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Thursday 20 August 2015

Guildless in Guild Wars


It's the strangest thing. When you're playing a game called Guild Wars, one would expect to spend a lot of time in that game playing with a guild. Yet somehow Guild Wars 2 has quickly developed into my favourite duo game. I barely have contact with anyone in the game save the people that I occasionally bump into while exploring - and that contact is usually superficial.

It's not that I consciously dislike the idea of playing in a guild in the game. On the contrary, it has activities especially designed for guilds (which I think is pretty unique - or at least, it's something I haven't seen in any other MMO so far) that I'd love to try out some day. Some day, I say, because I'm having too much of a blast exploring, resulting in me procrastinating actually looking for a suitable group of people to hang out with. 

Our current team of explorers: Ravereth (left) and Rheiya (right)

Oh, we have tried. There was the obligatory huge guild that recruited through whispering random people. "You can ask everything you want and we'll help you." I joined, even though I knew better. I managed to stay for two months or so. To be fair, I did get answers to questions in guild chat every now and then, and there were some nice people, although I was told "Google it" several times as well. Eventually I left because I couldn't endure the cringeworthy political discussions in guild chat anymore. It was a typical big guild with a lot of young players and I had to face the fact that I just don't have the mental energy anymore to deal with the lame jokes. I want to login and actually want to read guild chat instead of developing the reflex to hide it. Also, I need to hold onto those precious brain cells!

Intermezzo: Conrad needs to make a remark on my ranger's appearance.
Conrad: "She looks so mean!"
Me: "She is killing an elk. What would you look like when killing an elk? 
You should know, you're the Swede."

Then Conrad and an old friend from Lord of the Rings Online created a guild, just so we'd have a place to hang out and easily connect if we'd want to do some dungeons. It's a five man guild, and although we did actually group up a lot for a month or so and even tried some fractals, things seem to have died done a little, with just Conrad and me logging in regularly. I must admit that I'm enjoying exploration in Guild Wars 2 more than doing dungeons. Help, am I going 'casual'?!


Are guilds different in Guild Wars?

Maybe it has to do with the game's content as well. In other MMOs, we've always ended up in a guild because we wanted to try endgame content. Guilds in such MMOs function as a platform from where it's easy to organize a regular group of players coming together. In Guild Wars 2 there are no raids, so the demand isn't there. As far as I know, guild runs don't rely on repetition and learning that much, so it's not necessary to have a regular group of more or less the same players to be successful (correct me if I'm wrong). Hence I wonder: does this influence the nature of guilds in Guild Wars 2? For instance, do guilds generally have a higher casual factor? Do people make different kinds of bonds in the game because of the different activities they take part in?

Being (practically) guildless, I do get the feeling I'm missing out on some things. I'd love to meet people that are enthusiastic and want to take us along to try guild runs or structured PvP (which I still haven't given a try!). It's a long shot, but I'm going to try anyway: are you in a guild like that and would you welcome us? I'd love to hear about your guild! Conrad and I are playing on a European server (Aurora Glade, although I guess that's only relevant for WvW).

P.S.
And yes, I couldn't stop myself from posting some pictures of my ranger Ravereth. I always get excited when I find new armour, so I just had to take her out of a photoshoot when I got to level 60 and could wear this cultural Norn armour (I did one with Rheiya too, but that's for another post). I hope you enjoyed them, even though this outfit is more sexy than what I usually go for. I'm already happy at this point when outfits don't show extreme cleavage or underwear (do you dare open that link?). This is what she is wearing:

Outfit: Soldier's Predatory Vest - Strong Privateer Gloves of Vampirism - Soldier's Predatory Leggings - Soldier's Predatory Boots (Norn Cultural armour tier 2)
Dyes: Moss, Pottery, Brass

16 comments :

  1. I've only ever been in guilds with IRL friends, but I can imagine that those obnoxious guilds that spam invites wouldn't be super fun:/ I've never played Guild Wars 2 but it looks beautiful! I'm sure exploring is just as rewarding as doing end game stuff. And I can relate with the 'too sexy' armor, I never pick those skimpy underwear sets for my characters. This armor is cute though! Tastefully revealing:P

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    1. So glad the armour is Ashlee-approved! Exploring is definitely the most rewarding activity in the game for me right now. Which really feels weird for me to say, because it's endgame in every other MMO that keeps me going! I tend to get bored with questing in MMOs eventually. Let's just hope that moment is faaar off in Guild Wars.

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  2. I created my own guild just to stop the spam in there. Couldn't even log in without being smacked with "Join our super guild, we'll help you lvl to 80 quickly, all you have to do is share your loots with us" type of mentality. Then there is the kids, but yeah I do love to go in there once in a while. It just takes toooooooo long to level up to play the story line.

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  3. I play most MMOs guildless, but GW2 is uniquely suited for that activity. There's a distinct lack of pressure to make it to the end that allows me to just putter around where I want to.

    My only issue with GW2 is that, well, the toons are so perfect looking. I know it's an artifact of the Japanese/Korean RPG designs (even though ArenaNet is American), but it still bothers me that a character that's been out in the wilderness for ages can still look like they're heading to a dance. While I'm not saying that we need Dragon Age level blood and grime on a toon, but something that looks less like you're ready for clubbing would be good.

