So after years of trying, i’ve still yet to figure out what a guild is actually for. I’ve seen guilds listed as “a tight knit group of people” by blizzard, though i don’t see that in it at all. I guess it’s true for those groups of people who’ve been friends/guildies since wrath of something.
I’ve switched the faction i mainly play quite a few times over the years, but i’ve never really felt like a guild was a fun place to be. It seemingly always felt like a convenience, like an extension of LFD. Actual “Friendships” and “companionships” that so many seem to find, i have yet to.
Guilds seem like a means to an end. I’ve always had a somewhat lukewarm reception at the start, which quickly deteriorates.
During my stays i’ve frequently asked if people’d be up for something, be it M+, dungeons, timewalking, Whatever…but most of the time, people don’t even Bother to respond. Then it usually ends up with nobody ever even talking to me at all anymore, like i’m the outsider…which I feel is common in a guild…If you’re not part of the core clique, you’re never gonna be a Real part of the guild.
Honestly, dealing with guilds has so far only ended in being resentful of those exact groups. My question as such is, what’s the point in guilds, if not to be a group of likeminded/interested/companion people? My experience is a cold and closed circle of people that can interact with oneanother and who’d never let anyone in.
If you haven’t found a community you felt good in since WotlK then the issue lies with you I’m afraid. Personally I’ve been in many guilds over the last decade that I was happy to call home. Of course, people lose interests, communities weaken and fall apart, but there’s definitely been plenty of good communities around.
Guilds were a good thing back in the days. I was in the same guild for many years, we weren’t hardcore raiding but we got along. It was a very nice community of people, some of which I’m still holding contact with to this day. Even went to a guild meeting in Scotland.
Then the game became more “casual” friendly and the raids became more accessible, and suddenly the guilds - even the one I was in - started changing. They thought themselves “hardcore” all of a sudden and became extremely toxic towards those who didn’t raid. It was at around that time I left that guild and moved to Draenor.
Since then, I’ve yet to find a guild that holds up. It always comes down to raiding and then breaking up when the raiding isn’t “hardcore” enough. So I’ve given up on guilds altogether, I feel people have become so stiff nosed after raids became more accessible that it hurts. A lot of players have a fals sense of their “superiority” for doing content they consider difficult, that really isn’t that difficult.
I’m enjoying the game more as a lone wolf in all honesty. I still miss those old days and sense of community, but I’ve come to the realisation that those days of WoW are long gone.
If I’m honest, I agree and disagree in some aspects.
Guilds have marginally gotten more quiet as time goes on in the game up until raid night, or at least that’s my personal experience. I’ve been in that situation though where you feel an outsider and that happens in social situations too. I don’t think it’s intentional however, but more just coinciding with your own negatives.
Some people use guilds as a means to an end and that only, if you suggest to do something they don’t need, then they won’t do it. Comradery has dropped off in some senses.
I suppose that’s so, but for example right now…i’ve been in a few raiding guilds and they’ve never really felt friendly at all. I don’t get where all those stories from people come from that they’re having loads of fun with their guilds. It feels like they’re making the whole thing up.
I’ve rarely had anything more than a lukewarm experience being in a guild. It just feels like the groups of people that have formed their guild and friend group are formed now. As in, this is it. If you’re not a part of one of those groups, you’ll NEVER find one of them.
I have questioned the purpose of them outside of doing organized content as well. But a guild with friends can be pretty awesome, I really do miss that. But ever since that ended I’ve gone from guild to guild often without even learning any names and leaving again because it didn’t work out or because nobody talked anyway unless they needed something which can make you feel ignored.
Pretty content being guildless for now(despite the forums saying otherwise ) But I’d definitely would like to give it another go (probably for Shadowlands, hopefully I can find something before then).
I wish i felt the same. When i log in, i run around a bit and log off again. It feels kind of unfortunate that i need a guild to do raids. I wouldn’t subject my worst enemy to the snoozefest that is the toxic battlefield of LFR.
I definitely feel like that as well though, going from guild to guild, being berated/warned/demoralized as i go. All in all, wow kind of feels like a sad experience. Guilds just seem to be a recipe to end up with a hollow and betrayed feeling.
I don’t really have anyone to play wow with and the time where you can make friends in the game, i feel has passed. Much the same like with guilds.
At the start a guild is a mutual benefits place, then as players adventure together they get closer and friendlier.
Let’s take my guild in MoP for example, I started out as a trial, barely talking and a total stranger, overtime I was taken to join on farm bosses as a trial, I tried proving myself, worked hard and over the course of a few month my relationship improved from a total stranger to super friendly with people.
The thing is, unless a guild is focused on M+/dungeons/etc you won’t really get much response, and expecting a response will most likely make it more awkward.
It happens a lot, some one asks if there is a group for M+ let’s say, no body responds and then they start questioning why aren’t people responding, which turns it into an awkward situation and let’s people drift away further from them.
