Poster: Dengar
03/26/2012, 01:40 PM
Basics on finding a guild

If you're on these forums, you're probably already ahead of the pack. Still, for those who care more about playing the game than the people they're grouping with, I'd say skip the forums, but expect to fill out an application. I don't care if you think it's work, an application shows that leadership is organized and uses some standard for recruitment. I know a WoW guild that can get content down, has connections to the best guilds in the game, but you won't get to play with them. RL friends > randoms picked up to fill slots, and lord help you if you disagree with one of the core. The only 2 guilds I've been kicked from didn't require an application to join. 1 kicked me because I said I was leaving the guild, and the other kicked me when I logged out to go to class during a PvP siege, even though I'd donated my siege supplies gathered for the past month (it was a hardcore guild, in case that's not obvious).

If you're skipping forums and want a hardcore guild for progress without a lot of out of game work, go guildless till max level. Look for pugs headed by a guild and simply try them out. Most of them will beg for you to join them, but try a few out before committing. Again, don't expect something long term from this process (these guilds usually don't last much longer than a patch or two, and the less work you do outside of the game generally indicates how long it'll last).

However, if you're reading this, you probably want to find a good guild via the forums, and one that'll be around while also doing a lot. There's a lot of posts to go through, but relevant guilds will stay within the first 5 pages. If you see the word "bump," dodge that guild unless you're looking to help build it with more than a warm body. Look for key words in the title that appeal to you: "multi-gaming," "Baraka only," "Metallica fans," etc. If the title doesn't catch you, the content will probably also look similar. Save some time, check back every few days. Do not join the first awesome looking guild! Get a list of guilds and narrow it down.

LFGuild posts

You can also make a LFGuild post, but expect a lot of spam. These guilds tend to be large, but quality control is very low, which means high drama. You can probably find a group easily, but not always: lack of quality control can also mean lack of focus, so while there's 20 people on, you may find that none of them want to do what you want to do, and your request will be met with silence.

One thing to help prevent this is to be very clear what you want from a guild that goes beyond basic PvE, PvP, or other standard game features. I'm sure you can see that nearly every guild is claiming to be a PvPvE guild that'll do politics. However, if you play for 4 hours a day every day, will the guild leaders and yourself really organize all that? Most will lean more towards one or the other, so simply leave one side out. I've been in and seen a lot of "pvp" guilds that raided more than they pvped because they felt they needed the gear in order to kill people. I've also seen "raiding guilds" that did more BGs than raids because pvp loot was more accessible, and because the members felt that hardmodes/heroics were too hard without a full guild group.

For this reason, be very clear with your expectations. I don't mean when you want raids (but that helps), but what you want to do in game in particular. Server firsts? Organized world pvp? PKK squads? Think about your dream guild and outline it. You'll still get spam (if your specific expectations aren't addressed in a post, or something counter to them is posted, it's spam: ignore it and move it), but some of the higher end guilds will know that you're more than a warm body. Trust me, I've been a recruiter for these guilds!

Also, don't forget to give your available days/times. Don't forget time zone! I've seen Europeans join NA servers because they wanted more activity during their gaming time.

Guild sites

I'm going to be blunt- if the guild doesn't have a website (or voice chat), don't join unless you're helping to found the guild. If they're going to function without a site, I'd also avoid joining. I've seen too many people get gkicked or have drama over something a guild site could have easily fixed.

While the quality of the site varies, you're looking for content. Look at their policies, screen shots, videos, rules, and structure. Are these things you can handle or want to be associated with?

Rules and structure are very important in terms of fairness. Let's be realistic- we're playing games, so most guilds are, at best, benevolent tyrannies. There's going to be 1 person, even with a council, that can over-ride or screw over everyone else. What you want to do is find out how that guild tries to mask it. Some parts will be hidden from the public (especially if a guild knows anything about EVE and Darkfall), but see what public information is. If promotions are based on time in the guild and leadership choosing leaders, you may have a problem. I just spoke to someone in a guild like this- he was recently promoted to recruiter rank, but had never talked to the guild leaders, didn't know if the guild had a website, and was trying to join another guild. This isn't an issue if you're just playing TERA till the next game comes out, but if you're in for the long haul, look for a bit more.

Many guilds have a lot of private forums, but look at the public ones. Who posts? When? How often? This will give you an idea of how busy the guild actually is, and who's around. If only 1 or 2 people are posting, and a guild claims to have 30 people, don't be surprised if group activity is low.

Multi-gaming guilds, or TERA only guilds?

This doesn't come up much, but I have experience with both sides and good and bad versions. Here's what it comes down to IMO: do you want to play TERA, or do you want to play with people?

If you're only interested in TERA, you should probably avoid a multi-gaming guild unless it specifically allows for new members to eventually become the guild leader in a fair way (and not just, "Jim's the most active, and I'm done being GM, so I promoted him"). Most multi-gaming guilds hop from game to game without really doing much for those who like a single game. When the leadership leaves, the guild falls apart since they don't really plan ahead for those who they leave behind.

