Thoughts about Guild Hopping?

Argent Dawn
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This is a topic I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, and wondering if I could get some advice on. I’m a person that enjoy RP a lot, I put a lot of effort into it, may it be through commissioning art or putting an effort into writing. Coming to most events and being heavily engaged in topics related to RP.

However, I’ve realized that finding the right guild is a pretty hard thing to do, and it’s come to the point where I’m sometimes worrying that people will brand me as a guild-hopper, which is never something you want. I feel like personally, I’ve come to a stage in RP, where I don’t make a guild attachment my solar purpose in RP. I don’t know, maybe I’m a person who personally struggles to find a guild that I’ve yet to enjoy. Especially when I’ve come to know my character for such a long time.

I guess I’m hoping to ask people with familiar experiences? What have you guys done about the situation? I quite like RPing my character, I wouldn’t wish to not RP him just because I’ve given some guilds a try and it’s not been successful.

I’ve had ‘my not so lucky experiences’ in some guilds, and other guilds just generally not fitting as much as I thought, then there are those guilds that disband? There are some situations where leaving has been purely IC based, what do you do about that? Not RP your character?

Would you deny a RPer that puts a lot of effort into this hobby because they’ve joined a few guilds that maybe didn’t fit their character? What’s your thoughts?

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If it’s for purely RP reasons I never have a problem with folk leaving, my guild is pretty niche, I know it’s not for everyone.

However my issue is when it’s for OOC reasons and someone masks it as an IC reason, In my mind you are leaving anyway might as well be honest about it.

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What if people were hoping to connect more with the members after putting initiative but not hoping to entirely break character? Or if the person were hoping of a more OOC connection? It isn’t easy giving feedback, especially to some people. I see more and more that people take offence in someone leaving.

I can understand in the aspect that people put effort into making DM’s ect, ect. But at the end of the day it’s a hobby we all enjoy differently. If you wanted to do DMing for a more personal group, maybe WoW RP, since it’s so large doesn’t fit as much as a DnD session? I don’t know.

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Hi Vacian!

I went through a similar experience as you with some guild issues. After the (great) drums of war 2 campaign the guild I was in crumbled and I struggled to find a guild ever since!

I’d say that if you do not enjoy guilds anymore, it’s no biggie if you leave. Even if you don’t like the guild, just inform the glead then leave ^^. That way it is no biggie indeed. If it’s hard for you to enjoy the guilds on the market, make your own! Strike until the iron is hot. That’s what I did anyways. :slight_smile:

As for guild hopping, so long you don’t leave a guild without an explaination to the leader, you should not be considered a guild hopper.

You pay 15 dollars to play the game every month. If a guild is not fun, it isn’t your fault if you leave.

What I’ve done when I noticed I couldn’t bring myself into a guild anymore because both of a harsh semester of studies and not having found many guilds to my taste, was just to stay guildless. There are tons of guild like communities around there you can join even if guildless, and form connections there. Go into a place where there’s RP, and get to know the people that RP regularily there. Helps a lot, and people will still RP with you.

If people get offended you leave a guild, then it’s their fault since you had your reasons. But I am entirely certain that you shouldn’t be punished for switching guilds if you can’t get into them without having to, like you said, “break your character”. Plenty of people will still RP with you regardless of what guild you’ve been in, as long as you’re a person that they can work with and you and the other party can develop in some way. :smiley:

So, if I were you, I wouldn’t worry about people not wanting to RP with you because of past guild swaps as long as you do it because you have a reason (the swapping, that is). At the end of the day, WoW and WoWRP are a good bit of fun you pay for. :slight_smile:

I hope this helped you at least a little!

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A lot of people who hop around do so because they don’t ask the right questions. They join a guild because they like the art style, or the people in the guild, or the general overarching premise of the guild’s roleplay but they fail to really wring out the important details during the interview/discussion stage.

Sure, you pay for your sub and you aren’t obliged to do things you don’t find fun - but please remember guild leaders also pay for their subscription and they choose to devote their time and effort (far more than the members do) to their guild’s administration and development with that same money. It isn’t fair on them when they’re trying to build a community for members to constantly leave because they didn’t fully understand what they were signing up for; it’s also not the guild master’s responsibility to find out exactly what their members’ tastes are.

