Are Guilds Still Relevant? .

Guilds – Are they still needed?

Guilds were once the be all, end all, of social interactions within MMORPGs. If you wanted to get the most out of an MMO, you’d better hook up with a guild, as they’d help you survive all of the multiplayer content as well as hook you up with brand spanking new gear, among many other trinkets. Of course, guilds would also give you people to talk to and enjoy the world with. After all, what’s the point of exploring a giant world, if you’ve got no one to experience it all with?

In the days of EverQuest and Final Fantasy XI, games which were decidedly multiplayer focused (and better for it in this author’s opinion), much of the content in MMOs required a party of at least four. Indeed in games like Final Fantasy XI, you would have to struggle to get to new towns if you didn’t have a group of adventurers to help you out. These games were focused on grouping, and exploring the world together. Whilst there were a few voice chat programs around, they were in their infancy and not everyone had access to super fast broadband. If you’re old enough to remember the dial-up tone when connecting to dial-up internet, then you’ll know what I mean. If you’re not old enough, then consider yourself lucky.

I like your hat, WANNA JOIN MY GUILD? FREE COOKIES OMGBBQWTF!

Nowadays a lot of MMORPGs (ironically) feature a lot of content for solo players. Whilst it’s a bit odd that players expect solo content in their MMOs (what’s the point of being connected to a vast world with thousands of other players, if you’re just going to play by yourself), that’s just the way the industry is. The days of needing to group up with players to get to the next town is long gone, players can just wonder down a path to get there. Other players are no longer required for further advancement in a game. So that’s one reason why guilds are becoming ever less relevant.

Of course game advancement aside, guilds also allow players to group up to tackle a specific task. Whilst other players aren’t need to advance further in the game (in modern, main-stream MMOs), they are still needed for tasks such as dungeons, large scale open-world quests or PvP. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn requires players to defeat several dungeons in order to advance the game’s story, however this is generally the only time during the early-mid game where you’ll be encouraged to mingle with other players.

Indeed dungeons, unless they are of the soloing kind, will always require other players to get involved. This instanced content is normally something which players look forward to, as it allows them to try out their builds and form strategies with other players as they push through areas which test their skill.

Of course I could just solo all this, but my guild needs me!

Most game’s have some sort of match-making dungeon system, allowing players to enter a queue and get grouped with other like minded players, which means that getting a group together before hand and jumping into a dungeon isn’t required. Thankfully the days of standing in an open space and saying “LFP Healer” are (fairly) long gone. If you want to do a dungeon then you can just jump in and play. A guild of players who are ready to go is no longer required. This is another area where guilds have become irrelevant.

Having said that, having a group of players you know well makes breezing through that content easier and probably more enjoyable.

Of course we can’t forget raids. Raids, traditionally hard core content which requires players to have perfect timing and coordination, for some people are the reason to play MMORPGs. They are fun, exciting, tense experience which require a group of people to come together as a perfect team. Typically players who are interested will seek out guilds where the focus is getting together and doing raids every night, or at some other time which suits the player. And this type of content is where guilds really shine.

Players join guilds for they want to focus on a specific type of content. Players might join a guild for social reasons, or because they wish to share crafting knowledge with likewise players, or because they want to participate in raids.

Social Reason #1: Dancing like idiots!

Whilst I can group up with friends to participate in casual content, ten bets are they won’t want to group up with me every single night to tackle the same content. Having a large guild of players who do however, is great!

Whilst Skype, Teamspeak, and other free voice communication programs, as well as fast broadband, has made it easier than ever for us to communicate with our friends, and have a darned good time doing it, you’d be lucky to find a group of best buds who can play every night.

This is where guilds. Guilds give us access to a huge resource of other players who we can participate with and play with, people who we can hang around with when our friends aren’t there.

Of course guilds also exist so that we can find new friends. Sometimes we just want to kick back and go to a virtual world, and meet some new people. An MMORPG is a great way to do that, with Guilds highlighting and enforcing the social elements of the genre.

So are guilds still relevant? I think so. Whilst casual players won’t find them all that useful, with some players being pushed away from them due to their harsh restrictions.