However, if you're one of the folks who plays a lot of games, I'd highly recommend avoiding a TERA only guild unless it's a zerg. Game specific guilds can get very cliquey, so if you leave the game, they tend to kick you from their forums, even if you want to keep in contact. When you come back to the game after a break, you'll usually have gotten the boot (which should be expected unless the guild rules say otherwise). A multi-gaming guild's membership tends to be more meaningful, and if they actually plan their branches out for the long run, you'll be able to return next patch when you think the game will finally be "fixed."

5 questions you need to ask potential TERA guilds

TERA isn't really a whole new game. It's been out in Korea for about a year, and there have been other similar games. Sadly, many guilds aren't doing their homework, or are zerg recruiting for politics. In order to help make sure you're on a team rather than being used as a cheap vote, here's some questions you need to ask your potential guilds:

1. Did you know that TERA's "raids" are for 5 players?
I'm not even joking when I say many TERA beta testers don't know this. They expect WoW/Rift/SWTOR raiding, and it's not there. There was recently a patch to add 10-20 player PvE content in KTERA, but it's still not raiding. It's like a semi-instanced BAM: you go there, can join a public group, and kill a big monster. It's not tuned for an organized guild like WoW raiding is. There's some rumors this may change for NA TERA, but I doubt it'll be out within the first month. With Diablo 3 coming out (not an MMO but being seen as one) and GW2, do you think many raiding guilds, especially hardcore ones, will last the wait? I don't. Make sure your guild knows this, and ask how raids will work with this information in mind.

2. How many active PLAYERS do you have?

Most guilds talk about having "133 members!" when they actually mean the guild has that many characters. Determining the number of players is difficult, but a cohesive guild should be able to ball park it pretty quick.

3. How many players are logged in for guild events/primetime?

This is similar to 2, but helps you get an idea of the recruiter's honesty as well as the guild's culture. If a guild says they have 300 characters, but only 150 players, and 150 of them are logged in during guild activities, you're probably being lied to (I know there's some big guilds out there, but even the most organized of them can't pull that off). If something looks like, like 40 members, 35 active during events, ask what's up. Maybe the guild's dead during off raiding hours, or all the members work at home so they're logged in all the time, just maybe afk.

4. How is player skill determined?
This is especially important for dealing with hardcore guilds that recruit for raids before playing with someone. Sorry, but I've seen people who play 24/7 that couldn't play their class and held back a raid/RBG. DPS meters are going to vary wildly in TERA if folks can get those numbers based not only on the tank, but the type of tank. Dueling can be equally useless- being the best in a guild that's constantly rolled is a huge turn off for skilled players.

There's no right answer for this, just wrong. If you want a hardcore guild but the guild recruiter can't make you buy their answer, you might as well join a zerg (which that guild may have been).

5. What is your guild going to do to become Vanarch?
Let's be honest: most guild leaders are power hungry. Few are willing to share power, and most are zerg recruiting you so they get a point. The smart ones are already working on alliances and/or voting blocs to ensure that their needs are met.

Look for guilds that can reach beyond their own borders. I'm sure zerg guilds are going to win important seats, but you know what that will lead to? Alliances/voting blocs used to crush them if they abuse power. That special mount your guild gets will be a huge target, and if your guild is disorganized, it'll be you vs. several other unhappy constituents.

Ask for a general plan (if they give you the full details, don't be surprised if another guild/alliance/voting bloc already has them as well). Ask a few specifics to see what you think. If a guild wants to tax the heck out of a city, are they organized enough to fight people back? If they want to run events, are they coordinating with another guild, or will it just be for your guild?

Who are you to judge guild quality?

I'm MMO veteran of 12 years, starting back in Asheron's Call on the Thistledown server, a server that was home to the biggest PvP event in most games' history despite being a PvE server. The server had a high emphasis on community, being home to Maggie the Jackcat (think if the founder of WoWhead played on your server and actually talked to randoms instead of sticking only to their own guild).

This experience colored my MMO gaming style, in that I don't just look for "epics" but guilds that can bring something more to the table. I join guilds for the long haul,but have also gotten "server firsts," and have been in the "relevant" guilds in most MMOs I've played. I've played AC, AC2, Horizons/Istaria, WoW, SWG, Darkfall, RIFT, and SWTOR "seriously" (at least 4 months and participating in max level content). I'm not just a warm body, but someone who reaches out to random members of the community. The guild I started in World of Warcraft won WoW Insider's Guild of the Month award at about 5 months old, compared to the other guilds that were at least 2 years old.

I think I'm fairly qualified at figuring out what guilds will last, remain a factor, and treat their members fairly. By fair, I mean the way a member is treated should be expected due to public statements/documents that a member can point to and say, "I have the right to this, and here's where you said I have it." Most guild issues arise from the lack of fairness in this sense, and I've seen drama killed by public policy documents alone.