Hello everyone. (Perhaps this can be a sticky one day with good feedback and changes)
This document has been getting good feedback on the AOC Guild Forums, so I figured I would post it here as well.
You can also find it staff posted HERE on the ConanVault!!!
http://conanvault.ign.com/wiki/index.php/Finding_a_Guild
I have put together a guide to help new players find guilds that fit their personality and play types. If you are looking to be affiliated with a guild, perhaps this guide will assist you.
If anyone has ANY feedback or idea's on how to improve this document, PLEASE post them. I would love to open a dialog. Tell me what you don't agree with, tell me what you would change!
Thanks!
Pro's to being in a guild (Looking for more feedback to add here, let me know!)
Sense of Community.
Easy access to a host of members to assist you with grouping and questing.
Knowledge base - Same class expertise who can assist lower level players.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Calindel's Official "How to find and join a good guild" Guide!
Steps to successfully finding and joining a guild that fits YOU!
Phase 1 = Locating the guild
A. Word of Mouth
When you have finally decided to begin the search for your new home, it is always best practice to query your real life friends and members of any gaming communities you might be a part of. This is a natural first step in guild selection because your friends and colleagues will know you best, and know what you're looking for. They also will make joining an unknown guild extremely viable since they will be able to vouch for you. If you're fortunate enough to know someone who is already in a guild, this is easily the first and best option to explore.
B. Major Sites
The next logical step would be to investigate the "hot spots" for the particular game you're playing. In this example we will use Age of Conan. You can explore many separate websites that do a lot of the guild profiling for you.
Examples:
Age of Conan - Guild Recruitment Forums / http://forums.ageofconan.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17
ConanVault - IGN Network / http://conanvault.ign.com/View.php?v...Directory.List
Age of Conan Wikia Guild Listings http://aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Guilds
GuildCafe.com http://www.guildcafe.com/recruitment...ll/all/28/0/+0
GuildClan.com http://www.guildclan.com/ (Fairly new and not very developed)
C. Web Searching
Simply doing a web search can provide you with a list of recruitment sites and specific guild websites. This is more random, and will make it slightly more difficult in tailoring your search to a guild that would be a good fit for you, but it's always an option. Just try to be more specific in your searches when using this option.
Keywords to use: Age of Conan, AoC, Guild, Forums, PvP, PvE, RP, Recruiting, Applications, Charter, etc etc
D. In Game Discovery
The last and most simple form of locating a guild is to find them in the game you're playing. If you're exploring through a region, and find that another player has randomly decided to assist you with a creature that was too difficult for you to handle / and or he sparks an interesting conversation with you afterwards. You may find this individual to be the type of guild member you would want to have, and you can get information about his guild from him on the spot.
Phase 2 = Research and evaluation
A. Why do I want to join a guild?
This is a pretty important question you need to consider. Some players like to play through a game solo and enjoy it as more of a single player experience. You get the benefit of not answering to anyone, and you set your own play times, and experience the game at your pace. You have no allegiances and you can just enjoy your random interactions with all the players around you. Or you may decide you want to be part of a community and develop slightly more involved relationships with other gamers. DO you want to work together to achieve bigger goals, and act as a team? When doing this you should consider what type of team you're looking for. Are you interested in mainly PVP? PVE? A social /casual environment? A crafter heavy society? Figure out the top 3 things you want from a guild before approaching one to join.
B. Guild Charter / Website / Forums
This is a very important portion of investigating a new guild. Do they have a website? Do they have a charter? Do they have a place to hold discussions? These are all very important for different reasons. Having a website (Does not have to be pretty) lets new members know that you have taken time to make something of your guild, and that you're serious about getting it off the ground. Forums allow you a place to hold discussions outside of the game, and a place to reference for schedules, strategies, and all other forms of needed guild communication. And finally the guild charter...... this is where you can get a birds eye view of the entire guild society as a whole. If the guild created the charter correctly, you should know right away whether or not that guild will feel welcoming to you. READ the charter and find if you agree with it before even approaching the guild. You will be doing youself and the guild a great service by doing so.
C. Personality
Guild personality is funny thing. You could classify guild members 100 different ways, and it is important to see if you would fit in well with the new crowd. Are they hardcore? Are they drunks? Do they whine a lot? Are they way too serious about the game? Get a glimpse at the way they post, the way they behave themselves in game, and pay attention to how they handle their communications with you once you approach them. We will touch more on this later.
