Guild Wars 2, The Guild Drama

[barackopala]

quick, behind the curtain!

It's in the oven!

[Matheren]

One reason why I hate the whole guilded-account concept. I wish you at least had a choice of character or account.

[Manhands]

In leading guilds, I often catch myself trying to make rules with the purpose of creating loyalty or improving attendance. This approach is extremely polarizing:

• Some people eat up the idea that big brother is watching, since they can earn kudos from those in charge by following the rules.
• Other people absolutely hate the idea of being told what to do.

It's a risk to create the kind of guild rules we're discussing, as they weed out the 2nd kind of people mentioned above.

In my experience with being GM (3+ years), rules are *not* the way to go. Some of the best (and most enjoyable) players are those that hate rules. Make the people who love rules have a function in the guild (officer...guild quartermaster...gbank organizer...whatever). Focus your time, not on making rules, but on making each raid or BG or whatever as enjoyable as possible. If people are enjoying themselves, the loyalty and attendance will follow naturally...for both people who love rules and those who hate them.

Side note: I can't help but think of 'real world' examples. Take corporations. Think of the rules they require of their employees. Why is that? Is it because people will take advantage of the system if they don't? Do rules increase productivity? Or are corporations full of the people who like earning kudos?

I wish someone with a sociology background would weigh-in.

[DrakeWurrum]

In leading guilds, I often catch myself trying to make rules with the purpose of creating loyalty or improving attendance. This approach is extremely polarizing:

• Some people eat up the idea that big brother is watching, since they can earn kudos from those in charge by following the rules.
• Other people absolutely hate the idea of being told what to do.

It's a risk to create the kind of guild rules we're discussing, as they weed out the 2nd kind of people mentioned above.

In my experience with being GM (3+ years), rules are *not* the way to go. Some of the best (and most enjoyable) players are those that hate rules. Make the people who love rules have a function in the guild (officer...guild quartermaster...gbank organizer...whatever). Focus your time, not on making rules, but on making each raid or BG or whatever as enjoyable as possible. If people are enjoying themselves, the loyalty and attendance will follow naturally...for both people who love rules and those who hate them.

Side note: I can't help but think of 'real world' examples. Take corporations. Think of the rules they require of their employees. Why is that? Is it because people will take advantage of the system if they don't? Do rules increase productivity? Or are corporations full of the people who like earning kudos?

I wish someone with a sociology background would weigh-in.

Funny thing about human psychology, which I only really fully understand thanks to Malthurius linking me to some educational material: People are more likely to provide high-quality material when given free reign to do as they please.

[Lucky_]

Funny thing about human psychology, which I only really fully understand thanks to Malthurius linking me to some educational material: People are more likely to provide high-quality material when given free reign to do as they please.

There is nothing funnier then someone saying that they fully understand human psychology.

[DrakeWurrum]

There is nothing funnier then someone saying that they fully understand human psychology.

The *thing* is the thing I fully understand, (i.e. the "thing" I present after the colon), not human psychology.

And even then, I can't really claim to fully understand it, but I was just trying to suggest that I didn't hear of the idea until then.

In all seriousness: Do you only post to mock/insult other people? It's a trend I'm noticing.

[Anfang]

I have no problem with guilds not allowing you to join other guilds. Don't like that rule? Don't join it.

[Luko]

I have no problem with guilds not allowing you to join other guilds. Don't like that rule? Don't join it.

Just make sure to do us all a favor and let the members you're inviting know that ahead of time. You'd be surprised how many players see that as a turn off. And hey, it could easily benefit you as well. Get you that clubhouse-effect sooner than later.

[Tashabunny]

I love the idea of multiple guilds. I have always helped to run a small "for fun" guild in any of the MMOs I have played that was never meant for hardcore playing. I would repeatedly get attached to new members, enjoy running instances with them, chatting with them, etc. only to have them leave because they wanted to be in a guild that was more hardcore - not for the "fun" of it, but for higher end gear. They had to sacrifice the community we had built together that they too enjoyed, and I had to sacrifice my guild members because my playstyle (and that of the other guild members) was not going to get them the gear they wanted in the near future.

With the multiple guild system they don't have to be put in an either/or situation, and I don't have to lose touch with new friends I have made because they aren't in my chat anymore. I will, as usual, be running my friendly little guild in GW2 and I have zero intention of telling my players they HAVE to only rep. our guild because that would put me right back in the same situation. The multiple guild design fosters a greater community and I think that over time we will see a shift where more guild jump on board to this thinking.

