Dead guilds in MMOs

[robbbbb05]

I've played quite a few MMOs, and one thing I've noticed throughout all of them is that whenever I join a guild, the guild is pretty much dead. It doesn't matter if the guild only has 10 members or over 100 members; every time I log on, I'm usually the only guild member that's online. I'm wondering if anyone else has had different experiences.

 

[ZeroFarks]

That's because the modern MMO format is "You're the chosen one! And you're the chosen one! And you're the chosen one! Everybody gets to be the chosen one!"

This subtly turns their players into self-righteous twits who all think that they deserve their own guild.

Which they make. Welcome to "DeezBigNutzGulde," population 1.

//For extra credit contrast to the massive player cities back in SWG, a game that came right out and said "No, you don't get to the savior of the galaxy. Now wipe down those tables, we've got customers coming in.

 

[madwarper]

When you find yourself in a near dead guild, you have two options; Fight or Flight.

The fight part is about embracing your guild, working to recruit people and getting together with activities. So that you can attract even more players and, more importantly, increase your retention rate. Granted this is very difficult, especially depending on your personality type.

The flight part is easy, abandon the guild and search for greener pastures.

 

[Scarim Coral]

If you ever played Guild Wars 2 or planning to due to it becoming d2p, don't joined the Escapist Guild.

When it was released, it was somehat active or rather few members showing dedication to that specific guild like I was..

Over time people most people lost interest in it including the Guild Master and thus the last time I saw it, only a couple of people were on it at best and even rarer showing repersentation to the Escapist (you can repersent more than one guild).

I was one of the longest member who stayed on it but I eventually quit as I got tired of being in a ghost guild which is a shame as I dream of doing activity with people on here.

I do got to say is that I have notice the guild leader being abit active lately but I have yet to direcrtly message him about it. Maybe he is coming back due to the upcoming expansion.

 

[Silverbane7]

sometimes, the guilds are dead though because of other reasons.
like when people like me make (or are given) a guild, and basicaly are craftaholics (and altaholics too, i admit it lol) and just keep hold of em for the guild bank.
some guilds are dead because only one or two players consistantly still play the game, where as everyone else got bored and moved on
and yes, with things like wow ect, its because a fair chunk of the players burn thru the current content (usualy a month or so after a patch or expansion) and head off to do 'something less boring instead' lol.

but i do agree, that the saviour of the 'verse line is getting a bit long in the tooth.
we need more games where you are just an average joe and you happen to be good at something, instead of being the ChosenOne or Savior ect.
though i doubt if most teams can work out how to make a storyline where you are NOT the special person in the 'verse, its been used for so long, i think they cant come up with any other way to get people to play.

 

[sanquin]

That's usually my experience too. The most members I've ever seen online in any guild in any game I played was around 30. And that was in a guild of around 300 people...

 

[kasperbbs]

Thats because modern MMO's don't depend on teamwork as much as they used to. I had a guild once that could fit 40 people and at least 30 were on in the evening every day and we would do stuff together that would be impossible to do alone or even with one 9 people party. When some of us moved to Guild Wars 2 the community pretty much died because it was boring AF in comparison and doing dungeons together wasn't as rewarding.

 

[Ishigami]

If there are not enough people active just leave.
Once the leader turns passive its over anyway.

What I found problematic in many guilds in their approach to democracy.
You know I like living in a democracy, it's far better than to live in a dictatorship or monarchy where you are basically at the mercy of one persons moot. So no I'm not in favor of overthrowing my government to replace it with Hitler².
But in online games? Sorry democracy doesn't work. If the guild leader is some wuss who can't decide on shit and rather holds polls and stuff its somewhat bound to fail because it is way too slow to react to a risen situation, especially in PvP. Following orders and making decisions is essential.
If people don't agree with the leaders set goals or ways they should just leave and join another guild with goals/ways that correlate with their own. Everyone will be better off.

 

[bliebblob]

Mh-hm, this is hardly uncommon. I'd wager it's because starting a guild is usually not that hard, and it's only a game. So people create them left right and center, often with no vision or game plan. Thus resulting in dozens upon dozens of these superfluous, water-treading guilds that are little more than a chat room. Sooner or later lethargy sets in, players start leaving in descending order of ambitiousness, the creators themselves lose interest, ... And voila: you've got yourself a nice husk of a guild.

Note that these guilds can be fun though, if you enjoy the company! Pretty much every guild I've ever been in was one of these after all. But if you want more than that (raiding, group activities, ...), I would advise to move on to a guild with a bit more renown. Yes you can try to pull one of these guilds from the drek, but it's generally pointless and thankless.

 

[Lufia Erim]

It's because there are too many guilds. When you can make an unlimited amount of guilds well the playerbase is spread too thin. It also means starting a new guild is harder because few people actually want to join a new guild and more people feel like they deserve a L33T guild. But the people in those L33T guilds already have their established circle of friends and people they actively play with, leaving everyone else on the wayside begging for people do group with them.