WoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gifWoW Insiderhttp://wow.joystiq.comen-usCopyright 2015 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/WoW Insider ShowEvery week, the WoW Insider Show brings you news and views from the World of Warcraft and the site that covers it all, WoW Insider. We introduce a panel of rotating guests, including bloggers from WoW Insider and other WoW blogs, and many popular personalities from around the WoW community. From the live listener chat and polls during the show, to the emails direct from listeners (reach us at theshow@wow.com), right on to the "meat" of the show -- in-depth discussion of the most popular news and posts on WoW Insider -- the WoW Insider Show is a terrific source of news and entertainment about what's going on with Blizzard and their World of Warcraft. Listen live every Saturday at 3:30 pm Eastern on our Ustream page (http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wow-insider-show) or subscribe to the feed and let us know what you think by reviewing the show right here in iTunes.Warlords of Draenor: Guild leveling and guild perk changeshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2014/06/30/warlords-of-draenor-guild-leveling-and-guild-perk-changes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/06/30/warlords-of-draenor-guild-leveling-and-guild-perk-changes/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/06/30/warlords-of-draenor-guild-leveling-and-guild-perk-changes/#commentsFiled under: ,

Players on the Warlords of Draenor beta have noticed something a little different about guild perks in the new expansion -- a large portion of them have simply been removed entirely, including both the Fast Track and Cash Flow perks. While some assumed this was likely a bug, it turns out this is part of change that has been planned for guild leveling. Namely, guild leveling is being by and large removed from the game. Or, if you want to think of it in a slightly different fashion, all guilds will automatically be what level 25 once was.

Why the changes? Watcher hit the forums to explain, and to point out that the perks people normally associate with guilds aren't really going away entirely. Some of them, like Ride Like the Wind or Honorable Mention will just be rolled into the game as default behavior, rather than offered as a perk of any kind. So yes, while the perk is getting removed, we won't really see a change -- flight paths will simply go 25% faster by default. The Cash Flow perk, however, is being flat out removed, and Watcher had some really good points as to why this is being changed.

Continue reading Warlords of Draenor: Guild leveling and guild perk changes

WoW InsiderWarlords of Draenor: Guild leveling and guild perk changes originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 30 Jun 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>breakingcash-flowchallenge-modesgoldgold-makinggold-stratguild-bankguild-bank-managementguild-challengeguild-perksguild-repairsguildsraidingsiege-of-orgrimmarwarlords-of-draenorwarlords-of-draenor-betawatcherwow-goldAnne StickneyMon, 30 Jun 2014 10:00:00 ESTThe nature of unique mechanics and raid difficultyhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2014/05/29/the-nature-of-unique-mechanics-and-raid-difficulty/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/05/29/the-nature-of-unique-mechanics-and-raid-difficulty/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/05/29/the-nature-of-unique-mechanics-and-raid-difficulty/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

One of the ideas that I always find interesting is that, as raid difficulty increases, it becomes more reasonable to expect certain abilities to be available. Like in this tweet from Nathaniel Chapman, an encounter designer for WoW, which talks about the Hand of Protection ability. (As an aside, I very much recommend his personal blog.) The basic idea is simple, and can be extrapolated to other abilities - it's reasonable to expect a Mythic raid to have access to abilities such as Hand of Protection or other class specific abilities that can alter a fight's parameters.

It's this idea of raid difficulty making specific design choices acceptable that I find interesting, at least in the context of class abilities that might otherwise be seen as unbalancing. One specific mention was how Paladins could cheese tank swap mechanics, something that made them invaluable on fights like Heroic Horridon. Imagine that, in a hypothetical Mythic Horridon, the fight was designed for you to cheese tank swap mechanics, or the boss came with a huge AoE damage spell that was spell reflectable, justifying the inclusion of a warrior tank or a DPS warrior with Mass Spell Reflect. The cast could also be spellstolen, so mages would be a valuable addition.

These kinds of mechanics are seen (and rightfully so, in my opinion) as punitive to struggling small raid groups who only have so many combinations of classes and specs. If your raid doesn't have a mage or warrior, for example, then dealing with that hypothetical huge AoE damage attack becomes harder. But for Mythic difficulty, with its iron-clad 20 player limit, you can expect more diversity in raid makeup, and thus can design for it.

