Joing a Guild - lesson for Newbies

For all you newbies out there, joining a guild can be an exciting event that conjures up visions of adventure and camaraderie. For the most part this can be true resulting in a rewarding and rich gaming experience. However, joining a guild is something you should not consider lightly: It is a privilege and a responsibility requiring commitment and dedication.

I am alarmed at the number of startup guilds in GW with their creators running around all the districts shouting "Who wants to join a guild?" or sending you annoying unsolicited guild initiations! Then there are the inevitable "Hey how do you quit a guild" shouts - which I find rather amusing.

Bottom line, only a fool would join a guild without first doing some research on it.

Here is what not to do:

- Don’t join a guild because you think it’s a cool think to do
- Don’t join a guild because you think the name is cool
- Don’t join a guild because you think you will get all kinds of free stuff


Here is what to do:

- Ask if the guild has a web site (all established and credible gaming guilds will)
- Visit the web site and review the guilds history and mission statement
- Visit a guild’s forums and look for activity and post questions
- Hang out and adventure with guild members first to get acquainted with the guild

Once you have done your homework and researched a guild, you will be in a better position to make an informed decision, one that hopefully you will be happy with.

well....that was completely unneccesary if I do say so myself. But whatever floats your boat.

Thanks for the unneccesasary negative contribution to this post.

...

Alot of new members prefer to join fun guilds with no obligations.

My guild I plan to get into PvP and recurit only the best. However, I have to get started don't I? Easiest way is to recruit noobies.

Well that was a completely uneccesary comment

You may not need to research a guild to the extent as suggested above but the point is don't randomly join a guild and expect good things to follow. Also i would like to point out that this game is a ton more fun with a guild.

You're right, my comment was unneccesary...

Anyway. I don't really care about the uber-super-mega-awesome website a guild i would join might have. Thats not important to me. These guidelines are really stupid because thats what you think someone should look for in a guild, not what me or the everyday person wants in a guild. I made a guild because I wanted one for my friends and I to be in, not one that is jam-packed with people who think they are god-almighty.

You make it sound like I'm the presidents bodyguard, not a casual gamer who wants to have fun on the weekend. I mean if it was what i have quoted you as saying then it wouldnt cost 100g to make one and you'd have to comeplete some ultra-hard training mission. The game isnt called guild wars so only those with websites can have guilds.

Wrong. Not every guild have members that think that it's more fun to make website than to play game. But forum is a must have in most cases.

Great rules of thumb.

Only problem Ive had trying to use my other guilds i belong to as a foothold into a game. it just never picks up steam.

The website. Yes they are nice. But the most fancy website around doesnt make the guild. For my new guild I set up a temporary forum on my cimputer tech site untill i decide to build a new site.


Too bad these guilds make it hard to be a new guild starting out lol.

Normally I do all those things, you know, do my homework before I join a guild. But I figured it wasn't permanent, so I responded to someone saying their guild was looking for members. Turned out to be a great bunch of guys, and I'm having a great time playing with them. Just know that there are exceptions to your rules.

With the integrated support for guilds, and the low setup cost it is inevitable that lots of people will start guilds just for the hell of it. As to what to do when thinking of joining a guild, it all depends on what you're looking for.
If you think it's cool to be in a guild, or you want a cool guild name on the end of your name, or want an interesting looking cape, then by all means, join a guild that provides for those needs.
If you want to join a very serious guild that has been around for years and has continued from one game to the next then yes, you should do some research as the original poster said.

Well besides having a cool Guild Tag. [PvP]. (Hey I like it). Yeah i would defiantly say there are exections.

FUnny ive been playing so much i havent gotten any website open at all lol.

Well under your what to do list you talk about a web site, im sorry but you do not need a website, or forums for a guild or a mission statement, this is a game not a buisness, the point is to have fun, And you can do this without, forums, websites, or mission statements.

My Guild is simple No Jerks, have fun. See its that simple, and no we just dont say join Sexy although we do have the coolest name in the game, but we invite you into the guild. So for the last several years we have had no need for websites, forums, mission statements blah, blah, blah.

the point I am making is what you posted is not a What to do list and what not to do list, it is what you THINK someone should do.

