Swiftwind's Blog

As a I rule I've played solo... give me good stack of weapons and a root beer and I'm good! Honestly, I don't have anything against guilds, and I've hear of some great one that are supportive and do some great fun things... Problem is I've never been in one of then. In the Three MMO's that I've seriously played over the last four years I've yet to be in one guild that wasn't primarily about supporting high level players. That really drives me nuts... I never, either for a quest or when got myself stuck in some sticky situation, ever had one request for help answered... but damed if I wouldn't catch hell for not forking over my “tribute” to the guild bank or for not helping elder “so-and-so” to level up his alt after several weeks of them either ignoring me, or being “too busy” to help me out. *sigh* yoda's voice: relax... fear, anger these are the path toward the darkside.

With some guilds it's all about ego I think... We all need a little of it, but ego is like the dark side of the force... it's easier more seductive. It gets to be all about the “elder” or “in” group... they solicit new members to keep themselves alive but don't welcome them into the fold. I understand you can't give the keys to the kingdom to the new guy until he's earned them, but there's got to be some encouragement, support and inclusion... I've been in guilds that no matter how long your a member, or how much you contribute, you're always going to be the “outsider” or considered a “peasant.”   These guilds tend to be top heavy and when the “major” members leave they either disband the guild, even if there are 150 other members, or leave it to implode... I've been in more then one of these.

My last serious guild imploded after the NGE:

• November 13, 2005 – Guild Alive,well, very active. Got yelled at for not chatting with guild while online.
• November 14, 2005 – Guild Message: “Nobody panic yet, the elders are looking into the situation”,
• November 15, 2005 – Wave of emails notifications that most elders members have left the guild
• November 16, 2005 – Guild chat is dead, no responses to ingame mail.

The guild was entirely ego driven and when the top guys left all they're minions followed, leaving 70+ “new members” stranded and confused. What happened? Was this a glitch? What about us? I waited weeks to see if it picked up again... but guild mail went unanswered, and chat channel stayed quiet, and just as quietly I left.

I generally like newbies... as long as they act like they're older then 8, are relatively polite, and not incessantly needy or “Trash Talking Elmo's”, but Newbie guilds are something else. I feel bad about not excepting invites, but most of the newbie guilds I've joined to “help them out” usually end up folding within a week or two because of a lack of planning, no focus, short attention spans, or ego spats. Sometimes they start out with really noble intentions but die soon after birth or get quickly pulled down into the gutter.

Someday, once I max out a character and if I find like minded players, I'd love to form a “Schooling” guild... in EQOA, I often joke about starting a “Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry” guild for new magic players... take them up through a a quarter to a half of the levels, show then the ropes. Invite them to stay on as “teachers.” Hold “classes”, have “Field trips”, hand out “rewards”

I guess what I'm missing is the sense of community that I always hear about in MMO's. Blind Guild invites are like junk mail, most of what comes to you or the “current residence” is just crap. Occasionally something legit comes in among them, but because my internal “spam filtering” cuts them out, I miss them. Maybe I should “Shop” for a guild, rather then hope a good one stumbles upon me as I'm exiting a starport.