Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Wanting to form THAT guild, just some thoughts, my first post here.
Yualae
Member Posts: 11
Hey there everyone, first and foremost, I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read this rather exaggerated post I’m going to make. I’m not new to the MMORPG scene, i’ve been there, i’ve done that, as I’m sure most of you guys have too, nor do I claim to know everything etc. Why am I mentioning this? Well, I just feel like you can relate to what I’m about to talk about.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You get the new MMORPG, it’s pretty awesome, or maybe you’re just jumping into a game, there’s been alliances formed, fun moments had, all of that stuff, you can’t help not being a part of it, you just jumped into the world right? You want to look for a guild to take you in, help you learn the ropes and whatnot, cool, cool, there’s tons of guilds that would be more than happy to take you in and help you out.
[---> Insert personal experience / bias / observation <--]
After a while, you start to notice that you just kind of.. exist there, it’s been a while since you’ve joined and you know everyone, you know the essentials, and to some extent the more advanced mechanics of the game. You’re grateful for all that your guild has done for you and you think you’re ready to spread your wings and start a guild of your own possibly with some good friends that you met along the grind, you’re determined this is going to be the greatest freakin’ guild there’s ever been!
Guild’s started, things are great, spirits are high, things go well for a while, you recruit people, you do the best you can with the support of your friends and others, but time passes and people begin to lose interest with, some may feel that the guild isn't suited to their tastes, which is fair in all counts, some may want a more hardcore guild, some may want a more lax guild or maybe a more tightly knit guild.
Your dream of being one of the most well-known guilds in the game sort of went down the crapper, for the time being at least. What went wrong? What could have been improved? It’s not really a destination, but more of a rocky journey that will require somewhat committed folk that want to put in the time and effort to get that raid gear no one else has, to be that guild that represents your country in that big tourney, to be THAT guild.
I’m not claiming to know everything and a lot of this is my personal experience and opinion, and to be frank, my own dream, and I’m also aware there’s no perfect formula for these things, but I’m just wondering if maybe it would be smart to reach out across the forum, spreading my thoughts on guilds, maybe finding people who share the same thoughts, and maybe finding some awesome folks to form up and make that guild with. One of those guilds that were a huge presence in vanilla, not necessarily that guild with 1,000+ members where people might feel like they’re just a number, but maybe a smaller guild that’s known everyone since like, forever. (All that bias, wherps.)
All of that possibly irrelevant information leads me to this, question:
Would anyone care to form a guild, one that strives at being that guild, while not having all of that favoritism crap or slave-master-perfectionism / elitism air lingering around? It doesn’t have to be for a pre-existing game, and in fact, I was thinking ahead for some of the newer titles that are coming out sometime during 2014, or something.
Anyway, that was just something I’ve been wanting to do for quite some time. I’ve been on and off of the forums for quite some time, and have decided to somewhat stick around for a bit, this is actually my first and probably not my last post of 2013! (I probably should have waited until the 31st, but oh well)
Thanks for reading and having me on the forums!
The silent voice within one's heart whispers the most profound wisdom.
Comments
Goodness! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize that it might have that effect. @_@! And thank you very much, glad to be here!
The silent voice within one's heart whispers the most profound wisdom.
Very much appreciated!
The silent voice within one's heart whispers the most profound wisdom.
Well I think you have described rather concisely, the guild experience in a nutshell. That is pretty much how it goes for probably 75% of the guilds out there.
I gather from your post you are seeking the ingredient that makes a guild better than the rest. Its pretty simple in my mind. First and foremost, to be the best guild, you have to have the top players. Basically this means if it is your guild, you have to be one of the top players in the game. In doing so you will no doubt attract others with the same goals. Following that, as your exploits gain attention, you can later pad the ranks with the wannabe's that simply want to bask in the glory of being in the guild with the best players.
I always wonder myself why people in a perfectly good guild always think at some point, hmmmm.... I wish I had my own guild! And then of course off they go. Why not just join the best guild in the game to start with? You mention that you just felt unimportant and that is the impetus for you to leave and create your own guild. Wouldn't it be better to just work your way up until you are an important member of the guild? You ask why it is hard to get a good guild and yet you give a very good example of why. People don't commit.
So that is my suggestion. A good guild has good players. And the best player should be the one running the guild. If that is not you, move over and let someone else do it.
FFA Nonconsentual Full Loot PvP ...You know you want it!!