Continue reading The nature of unique mechanics and raid difficulty

WoW InsiderThe nature of unique mechanics and raid difficulty originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 29 May 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>MythicMythic-difficultyraidingraidswarlords-of-draenorMatthew RossiThu, 29 May 2014 18:00:00 ESTKeeping your guild active during the down timehttp://wow.joystiq.com/2014/05/23/keeping-your-guild-active-during-the-down-time/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/05/23/keeping-your-guild-active-during-the-down-time/http://wow.joystiq.com/2014/05/23/keeping-your-guild-active-during-the-down-time/#commentsFiled under:


Guild leaders have been sending us a lot of questions in the Queue and elsewhere about how to keep their guild active during the down time between expansions. At this point many guilds have already cleared Orgrimmar and are either slowly working on heroic modes or stalled out entirely. It's not that anyone is doing anything wrong -- they're not -- it's just the nature of players. After things have been accomplished, why bother continuing on? This is totally a normal behavior and shouldn't be taken as anyone abandoning the guild or anything silly like that.*

So, life is slow on the forefront of raiding. What can you do? Change your game. Make the game not about killing pixels from this expansion, but about experiencing everything in a social atmosphere. I've had to make this transition a lot, and I've always found it works.

End current content raiding
Make an official end to the current tier of raiding and move to other activities. Allow for a small group to form that wants to keep pushing into harder heroics and what not, but don't make anyone feel like they have to go. And don't feel obligated yourself too -- it's okay in a guild leadership position to sit out and just facilitate.

Continue reading Keeping your guild active during the down time

WoW InsiderKeeping your guild active during the down time originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 23 May 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>dead-guildguildguild-leadershipguild-transitionguildsAdam HoliskyFri, 23 May 2014 15:00:00 ESTMajor raid changes coming in Warlords of Draenorhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/11/08/major-raid-changes-coming-in-warlords-of-draenor/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/11/08/major-raid-changes-coming-in-warlords-of-draenor/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/11/08/major-raid-changes-coming-in-warlords-of-draenor/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

During the World of Warcraft - What's Next? panel, Ion "Watcher" Hazzikostas unveiled the way raiding will be unveiled going forward. As you can see above, the term flexible raid is no longer used to describe a difficulty setting, and the flexible raid scaling system has been more widely implemented. Here's how it will basically work:
  • First up, the raid finder (LFR) will still aim for a fixed group size of 25 players. However, if you're in an LFR group and players drop before the next boss, that boss will scale to the size of the current group - as an example, if a raid of 25 players is fighting Paragons, then four players drop on the way to Garrosh, Mr. Hellscream (if you're nasty) will scale down to a 21 player size.
  • What we now call the Flexible difficulty will become Normal in patch 6.0 - it will scale just as it does now.
  • What we now call Normal difficulty (10 and 25 man) will scale flexibly and will be called Heroic difficulty. It will scale just as normal does.
  • Finally, Ion pointed out that scaling the most challenging encounters in terms of design requires a fixed raid size, and so, they've chosen that size to be 20 players. This difficulty, analogous to what we now call Heroic will be called Mythic difficulty.
I find it interesting that they chose to lock the most difficult raiding at a 20 player cap - I've always felt that we should have gone 10/20 at Burning Crusade's launch instead of 10/25, but I wonder why they didn't do a 10/20 split on Mythic for the dedicated 10 man guilds. I didn't expect that, but otherwise, I totally called it and I'm definitely excited. (I know for my guild, 20 man Mythic will be a lot easier to adjust to, but for dedicated 10's it won't be as easy a transition.)

Also, please forgive me a moment of smuggery, but I called it.

WoW InsiderMajor raid changes coming in Warlords of Draenor originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 08 Nov 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>flexflexible-scalingraidingraidswarlords-of-draenorMatthew RossiFri, 08 Nov 2013 19:00:00 ESTIs your guild bank going dry?http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/17/is-your-guild-bank-going-dry/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/17/is-your-guild-bank-going-dry/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/10/17/is-your-guild-bank-going-dry/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Is your guild bank going dry
I raid with an extremely generous 25-man raiding guild that is chugging along quite nicely through the Siege of Orgrimmar. They are kind enough to provide not only guild repairs, but potions, flasks, and feasts -- now noodle carts -- as well. The guild is pretty good about keeping everything managed, and raiders do a pretty good job about keeping the guild bank filled with materials for all the stuff that the guild supplies on a typical guild run.

