Just to give context here, I used to be the Guild Master of a guild on Mannoroth server called . I’m the original creator of the guild. That was 15 years ago or so. I decided to come back and play the game with a few friends to see that I was no longer the GM, which was expected since I figured I’d been away long enough that others took over to continue.
The last people to have logged into the guild, asides myself in the last few days (I have three characters in the guild still), was between 4 to 13 years ago. 4 years ago.
So it’s safe to say that the guild is “dead” and I’d like to take ownership back. I tried the “dethrone guild master” options, but I’m not able to see the “dethrone guild master” or “guild leader no longer plays” button anywhere in the guild tabs.
So I contacted customer support via a ticket - they sent me in a loop - back to the How to Dethrone a GM 101 support page. Which doesn’t work.
If you were originally the one who created the guild, then Game Masters might be able to help, but apart from that, if you’re not a high enough rank, then there is nothing much Blizzard can do, sorry to say.
If Blizzard can verify you were the guild’s founder, you could very well stand a chance. You’ll have to submit a ticket for them to take a look, however.
If you were not, then they will not help you and lodging that ticket is just going to be a waste of time and you’re better off getting a foot ahead and starting a new guild.
The dethrone system is set up the way it is now due to player feedback. Subsequent guild leaders can set up their ranking systems to ensure that the guild is never taken from them, if they so desire… with the sole exception above.
Rationale doesn’t have anything to do with it, sadly. It’s just how they operate in this manner as a result of the majority wish of the playerbase.
The system is set up so that only persons within the top 4 ranks are eligible to dethrone the guild master. The guild master is free to demote everyone below that level to ensure that GM is not taken, even if they are inactive. This was done by Blizzard on purpose to allow GMs control over the guild permanently.
There are rare exceptions where the guild founder is dethroned and later becomes the only active char and wants it back, but can’t due to their level. That is rare though and about the only exception they might make.
Being from Mannoroth myself I am quite curious which guild, if it is Alliance anyway.
Well this is exactly the case. I created the guild, was the GM for years then left for about 15 years. During that time it was taken over, no problem I get it, but now I’m back and I’m the only one in the guild that’s logged in. All other accounts last logins range from 4-13 years.
Asides being the guild creator, seems reasonable to give me back access.
No steps in that work. Not even the guild rankings link provided. I tried all that then sent a ticket in, seems it got denied at the first level without anyone taking a real look into the situation.
The intent of the guild dethrone system is that once a person gets GM, they can set it up to permanently retain control if they want. That was a major player request after a couple other versions of the dethrone system.
They don’t want just anyone who becomes active in a mothballed guild to be able to take it.
The one exception is if the original GM is still in guild, and was dethroned. That dethroned char won’t be eligible to take GM, but sometimes a GM makes an exception for that char.
If you want to, you can try re-opening the ticket and pointing out that you are the original GM creator of the guild and that you would like your GM character promoted please. They MIGHT. Worth asking anyway.
If your GM char is no longer in the guild, then that won’t be possible I don’t think.
Blizzard are very hands off guilds now, given the tools guild leaders have. You have a very slim chance they might help because you were the guild leader/creator originally.
If that wasn’t the case, Blizzard would not step in to hand you the guild if you are unable to dethrone via the in-game guild rank system regardless how long the guild has been inactive for.
I founded a guild back in Shadowlands, and handed the reigns to a friend who promptly quit shortly after I did. Despite being the only two players in the guild, and her being inactive for over two years now, the GMs were unable to assist me with reclaiming the guild, as my guild rank is too low.
Intentionally making someone else the Guild Master is vastly different from being the founder of the guild and being dethroned. In the former case, since you did that willingly, the Game Masters won’t assist. In the latter case, however, a Game Master may be able to assist as they were dethroned instead of making someone else the Guild Master.
Well, I’d like to say through a little persistence, and explaining the details, they’ve made an exception. I’ve got my guild back ! I think that’s the key really - having been the creator, had multiple toons in the guild (some were different ranks than others) and everyone else was 4 to 13 years away. I kindly asked for help to regain access, it was denied. I explained the normal methods didn’t work and asked them to look further into it to examine the case and it turned out in my favour. Nice to have a success story. ! For the Horde!
A little persistence in making clear that you have a strong case for one of the documented exception cases was key here.
Unlike the bloodyminded people who have no reason for an exception to any CS policy besides “I WANT IT GIMME” and will harass GMs until they get threatened with account closure.