[NA] [Casual] TLDR About big guilds from a returning player

[Voneveric.8507]

Disclaimer before I start, I think this is the most suitable place to make this post. I do know many players who feel this is an issue within the community so I will be the one to say it. 
Big guilds are not good for the game, especially when it comes to longevity. Again, I have no ill-will towards big guilds. I just feel like this problem have been brewing for awhile. Those guilds know which guilds they are. Here are the reasons why and this why I feel like Anet should close threads of the bigger guilds once they hit a certain member cap.
 

• For new players trying to learn the game, new guilds seem enticing at first. (more people to play/socialize with) Most of the time; it turns out to be the opposite. They get ignored or get exposed to toxicity and turn away from the game.
• They spam/flood the forums making it harder for smaller guilds to recruit. When I was a new player years ago, I joined a big guild being all giddy and whatnot, but I got ignored, got zero help whatsoever. When I joined a small guild(I forget their name) They helped me learn how to play the game, how to make gold, I made good friends and felt confident. Again, would be nice if Anet made a post cap so Big guilds couldnt have a monopoly.
• They are not full of good/competent players. This one might sound a bit elitist but whenever I raid or do CMS, NO ONE is from a big guild. Most people from the bigger guilds are actually the worst at the game. Why? Most likely because bigger guilds compensate with numbers instead of quality 
• Another subpoint is that; while big guilds seem nice, they also cause a lot of drama and toxicity (never been apart of it myself but have heard from other friends in gw2). This drives new/returning players away.
  
  Again this is not meant to throw shade at the big guilds (but if the shoe fits, wear it)
  Let me know your thoughts on this and let's have a discussion.
  Should we keep supporting bigger guilds or focus more on guild diversity and inclusivity?

Edited December 26, 2022 by Voneveric.8507

[Alloy.8012]

hey can i join

 

[HaggyPotter.6730]

I remember when I first played the game and joined big guilds. I felt very unwelcomed and nobody helped me out with anything, even though they advertised themselves as "beginner-friendly" environment. Thank you for posting this 🙂

[Voneveric.8507]

Thanks, want this topic to be more prevalent so new players don't fall for the "we're a big guild, so we offer more" schtick. Always ask around and do your research. That being said, GW2 Allows for multiple guilds. Doesn't mean you should stay in a guild where people ignore you or have cliques! DO YOUR RESEARCH AND BE PICKY MY FRIENDS!!!

[Voneveric.8507]

REMINDER!

[Voneveric.8507]

Bumping the post for visibility

[Silverlock.9736]

What do you define as a big guild?

[Voneveric.8507]

12 hours ago, Silverlock.9736 said:

What do you define as a big guild?

I mean, what any logical person would, right? 
200+ Is pretty big, but some guilds go under the pretense saying "only half" are active. Which begs the question if only have are active why not clean out the roster? 

[Friend.2837]

How would one go about making friends and finding smaller guilds they fit with? Like you said they have much less visibility. Do I just go around the game and chat up people I run into? That seems like a bit of work, haha

[Voneveric.8507]

That, or once you get into higher-end, some of the better players are in small guilds. High end as in raiding/fractals/strikes. You can also look on the reddit discord for Recruitment. Another way is to go in game>Looking for group>Scroll all the way down>Guild recruitment>Guild plaza. Some people do post on there. I also make plenty of friends from fighting world bosses and doing metas.
For me; I prefer a lot of work as opposed to spending time with people who I don't enjoy their company or being ignored. Good conversation and perspective. 

[Voneveric.8507]

Oh, I also want to add in another disclaimer: If you're new/returning or looking for a guild in general, try to ask questions; it's your right and if they don't like that, then you know they won't be a fit for you. Also investigate and never lower your standards. You come to GW2 to relax and enjoy the game. The last thing you need is drama/toxicity from a guild! A solid green flag from me is when someone reaches out to me instead of copy and pasting an ad 🙂 Good luck to anyone looking for a family/home!

[Friend.2837]

Appreciate the advice o7

[Silverlock.9736]

3 hours ago, Voneveric.8507 said:

I mean, what any logical person would, right? 
200+ Is pretty big, but some guilds go under the pretense saying "only half" are active. Which begs the question if only have are active why not clean out the roster? 

 

Interesting. I am in a guild that has 400+ members. At any one time we have 70-90 people on-line. However, a good 80% of the guild is active (just not all online at the same time). We do raid training, introduction to fractals, strike missions, guild missions, and lots of other events. While the numbers are above the number you gave, I do not consider this a big guild. I consider big guilds to be ViP  or HardStuck which actually have multiple in-game guilds.

 

Having been in six different guilds in my two and a half years of playing Guild Wars I can say that the number of people in a guild is not important. What is important is:

• Players active when you are
• Content the guild is involved in matches the content you play
• Culture of the guild is a good fit
• The guild is friendly

 

Arbitrary numbers do not matter. I hope everyone in this thread can find an on-line home that welcomes and supports them.

[Voneveric.8507]

                     My fault that I focused more on numbers since you brought it up, what makes "Big Guilds" an issue is their mass monopoly on the forums and in-game. If you have 400+ members, that makes it a larger guild by default no? 
I've played the game for 6-7 years off and on and I have lead guilds big and small and been in the same types of guilds and most players always have the same issue with the bigger guilds. Which is inclusivity and attention to their needs; which is mostly answering questions, getting the help they need or socializing. 

I disagree with you on a few points: 
                      Players being active when you are is a big deal sure, but it doesn't matter if they don't include you or if they aren't social. Such is the case with bigger guilds. You cannot tell me you can include everyone in a 400+ person guild, such a guarantee is the same as making a false promise to players like most of the larger guilds do, for the sake of padding their numbers. 
Content matching doesn't not always matter, I find myself hating raiding nowadays but I still partake to help old friends/guildmates. I can see where you're coming from, raiding should be in raiding guilds so forth, but I think a guild should be able to offer all facets of gameplay if they are to be successful and not cater to just one crowd.  Then again; all comes down to personal preference.

If I had to make criteria it would be as simple as:

• Do you vibe with the guild?
• Are they as socially active as you want?
• Do they respect you as a person and player?
  
  There's probably a lot more so feel free to tack on. 

 

[Voneveric.8507]

The original point of the post is to point out the flaws in larger guilds and to help smaller guilds flourish and to have players who want to join smaller tight-knit communities feel heard. It's fine if you disagree, that's why I think debate is healthy, so you can understand the perspective from different people. As long as there's visibility, this subject has been a long time coming and I feel like if no one was going to speak about it, it was just be the larger guilds spamming and people feeling displaced.

[Silverlock.9736]

8 hours ago, Voneveric.8507 said:

The original point of the post is to point out the flaws in larger guilds and to help smaller guilds flourish and to have players who want to join smaller tight-knit communities feel heard. It's fine if you disagree, that's why I think debate is healthy, so you can understand the perspective from different people. As long as there's visibility, this subject has been a long time coming and I feel like if no one was going to speak about it, it was just be the larger guilds spamming and people feeling displaced.

 

I did not mean the discussion to amount to a disagreement. In fact, I never said I disagreed with you. I simply asked what you meant by big guild. Then as a response I let you know my thoughts.

[Voneveric.8507]

Discussion can be about disagreement, not everything has to be censored or considered toxic.