely static.
rmcasselberry Apr 23rd 2011 3:09PM
It will be interesting to see how this will work on live servers.
razion Apr 23rd 2011 5:11PM
Honestly, I'm just happy they decided to include role-playing as a guild type.
Calybos Apr 23rd 2011 7:25PM
Me too. I hope it includes the ability to EXCLUDE certain types too, though. Experience has shown that guilds promising to be "casual-leveling-RP-raiding" tend to fare less well than those that focus on one or two aspects at most.
In particular, it would be good to be able to search for a guild that's casual and NOT rading, or leveling and NOT raiding. Guilds that try to do both... (headshake).
Noyou Apr 23rd 2011 9:25PM
Yeah. There could be an influx of players leaving their guilds. One thing it looks like you can do is drop your guild to check it out- you won't lose your guild rep unless you hook up with another guild. You might however have to splain why you dropped guild however :0
dk Apr 23rd 2011 3:20PM
I'm looking forward to it, I've been shifting through guilds since Cata dropped; trying to find some who like the odd bits in the game like pets/ mounts/ achieves ... and then run some heroics.