Free Guild Tabard!

ZOMG!

Can I join your ultra-awesome guild?

I mean, you’re offering a FREE guild tabard, and those are like, what, 60 silver?

Ooooooo!

And you have ONE guild bank tab!

This guild is going places!

…

Seriously.

A guild means different things to different people, hence why there are so many of them.

Some guilds are purely social, maybe with a dash of aid in quests or instances.

Some are “hardcore,” raiding 6 nights a week for 4 hours a night and you will be /gkicked for not bringing your own flasks.

(Although where anyone could find that much content to raid in a week right now I have no idea.)

More guilds are somewhere in between.

And then there are the guilds of desperation.

LFM to join my guild plz!

I envision some 13-year-old kid at the keyboard, just wanting to be at the top of the totem pole for once.

Being a guild master will elevate you to superstardom in WoW!

Too bad your free guild tabard is only going to attract the type of people that are impressed by a free guild tabard.

(As a side note, I see these people destined for dead-end middle-management jobs. A title makes them happy and they think that people thrown together in a situation will make it work, regardless of a lack of positive incentive. When the cool tabard doesn’t work they will be confused and blame it on the employees.)

We see trade chat full of a dozen of these every day.

Sometimes I even see one or two members running around Orgrimmar for a week or so, then they fade, much more quietly than they arrived.

…

To be successful (by which I mean, have longevity and mostly happy members that stick around), a guild has to have an agreed upon purpose.

Even if the purpose is just to hang around Dalaran and gossip – so long as everyone joining knows that’s what the guild is about. Call yourselves the Dalaran Quilting Bee. Knock yourself out. Did you see what she gemmed for? And those shoes? Oh, dear she looks like a tramp. /titter

But what about these fly-by-night guilds?

Most don’t even bother to include in their spam the purpose of the guild.

LFM to join my guild plz!

A few mention that they are a leveling guild but hope to be raiding soon.

We are currently recruiting members of all levels but would prefer level 75+. Will start raiding soon.

Soon? Raiding?

If you’ll excuse me, I need to stop laughing.

Very few people level 75+ want to join what will most likely be a guild of people begging for boost runs.

Will determine raid times after we have more people.

OK, so you find what the majority of people can work into their schedule and the rest are SoL.

What if, as the guild master the majority’s time frame doesn’t fit your own schedule? Do you tell them too bad, so sad it’s your guild so you choose the raid times? In which case, why didn’t you just announce the acceptable raid times from the start and avoid all the anger and disappointment.

…

Most of my characters are unguilded.

I have my main in Shadow Rising. It’s a medium-core raiding guild.

I have 2 in bank guilds all by their lonesome. Think I have 10 bank tabs between them. I’m such a packrat.

I have one in our old guild we made when we started all our characters together before we merged. He’s just a placeholder there. I don’t really play him that often.

On another server I have a character in a purely social guild.

Each of the guilds I am in serves a different purpose.

I raid on my main, and enjoy the company.

My bank guilds store my stuff.

The social guild is just to have people to chat to, especially since it’s my only character on that server. I iz all alone and ascurred there.

But my unguilded characters do just fine.

Some I am open about and friends know who they are. I’m just a friends list away from a conversation.

Others I’m more secretive about. Sometimes the people we like and love best are the ones that drive us the craziest.

(And let’s face it, sometimes I’m not always in a good mood and don’t feel like playing nice. With friends I might feel inclined to apologize for telling them to fuck off and that sort of contradicts the reason why I probably told them to fuck off in the first place.)

…

Before starting or joining a guild, think about what you want from the guild experience.

It’s OK for those wants to change or even be different from character to character.

But be honest. Do you want to chat? Do you want to raid? What times are you available? Do you want boost runs or are you willing to give boost runs?

Do you know how to fucking spell the word “recruit?” And all the other words in your ad?

(I don’t think we should notify people that spell things wrong in their ads. It’s really a form of advertising in its own way. Or a warning.)

[lame guild name] is now recurting its OK if u dont hav gaer we will gear u up pst me for mor info

All the tabards (cool looking, of course), Vent, and bank tabs in the world cannot make up for a lack of purpose and like-mindedness.

Random people put in the same chat channel with no direction will soon devolve into a situation much akin to herding kittens.

(Hell, getting 25 people in a raid with a common purpose often turns into kitten ranching. And you’re only planning on being with those people for 4-5 hours, maximum.)

Both sides should think about what they are offering to the community, what they want from it, and what is acceptable parameters for that to fall within.

…

Maybe I’m asking too much. Maybe I have more self confidence than the average WoW player. Or maybe more self worth.

I don’t understand the desperation, the *need* to be in a guild, any guild, the first guild that will take me.

Is there a stigma against being unguilded, even at the low levels?

Likewise, I don’t get the need to head a guild of random individuals selected only on their willingness to sign a guild charter.

When I was offered the chance to lead a guild, I ultimately decided against it. I’m not ready for that type of responsibility at this point in time.

I know there are unguilded individuals on my server that are that way because no decent guild will take them, but every server has a few asshats like that and you learn who they are. I know of more asshats that are in guilds than are not and I know of some very good players that have no guild affiliation, so it can’t be used as that precise of a barometer.

Getting into a good guild, one that is recognized as upstanding by your server, can be an accomplishment. There is also probably an application process and initiation period where it’s determined if you are a good match for the guild.

Getting into a bad guild can tarnish your name for at least as long as you sport the tag.

Why then is there such a steady stream of garbage guilds being created?

I foresee this getting worse in Cataclysm with the introduction of the guild levels.

Perhaps Blizzard needs to raise the price on purchasing the guild charter?

Set some sort of standards for creating a guild? Have to have a level 80 on the server/faction sort of thing. Well, maybe 60 so as not to completely screw the people that want to run classic guilds.

Or you know what would be really awesome? Do away with the guild recruitment channel, no one uses it.

Have a “billboard” at the guild registry building in the major cities. Allow guildmasters or charter holders to post small advertisements. Have it set up like a form with the guild name, check boxes for type of guild (social, leveling, raiding, other), selections for main day and times of activity and enough space for a couple sentences, perhaps some selections for what classes in particular they are recruiting for. Maybe charge a small fee to post and have the posts fade after a week or so.

People that want to join a guild could browse by guild type and matching times. Guilds being created (and using this service) would have to have a clue about what they hope to accomplish.

…

Guilds are a good thing.

But even a good thing can be ruined.

…

This has been a public service post from the Quit Spamming Trade Chat with your Stupid Guild Advertisement Council.