I know many of you are going to say that this should be posted under the guild recruitment tab but this post isn’t about guild recruitment, but the reason why so many players are playing without guilds or joining into the social aspects of the game. The short answer is that there is simply no incentive for them to join a guild if they don’t plan on raiding and there is no reason for guilds to carry “dead weight”.
I have come to this conclusion with my recent return to the game. I started playing at the end of the WotLK expac and left the game about mid MoP. I ended up leaving because my career was taking up more of my time and I was burned out by the constant grind within the game required for gear. MoP really hurt my interest in the game with the overabundance of dailies that the introduced during that time. However, I still always had a warm place in my heart for the game.
So over the summer I decided to return to the game because I missed playing it. I have started fresh and only kept my mounts and pets. Started with brand new classes that I never played my first time around. I’m loving playing the game again, but I miss hanging out in guild chat and enjoying the game with fellow nerdy types.
And that is when I started the miserable experience of trying to find a new guild. I need to backtrack a little bit here. I was recruited into my old guild by my roommate, so I had a guild waiting for me when I joined the game and they are the only guild I have ever played with. They are all gone now and the guild doesn’t even exist anymore. So coming back to the game and trying to find a guild has been a painful experience, and here is why. I’m now a filthy casual. As a father of three and having a job that requires 60 - 70 hours a week at times, I play when I can. It has taken me 5 months to level two characters, one to 120 and one to 90. I simply don’t have the time to chase a gear score when I only play 4 - 6 hours a week. So when I apply for a guild and tell them this, I get immediately rejected because I would be dead weight to them. There is no mechanic within the game that would allow me to contribute to the group in any meaningful way. And for them to take the time out to help me get prepared for any guild related activities would simply be a waste of time on their part. I have applied and been rejected by six guilds in the last two months. And that is very sad.
It’s a shame that there isn’t something within the game for players like me that want the social aspects of a guild, but don’t have the time to chase end game content. I have no desire to join one of the mega guilds because I think that it would be too much hassle for me. When my old guild was at it’s peak we had just shy of 200 characters over about 40 active players. We all knew each other and many of us socialized outside of the game. We used mostly Ventrillo back then and we were always hanging out and joking in chat while playing the game. I really miss that sort of social interaction and it’s a shame that there isn’t anywhere for a filthy casual like me to be a part of it because I can’t contribute to a guild in any meaningful way in game.
So that’s my rant. I’m not going to quit or have any melodrama over it. I’m loving retail and I can’t wait for Visions and Shadowlands, but I wish I had a group of fun loving nerdy folks to enjoy it with. And I wish there were in game mechanics that could allow for a guild to have a reason to keep me on the roster even if I don’t have any desire for raiding. So that’s my rant and I feel better getting that off my chest. Happy gaming!
There aren’t many guilds that only retain raiders as members.
I don’t know if you’re applying to be a raider or just a member. If you’re applying to be a member then congrats, you found all 6 guilds that only retain raiders as members.
Personally, I had to turn guild invites off due to the amount of random invites I was getting from people I’d never met.
There are TONS of social guilds in the game as well as the newish “Communities” feature, which might scratch your social itch.
Sorry you’ve had a bad experience, but like the other guy said, I literally had to turn off guild invites because I was getting hit with them non-stop on alts while leveling. I’m talking lvl 1-60 toons here, not even maxed out guys.
Thanks guys. I have not found that to be the case. I turn off trade chat because I don’t enjoy the toxicity in the discussion that I see there. In the 7 or so months that I have been back, I have not had a single guild invite. Maybe I give off an anti social vibe? Maybe I should start wearing deodorant? Honestly, I’m a nice guy and I get along with folks.
You could start by turning trade chat back on so that you can see the guild recruitment messages–you know, the things that describe what kind of guild it is. Just ignore the rest of the drivel being said there.
There’s also the new and improved guild finder system. You could try browsing that to find one that suits you too.
Sure there is incentive to join a guild. Almost every one of my characters are in guilds and I don’t normally raid.
I just started playing another account and guess what the first thing I did was. Join a guild to get guild rep so I can buy heirlooms. In addition to heirlooms, you have people to talk with and discuss things and the odd time help you. I had to ask if anyone had netherweave bags because the ones posted on the ah were 55g and I couldn’t afford to buy them on the server because I started with zero gold.
