There are many things I love about Guild Wars 2 – let me get this out there first. There are, however, things that I very much dislike, namely the guild system. My first issue is that there are so few requirements that the game has an overabundance of guilds. I get that GW2 is attempting to break the mold by removing limitations we’ve seen as ‘normal’ in other MMORPG’s, but I feel this takes away from the Guild system. Let me be more clear.
- It costs a mere 1 silver (which means any level 2 person can start a guild in a matter of a minute)
- There is no charter requirement (a love it or hate it feature – for those who don’t know what it is, it was a requirement to have 5 or so people confirm their support of the guild before it could be created)
- You can join up to 5 guilds at one time.
I’ll look at these issues one at a time. First of all, the practically non-existent monetary requirement denies players the feeling of being able to build up to something. Handing guilds out means you don’t get the satisfaction of building up your wallet for a true purpose. Just as an example, when my buddy and I were playing RIFT, we played together at nearly all times. He was the tank and I was the healer – a classic duo. Now of course when we created our characters we were already thinking of how cool it would be to run our own guild. In RIFT it cost one platinum (equivalent to one gold in GW2) to start a guild, an amount we collectively worked towards to achieve. When we finally earned that one platinum we headed straight to the guild magistrate with that feeling of accomplishment I was referring to earlier. Not only does a 1 silver requirement remove the sense of accomplishment, it is the reason why guild recruitment sites have more guilds then there are players (seemingly).
Next, the charter requirement. Again, some people disliked this feature and wanted to be able to start their guild right away. There are others like me however, who saw that while it did add an extra step into the progress, it helped you to build a foundation. I currently have 5 people in my guild, and not due to lack of effort. I try advertising – not spamming – in map chat, I posted ads on 4 websites including the official guild recruitment forum, and I ask people that I explore/event with. Quite frustrating to be in a Very High population world and still have an issue like this.
The ability to be in up to 5 guilds. Five guilds. FIVE. GUILDS. Am I the only one who thought this was ludicrous? What happened to guild loyalty? What happened to either being in a guild, or leaving it?
Call this a rant or just complaints or whatever you want, but they are truly valid points. The three things I pointed out three things about the Guild Wars 2 guild system that make it harder to develop a strong, loyal guild.