No, not you - Your guild. Guilds are social constructs. When you are a part of one, whatever you do reflects upon the guild. That's the way things work with social organizations. If a member of a guild is absent for an extended period, that member is not promoting the guild. If members are gone long enough,
they no longer contribute to renown decay.
I don't think most people are getting into the spirit of this whole renown business. They forget that DDO is based on D&D which is a
Role Playing Game, not simply a rule-based hack-n-slash mechanic display. The current renown system has a few flaws, but reflects the origins of the game fairly well given the constraints of its medium.