But we've had a problem recently that picked up in patch 5.4. Someone mentioned that the guild bank wasn't making quite as much gold as it used to, and player repairs are bleeding the guild bank of gold almost faster than it can be put in. This seemed odd to me at the time, but I re-doubled my efforts to continue sticking herbs, gems, and whatever other useful items I came across into the guild bank, figuring it would all balance itself out. It turns out, however, that we aren't alone with our weird little problem.

Continue reading Is your guild bank going dry?

WoW InsiderIs your guild bank going dry? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Thu, 17 Oct 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>cash-flowchallenge-modesepic-gemsgoldgold-farminggold-makinggold-stratgold-strategygold-stratsgold-tipsguild-bankguild-bank-managementguild-challengeguild-perksguild-repairsguildsraidingsiege-of-orgrimmarwow-goldwow-moneyAnne StickneyThu, 17 Oct 2013 19:00:00 ESTWowStead Guild Hosting services to close downhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/07/29/wowstead-guild-hosting-services-to-close-down/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/07/29/wowstead-guild-hosting-services-to-close-down/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/07/29/wowstead-guild-hosting-services-to-close-down/#commentsFiled under:

WoWStead Guild Hosting services to close down
Guild Hosting service WowStead is closing its doors, in order to change members over to a system that provides a better service. WowStead sent out an email to users this morning informing them of such, and giving them time to transfer over to the GuildLaunch service.

Without having access to any more information it is difficult indeed to postulate about the reasons behind the shift, but nonetheless, if your guild is hosted with WowStead, you will need to think about a new solution. The GuildLaunch transfer site asserts that it will make the move as easy as possible, and honor any payments made, but there are always other options, and maybe this is the time to consider them. There are a huge number of services out there, as a cursory google search will reveal, so choose wisely, or take the transfer option, but whatever you decide, enjoy your new home!

If you're in need of guild advice, do check out Officers' Quarters, and you'll find the full letter from WowStead after the break.

Continue reading WowStead Guild Hosting services to close down

WoW InsiderWowStead Guild Hosting services to close down originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 29 Jul 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>building-guildsfeaturedguideguide-to-officersguild-hostingguild-leadershipguild-managementguild-officersguilds-guideleadershipofficers-quarterswow-guidewow-guild-managementwow-guildswow-leadershipwowsteadOlivia GraceMon, 29 Jul 2013 17:00:00 ESTBreakfast Topic: How did you choose your guild?http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/06/18/breakfast-topic-how-did-you-choose-your-guild/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/06/18/breakfast-topic-how-did-you-choose-your-guild/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/06/18/breakfast-topic-how-did-you-choose-your-guild/#commentsFiled under: , ,


The people you play with make up the heart and soul of your World of Warcraft experience. They'll make the game a delight you keep coming back to or a misery you can't escape soon enough. What this comes down to is that who you're guilded with makes or breaks your game experience. A bad guild or, worse, a good guild that's falling apart will make you rush offline to a good book or a favorite TV show rather than spending your idle time in Azeroth. Of course, it's not always straightforward to find the right guild for you -- it's all too easy to have mismatched goals or schedules that turn what may have seemed to be a great group of players into a guild nightmare.

When I'm in need of a guild, I tend to follow my friends around, which always seems like a good formula but doesn't always work out. But it's hardly the only way: all you have to do is be unguilded to get numerous (unsolicited) guild invitations and the guild recruitment forum is always brimming with new guilds LFM. So, just how do you go about picking that perfect guild?

WoW InsiderBreakfast Topic: How did you choose your guild? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 18 Jun 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredgame-discussiongamer-discussionguildguildshow-to-choose-a-guildworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-guildwow-guildswow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topicsElizabeth HarperTue, 18 Jun 2013 08:00:00 ESTPatch 5.4 PTR: Virtual Realms announcedhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/06/12/patch-5-4-ptr-virtual-realms-announced/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/06/12/patch-5-4-ptr-virtual-realms-announced/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/06/12/patch-5-4-ptr-virtual-realms-announced/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

What, you may ask, are virtual realms? Well, they're a very interesting new feature (and if you choose, you can pretend they're the new feature Ghostcrawler mentioned for 5.4) that will have quite an impact on how we play the game. To quote the patch notes:

Rygarius - Patch 5.4 Coming Soon!
Virtual Realms are sets of realms that are fused together, and will behave exactly as if they were one cohesive realm. Players on the same Virtual Realm will be able to join guilds, access a single Auction House, join arena teams and raids, as well run dungeons or group up to complete quests.