I will have to disagree with you on quite a few points, In quite a few cases i've seen these Top Guilds without the best players. To be a top guild doesn't mean to be the best in regards to taking on content or being the "best" at your class/game. There are many ways to be a Top Guild; be it content based progression, social guild, PvP, and many other choices that can vary based on what the game itself has to offer. Where yes based on what this guild seems to specialize in and once well known it can attract in the newer or less experienced players(these Wannabe's as you called them). Yes they may just want to say they are in a top guild, but a good number of them also wish to learn how to play properly and what better way to do so then to learn from more experienced players.(Considering the internet can only tell you so much)
By no means is this correct. Where yes sometimes the "Best Player" in the guild can have the leadership qualities that are somewhat needed to run a organized and established guild(even more so once it starts getting on in numbers) that is not always the case. The leader, usually the one who founded the guild, has shown by forming the guild at least some of that quality. Someone could be a complete klutz at playing the game yet have astounding leadership and organization skills. If they fit the bill let them, everyone has their own Pro's and Con's, don't assume that just because someone is good at one thing that they are also good at another.
This falls under my personal opinion, same as yours.
My experiences tell me that in order to have "that" guild you have to make a decision on what your guild is going to be about from the very first step to the very last and just about everywhere in between. Just saying that you are considering going into one of the newer games isn't enough, you have to focus on first getting the most like-minded individuals you can find into the same place and then you have to manage them properly so that half of them don't immediately begin plotting your demise as the guild leader.
One thing I have noticed, as demonstrated by one of the earlier posts, is that there is always going to be a guy that thinks, because he or someone he knows is the better player then they should be the leader of the guild. Going along with the person who responded though, I do not agree with that. I believe that a guild based on player ability alone can only rise to the level of interest that said player with "skillz" is willing to put into it and once that person burns out, and they will burn out, all the back-riders who had been floating through on that individuals actions and decisions will jump ship and run to the next available back that they can jump on.
That then is not the way I believe "THAT" guild is constructed. Make no mistake, it is a great way to make a guild and have some fun for about 6 months to a year, I just believe that it takes a little bit sicker of an individual to stick in there for the long haul and that individual will have more going for them in the area of megalomaniacal greed rather than in play ability.
So steps one, two and three.
1. Be a megalomaniac who is solely into running this thing for the purpose of being an all powerful, omnipotent, lord of men.
2. Pick a goal to conquer.
3. Surround yourself with like-minded individuals who share in interest in conquering that specific goal.
Do these things and skilled players will come because skilled players really just want a place to go where their skills can be appreciated and more importantly accented.
Here is where what dude said earlier works in reverse.
If, after following steps 1-3 and allowing the fourth thing occur, and I know from what you said that you are against this but I sincerely believe that this has to be done, you are going to have to pick a champion and defer to said champion in matters of getting things done that you yourself may not have the skills, or time, to accomplish.
I mean really, who really has the time to be good at a game, make a website, keep that going, be social, and respond to the multiple freaking tells that you will get every time you log in a known character too.
I've seen way less send the average guy running and screaming to an alt or even worse, out of the game entirely.
Part of being a good leader then is being able to delegate tasks to responsible parties. Another part of being a good leader will be being able to pick responsible parties that you can delegate tasks to. As things get bigger and bigger, ultimately you will find yourself picking parties responsible enough to pick lesser parties through which you can pass your mandates.
And once that is happening, you are beast. You will now have people standing in line to ride your jock and even a few that will be willing to compete for those precious spots of responsibility.
Once all of this is in place you only have the game and your decisions on which direction to take in said game to rely on for the longevity of your guild, longevity being the key.
Again, in my experiences "THAT" guild is not usually the biggest guild on the server at the beginning of the game but more the most advanced or funnest guild on the server at the end or at least once the wave subsides.
Sure, there are going to be guilds that come in, grow to be huge, do all kinds of stuff, veritably "BEAT" the game and then dissipate, but only the guilds that can survive through the lulls, through the patches, through the expansions are going to be the ones that can eventually earn the title of "THAT" guild.
What you want to try to build is a core group of friends that really do like playing the game that you are playing and genuinely enjoy hanging out with one another and then accent that core with random entertainment to be found in the hangers on, the attention whores, the attitudies, and the wanna-be's.
Once you can do something like that then you might be able to take said guild from game to game and formulate a name for yourself that people, upon seeing it, will recognize and say, "Hey, I remember those guys! Crazy that they are still around!"
And once you can manage to get someone saying something like that, you will then have "THAT" guild.
That's a long and arduous road though dude, and like I said in the beginning, if you really don't have the stones for it, you might just want to take the other dudes advice and go join a good guild and try to stick with that.
Here's a good place to start.
The Syndicate
Within a place like this you can be both leader and follower and learn from people with years of guilding experience alongside others, like yourself, who are just getting their "THAT" guild feet wet.
But you gotta get in first. See how that works?
So...
I have actually made THAT guild in an mmo before.
I think a lot of people just plain have it wrong.
So, I did not start out to make THAT guild or any guild at all actually. I was in another guild that disbanded when I was a noob in that game. I was actually a very casual player in that game, and made a couple of freinds along the way who were also "noob" players like me.
I made 4-5 of the friends who had a couple other freinds that I met. Neither of them were in a guild and kept telling me "you should start a guild" over and over untill I finally started one.
Thing is. . .NOBODY tried recruiting anyone, I didn't care at all about it, I just played with my freinds, learned teh game and got stronger.