As for needing an invisible feature... why? If you are in guilds with good people that you like then you don't need to hide the fact that you are ALSO in other guilds - they will likely be in other guilds too! If you agree to the rules of not joining any other guild, then you should hold yourself accountable to that agreement - with the rep. feature other people will simply see that you are keeping your word. OH NOES... HONESTY IN AN MMO.... WE SHALL ALL PERISH!

I think it's perfectly fair to rep. your WvW guild when doing things with them, rep. your PvP guild when doing things with them, and rep. any other guild when doing activities with them. When you go to work you rep. your company, when you go to school you rep. your Alma Mater, when you hang with friends you rep. yourself - it's just like your real life connections. You CAN interact with all of those different groups without sacrificing too much from any of them... you just have to schedule your time accordingly. Furthermore - you CAN have meaningful relationships in varied groups of people therefore having meaningful friendships in various guilds shouldn't be too much of a stretch either. I don't feel that this system will inherently harm the close knit feeling of a guild, in fact I think it will expand upon it to foster a close knit world community.

[DrakeWurrum]

Well honestly, one thing I loathe about the RealID system is that I can't go invisible when I just want some me time. Maybe it's just because I tend to be a little more anti-social than others (Scorpio tendencies, yada yada), but I like having me time to escape from social pressures.

In GW2 I'm likely to still want to go invis from time to time, and just go solo some content with nobody bothering me (or informing my girl of me being logged in!)

[nocturnus]

It's simple really: the guild leader(s) decide the rules. If you don't like them, you won't join, if new rules you dislike are added over time, you leave.

I've seen plenty of guilds with ridiculous rules. E.G. mandatory farm nights, mandatory benching, mandatory gold deposits, etc... etc...

The thing I like about GW2 is that you don't need a guild at all. 5 players would be enough to do all content. I'll be making a guild of about 30 people, which are all friends in life or apprentices. Nothing will be obligatory, just fun. Most of them already have jobs, I wouldn't want to burden them in their spare time too.

[DrakeWurrum]

The thing I like about GW2 is that you don't need a big guild. 5 players would be enough to do all content.

I think it's more accurate to say that the best thing is that you don't need a guild at all. ^_^

[nocturnus]

I think it's more accurate to say that the best thing is that you don't need a guild at all. ^_^

I stand corrected and I've edited my post

[DrakeWurrum]

I stand corrected and I've edited my post

Ha, I was only being half serious, but fair enough. I never actually looked into how I find groups for dungeons.

[nocturnus]

Ha, I was only being half serious, but fair enough. I never actually looked into how I find groups for dungeons.

Hmm, quite so. I wonder if they'll add a dungeon-finder too. Eventhough I have mixed feelings about such immersion breaking mechanics.

[Deleted]

Just make sure to do us all a favor and let the members you're inviting know that ahead of time. You'd be surprised how many players see that as a turn off. And hey, it could easily benefit you as well. Get you that clubhouse-effect sooner than later.

Yeah, people can also see it the other way around. Terms like guild hopper might be familiar to some people.

[DrakeWurrum]

I keep hoping that like, you walk into the dungeon, and are automatically placed with other people to fill up a party, without having to use some special "finder" thing.

---------- Post added 2012-05-08 at 06:40 PM ----------

Yeah, people can also see it the other way around. Terms like guild hopper might be familiar to some people.

Guild hopping won't be a problem since you have absolutely no limit on how many guilds you join. These problems that you've encountered with guild exclusivity popped up in other games entirely because of the simple fact that you could only be in ONE guild, ever.

[Glytch]

Yeah, people can also see it the other way around. Terms like guild hopper might be familiar to some people.

totally not the same one bit

[Deleted]

I dont really see why this should cause any drama. Guilds that dont want you to join other guilds will state so, so it's really up to the player if one wants to join such guild.

I like the feature. Even if I will play the game casually I think I still will want to have one "core" guild. But I also want to be able to play with friend guilds without having to reroll a totally new character just to jump in and play now and then, many of my friends are spread out on different guilds/ servers and like different aspects of a game.

[Anaralah]

Tbh i would agree that the indicator should be removed

Think yourself in a situation that you are in a Dynamic Event guild which has a 3 nights a week attendance rule , but you also have 4th spare day which you want to spend with WvW ,you should have the option to do whatever you want without being pestered by the guild , so i daresay that they should have a real invisible system where you cant be spotted by anyone but the guild you represent atm

Well at least this doesnt effect me for i shall not commit to any guild that demands such attendance