What is a guild?
A guild is a group of players that join together for companionship, adventure, economic gain and more. You can read more about the benefits of creating or joining a guild here.
Guilds offer many benefits including free items, opportunities for groups, access to trade skill masters, quest items, and readily available trade skill ingredients through gathering guild members. You may discover that a guild greatly enhances your gameplay experience. You can meet friends, share adventures, and find people to protect you if you fight in faction versus faction combat. Typically, players in good guilds can go places and do things that players in poor guilds or no guild can't. This is especially the case at maximum character level (80), where the dungeons become very challenging.
Keep in mind that guilds are run by players and not Blizzard. The quality of the guild and the guild experience depends entirely on the players in that guild. Guilds can be a grab bag where you never know what you'll get. Every guild is different.
Finding a guild can be very easy. People often sit in town asking anyone to join their guild because guilds require a minimum number of members to create. However, finding a quality guild with quality members and leadership can be a difficult task. Don't be afraid to shop around. You can join one guild, try it out, then leave and join another guild until you find one you like.
Guild Size
Guild size can be a big factor in choosing a guild. Guilds that invite too many people, that don't pick quality members, and invite new people all the time are generally less organized and less powerful. However, it can be much easier to find people to group with in a larger guild. Smaller guilds are more personal. One complaint players have about large guilds is that you often run into guild members you don't know ("I don't know all these people."). With a smaller guild there is much more opportunity to get to know each member. For that reason, some players prefer a small guild. Ultimately, the "Large vs. Small" debate depends on the guild and the members that join. There are large guilds that still remain very good. Leadership and recruitment policies are the main factors in determining how a guild turns out.
Grouping
Grouping can be a good way to find a guild. Team up with people and play with them for a while. Make friends with them and play together for several days. If they get to like you, they will usually want you in their guild so that you'll continue to play with them. After helping them out, inquire about their guild. Perhaps they may help you join.
Reputation
Do your own research into a specific guild. As guilds become powerful, well known, and popular, rumors about them begin to appear. Often when a guild member does something to offend a player, that offended player starts spreading stories about the entire guild. Jealous players make untrue generalizations about the guild and its members. Make sure you find out the real story on your own with whatever evidence you can find such as screenshots or web reports. Sometimes a guild may be good and is just the victim of a bad reputation. Guilds can be very jealous or hostile toward each other and thus make up rumors to hurt the reputation of the other guild. Or, perhaps, the reputation about that guild is true. Maybe the guild is full of troublemakers. Find out yourself.
Visit Guild Web Sites
Visit the World of Warcraft.com Guild Recruitment forums. They contain links to various guild sites. You can visit their web sites, see what activities they engage in, and check out their rules. Quality guilds often have very good web sites. This can be a good indicator that this might be a good guild to join. You can also ask guild members if they have a web site.
Interview Guild Members
If you find a guild you like, interview some of their guild members. Ask them how things are in their guild and if they enjoy it. If you're interested in joining, ask them who you should talk to. Be very careful when messaging guild members because their impression of you is very important. If you offend the guild member, they may spread the word about your offensive request (via guild chat), and that could harm your chances of joining. Be on your best behavior. Asking to join one of the more powerful guilds can actually be similar to a job interview in real life.
Positive Guild Behavior
Look for guilds with:
Good Grouping
One of the most important things you need is the ability to find groups to help you complete your quests. That's why most people join guilds.
Have good leadership
A guild needs clear leadership and strong rules. Members need someone who can resolve conflicts and give direction to members.
Generous
Look for guilds whose members are willing to share items and help you get things. You shouldn't expect free handouts for no effort. A quality guild will offer items and discounts to their members.
Low Spam
Guild chat is a very important part of a guild. Guild members typically use this method to communicate. Find a guild that has good guild chat rules and enforces them. Otherwise, you might have to put up with a lot of garbage text while you play. There are advanced chat options that allow you to turn off guild chat.
Low Drama
Item fights and guild members fighting with each other are common problems in guilds. If the guild has good leaders and quality members, these problems can be reduced or dealt with when they arise. Sometimes players quit a guild because of "too much drama." Games are supposed to be fun. If time is spent fighting, that's not very fun. Don't be afraid to leave a guild. There will always be others to join and you can always create your own.
Mature Leaders
When players get power such as the ability to remove guild members, demote them, and tell them what to do, they sometimes abuse that power. Find a guild whose leaders are responsible with the power they have.
Conclusion
Do some research, shop around, and keep trying until you find a good guild. Don't give up. There are good guilds out there. You just have to find them. Remember, you can always create your own guild if you want and make one that follows your own requirements.
Guild Creation
Find a Guildmaster NPC in any of the major cities.
Purchase a Guild Charter from the Guildmaster.
Pick an appropriate guild name and get nine other players to sign your Guild Charter.