If you want to get a guild experience you gotta be more active towards it, you can’t just give up overnight nor should you expect people to open up to you overnight and you also shouldn’t expect people to start working with you overnight.
Also the type of guild you joined has a tremendous effect on how things go.
This part is worrisome to me, because it seems like you are demanding an interaction instead of having it come naturally, there must be a reason people drift away from you, and that probably relies in behavior, charisma and attitude.
Also another alternative to guilds is communities now and I find that feature to be pretty cool.
You can always start your own friendly community to gather friends at! a couple months ago me and another forum goer made a community to bring back the social aspect and have fun, we are about to hit the 500 members mark now and it is exactly as what you’d expect a friendly community to be
If you have horde characters on your side you should definitely consider joining us, I’m pretty sure you would be more than welcomed ^ _^
I’ve had the opposite experience. When you say it builds over a long period of time, How? how does that even happen? I don’t get how you do that, the whole build some kind of instant friendship with people. I’ve only felt like i’d never be part of the “core guild group” which seem to always ward off anyone.
From what you’ve said i’m gathering that it is impossible to get a guild that works. Especially when you say that nobody responding causes the schism to grow.
Also, i’m Litterally asking if someone wants to do anything occasionally when i’m online. Nobody bothers to respond, and somehow this would be my fault. I don’t understand how? Am i forever impossible to find anything? because “behavior, charisma and attitude” seem to be unchangeable :S This would probably also be why any community i’d make would fail.
Humans are just incredibly hard and frustrating to interact with it seems…
Can be changed and worked on though, a simple look at the LFG tool shows you various interactions that people have.
from groups that go +10 SOTS BRIAN ONLY, or +15 or +12, chill group let’s blast.
And then when a player is in the group itself it can be portrayed of how people behave, some never talk, some are too friendly, some are too whiny, some complain a lot and some are eager.
If people resonated with you they’ll probably want to interact with you more, and if they don’t they’ll probably drift away as time goes, maybe that’s for the better? don’t give up!
I doubt it can be changed. By this point, bitterness has set in. And i’m not named Brian tho D:
I don’t like LFG, it’s a litteral pit of filth and disease. I’ve not really had experiences where people resonated with me in guilds. And finally, i’m not sure if it’s worth to go on as guilds are set in stone collections of people from what i’ve observed. Have yet to see otherwise :l
In a dungeon you only have as many people. And if you have played with same people some time, it is natural you ask them 1st. One way to break so called ‘cliques’ is to become part of it.
Not long ago someone claimed that it is impossible to find tank from guild to mythic plus. Yes it is because one of raid tanks does M+ as dps, and other tank is doing m+ on an alt, and that’s there. There are always little tanks - in guild, in trade, in LFG.
… and then people ask me if I want to after 3 hours of progress do some M+, no I do not. Nor I want to do group content, when i just want to level my lowbie alt.
Thing is - in era social media people feel as if world collapses, when they do not get human contact for whole 5 minutes.
99% of dungeons I attend in my guild and with my guild or friends, they whisper me. because who on earth keeps eye on gchat, and then half of our gchat seems to be happening in Discord. I don’t use external sources, but i believe quite a few guilds have gone same route.
Guilds come in a wide variety of flavours ranging from members that are RL friends or have been playing other MMO’s for a while to the guild that just mass recruited everyone and ends up with a lot of people that don’t talk but are in a guild because they feel it’s ‘the right thing’ to do.
I’m sorry that your experience of guild hasn’t been cery positive, I’ve been in guilds that never talk or do anything together, I’ve been in guild where GC is worse than anything you can imagine in Trade, insults, flaming etc etc, I’ve also been in guilds that make a real effort to make you feel welcome and run regular events for all it’s members.
So my advice is, keep plugging away and eventually tou’ll fine the right group of like minded people to play with.
I know what you feel. In my previous guild I was quite social and tried to kept contact with everyone. Usualy I’m officer in guilds I am, and I always talked to new people and was encouraging them to interact with guild mates. After I stepped down from my rank and taking a break from raiding people completely ignored me But I found another guild and it turned out it was 300% upgrade compared to previous one. People here are like family - seriously. Regular guild meetings in real life… That sound nerdish, but I love that. The amount of people from WoW that I’ve met IRL is huuuuuuge and rarely I was disappointed ;p
I think you need just keep trying and don’t just “be in guild”, try to talk at start. From my experience, only empathic people will talk to you at your first days and those people are EXTREMELY rare. Try with small content they do, like M+ or some achie runs. If there is someone playing your class too - talk to them asking questions. People like being useful so if they’ll help you and you’ll listen to their advice they’ll be glad
) But I’d definitely would like to give it another go (probably for Shadowlands, hopefully I can find something before then).
i have a community to fulfill my social needs these days.