This is basically the first step in the creation of a unified, single realm across whole regions of World of Warcraft. Similar in concept to a PvP Battlegroup, this basically allows you to treat players from other realms in the shared virtual realm as if they were on your selfsame realm, including all the benefits of guilding, grouping and raiding.; This is an enormous game changer, and I admit, I don't think I ever expected to see it happen. For guilds on low pop servers, this drastically increases the potential player base that you can recruit, for just one potential benefit.

Do remember, however, that this is the PTR. As Ghostcrawler says:

Stay tuned for more news -- this is definitely an exciting change.

WoW InsiderPatch 5.4 PTR: Virtual Realms announced originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 12 Jun 2013 02:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>breakingghostcrawlerpatch-5.4patch-5.4-ptrrygariusunannounced-featurevirtual-realmsMatthew RossiWed, 12 Jun 2013 02:07:00 ESTBreakfast Topic: Why join a guild?http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/23/breakfast-topic-why-join-a-guild/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/23/breakfast-topic-why-join-a-guild/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/23/breakfast-topic-why-join-a-guild/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Breakfast Topic Why join a guild
There are lots of reasons to join a guild: it makes it easy to find groups and raids, you have guaranteed company while you're playing, and most importantly, guild perks. In case you've been living under a rock, guild perks give you great bonuses for guild membership based on your guild's level. Perks can boost the amount of experience, reputation, and honor you gain, make your hearthstone cooldown shorter, and even make flight paths go faster. So, really, the question seems to be why not join a guild?

The question's been asked on Reddit and it got me wondering why my own alt of choice (for the moment) is currently unguilded. It couldn't take much more than a polite request to jump on the guild bandwagon and get my hands on those yummy, yummy perks. It would stop the regular requests I get to join guilds (even if you've turned off guild requests, you do frequently get whispers) and it's not as though I'm in a demanding guild at the moment. And yet when I don't feel like doing much (or dealing with others), I hop on to my alt to solo for a while.

And what about you, fellow players? Are you guilded or unguilded?

WoW InsiderBreakfast Topic: Why join a guild? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Sat, 23 Mar 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>featuredgame-discussiongamer-discussionguildguild-perksguildsworld-of-warcraft-discussionworld-of-warcraft-topicswow-discussionwow-guildwow-guild-perkswow-guildswow-hot-topicswow-issueswow-topicsElizabeth HarperSat, 23 Mar 2013 08:00:00 ESTPoll: Do you use the in-game Guild Finder?http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/20/poll-do-you-use-the-in-game-guild-finder/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/20/poll-do-you-use-the-in-game-guild-finder/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/20/poll-do-you-use-the-in-game-guild-finder/#commentsFiled under: ,

Poll Do you use the ingame LFGuild

Joining a guild has always been a core aspect of World of Warcraft. How to choose the right style of guild can be an especially large hurdle to overcome for new players, but it's something we learn along the way. Players currently have a few resources at their disposal, whether it be the Blizzard Guild Recruitment forums, GuildOx, WoWProgress, or other tools. But there's an oft-forgotten in-game tool that was released back in patch 4.1. What about the in-game Guild Finder?

The options are a bit limited, and the listings depend on the effort put in by guild masters. Let's just say it's a neglected feature on a few fronts. I've used the Guild Finder before, when searching for a casual leveling guild on a new server. Outside of that, I stick to other tools when recruiting or looking for a new guild.

What about you -- do you ever use the in-game Guild Finder? What's your preferred resource for guild recruitment and discovery?

WoW InsiderPoll: Do you use the in-game Guild Finder? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>guildguild-finderguildspollpollsrecruitingrecruitmentKristin MarshallWed, 20 Mar 2013 14:00:00 ESTGuild leadership and guild levelinghttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/08/guild-leadership-and-guild-leveling/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/08/guild-leadership-and-guild-leveling/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/03/08/guild-leadership-and-guild-leveling/#commentsFiled under: ,

First off, this isn't one of those posts where I'm a detached observer with no first person experience with the problems of guild leadership. I'm an officer in a raiding 25 man guild, and recently I was the victim of a shakeup. Our Anne Stickney wrote about it for the site, so I won't dredge up the same material. Instead, what I will do is talk about what someone else experienced tonight, and what it has me thinking about: namely, that perhaps it's time that alternatives to the classic GM/officers style of guild leadership were made part of the game's set up. Sure, you can run your guild like a council, or even an anarcho-syndicalist commune if you would like, but said commune would still be a monarchy by the way Blizzard has designed the guild formation process.

