Posts with tag leaving-guilds

Many of the letters the Drama Mamas receive are from players who don't actually have a problem they need or want to solve; they're simply seeking support and permission to move on. Boy, is it tough to let go! People naturally feel trepidation about leaving a known environment, even when it's the very thing making them unhappy. We cling to the familiar, losing sight of the fact that if we change nothing, nothing changes.

Sometimes, though, the best thing to do is to calmly pick up, dust off, and move on. While the columns we've linked below don't necessarily represent times the Drama Mamas thought moving on was the best or only solution, they do illustrate the tangle of denial many players find themselves in over circumstances that are right there in black and white.

You know it's time to move on when ...

1. Your guild condones or even promotes public drama.
2. Your guild has no firm rules.
3. You're expending emotional energy to tolerate an atmosphere that doesn't fit what you want from a guild.
4. You've made it a rule to refuse to group or speak with a guildmate who plays with you frequently.
5. You don't actually play with the people in your guild -- and you're lonely.

I have no hard data, but my guess is that guild hopping has greatly decreased since the advent of guild reputation and perks. If you're going to leave a max-level guild that you are at least friendly with, you usually have a really good reason. In fact, I think many people stay in guilds far too long just because of the time investment in gathering reputation.

But guild levels haven't always been around, and many people who played before Cataclysm guild hopped. I've never been one for bopping from guild to guild. I like to get comfy in a guild and stick with it. Taking time to properly choose your guild helps, but sometimes guilds devolve into places you don't want to be. I've been rather lucky. Of course, the WoW Insider family of guilds is my main home, and it's a rather wonderful place to be.

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.

The most popular question we get goes something like this: "X is happening in my guild, but I really like the rest of my guildmates. Should I leave?" We've covered this many times throughout the history of this column, but things changed quite a bit once Guild Rewards were introduced in Cataclysm. Also, we're now going through one of those pre-patch/expansion slumps (though the excitement from BlizzCon may rejuvenate interest for a bit).

So this week is an update of our guild leaving advice -- both when to leave and how.

New around here? We've got your back! See all our collected tips, tricks and how-to's for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide.

Guilds are in the news a lot recently. Not only are we talking about upcoming changes in Cataclysm, we're also talking about all the guild hopping and dissolving that goes on just before an expansion. So, this week, we're going to cover everything about guilds.

How to create a guild

If you want to create your own guild, you'll need some cash and friends (whom you may have to pay for). Here are the minimum steps you need to take to create a guild:

1. Go to a Guild Master. They are located in all capital cities. Just ask a guard for directions.
2. Purchase a Guild Charter. Ask about creating a guild and then choose the purchase option. You need 10 silver and a name.
3. Get 9 signatures. They can't be a bunch of alts from a couple of people. The signatures are by account. If you don't have 9 other people to help you form your guild, then you can recruit strangers. But strangers often expect around 10 gold for a signature.
4. Tip: Ask before throwing a Guild Charter in someone's face. Just because people are unguilded, does not mean they want to sign your charter. Ask politely in a whisper and wait for them to be ready. If they are at the mailbox or auction house, your slapping a charter in their face will kick them out of whatever they are doing. Someone who may have been willing to sign your charter for free, may refuse to sign if you don't ask first.
5. Register your Guild Charter. Return to the Guild Master and register your charter. Poof! You now have a guildname under your name.