Benefits of a Guild?

[IrishFinn]

If it is not obvious from the title, I am a new player.

Have not been playing for long (approx 3 weeks), exclusively Solo.

Started grouping last night and found it easier and more fun than I had expected.

Next step? Joining a Guild?

Please outline the pros and cons of this as I do not really understand.

Thanks,
Clen

[aldan]

Pros:

Get hand me down armor, weapons etc.
Get raid loot easier
Have fun group to play with
Combine resources to tackle raids (although nowadays, most all raids can be pugged)
Run with those you know
And many more benefits from a guild I havent listed.
get help favor grinding

CONS:

Sometimes takes forever to get your groups formed for raids
There might be more Cons but I love being in a guild.

[WaiKwokSi]

Well first off, it makes it quicker and easier to find and join a party .... and a party of people you know and have played with before should be more efficient than a pick-up group.

A guild also allows you to have friendly chats with fellow guildies even when you are soloing. And you can usually get better and more friendly responses if you have a question about something.

A guild is handy for swapping/trading loot you have found but can't use yourself in return for gear you can use.

And depending on your play-style, and that of the guild you join, you can improve your advancement through the levels, or, if you are a role-player and in no hurry to advance, you can find like-minded folk to RP with.

And many (most?) guilds have their own private forums to chat about their activities and add an extra dimension of interest top the game.

I'm sure other folk can add to these reasons for joining a guild, but they are the reasons that appeal to me .........

[Arnya]

Guilding lets you have a private channel where you can laugh at the noobs in the party, until you type ".g this guy is such teh noobz" then everyone goes quiet..

...Oh and you can leave a funny MOTD for everyone to share your comic genius even when you're offline.

[Strakyn]

Honestly, although i agree with the previous posters and do understand some benefits of guilds, you can do just fine without 1. I was in 1, a large one, but didnt see the point.

Heres just my 2 cents in the problems with guilds.

1 - if you join an established guild, they already have their "inner circle"....even if they try not too every guild does and it alienates everyone else, so that guild will have people coming and going all the time.Some people just wont fit in, some people will get nothing out of the guild (by that i mean no grouping, no getting to know people etc) and just feel 2nd class, others will just find friends in other guilds and go with them.

2 - a new guild seems the way to go, however the problem is finding 1, and the fact that new guilds will generally recruit anyone and everyone. So theres a time of having every kind of personality in the guild, young and old, loud and quiet, bs'ers and big talkers and it might not be what you want in a guild. I have definately noticed, and loved the fact..ddo players are generally mature players, alot of other games ive played the bulk of players you can tell are teens, if that.

The real benefit of guilds is finding a guild to suit yourself and your playing style.
Me personally id rather join a small guild, where everyone is close, play around the same time, mature and maybe Rp a little. Finding something like that is hard though. I have alot of friends that i play with regularly that we could almost be our own guild......... but they are all in different guilds...so i havent joined any.

[Irime]

Honestly, although i agree with the previous posters and do understand some benefits of guilds, you can do just fine without 1. I was in 1, a large one, but didnt see the point.

Heres just my 2 cents in the problems with guilds.

1 - if you join an established guild, they already have their "inner circle"....even if they try not too every guild does and it alienates everyone else, so that guild will have people coming and going all the time.Some people just wont fit in, some people will get nothing out of the guild (by that i mean no grouping, no getting to know people etc) and just feel 2nd class, others will just find friends in other guilds and go with them.

2 - a new guild seems the way to go, however the problem is finding 1, and the fact that new guilds will generally recruit anyone and everyone. So theres a time of having every kind of personality in the guild, young and old, loud and quiet, bs'ers and big talkers and it might not be what you want in a guild. I have definately noticed, and loved the fact..ddo players are generally mature players, alot of other games ive played the bulk of players you can tell are teens, if that.

The real benefit of guilds is finding a guild to suit yourself and your playing style.
Me personally id rather join a small guild, where everyone is close, play around the same time, mature and maybe Rp a little. Finding something like that is hard though. I have alot of friends that i play with regularly that we could almost be our own guild......... but they are all in different guilds...so i havent joined any.

In response to your statements, I am also going to respond to each in turn. Please take no offense, this too is just my opinion on the subject.