Naming Policy Overview
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." --William Shakespeare
One of the first adventures you will embark upon within World of Warcraft will be that of choosing a character name. While your subsequent exploits should prove infinitely more exhilarating, great care should be given to name selection. The first impression other players have of you will be based on your name, so it's best to start off on the right foot. While choosing the perfect name for your character, guild, arena team, or pet is generally left to your discretion, we ask that you refrain from using certain types of names. These types of names are detailed in the categories below. If a name is found that violates these policies we will change the name and take further action if the name is inappropriate. In addition, the GM staff will only change a name that has been found in violation of this policy; we are unable to change character names upon request. Below are guidelines to help you determine whether or not the name you have chosen is appropriate for your character, guild, arena team, or pet. Hopefully, we encompass all manner of barred names; however there may be inappropriate names which do not fit into any of these categories. We reserve the right to evaluate each incident on a case by case basis, and in extreme cases, take action beyond what is detailed here.
Highly Inappropriate
Names which fall under the following categories are deemed to be highly inappropriate. Clarification on what constitutes each category can be found by clicking on the links below.
Racial/Ethnic/National
Extreme Sexuality/Violence
Sexual Orientation
Obscene/Vulgar
Though we have varying tolerance for repeated abuse of each category, any name that violates one of these categories will most likely:
Be assigned a randomly generated name
Be temporarily suspended from the game
Moderately Inappropriate
Names which fall under the following categories are deemed to be mildly inappropriate. Clarification on what constitutes each category can be found by clicking on the links below.
Harassing or Defamatory
Blizzard Employees
Inappropriate
Advertising
Though we have varying tolerance for repeated abuse of each category, any name that violates one of these categories will most likely:
Be assigned a randomly generated name
Be given a warning
Restricted
Names which fall under the following categories are restricted and will most likely not receive an account penalty on the first instance. Clarification on what constitutes each category can be found by clicking on the links below.
Trademarks
Pure Gibberish
Contain "Leet" or "Dudespeak"
Titles (Does not apply to Guild, Arena Team or Pet Names)
Real World References
Partial or Complete Sentences (Does not apply to Guild or Arena Team Names)
Though we have varying tolerance for repeated abuse of each category, any name that violates one of these categories will most likely:
Be prompted to select a new name for the character upon next login
IMPORTANT
Repeatedly violating any area of the Terms of Use (ToU), including the areas detailed above, will often result in temporary suspension from the game.
This policy is not language-restrictive. Names that fall under this policy will always be subject to the repercussions listed, whether they are inappropriate in English or any other language.
Questionable names may not be changed immediately, but at a later date, pending further review. Blizzard reserves the right to change any names we deem inappropriate or that violate policy.
Players found to be in violation of the above policies may be assigned a randomly generated temporary name for their character, guild, arena team, or pet. An E-mail will be sent to the account's registered E-mail address with instructions on how to change his/her temporary name to one of their choice.
The bottom line is that we want World of Warcraft to be a fun and safe environment for all players. World of Warcraft is an MMORPG, and the key words are "Massively Multiplayer." In playing this game, you will encounter thousands of other players who share different experiences and come from vastly different backgrounds. While a certain name may not be offensive to you, consider the fact that that same name may have a completely different effect on someone else. We've done everything we can to make this a great game but now it's up to you, the players, to breathe life into the world. Choose wisely my friends.
Return the Guild Charter to any Guildmaster.
You now have a guild!
Guild Commands
Note: most of these commands can only be used by officers and leaders.
/ginfo - Gives basic information about your guild
/g <message> - Sends a chat message to all members of your guild
/o <message> - Sends a chat message to all officers of your guild
/ginvite <player> - Invites another player to join your guild
/gremove <player> - Removes a player from your guild
/gpromote <player> - Promotes a player one rank within your guild
/gdemote <player> - Demotes a player one rank within your guild
/gmotd <message> - Sets the guild's message of the day
/gquit - Removes you from your guild
/groster - Gives an entire guild roster (officers and leaders only)
/gleader <player> - Sets another player as the guild leader (guild leader only)
/gdisband - Disbands your guild (guild leader only). There is a confirmation dialogue when you attempt to disband your guild.
Guild Ranks
The default ranks for a new guild are Initiate, Member, Veteran, Officer, and Leader.
By default, Officers and Leaders can add and remove players from the guild.
Only Leaders can disband the guild and promote players to Officer.
Guild leaders can also rename the existing ranks and create up to ten of their own custom ranks.
Guild Tabarbs
The guild tabard is a wearable item that proudly displays your guild's chosen symbol and colors. The guild master must first design and purchase a guild tabard through the guild tabard NPC. Once designed, any guild member can purchase a tabard from the same NPC.
Guild Chat
Guild members can talk to each other via guild chat. Simply start a message with /g to speak to guild members. It is a good idea for guilds to establish rules for their guild chat.
Guild Rank
The Guild Bank is a shared repository for an entire guild and are accessible through Guild Vault objects near existing banks. The Guild Bank allows players with the appropriate permissions to store items and money for use by the rest of the guild. Permissions to withdraw and deposit money and items are controlled by the guild leader through the guild controls menu. The Guild Bank is divided up into separate tabs so that the guild leader may restrict access or group items into distinct categories.
Up to 6 purchasable tabs each containing 98 item slots.
You may use your Guild Bank withdraw limits to pay for item repairs.
Transaction logs are recorded of the last 25 actions within each tab.
Source:Official Forums of WoW
By:Kross