The reason I bring this up is because of a tweet from Emberdione, who comments here frequently as well as writes on her own blog. It was a very familiar story - her GM had decided he was tired of WoW, and so instead of handing the guild over like a sane person he kicked everyone out. Since it was so familiar to my own recent story, it got me thinking. Why do we still have this one person at the top pyramid structure as the only option for guilds?

Continue reading Guild leadership and guild leveling

WoW InsiderGuild leadership and guild leveling originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 08 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>GMguild-leadershipguild-masterGuildsMatthew RossiFri, 08 Mar 2013 19:00:00 ESTWhat to do when your guild falls to pieceshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/18/what-to-do-when-your-guild-falls-to-pieces/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/18/what-to-do-when-your-guild-falls-to-pieces/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/18/what-to-do-when-your-guild-falls-to-pieces/#commentsFiled under: ,

What to do when your guild falls to pieces
Yesterday, my guild fell apart.

I logged into the game as usual, with the intent of clearing the holiday boss and then doing our usual Sunday raid. Instead, I was greeted by a whisper from my cohort in crime, the other rogue in my guild, who told me to join a random channel. Bewildered, I did so, only to find the rest of my guild in said channel. "Why did we make a channel?" I asked. "Because we don't have a guild anymore," she replied -- which was when I realized I was, in fact, completely guildless for the first time since somewhere in the middle of Burning Crusade. Our guild leader systematically kicked everyone out of the guild, shut the doors and called it a day.

Needless to say, it's been a hell of a weekend. My first thought was nonexistent, my second thought, oddly enough, was whether or not we'd ever had a guide on this particular situation on WoW Insider. I couldn't find one after peering through the archives, so I decided, after all the madness of yesterday had settled down, that I ought to write one.

So, from first-hand experience -- what do you do when your guild falls to pieces?

Continue reading What to do when your guild falls to pieces

WoW InsiderWhat to do when your guild falls to pieces originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 18 Feb 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>building-guildsdramaguild-blowoutsguild-leadershipguild-managementguild-officersguild-recruitment-forumsguilds-guideworld-of-warcraftworld-of-warcraft-guild-recruitmentworld-of-warcraft-guildswow-guild-managementwow-guildsAnne StickneyMon, 18 Feb 2013 17:00:00 ESTNew generation comes of age in record-holding long-time guildhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/12/new-generation-comes-of-age-in-record-holding-long-time-guild/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/12/new-generation-comes-of-age-in-record-holding-long-time-guild/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/12/new-generation-comes-of-age-in-record-holding-long-time-guild/#commentsFiled under: ,

New generation comes of age in recordholding longtime guild
You know your adults-only guild has built up a serious steamhead of history when you begin seeing an entirely new generation of applicants from within your own ranks. That's right, WoW players, you really are that old. This month marks the 17th anniversary of The Syndicate, the current Guinness world record holders for the longest continuously operating online gaming community.

"As our move into our 18th year as a community, internally we are starting to see the children of our members applying to join," writes Sean "Dragons" Stalzer, president and CEO of The Syndicate. "Said a different way, that means people who have only known MMORPGs similar to WoW or EQ or UO or Rift are heading off to college."

When we interviewed Dragons three years ago, we examined the group's massive size across multiple games, its unrivaled retention rate (an average loss of one to two people per year, for a 99.92% retention rate), and its own studio that turns out strategy guides for casual players and handles game and hardware consulting and testing for various game companies. That's a heady bouquet of achievements for a hardworking guild. Still, the group's anniversary this month makes waves in a much larger context -- a new era for MMO designers and fans alike.

"It matters because the MMOs of the past 17 years were created, in large part, by a community of developers who knew the world of BBS gaming via a modem... who played MUDs and MOOs... who, in the more senior levels, knew gaming before there were computers," Dragons writes. "We are just now reaching the point where the future programmers, designers, producers etc.. are heading off to college having never known a world without MMORPGS. Some of the core mechanics and concepts that shaped what 'success' is in the MMORPG world are things they have never experienced, and that isn't a bad thing. It means there is change coming to the MMO space."