Above all, you need to understand thoroughly what it is you’re actually looking for. Don’t just waft around between guilds stating that it “wasn’t what I wanted”/“wasn’t right for my character” if you don’t actually know what you do want, or what is right for your character. Make sure you know exactly what you’re seeking before you start using that as an excuse to get yourself out of a situation you don’t like, otherwise it’s just not fair on everybody involved (yourself included).

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I’m not a fan of guild hoppers.

People often rush into a guild without putting much thought into them. An easy way to stop this is, instead of just joining the guild outright, take your time. Most guilds are fine with you hanging around them, joining events, interacting with them in a casual way. This way, you can judge them properly and weigh up if you think you’ll enjoy spending time with the group of people.

The worry with guild hoppers is that if you get a name for yourself, people won’t really want to spend much time with you in a guild because they think you’ll be gone within a week or so. That’s how I see it.

There’s no need to rush. Take your time, socialise with the people you may want to join. There shouldn’t be any issues.

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Some good insightful replies, thank you. :slight_smile: I guess I’m so used to people being a little reserved when it comes to allowing a unguilded person to tag along. Maybe adding some pressure on that might help. :slight_smile:

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There’s nothing really to fix.

Unless some1 pays for your subscription for you, you do not owe them or any1 else your stay in a guild. If you don’t like it, look for something else.

You play this game to enjoy your time, and if your guild can’t provide you that fun or it’s members/players do not inspire you to put effort into it, then there’s 0 point staying.

If people get angry about it or start to brand you as a guild hopper, so what?

If they place more importance in your presence than your enjoyment, it’s good that you are rid of those guilds.

The negative stigma with “guild hopping” is nearly as bad as “member poaching”. Both terms exist only for angry guild leaders and officers to screech at people for letting them down, when the obvious problem is either that they failed to provide w/e the person wanted, or that they simply didn’t fit in.

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I agree with this but I also find it funny that people apparently brand others as a guild hopper, because I find that rather hard to believe when alts are a thing and having been on the server for a number of years I’ve never seen anyone being branded as such.

Is this a case of Nu-AD or something?

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It is also worth noting that this seems like a far more of a problem on the Alliance side than the Horde.

Many Alliance military orders expect numbers and compliance and lack of individuality for a concept for the guild, whereas (in my experience) Horde guilds, even military ones, are far more individual centric.

As a result, Alliance guilds tend to vacuum people that don’t even have any business in their very narrow, strict concept, which causes the phenomenom of “guild hopping”.

Not saying it doesn’t happen on the Horde, it is however far more rarer, because Horde guilds (seem to) promote individualitt and interactions over an encompassing theme and compliance.

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It’s a term I’ve heard multiple times. I haven’t had any experience in Horde guilds and the community itself so I couldn’t personally clarify it. It is nice that Horde doesn’t struggle with that.

I think what I have come to experience with a lot of Guild leaders and officers, and this is no offence to people that don’t apply to this. But, I have at times felt that people that officer/guild lead at times… Maybe make RP their job? I don’t know if this is intentional or not. I respect guild leaders and DM’s a lot, whenever I’m in a guild I attend 95% of events if it isn’t real life getting in the way.

What I mean with making it their job is that numbers and attendance becomes a issue. I have always been respectful that if I can’t catch up to a schedule, I rather leave so they can recruit someone that has more time. I’ll try as much as I can to attend. But at the end of the day, there are times I do wish to RP with other people or generally have work, other business to attend to. I know people can easily take offence, which is respectable.

I like to describe it to the whole gaming industry controversy, “When the developers forget they’re a gamer themselves.” When RPers make their guild their job. It’s nothing bad with being passionate, it is when your guild becomes the focus of your RP. I don’t know, these are just my thoughts. If I was a guild leader I’d probably think the same when putting effort to a event, maybe that’s why I don’t. I feel like when your hobby becomes your job, it loses value.

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Unless the context/guild permits, I generally see guilds as long term obligations, a lot like full time employment (obviously depends on guild), but personally I think I stay an average 4-5 years per guild on my main characters with this mindset.

However if the narrative pulls my character in another direction then, yeah obviously they will have to leave the guild.

I don’t like guild hoppers who do it on the wrong premises.

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I haven’t read through all the posts entirely yet, so if I’m repeating anyone, then you’ll be hearing from my lawyers for thought theft.