This is actually the first step and the most important one:
Making your core.
We got on ventrillo, and just hung out while we were playing having fun, laughing, and joking. that is what made us better friends in game. That's really important.
Make your core strong.
Eventually we actually learned a lot of the game, and started making ourselves really really strong, Since it was one of the open world PvP games, when a couple of us PKed someone that was being a jerk, we got known more and more.
ALSO, we had a few people who were "paying it forward" Pretty much, we helped each other out, and they in turn, helped other players who needed it.
Eventually, because the core was relatively strong character wise, people began to come to US, I rarely recruited anyone, unless they asked me. Even then I wasn't realyl that helpful, other than semi-afk tanking higher leveled mobs while the new playres hit them for more exp. . .(I was doing my college homework) I was on vent though chilling as usual whie I was doing this, but other than that I really . . .didn't do much at all.
All of a sudden we found ourselves growing to be a medium sized guild, to a larger guild. . .untill eventually one of the "Top" guilds contacted me about an alliance for a guild war. We went to guild war and won it narrowly beating out the #1 guild in that server who all outleveld and outgeared us by far. . .but half didn't show up because "they were the best" and didn't think a zerg army of noobs and a few decently strong players could beat them, and kept on winning. Our guild name was pretty much plastered all over the server every weekend. Of course this made our guild grow more and more, with people falling over themselves to join us. By that time, the Core members were Decked out in some of the best gear on the server which brought even more and more people to us as they saw our gear and were like "omgwtf" eventually we had over 350 people in that guild, with guilds of players living in the philipines who really took guild war seriously(we heard them cheering in their net cafe over ventrillo) a guild from England who had a guy that use to play his guitar and sing blues on vent!(lol) it was just really really fun.
I eventually quit that game due to work/school/and stupid politics with once former enemy guilds starting drama and the game starting not being fun after that(teh dev went extreme on the P2W function), but we pretty much ruled that particular server for about 7-8 months.
I think the most important factor in creating THAT guild is. . .
Don't TRY to create "THAT GUILD" focus on finding a few good freinds to play with, and have fun with, get on voice chat, make your characters strong together, and let people join up with you. Also I learned very quickly, that you're going ot have to let members do whatever they want to do, to hell with your "image" in the server, you're not here to look good, you're there to have fun. You can have fun being everyone's mother, you just have to have fun and let people do what they want to do. AND have teh balls to ignore when people start bitching to you about it.
This also means that if members do something stupid, and they get in trouble with other people for it, and no one is availble to bail them out, you just have to let them deal with the consequences. That is the hardest part to deal with once your guild gets large. But once you figure it out, its not that hard, just let people be who they want to be.
I played other games when I was IN "That guild" and that is what pretty much happaned, a bunch of freidns getting togther ,having fun, and gettign strong.
I have ALSO played in a guild that was trying to BE "that guild". . .this usually fails misrably, as they were tring to be all super hardcore and beat anothe rguild, and usually end up imploding on themselves, as those people focus more on "beating the top guild" rather than. . .
Playing the game and having fun.
Usually when you do the latter, you become THAT guild, or very close to it.
So if youu REALLY want to make "THAT guild" - Stop trying so hard:
-Find a decent group of freinds,
-get on voice chat,
-don't try to recruit all hardcore, instead work on making yourself and your freinds strong, and let people come to you.
-when your guild grows large, let people be themselves and keep if fun.
That's really it. . .if you try to be all "hardcore" about it, you'll usually fail.
P.S.(My screen name is not who I actually was, I actaully took it off of someone else who came before me in the game and thoguht the name was cool. haha.)
When it happens. It's a little bit necessity and a little bit opportunity that brings it together. It's like with youtube. You can't predict viral. It just happens. You don't try to do it. You probably don't realize your impact until years later even. One day a few of you and your friends are standing around and decide to commit to something simple. And, then 12 years later (long after you have disbanded) no one knows who you are. That's the hard part. Where do you go from being at the top? When your so far removed from your prime that you can wear a unique item that marks you as practically legendary around all day and no one even knows what it is or cares.
...At the end of the day no matter what you do or have done, you are just another player. So, just enjoy being just another player. Because it won't matter 10+ years from now either way. Accept to you. If you enjoyed it while it lasted.
I like this. . .
except I don't really think it's hard when its all over, more like relieved haha. Things like these usually end for a reason, usually it just gets too big and too stressful, or the game devs of the game screw up royally and another better game comes out, or a mixture of both (I went to guild wars 1 when it came out from the previous game. . .it was glorius) Thing is, I never really tried, and I definately don't try now lol. . .I actually just focus being a regular member in a guild that does what I like.. . .or just remina guild less and have a few freinds on my friendlist to do stuff with. It's cool once you're at "the top" but I think (unless you're getting paid lots of money for it) that after you've done that, its like like. . ."yeah. . .I'd just rather play the game again now "