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    1. Hmm. I personally dislike the wings, fluo colours, revealing armour and unrealisticly huge weaponry people walk around with - it breaks immersion for me. And what bugs me in the character creation is that there are so many options for making your character look like a doll... I tried to make the best out of it for my Ravereth. No make-up (I don't know if there's even an option for no make-up, but at least it doesn't look like she's using a lot), tanned from being outside so much (admittedly all my characters are outside equally much, but hey, head cannon and all; as a ranger Ravereth lives outside) and hair in a braid (from personal experience I can tell it's absolutely impossible to run around with loose long hair and do ranger things: if you'd hide in a bush you wouldn't be able to get out because your hair would get stuck!). I always thought that looking so muscular is pretty believable when you workout that much. I guess the only thing that's missing are some hairy legs - you can't make me believe she would shave those every day in the wilderness (I for one absolutely would not).

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  4. I'm bad luck for finding guilds. I tend to fall for those looking for guild messages that say they are fun, then it turns out they constantly tell immature jokes and speak in lots of sexual innuendos. Too much for me so I just made my own guild so I'd stop getting random tells.
    Great pictures and love the raven choice. I wanted to go with an owl, but ended up going practical with tankier pets.

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    1. It's an eagle. Even though I prefer ravens, I picked the eagle because it fits better with my outfit (I feel so bad for admitting that: I hate people who do away with their pet because it e.g. doesn't look well with their new couch!). Luckily, I don't really notice a difference with the tankiness.

      So far in every game I've ended up in guilds via people I became befriended with while playing or from other games. That has always turned out really well. That's why I called out here: chances are larger to find like-minded people than randomly asking in general/world chat - like you say, then you always end up in one of those guilds...

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  5. The nice thing about Guild Wars 2 is that it doesn't "force" you into joining a guild, stat, in order to make progress. It is, however, an option for those who like socializing, or want a higher degree of organisation to do things like WvW, or complicated bosses like Teq or Triple Trouble Wurm.

    There are a few bonuses for being guilded, guild commendations earned through weekly guild missions can buy Ascended accessories for cheap, there are some 10-15% magic find or karma bonuses the guid can turn on for its members, etc. but nothing that makes it mandatory to join a guild.

    I'd suggest checking out Aurora Glade forums in specific, and looking for the longer lasting guilds that have been around for a while - those will usually have a leadership that is committed long term to GW2, and stable. If you're thinking about WvW as well (no idea where AG stands in EU rankings though), finding a smaller casual havoc/small group can often be fun - those are more about the social aspect, than rarrrr, must play hardcore at all times, imo.

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  6. Would join you if I could. Haven't been in a good guild since the early days of Galaxies, with the exception of the small family guild I created in World of Warcraft to shut off the random invites. Hoping to fall in with a good group in LOTRO on Landroval or Gladden once the dust settles. You never know.

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    1. I'm guessing you play on an American server, so it's impossible to meet up in-game. That's so annoying! I wish there was some way the mega servers would work cross-continent.

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  7. I could recommend my guild to you if you like: The Beantoes [Yowl]. You'll have met a person or two from it when I did dungeon with you. :) All are nice and friendly. The activity is a bit slower right now due to such a loooooooooooong time with no new content (I myself have been only playing GW1 at the moment and taking a much needed break from GW2.), but there are still weekly events. We still do weekly guild missions. They also try to not get *too* many members as they don't want to be one of those mega guilds where you don't actually know anyone. Our home server is Gandara, but the only thing that would affect is WvW which there haven't been any guild events for anyway. We have a guild pvp arena and I know some people really enjoy it and like bringing along new people.

    If you ever want, I can put you in touch with leaders/officers and put in a good word for you. :)

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    1. Talked to Conrad and we'd love that! Assuming it is also open to non-charrs, what with the name and all. ;) (Don't worry, I think it's kinda cute!)

      I think we like the same type of guilds. I want to know the people I'm playing with as well and for activity... well, I don't have time to be in GW2 all the time at the moment anyway, nor am I looking for a really hardcore guild that wants me to attend to things 3 times a week. A weekly guild mission sounds like a lot of fun (excited to try those out) and we have been wanting to try out sPvP for a while now we're feeling more at home with our classes - we only haven't tried it out yet because we don't want to queue randomly and ruin everyone else's experience by not knowing what's going on!

      You could send me the guild website if you have one (here, in-game mail or Steam), or message me the guild leader's name... whatever works. You can even give them this blog as a reference (although I'm not sure if that speaks for or against me - haha).

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    2. Ha, it's a reference to cats in general and not charrs. :P I'll pop in game and send you the account names of the leaders and a few officers and also let them know about you. :)

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    3. Oh, and they will all be online tonight at 8pm (your time) as that's when we do guild missions. :)

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    4. Conrad will love that, he's a huuuuge fan of cats! Thank you for all the effort. I'll see if I can make it tonight. I got the flu and feel pretty terrible, so I may be in no state to game at all. :/

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    5. Oh no, beterschap!! I did hear Conrad on Teamspeak last night. He was immediately fitting in. :) And if he likes cats, he (and you!) should join the facebook group as well as often cat stuff gets posted. :P

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