Continue reading New generation comes of age in record-holding long-time guild

WoW InsiderNew generation comes of age in record-holding long-time guild originally appeared on WoW Insider on Tue, 12 Feb 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>dragonsguildslongevitysyndicatethe-syndicateLisa PoissoTue, 12 Feb 2013 18:00:00 ESTGuide to choosing the right style of guildhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/04/guide-to-choosing-the-right-style-of-guild/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/04/guide-to-choosing-the-right-style-of-guild/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/02/04/guide-to-choosing-the-right-style-of-guild/#commentsFiled under: ,

What type of guild is best for you DNP
Are you searching for a guild of "friendly, mature people" who "have fun" in either a "social" or "raiding" context? You're in luck! You'll find those terms in most guild recruitment ads for WoW's 10 million players worldwide. On second thought, that may be more than good luck; it's more like an avalanche of virtually identical guild profiles. Will those terms help you discern any meaningful distinctions between these groups of players? That's a lot of "friendly" people to sort through.

Many guilds are fairly easily described by their schedules and raid progressions (or their lack of either). More likely, though, the essence of your group -- the part that gives it its flavor and makes it stand apart from other guilds -- is somewhat trickier to describe. "Social," "casual," "raiding" ...These terms describe most guilds. And even terms that seem fairly self-explanatory at first glance can be problematic for players trying to evaluate a potential fit. "We're a dedicated roleplaying guild." OK, so what's the spin? One RP guild might maintain a military structure and campaign, while another plays out some very adult-themed interpersonal dramas -- definitely not interchangeable concepts!

Our experience is that player and guild drama becomes inevitable when members end up unhappily guilded in a group that doesn't truly fit. The Drama Mamas frequently get mail from players who find their guildmates nice enough but still have that itchy feeling that something just isn't clicking. The fit you want is probably out there, but the terminology and labeling for these guilds hasn't quite caught up yet.

What are you looking for in a guild? What sort of group will help you enjoy playing World of Warcraft? Let's figure it out -- and if you're looking for a particularly specialized type of guild, we've included a few niche group suggestions to kickstart your research.

Continue reading Guide to choosing the right style of guild

WoW InsiderGuide to choosing the right style of guild originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 04 Feb 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>advicedramafeaturedfinding-a-guildguildguild-adviceguild-dramaguild-recruitmentguild-typesguildshow-to-find-a-guildplaying-wowrecruitmentwarcraft-advicewow-advicewow-dramawow-drama-guidewow-guildswow-player-guidewow-q-and-aLisa PoissoMon, 04 Feb 2013 13:00:00 ESTWhat's your guild's niche? Help players find your specialized grouphttp://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/14/whats-your-guilds-niche-help-players-find-your-specialized-gr/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/14/whats-your-guilds-niche-help-players-find-your-specialized-gr/http://wow.joystiq.com/2013/01/14/whats-your-guilds-niche-help-players-find-your-specialized-gr/#commentsFiled under: ,

What's your guild's niche Help players find your specialized group
What is your guild all about? Many guilds are fairly easily described by their schedules and raid progressions (or their lack of either). More likely, though, the essence of your group -- the part that gives it its flavor and makes it stand apart from other guilds -- is somewhat trickier to describe. "Social," "casual," "raiding" ...These terms pretty much describe most guilds.

Even terms that seem fairly self-explanatory at first glance can be problematic for players trying to evaluate a potential fit. "We're a dedicated roleplaying guild." OK, so what's the spin? One RP guild might maintain a military structure and campaign, while another plays out some very adult-themed interpersonal dramas -- definitely not interchangeable concepts!

Our experience is that player and guild drama becomes inevitable when members end up unhappily guilded in a group that doesn't truly fit. The Drama Mamas frequently get mail from players who find their guildmates nice enough but still have that itchy feeling that something just isn't clicking. So as we prepare a guide to help players target the qualities they're looking for in a guild and figure out where to find them, we're turning to you for feedback plus a chance to let other players know about what your own guild's niche has to offer. Click past the break for more details on how to participate.