D. Guild Rules
Some guilds have posted rules for their forums, and for etiquette when playing the game itself. You should read these rules and agree with them entirely. If you do not, you will only open up the doors for possible conflict and drama at a later time. Do yourself a favor, and the guild you're applying to...... and mention that you have read, understood, and agree with their rules. This will show the guild leaders in question that you did take the time to investigate them before joining. This can only help your application process.
E. Size? Scope? Advancement?
Lastly, you need to investigate the size and scope of the guild. After seeing them in game and/or reading their charter, you should have a good idea of how big the guild is trying to be, and what they would like to accomplish. Do their goals and size agree with you? Some members may not want to feel as if they are lost in a swarm of players, and that personality and uniqueness is lost in a sea of members. Make sure you're comfortable with the size of the guild. The size of a guild often is directly related to the goals of that guild as well. There is a good reason why someone would recruit 150+ members, instead of 40-50. Just take it all into account when making your decision. Also, consider the advancement of a guild. Do you want a guild system in place that allows for rank progression? Do they have a system in place that will allow for you to distinguish yourself? Some players desire to be recognized, and If a guild has room for you to do that, you may be more interested in what they have to offer.
Phase 3 = Opening lines of communication
A. Look before you leap
Look before you leap simply means that you should do all of the investigation you can on a guild before applying. Monitor them in game to see if they are acting in a way that coincides with their guild personality and charter. This will help you decide that your choice in guild is a good one. Also, you may speak with other people who have interacted with the guild to see if they have good or bad things to say. You cannot take every comment as truth, but it is always good to investigate.
B. Finding a sponsor
A very good technique for getting into a guild is to befriend a current member. I do not consider this a "sneaky" or "manipulative" way to try and get into a guild. It is actually a very great way to break the ice and have someone who can vouch for you when vote time comes on your application. Simply finding someone in the game world and asking to group up for quests or an instance is a great way to get to know the type of players in the guild, and to let them gain more opportunities for the guild to hear about you. Simple ways to show that you're not greedy or immature, is to pass on loot if you're in a full group of the guild's members, show them that you're happy to be there and that you simply would like to get to know them better, and be gracious that you could fill in the last spot in their guild quest group. When applying to the guild, these members who you have worked with will assist your application by providing good feedback to the guilds leaders. Do not ASK them to do this... if you were a good player to work with, and mature... they will go out of their way to assist your application on their own.
C. Contacting Officers/Leaders
When you're ready to fill out an application, it is a decent practice to let guild leaders get to the application on their own time, and to let them contact you first. It is generally bad practice to ask the status of your application if you have not heard back within the first 48 hours. Give them time to consider and review your application. It can be annoying to be questioned about it constantly. I would say that waiting at least 3-4 days is a good time frame before inquiring. Or if you simply HAVE to know what the status is, try approaching a member that you have already spoken with and ask if he has heard anything.
D. Honesty and Integrity
Possibly the most important topic to consider.... A good guild will respect people who are honest, mature, and have integrity. Treat people how you would want to be treated, don't lie, don't steal, don't cheat and do not exploit. This can go a long way in making yourself look like a great candidate in the eyes of a new guild.
Phase 4 = Applying and acceptance
A. Filling out a good application
As said previously..... Honesty and Integrity is what you need here. When answering various application questions it is important to be honest. Guilds have ways of looking up histories on players through various sites that track their history. If you have WoW experience, do not bolster that information for it can be verified. Just be mature, honest, and answer the questions fully.... 2 word answers are hardly suitable unless they are requested.
B. Spell Check, Spell Check, Spell Check
For the love of god.... Run a spell check on your application before submitting! This is the #1 reason why applications will be tossed out before ever getting reviewed.
C. Patience, and Politeness
This goes in line with what we mentioned in Phase 3 / Section C. Once you have submitted your application, let the guild go through its process to get it checked and approved. Some guilds may take a long time to do this; others may just be lazy and take a while to process it. If you find that a guild is lazy like this it may give you a reason not to join. Until you find that out, just remain patient and if you MUST ask for a status, be polite.
D. Acceptance behavior
If you finally get a response and your application is accepted.... Congrats!!!! You're now the proud new member of your guild! You have taken on a responsibility to assist your guild become the best it can be in whatever aspect of the game they are trying to succeed in. Be responsible, be nice, and have fun!