I think it’s an important thing to note that guilds aren’t defined by their concept or their leader, but by their members. It’s important to know whether you, as a player, match their pace and approach to RP. Are they more casual than you are? More intense? Are they more event-oriented or is social RP their primary thrust? Either direction can be a recipe for friction or make you feel out of place in a guild.

It’s important to be transparent. If you find a guild you’re interested in, speak to their leader/officer about it. Say you like the idea or niche they’re playing around; make no promises about joining but ask to tag along and find out for yourself. Very rarely will someone turn you away for that. Or, alternatively, just approach them IC and take it from there.

Joining a guild is something of a commitment. You’re telling that guild and the people who invest time into it that you’re going to invest your time into what they’re building/leading, just as they will invest in making sure you’re enjoying yourself and contributing. Being forthright then is the best way to avoid any hard feelings if you quickly (or slowly) realise it’s not what you expected or were looking for.

I suppose the crux of my post is: don’t make commitments you’re not sure you’ll be able to uphold, because it’s not fair on anyone involved - yourself included.

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Thank you so much, I think I’m going to approach it that way in the future. Communication is key, appreciate all the feedback. :slight_smile:

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I’d echo what Matheson says but also say I don’t mind people who do it that much. One guild member coming and going doesn’t really affect the guild too much, and if it did I think that’s the guild’s own problem on relying on X member too much.

If someone’s had a good time in the guild but feels like moving on, fair enough, its always a shame to see someone go and hop into another guild but at the same time as long as there’s no hard feelings/they’re not joining another guild specifically to spite someone, I don’t think they should be stigmatised for it.

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I have seen peple branded as a guild hopper. I’m guilty of it myself, but unless you’re changing a guild every week, without reason, then it’s really nothing to worry about. My worst habit is race-changing which has put-off people rping with me purely because they don’t feel I’m invested enough in my characters. However, it comes from a similar place of not finding the right place.

I think you’ll find the place where you’re happy in no time :slight_smile: Immerse yourself in what you love within the game, use it to build a mental mood-board of what YOU truly want for that character and from the RP. Only you can enjoy your own gameplay, like sometimes even being guildless might suit yourself as you could build a rapport with guilds and associate yourselves with them without feeling the obligations of being tied to a single place.

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After an inordinate time and money spent on trial and error regarding race or faction this is what I settled with and works the best too.

That or the guild / community I’m in is a lot better than what I have frequented on Alliance.

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I suppose it depends on the guild, the ongoing story and how involved they’ve gotten into the group’s narrative. If someone who’s built themselves into a key player in a plot or campaign decides to pull their personal plug and disappear, that can cause an awful lot of problems for the people around it.

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Suppose there is that. Never considered it as someone who doesn’t really have those types of narratives.
Again I’d say though that if they’re not enjoying the plot at that point and want to go somewhere else they should be able to. (Though perhaps with some notice in advance so their sudden absence from the story can be arranged to suit the narrative.)

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I always took the attitude that is if the person that leaves is a trial member/new/whatever the new person rank is, then they leave and hey it wasn’t for them, alls good.

If however they’ve gone through that phase and became a full member with the privileges, within the guild, that holds then I’d quite like an explanation as to why they leave for two reasons: A) may help the guild improve and B) what suddenly changed to cause the departure when everything was ok for a few weeks or even a month beforehand.

I take the same attitude with myself, if I join a guild, I’m still in trial and I don’t like it - I leave, no explanation given or needed, it’s what the trial is for. If I’m a full member I give a reason. Though if it’s gone to that I rarely leave because I tend to quite like the guild.

I had a guild my character was very involved in disband and I kept RPing her, she went on a hell of a two year journey, all IC, until fairly recently so no I don’t think you need to stop RPing a character just because the guild they were in disbanded, guilds disband, rp guilds probably more than others, your character moves on just as you would in RL if your job went under.

I’d not deny an RPer who had been in multiple guilds and left them simply because A) I don’t know the situation behind leaving and B) RPing is hard as hell at the best of times, making decisions for your character, where they go, what they will do, how they work and it takes time to get that all in line. I don’t see a reason to make that any harder.

Edit: that said if somebody is hopping every other day they really need to sort themselves out, because that does take the cake a bit.

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