Continue reading What's your guild's niche? Help players find your specialized group

WoW InsiderWhat's your guild's niche? Help players find your specialized group originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 14 Jan 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>advicecasual-guilddramafeaturedguild-adviceguild-dramaguild-typesguildsleveling-guildnicheplaying-wowpvp-guildraiding-guildretro-raidingrp-guildsocial-guildtypes-of-guildswarcraft-advicewow-advicewow-dramawow-drama-guidewow-player-guidewow-q-and-aLisa PoissoMon, 14 Jan 2013 15:00:00 ESTWhat does community mean in World of Warcraft?http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/16/what-does-community-mean-in-world-of-warcraft/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/16/what-does-community-mean-in-world-of-warcraft/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/16/what-does-community-mean-in-world-of-warcraft/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

What does community mean in World of Warcraft
When I first started playing World of Warcraft, in late 2004 on the server Azjol-Nerub, I knew the people in the guild my wife introduced me to and that was about it. Via that guild, I eventually met people who brought me to another guild, one that raided fairly heavily. That guild moved to Norgannon, becoming one of its top raiding guilds up until the end of Wrath of the Lich King when it moved servers and factions, and I didn't go along for the ride. I instead moved to Cenarion Circle, then Sisters of Elune. In all of this, my sense of community in the game has always been very heavily guild focused.

This means that when people talk about having developed a sense of server community via pugging Stratholme or Shadow Labyrinth back in the day, they're talking about a game I never played. When I was pugging in early BC, before I started raiding again, I was miserable dealing with non-guildmates who often wouldn't listen, demanded a tank with more AoE than a warrior, refused to CC or refused to do so on the targets I asked, and were otherwise often awful. This isn't to say I didn't have any good pick up groups in those days, but if I wanted to get anything done I often had to wait for guild groups. One of the reasons I heralded the advent of the Dungeon Finder was that instead of bothering my guildies so I could get some runs in, I just queued up. No more "LF Tank and 2 CC for Shattered Halls, Paladin tank preferred" or whatever the flavor of the month is. Not that we were running Shattered Halls anymore by that point, of course.

Continue reading What does community mean in World of Warcraft?

WoW InsiderWhat does community mean in World of Warcraft? originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 16 Nov 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>battletagCross-realmcross-realm-raidingdungeon-finderreal-idServer-CommunityServersMatthew RossiFri, 16 Nov 2012 16:00:00 ESTWorld of Warcraft's top 20 guild nameshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/02/top-20-guild-names/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/02/top-20-guild-names/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/11/02/top-20-guild-names/#commentsFiled under: ,

Top 20 guild names
Based on their database of 230,000 guilds, GuildOx has come up with the top 20 most popular guild names.

Interestingly there are no guild names that really run away with the list -- the most popular guild name only appears 62 times. One would have thought that there would have been names that'd appear hundreds of times, but according to the data that's not the case.

Also noteworthy is that none of the top names are offensive or jokes. This speaks well of the community at large. Here's GuildOx's results:

20. Prime -- 48
19. Requiem -- 49
18. Eclipse -- 50
17. Genesis -- 50
16. Exodus -- 50
15. Asylum -- 51
14. Defiance -- 51
13. Invictus -- 52
12. Relentless -- 52
11. Insidious -- 52

The rest of the list after the break!

Continue reading World of Warcraft's top 20 guild names

WoW InsiderWorld of Warcraft's top 20 guild names originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>guildguild-namesguild-oxguildstop-20-guild-namestop-guild-namesAdam HoliskyFri, 02 Nov 2012 12:00:00 ESTDrama Mamas: Of flirtations and gquitshttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/08/drama-mamas-of-flirtations-and-gquits/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/08/drama-mamas-of-flirtations-and-gquits/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/10/08/drama-mamas-of-flirtations-and-gquits/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Drama Mamas Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are experienced gamers and real-life mamas -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of the checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your realm.

This week's letter writer is busted.
Dear Drama Mamas,

I recently had a bit of a blow-up with a guild I used to be in that's really making me feel kinda crappy about myself...and I'm not really sure if it wasn't my fault.

Okay, so I was a casual member (i.e, not a raider) in a raiding guild with a female GM who has an....admirer, I'll call him B. B is a core raider who flirts openly and rather explicitly at times with GM (also a raider) over guild chat. GM does nothing to encourage it, but nothing to discourage it either, and as far as I know she's already in a relationship, and she and B live in different parts of the country. She added me to Real ID so we chatted and still do from time to time - I have no romantic interest in her whatsoever since I'm already in a relationship.