Hello everyone. (Perhaps this can be a sticky one day with good feedback and changes)
This document has been getting good feedback on the AOC Guild Forums, so I figured I would post it here as well.
You can also find it staff posted HERE on the ConanVault!!!
http://conanvault.ign.com/wiki/index.php/Finding_a_Guild
I have put together a guide to help new players find guilds that fit their personality and play types. If you are looking to be affiliated with a guild, perhaps this guide will assist you.
If anyone has ANY feedback or idea's on how to improve this document, PLEASE post them. I would love to open a dialog. Tell me what you don't agree with, tell me what you would change!
Thanks!
Pro's to being in a guild (Looking for more feedback to add here, let me know!)
Sense of Community.
Easy access to a host of members to assist you with grouping and questing.
Knowledge base - Same class expertise who can assist lower level players.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Calindel's Official "How to find and join a good guild" Guide!
Steps to successfully finding and joining a guild that fits YOU!
Phase 1 = Locating the guild
A. Word of Mouth
When you have finally decided to begin the search for your new home, it is always best practice to query your real life friends and members of any gaming communities you might be a part of. This is a natural first step in guild selection because your friends and colleagues will know you best, and know what you're looking for. They also will make joining an unknown guild extremely viable since they will be able to vouch for you. If you're fortunate enough to know someone who is already in a guild, this is easily the first and best option to explore.
B. Major Sites
The next logical step would be to investigate the "hot spots" for the particular game you're playing. In this example we will use Age of Conan. You can explore many separate websites that do a lot of the guild profiling for you.
Examples:
Age of Conan - Guild Recruitment Forums / http://forums.ageofconan.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17
ConanVault - IGN Network / http://conanvault.ign.com/View.php?v...Directory.List
Age of Conan Wikia Guild Listings http://aoc.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Guilds
GuildCafe.com http://www.guildcafe.com/recruitment...ll/all/28/0/+0
GuildClan.com http://www.guildclan.com/ (Fairly new and not very developed)
C. Web Searching
Simply doing a web search can provide you with a list of recruitment sites and specific guild websites. This is more random, and will make it slightly more difficult in tailoring your search to a guild that would be a good fit for you, but it's always an option. Just try to be more specific in your searches when using this option.
Keywords to use: Age of Conan, AoC, Guild, Forums, PvP, PvE, RP, Recruiting, Applications, Charter, etc etc
D. In Game Discovery
The last and most simple form of locating a guild is to find them in the game you're playing. If you're exploring through a region, and find that another player has randomly decided to assist you with a creature that was too difficult for you to handle / and or he sparks an interesting conversation with you afterwards. You may find this individual to be the type of guild member you would want to have, and you can get information about his guild from him on the spot.
Phase 2 = Research and evaluation
A. Why do I want to join a guild?
This is a pretty important question you need to consider. Some players like to play through a game solo and enjoy it as more of a single player experience. You get the benefit of not answering to anyone, and you set your own play times, and experience the game at your pace. You have no allegiances and you can just enjoy your random interactions with all the players around you. Or you may decide you want to be part of a community and develop slightly more involved relationships with other gamers. DO you want to work together to achieve bigger goals, and act as a team? When doing this you should consider what type of team you're looking for. Are you interested in mainly PVP? PVE? A social /casual environment? A crafter heavy society? Figure out the top 3 things you want from a guild before approaching one to join.
B. Guild Charter / Website / Forums
This is a very important portion of investigating a new guild. Do they have a website? Do they have a charter? Do they have a place to hold discussions? These are all very important for different reasons. Having a website (Does not have to be pretty) lets new members know that you have taken time to make something of your guild, and that you're serious about getting it off the ground. Forums allow you a place to hold discussions outside of the game, and a place to reference for schedules, strategies, and all other forms of needed guild communication. And finally the guild charter...... this is where you can get a birds eye view of the entire guild society as a whole. If the guild created the charter correctly, you should know right away whether or not that guild will feel welcoming to you. READ the charter and find if you agree with it before even approaching the guild. You will be doing youself and the guild a great service by doing so.
C. Personality
Guild personality is funny thing. You could classify guild members 100 different ways, and it is important to see if you would fit in well with the new crowd. Are they hardcore? Are they drunks? Do they whine a lot? Are they way too serious about the game? Get a glimpse at the way they post, the way they behave themselves in game, and pay attention to how they handle their communications with you once you approach them. We will touch more on this later.