Dont take this as a flame as it is not meant to be, it is merly pointing out the flaws in the post.

Actually I don't think he was telling anyone what to do. It seems more like he was making this post to offer his suggestions for anyone who might be looking for some.

There is nothing wrong with making informed decisions based upon digging up a little information. It isn't like it is a lot of work to check a few guild links and do a little research on a guild you think you might fit in well with.

If it really isn't a big deal to you, then it doesn't matter anyway but I don't think that his post deserves to be dragged through the mud for it. Even if you don't think it is, a guild is a committment. By joining a guild, you are saying "I want to game with these people." If that statement is untrue or uncertain then there was no point in you joining.

Thanks for your ideas Skult... really! Although everyone may not agree to them and think other methods are very useful it is good to know that someone was willing to put up his ideas on what you MAY or MAY NOT want to do before joining a guild.

I don't completely agree with all of them but, as Method stated, he doesn't deserve to be flamed for voicing his opinion. As the saying goes... "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all!"

I disagree with the website bit too. Case in point: My guild does NOT have a website. But we're still a good bunch of players, and we've never had anyone leave due to a shoddiness in the Guild. Instead of (or in addition to) asking for a web site, I recommend asking the person how many members their guild has, how long it's been around, and why it was formed. These questions should provide better insight in to the guild.

Thank you Method.

It is not my intention to tell people what to do but rather I am offering advise to newbies who are all excited about joining a guild and before they take the plunge, they should know what they are getting into.

We obviously have different options and perhaps I am bias as I do have a Web design background so I think it is a good idea to have a web site but more importantly, I belonged to and was Guild leader of one of Everquest's longest running PvP All Troll Guild on the TZ server (over Three years) so I think I know what I am talking about.

Either myself or my predecessors would never run around shouting "who wants to join my guild". We wanted to be sure that whoever joined shared similar interests and would be a positive addition to the guild and not some moron - so a screening process for members is equally important as the guild screening process.

Bottom line: Make informed decisions and you will have less regrets later. And a web site is real helpful and beneficial recruitment tool!

I never implied that. I am merely stating that a guild with a web site has a history and content to research which can be helpful in the decision making process.

Great that you made a guild for you and your friends, so then you are not one of those annoying people running shouting "Who wants to join my guild" none stop for hours...

Well, I think you have a point Skult, a very valid one actually. I think your ideas are well thought out, but I'm not sure if I'd target them at newbies since the average "new" player to an mmorpg probably needs to learn how to play before they can get into the more serious guilds, and some times the only place to learn to play is an open guild. That said I think it's great advice for people trying to avoid the fly-by-night guilds that will only last for a few weeks.

Personally I think the "Join my Guild" shouts are pretty harmless, and in some instances you pretty much have to do that to start building a guild. From my experience most of these guilds drop pretty quickly after launch as the game settles in, and the ones that don't usually turn out to be pretty good guilds. So I think it's just something we have to wait out, for better or worse.

And yeah, a web site is always nice, especially the forums, but I wouldn't consider it the most important thing for a brand new guild, although most long standing guilds have them. Mission statement though I'm not sure about. It may be good for some people but I personally don't want to turn my guild into a business, as in the end it's all for fun.

Fair enough.

I am just attempting to share my experience with players new to the Guild concept.

I am glad you have streamlined your membership criteria down to just "No Jerks", but tell me, how do you know unless you have adventured with that player for awhile or gotten good feedback from other guild members. There is just no way to know for sure the head space of the individual behind the name but spending some time online together and not blindly recruiting will ultimately help the quality of your roster.

Having a web site does not imply that it is a business. I have designed many family oriented web sites from weddings to baby showers and these are not business oriented. A web site on this level is merely a conduit for information. And it can be lots of fun especially if you or any of your members are into creative writing; this is where you can establish the lore and background of the members for a true RPG experience.

Answer me this, which would you be more inclined to react to: "Hey who wants to join a cool guild" or " Knights of the Shinning Sword is accepting members, visit kotss.com for more info" ...