Continue reading Drama Mamas: Of flirtations and gquits

WoW InsiderDrama Mamas: Of flirtations and gquits originally appeared on WoW Insider on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>advicedramadramatic-gquitfeaturedflirtationgquitguild-adviceguild-dramaplaying-wowpublic-dramawarcraft-advicewow-advicewow-dramawow-drama-guidewow-player-guidewow-q-and-aRobin TorresMon, 08 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST25 man raiding and the tolling of the bellhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/19/25-man-raiding-and-the-tolling-of-the-bell/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/19/25-man-raiding-and-the-tolling-of-the-bell/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/19/25-man-raiding-and-the-tolling-of-the-bell/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

It is time to kill 25 man raiding
I have primarily run in 25 man raiding for the entirety of Cataclysm, and I raided all through Wrath of the Lich King and even Burning Crusade in 25 man raids. 25 man raiding is where I have the most fun. I like it for a variety of reasons. I enjoy having a wider selection of classes and specs available, I generally feel like a larger raid makes a fight feel more dramatic, I dislike how empty some raids feel with a smaller group. To me, a 10 man feels like a UBRS run. These are all personal reasons, I accept that they're not universal. I also wasn't impressed the few times I went into 10 man raids this expansion - the fights always seemed much easier, we blew through bosses we struggled with on 25, clearing 10 with undergeared alts due to the extremely forgiving space mechanics of raids like Firelands and Dragon Soul on 10 man.

So please understand, I am not a partisan of 10 man raiding. I don't like 10 mans. I find that their elevation to the top form of raiding was destructive to the game, to guilds, and to raiding itself. But they are and have been for some time the primary way that people raid. I hate 10 man raids. But the time has come to accept that we have killed the 25 man raid in all but name. It's not a question of should they be removed. They effectively have been removed. You see a lot of debate on what can be done to save the 25 man raid, and the developers have addressed the issue repeatedly in the Reddit AMA and Best Buy Q&A. But you'll notice that they address the issue by acknowledging it and highlighting the issues facing 25 man raids (difficulty of logistics, higher churn rates, higher recruitment needs, difficulty of encounter movement) but that no solutions are forthcoming.

Continue reading 25 man raiding and the tolling of the bell

WoW Insider25 man raiding and the tolling of the bell originally appeared on WoW Insider on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>10-man-raiding25-man-raiding25vs10raidingLockoutsRaid-loucoutsRaid-SizesRaidingMatthew RossiWed, 19 Sep 2012 19:00:00 ESTThe social aspect of WoWhttp://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/14/the-social-aspect-of-wow/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/14/the-social-aspect-of-wow/http://wow.joystiq.com/2012/09/14/the-social-aspect-of-wow/#commentsFiled under: , ,

The social aspect of WoW
I always remember sitting in Shattrath. Sometimes for hours, scrolling through trade, seeing the same messages over and over again. "LF1M Shadow Labyrinth, CC."

Every so often, the discussion comes back to how grouping tools are ruining World of Warcraft's social aspects. The arguments are usually the same, talking about how before the Dungeon Finder people had to have active guilds or set up groups via trade, how the servers had a sense of community, how you have to get out there and put groups together and make friends in order to play WoW, and how that's lost now. And whenever I see this argument, I remember sitting in Shattath, sometimes for hours, trying to get a group for Shadow Labyrinth.

People never really seem to remember those times when they're talking about this. Now, I've made a lot of friends in WoW over the years. Through server x-fers, through tiers of raiding, through old school days of dungeon running. I talk to a lot of these people to this day, and I've raided actively since the days of Molten Core. And yet, when people bemoan the tools that have been added to this game all I can remember is sitting in Shattrath, doing the "LFG Shadow Labyrinth" shuffle, looking at other people also looking for groups. Watching those groups demand that any new DPS have CC (warriors didn't) and that any new tank be an AoE god (warriors weren't) so they didn't have to use that CC they wanted you to have.

Continue reading The social aspect of WoW

WoW InsiderThe social aspect of WoW originally appeared on WoW Insider on Fri, 14 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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]]>Dungeon-FinderRaid-FinderSocial-AspectSocializationSocietyWoW-SocializationMatthew RossiFri, 14 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EST