Saturday, May 9, 2009

My Guild is the Best Guild

I happen to think that I'm in the best guild there is out there. We're not the top guild on the server, but we do ok. We don't even raid 25s at the moment, and still there would be no other guild out there I would rather be in, no matter how competitive I can be.

My guild is there for me. We have fun together, we laugh together, and like I saw today when we were in Ulduar, they are also understanding if stuff comes up, and suddenly you have to leave.

(Thanks you guys!)


So what makes a guild good?

Some people think that the top guilds are those that always have the world first kills. Well, in some ways they probably are, but I know that about 99% of the players wouldn't feel happy at all with being in a guild like Ensidia, The Dark Embrace, or Vodka. These guilds have fun in their own way, but it definitely wouldn't be my way, and probably not your way.

After Larisa from the Pink Pigtail Inn linked Kungen's blog I read his story, and I can tell you, I may be jealous of the content they get to see at times, but not for all the money in the world would I want to spend over 40 hours without sleep just to get server first titles.

No, a guild should be your home and family online. If you spend many, many hours in each others company you at least have to like each other. This is also why I've personally never understood the whole looking for guild thing too much. In my eyes if it doesn't come naturally, should you really treat it as a job?

Maybe I had an easy ride. When I started playing I wasn't alone in the game. A very good friend was there already, and me and my boyfriend (Thrornir) levelled together. The friend sponsored me into Furious Pantaloons, and it was such a good fit, I just never left again.

Also our guild doesn't just recruit, the people who are joining are friends or family from members, and even then we make sure that they fit into the guild as a person. They don't have to raid, or even be of a specific level. They just have to fit on a personal level.

In some eyes that makes FP elitist, I just think that we're making sure that existing and new members will indeed find that homely feeling online.

So what if you're not as lucky as I were?

Well there are several options out there. You could find guilds on lookingforguild.net or wowlemmings.com. There are probably a couple of other sites out there that offer similar services.

Or you could just have fun in the game, and join a random pug group. People will notice soon enough that you don't have a guild tag above your head yet, and if you just let it happen, one day you'll find yourself being invited to join a group of people who are likeminded.

Just remember, as long as nobody pays you to play WoW, you better darn well make sure that you're having fun in the game. So don't let yourself be seduced by the lists that say that so and so guild is the best to join. It may well be that it's just not the right guild for you.

And hey, if you do happen to be the right material for one of those 'Top-end' guilds, I have a request and a general advice.

Share the content with those who don't get to see it as much as you can. Let those who won't see it first hand enjoy the content second hand.

As for the advice, don't climb too high, you'll have to come down one day.

11 comments:

  1. I dont know im on your server and I heard you are losing members left and right. If its such a great guild why cant u hold on to people.

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  2. FP was indeed a great guild, until you became an officer. I left the guild because of you.

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  3. Haha that dude totally backed what I said

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  4. The people who left, left as a group of friends. The goodbye message they gave to the guild is that they were very happy to have been in FP, but as a group they wanted more control over the recruiting and raiding process.

    Like I said in the post, not every guild is good for every person. FP was unfortunately not able to offer this group exactly what they needed.

    Still, in my eyes, my guild is the best guild.

    It's ok to disagree with an officer, we can't always all agree in a group this large, and sometimes decisions are made that not everybody likes. Fact still remains that a decision has to be made, and all you can do as an officer at that point is make the decision in the best interest of the guild as a whole.

    What does make me sad is that this wasn't communicated before you felt you had to leave, whomever you are, because if I had known you felt this strongly about it, other options might've been available.

    I hope that except for my leading style, FP wasn't all bad to you, and that the people who didn't feel at home entirely with the loons found a new guild that does suit their needs.

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  5. FP has been around long before WoW ever existed. It's core of people span countless games, and while every guild has it's drama (some people just can't resist it after all) I can count on one hand the number of people people who have been deguilded for bad behavior or attitude.

    On the other side of things though, some people just can't handle FP's relaxed and generally easy going nature. A guild is about more that just the pixels that you got off some boss, its about the people. If the biggest complaint you have is that you didn't get some peice of loot, or that there aren't enough raids, well FP is not for you.

    It works both ways, people fit in a guild, and a guild fits the people in it. If you and the guild you're in don't mesh correctly then it's not the right guild for you. Most of our members fit well, but even as 'elitist' as we are, we still get a disgruntled trouble maker occassionally.

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  6. Sounds like the sorta guild I'd be happy with. And I's lovin' the name.

    Anonymous comments with complainings don't count fer much.

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  7. FP has it's ebbs and it's flows. It's been around for 9 years now, after all .. change is inevitable.

    We started as a chat channel for some RL friends in Everquest to joke around in, never considering that other people would actually want to join us and do stuff. Then this gnome started pestering me about joining the guild. Then another gnome showed up too. Then an elf showed up .. geez .. and the SAPS were born. One thing led to another .. I still remember the fateful day that Tiwgy asked me, in essence, "what do you want to do with the guild" .. to which, after a few seconds of thought, I replied "you know, I want to kill that red dragon. I hear it's a neat fight and folks want to do it". A week later, there I was, leading a raid into the Plane of Fear .. never having been there. No joke. Talk about a trial by fire! Try telling people where to run to when all you've got to look at is a really low quality map (remember, this is pre-youtube .. all the stuff we have for wow raiding just flat out didn't exist!)

    Good times .. good times.

    It always makes me sad to see people go, for whatever reason, but as long as they're happy where they end up, it's for the best. As has already been said .. we're a different kind of guild. Some people, it just works. Some, it never works. Some come in, adapt, and thrive .. while others slowly drift away. Personality conflicts happen (we are people, after all) .. sometimes they resolve, sometimes they don't. Like a family. After this many years, if I haven't seen it before, I'd be surprised.

    Anyways .. this too shall pass.

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  8. Shy - love your blog. You might consider that ALL of your "guests" up there could be one person attempting to lend some credence to his blather. Your guild sounds like a lovely place to be. For those who post anonymous jabs, /ignore is probably your best bet. /hugs ;)

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  9. As you might have noticed already TSonn, I turned on moderation, Veneretio gave me the tip to turn it on as new users make comments. So sort of a self-learning system. After I have approved a user 5 times the user can comment without me approving it.

    I quite like this idea ^_^

    And Ratshag our name is one of our best features, should hear about the oath I had to take when I was made a full loon ;)

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  10. hahaha I forgot about the oath! It's been a good 7 or 8 years! Back in the EverQuest day.

    "I Solemnly swear to never remove my furious pantaloons except for three occasions. To wash them weekly, no guildy likes it when you smell. For swimming, it just isn't practical not to. And if I ever meet the right person, in order to make baby pantaloons!"

    Then i got blistering drunk (So drunk i couldn't walk or move in game for a good 5 - 10 minutes). All this occurring in the middle of EQ no-where (South Karana maybe anyone? LOL). In front of the whole guild haha. Good Times!

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