Also, I don’t think all that many people are actually playing without guilds unless they are a come and go type of person who never really plays for any length of time.
I will mention I specifically pick a character I don’t play to post on this forum and maybe others do as well so if you are judging guildless people by the numbers on the forum you aren’t getting a random sample.
I find that really odd - do you have guild invites blocked ? I can’t play even on dead servers for more than a few hours without getting invites/whispers.
I keep guild invite blocked because I don’t want a cold invite. I’d rather have at least a short conversation before I join. But I do keep whispers on and I always respond but I have never had an invite this way. And I’m on Dalaran, so it’s not like I am on a low pop server.
Yeah the fact that alot of high end guilds are run like businesses at this point is a huge problem for the game.
Charging for access to raid groups
Having mandatory events or drives
Dictating what specs you have to play
Dictating what professions you learn
Almost all of the “competitive” guilds i have seen are like this. The guild is not a community of friends. It’s a power trip and a piggy bank for the GM and their officers. Its pathetic.
Luckily I seem tk have found a nice casual guild with nice people who just wanna play the game.
Well if you block guild invites that is why you aren’t getting any. If I get whispers after blocking guild invite on characters, I report those as spam. So maybe that is why people aren’t doing that pesty whispering business.
If you wanted to join a guild you would just go and search for one and join. It isn’t hard. The guild tool in game is current and up to date now and so easy to use.
This is what I want to find and this is what my old guild was like. I have seen examples of all your bullet points and that is not the experience that I am looking for. My old team was a great group of folks to hang out with. We were silly and we teased and laughed with each other while going through content. I remember wiping once in Icecrown because of one of our members being AFK for “personal” reasons and in Vent we were all laughing to tears. I miss those silly bastards.
It basically sounds like you’re doing everything you possibly could to NOT be invited to a guild.
If you must completely isolate yourself as you are then finding a guild is 100% on yourself. Use the new guild finding system or quit isolating yourself so much.
There are plenty of fun guilds but you’ve got to open up a bit to find them.
Well if you happen to be on the Dalaran server then I’m sure our GM would be happy to have you.
We spent all night the other night trying and failing to run Mythic Nighthold and then we decided to do Naxrammus and Dragon Soul for mogs. We were goofing off the whole time. It was great.
Judging from what you said here it sounds like you are perhaps aiming too high. Serious raiding guilds want people to come self-prepared for harder content and that’s to be expected.
But there are smaller and more relaxed guilds who stick to causal content that would be happy to have you, no strings attached. Even if you have very little time to play, you can still contribute to the guild via profession materials, gold, reagents, etc.
What’s ironic is that finding guilds is much easier today than in years past, but finding friends is much harder. It was easier to bond with people when they weren’t expendable (like they are today).
By the way, I’m on Dalaran too. Add me and I would be happy to tank dungeons and feed you gear. willthegreen#1549
Check out your realm forum or in the new player forum there’s a stickied thread with new and returning player friendly guilds. You may find something there. But I have to agree with the rest of the thread, you’ve just had some bad luck or you’re trying to join hardcore progression guilds. In which case, no that definitely wouldn’t work out with your schedule.
Guilds in the top 10 take social members even. I know because I was in one for awhile before they stopped mythic raiding. Sure I couldn’t join their progression groups but I could come for their fun nights.
And if you want to contribute to a guild like that, there is the guild bank. They always need raid consumables.
I actually wonder what you expected those guilds to do for YOU that was the issue because almost every single raiding guild I have encountered accepts social members.
Not much really. I’m looking for a group of players that just enjoy each other and experience the game together.
Remember, I have never done this before. Members of my old guild knew me IRL, so I have never had to look for a guild before. This is all kinda new to me.
If you told me as a gm of a raiding guild you wanted to experience the game together and also told me you didn’t have time to actually play, I actually would reject you as well because that guilds main purpose is to raid not to carry you.
You don’t want to be talking to raiding guilds, you want to be talking to social guilds. Those generally just do normal raiding at most and then achievements, transmog runs, etc.
Ok, I guess I have not kept myself informed enough to know that there was much of a difference. I appreciate your kind advice and I will look for them moving forward.
