About Guilds, What's your story behind them ?

delete5230

I'm a total social person in mmorpg's.  For me it's ALL ABOUT playing with others and getting involved. 
I'm an "Adventurer" and a "Dungeon crawler" 

However reliance on Guilds are mixed.  Advantages and disadvantages for this style of play. 

I hate to sound selfish but Guilds often slow me down.  Often, not all the time but often, when I log in I'll have a goal that I would like to achieve.  Even during a long-dedicated-play-session I'll have an "action plan" that more than likely will not coincide with my Guild. 

In order to execute this "action plan" at the time I log in, I can't expect others to play at my whim.  I could ask, but realistically how could I find five like minded players to fulfill my strategy.  



Important: 
Mid-game.  Even with a large Guild, say 50 players, I'm level 25.... Just how many players =/- 3 levels could I expect to be around my level ?... 4 maybe ?...… Sadly this is always the case, can't find enough.  When you ask your guild for participation, and as nice as they are, you run the risk of volunteers of the wrong class... It sucks when you have to tell someone no.  



To fulfill my needs as an "Adventure",  I seem to have to use the world as my Guild.  Now this may sound selfish, but really it's not

I'll explain:  
Because of limited Guild participants in all Guilds at any certain level.... Many "open world players" are left alone searching for opportunities.  HUGE AMOUNTS, in every mmorpg's I've played.  Reliance on Guilds often have a negative effect on many.  Players wind up being alone. 

I can both use this to my advantage and help others. HUGE AMOUNTS of players forever searching !  

I work off a Friends list: 
-I add players as I find adventurers, 
-Often I'll call upon them or they call upon me.  
-I'll have such a large friends list, it's actually is a Guild in itself.  
-In no time at all I can fill any group easily. 

" It's amazing how many people are willing "  

I do love Guilds and people, 
I'm very compassionate to the small guy left in the cold

delete5230

Manipulate is a bad word, I hate using it BUT I always seem to have a great imagination for finding adventures.  I love to take people along, everyone always seems willing.  

Often, my friends list people will take me to places I haven't remotely thought of myself.  You never know when you'll get that /tell.  



Years ago, Playing Vanilla Dungeons and Dragons, they had a built in message board that you could select your dungeon and place a note.  No one would ever "place a note"  

Well I always did, with a friendly long explanation of my intentions.  It was always a welcome gesture and made people feel more comfortable in what they were getting into. 

My point: 
Use available resources, as simple as they seem, they could have a huge impact !!  

Wellspring

I think I'm the same way as you. 

In the several EQ1 progression servers I've played in recent years, I only really relied on my guild for raiding. 

While leveing, I mostly created my own PUGs and made friends that way. I added the players I liked to my friends list and then used that as a resource to fill groups, before searching in LFG. 

As as I got into the higher levels, I pretty much learned all the other people who like to PUG and the guilds they were in.

Later, when it came time to start raiding, if my guild was a dud, I had friends scattered throughout the other guilds on the server. They could tell me what their guild's raid experiences have been like and would vouche for me if I decided to join theirs. 

Zindaihas

Guilds serve an important function.  They are the best way to get the top-tier gear that you desperately want your character to have.  The trade-off is that you have to commit a large portion of your time to that guild.  If it's a good guild, the commitment is well worth it.  If it's a not so good guild, your gameplay is going to be labor intensive and not much fun.

I tend to stay away from guilds until I reach the upper levels since I can usually accomplish what I need to at the lower levels without being in a guild.  It also gives me time to discover which guilds are good and which ones are not.

In EQ1 on my server, there was this one guild that seemed pretty cool in that they were a small tight-knit group of elite players that intentionally kept their number fixed at no more than about 20 people.  That way they all got to know each other really well and they could raid quickly without having to wait around for stragglers.  That would be the best way to go imo.