1: While this *can* be the case, and is very true for some guilds, I don't believe it is so for all guilds. Most guilds form just like mine has in the past: a group of friends who is looking to have a singular name over their heads and a sense of community~ I've found that most of those kinds of groups have a basic philosophy; "I don't have so many friends that I cannot afford one more." The key to finding one such guild is to do your research and form friendships before considering any guild. Talk to people, be social, make friends and your decision will be based on the values and friendships you've formed. You become a shoe-in, and already within your comfort zone before you ever actually get the invitation. Randomly seeking out a guild with no more knowledge than it's name is an unwise way to feel accepted, and I'd seriously suggest against it.

2: There are issues with jumping into a new guild, also. As much as 90% of new guilds will disband within the first year, for various reasons. Established guilds may have their issues, but they've usually worked out most of their kinks and have a general hierarchy that works for their particular group. If you've followed my advise for #1, you'll have no issues with feeling left out or not a part of the clique. In any group that I have ever seen: you'll find that people tend to group off into their specific groups of friends, but in the good groups they are all speaking and jovial with the entire guild. It's unavoidable that you end up spending more time with one person than another, and I wouldn't necessarily suggest that feeling closer to one person or group of friends is a detriment to any guild. Problems only come when you see people alienating other individuals, and any guild-leader worth his or her salt would take pains to make sure that doesn't happen. This can be done simply, by starting conversations with the alienated individual, or inviting them to group, or generally doing anything to make them feel included.

In conclusion: My opinion is that Guilds and grouping are what makes an MMO a phenomenal choice in the gaming world, and the community you choose can make or break the game for you. Take care and time when choosing a guild, find out what it is you are looking for in a community, make friends, ask around, and make an educated decision before jumping into any community~ but by all means find a guild and experience everything the game has to offer in it's community function.

Good luck and happy hunting!

[Strakyn]

Oh im not disagreeing with you at all Irime. I probably didnt explain my point very well (im good at that ; p )

Im all for a guild, and it does enhance the whole gaming experience, its finding the right guild (pretty much the way you described a guild) for yourself is the hard part.

[Irime]

Indeed, it can be difficult. Good guilds are out there, though, and they are worth seeking out!

[Ricgard]

The main benefit to joining a guild is that there is a .00001% chance you will achieve the ultimate DDO reward, meeting ME.

But other than this most obvious benefit, the greatest reason to join a guild is for groups and raids. PUGs contain all sorts of random fools whose experience and abilities can range anywhere from good to terrible. And I don't mean game mechanics experience and abilities, I mean those idiots who must be completely wasted while playing because they wander around in circles with everybody's stone instead of running to the shrine cuz they have no idea what's going on. My particular guild (Clan Diabolic, join today!) will only run raids with guildies, or proven non-guildies (or as we call them, "foreigners"). That way we KNOW it will go off without a hitch because we've done it millions of times. AND, if we do have new members who don't know the instance, we will run them through and explain every last nuance of the instance until they understand it. We do this because they are guildies, and in the future they will be able to participate. Training pickups is futile because you may never see them again, and is therefore a waste of time which is a crime against Ricgard so knock it off.

Other benefits to joining a guild:

Resources!
- Since there is no in-game guild bank system, -smart- guilds will improvise ways to do this.
- Most guilds have websites or forums so people can keep open lines of communication out of game. This helps for planning said raids, which are awesome. *Ricgard Approves*
- Many guilds have third party voice channels, like Ventrilo.
- There's a small chance the guild will have ME in it!

Regarding guild "inner circles":

The existance of this phenomenon has been confirmed by scientists from USC (uncomfirmed). There are many who do indeed feel alienated, or second class. This is a problem, I concur. However, this condition is most commonly associated with guilds whose leaders don't take the responsibility of leadership seriously. No matter how large the guild gets, a good leader involves everyone, talks to everyone, makes a sincere effort to make every last member feel important to the guild (even if they suck), and does not show favoritism toward anybody. I have friends in my guild, but sometimes if there's only 1 spot left in group I'll pick the new guy over one of them. My friends understand that it's not a diss, just me doing my job. That new guy now feels like part of the guild, rather than being on the outside looking in. And 95% of the time, after a few runs with the veterans, he'll fit right in and become part of the "inner circle". I find that this goes a long way toward lessening or even eliminating the "inner circle" disease.

[Stradior]

No in-game mechanics for Guild Halls or other guild benefits though right? Which is okay. But I'm excited about the possibilities this new DDO Store model holds. They could introduce all sorts of up-sell items just for Guilds too.

Cheers.
Strad