So you're in a normal Guild. A social raiding Guild. The Guild is a mix of "casual" raiders that all raid 3-5 full nights each week, and around 20-50 "socials" who also raid that much, only with PuGs. The Guild chat is a mix of game related content and real life stuff. It is mostly dominated by males between 15 and 25 years of age. On Friday and Saturday nights they are very loud, spell worse than ever, and make it their personal agenda to inform the entire Guild how stone or drunk they are, what porn they are watching, what they ate for dinner. The Guild ventrilo is pretty much the same. The few females who have revealed their gender is being harassed, getting constant questions with sexual innuendo. And if they happen to utter a single syllable on Ventrilo, it's all "your voice is so sexy!", "I love your voice!", followed by a storm of whispers. Nobody remembers what she said.
In your raids the hard working raid leader(s) are announcing all boss abilities. They are most of the time naming who should do what, and when. They did all the tactics before the encounter. In fact, they do this every single raid. The raiders often do /tap their feet impatiently while the raid leader(s) talk, ignoring the massive work done freely for them. Most of the raiders don't know the tactics, even though the raid leader(s) is repeating them every raid, and also put up an extensive Guide complete with links to YouTube videos on the Guild Forums. If the regular raid leader(s) isn't present, or if Ventrilo breaks down, the raid wipes.
Between the raids you want to go questing, or do some PvP. But you have to wait, or take constant breaks. Because the Guild needs your services. They need you to tank something, heal against a seasonal boss, craft some leggings for them, enchant their new armor. You'll have to come to them, because their Hearthstone is on cooldown.
Everybody knows your real name. Because you wrote it in your application. Along with all your previous Guilds. Why you left them. You had to show great class knowledge, prove your experience. If you hadn't been cool, funny, smart, highly experienced and very much overgeared, you wouldn't have gotten into your social raiding Guild, which is a Guild that raids 5-6 nights each week, and require at least 80% attendance.
One night you log on to level your Fishing. You haven't signed for any raids. You didn't plan to raid. You get a whisper the instant you log on, explaining that you're needed as a replacement in the evening's raid. Some people had to leave early/got disconnected/imploded in nerdrage, and therefore the raid is wiping constantly now. You explain that you only logged on to Fish, and will leave soon. In return you get told that it is not an option. It's in the Guild rules that you're expected to always be available when you're online. They are in fact threatening to kick you if you don't come to raid, on a night you didn't sign up for in the first place.
The list goes ever on.
It's the nature of these types of Guilds. And though many people find this Guild format to be ideal, I do not. I want a Guild where I choose my own level of involvement. Where nobody expects me to craft for free. Where I show up for what I choose to sign up for myself, but nothing else. A Guild where my name, past and reasons for existing don't matter. Where what I do defines me, not what I've done in the 6 years prior to joining. A Guild where the only focus is progress, where any social chatter takes place in whispers. A Guild whose only focus is the game itself, not the social aspects of fitting into a community of 15-25 year old male gamers with a lot of time on their hands.
This Guild exists. It has been done on several other servers, both in the EU and the US. And I would very much like to do it here. On my realm, Draenor EU PvE Alliance side, this Guild is Vagabonds.
We're currently... not so many people. All good things take time to build. The good news is, you are welcome!
It is very easy to become a member. You read, understand and comply with the rules. You whisper me for an invite after you've read the rules. I will ask some control questions. Answer them well, and you're in. I don't ask for previous Guilds, your reasons for wanting to be a member, your name, your gear, nothing. Recruitment is always open for all classes, levels and specs. For PvE'ers and PvP'ers alike. Everybody with presence of mind, dedication and talent are welcome. It is what you do after you have joined that define you, not what you did before.
Our Guild rules are located at:
http://goldpaw.blogspot.com/p/vagabonds-guild-rules.html
Labels:
Philosophy