D. Guild Rules
Some guilds have posted rules for their forums, and for etiquette when playing the game itself. You should read these rules and agree with them entirely. If you do not, you will only open up the doors for possible conflict and drama at a later time. Do yourself a favor, and the guild you're applying to...... and mention that you have read, understood, and agree with their rules. This will show the guild leaders in question that you did take the time to investigate them before joining. This can only help your application process.
E. Size? Scope? Advancement?
Lastly, you need to investigate the size and scope of the guild. After seeing them in game and/or reading their charter, you should have a good idea of how big the guild is trying to be, and what they would like to accomplish. Do their goals and size agree with you? Some members may not want to feel as if they are lost in a swarm of players, and that personality and uniqueness is lost in a sea of members. Make sure you're comfortable with the size of the guild. The size of a guild often is directly related to the goals of that guild as well. There is a good reason why someone would recruit 150+ members, instead of 40-50. Just take it all into account when making your decision. Also, consider the advancement of a guild. Do you want a guild system in place that allows for rank progression? Do they have a system in place that will allow for you to distinguish yourself? Some players desire to be recognized, and If a guild has room for you to do that, you may be more interested in what they have to offer.
Phase 3 = Opening lines of communication
A. Look before you leap
Look before you leap simply means that you should do all of the investigation you can on a guild before applying. Monitor them in game to see if they are acting in a way that coincides with their guild personality and charter. This will help you decide that your choice in guild is a good one. Also, you may speak with other people who have interacted with the guild to see if they have good or bad things to say. You cannot take every comment as truth, but it is always good to investigate.
B. Finding a sponsor
A very good technique for getting into a guild is to befriend a current member. I do not consider this a "sneaky" or "manipulative" way to try and get into a guild. It is actually a very great way to break the ice and have someone who can vouch for you when vote time comes on your application. Simply finding someone in the game world and asking to group up for quests or an instance is a great way to get to know the type of players in the guild, and to let them gain more opportunities for the guild to hear about you. Simple ways to show that you're not greedy or immature, is to pass on loot if you're in a full group of the guild's members, show them that you're happy to be there and that you simply would like to get to know them better, and be gracious that you could fill in the last spot in their guild quest group. When applying to the guild, these members who you have worked with will assist your application by providing good feedback to the guilds leaders. Do not ASK them to do this... if you were a good player to work with, and mature... they will go out of their way to assist your application on their own.
C. Contacting Officers/Leaders
When you're ready to fill out an application, it is a decent practice to let guild leaders get to the application on their own time, and to let them contact you first. It is generally bad practice to ask the status of your application if you have not heard back within the first 48 hours. Give them time to consider and review your application. It can be annoying to be questioned about it constantly. I would say that waiting at least 3-4 days is a good time frame before inquiring. Or if you simply HAVE to know what the status is, try approaching a member that you have already spoken with and ask if he has heard anything.
D. Honesty and Integrity
Possibly the most important topic to consider.... A good guild will respect people who are honest, mature, and have integrity. Treat people how you would want to be treated, don't lie, don't steal, don't cheat and do not exploit. This can go a long way in making yourself look like a great candidate in the eyes of a new guild.
Phase 4 = Applying and acceptance
A. Filling out a good application
As said previously..... Honesty and Integrity is what you need here. When answering various application questions it is important to be honest. Guilds have ways of looking up histories on players through various sites that track their history. If you have WoW experience, do not bolster that information for it can be verified. Just be mature, honest, and answer the questions fully.... 2 word answers are hardly suitable unless they are requested.
B. Spell Check, Spell Check, Spell Check
For the love of god.... Run a spell check on your application before submitting! This is the #1 reason why applications will be tossed out before ever getting reviewed.
C. Patience, and Politeness
This goes in line with what we mentioned in Phase 3 / Section C. Once you have submitted your application, let the guild go through its process to get it checked and approved. Some guilds may take a long time to do this; others may just be lazy and take a while to process it. If you find that a guild is lazy like this it may give you a reason not to join. Until you find that out, just remain patient and if you MUST ask for a status, be polite.
D. Acceptance behavior
If you finally get a response and your application is accepted.... Congrats!!!! You're now the proud new member of your guild! You have taken on a responsibility to assist your guild become the best it can be in whatever aspect of the game they are trying to succeed in. Be responsible, be nice, and have fun!