Guild theories and questions on long term viability
After observing carefully, I have concluded that there are 4 basic types of guilds:
1. Spamming or Broadcasting Guilds
These guilds have GMs and officers that seem to be in every town spamming for people to join. Generally, they say that they exist, that you should join them, that they have a tier 3 guild hall (not very unique IMO, since most guilds picked the tier 3), and that they are well, awesome (which I don't agree with because they spam; a good guild can stand on it's own reputation).
2. Established SL Guilds
These are guilds that already exist from SL that have been ported over to PL. Most guilds ported over have a respectable reputation (or they would not be worth porting over) and a reasonably large member base. Many members who play both games by default join these guilds. Some established guilds require that you join them for both games, while others do not. Many of these guilds already have some degree of organization (most notably a website or forum of some kind not run by SL). Their reputation allows them to be more selective on who they choose if they wish, although most guilds in this category generally tend to welcome new players (at least for now).
3. Specialist Guilds
These guilds exist for some special purpose. The most common reason is to unite a group of friends or "oldies" together. There are also guilds with certain missions such as the "Unguild", which is known for the members that write guides. These guilds are usually quite selective on who they choose. Some familiarity with the guild master and senior officers is a must in order to get in. Many will have other requirements, such as a built up reputation.
4. PvP Guilds
These guilds exist to fight other guilds in this category. Like specialist guilds (with whom they share similarities), they are selective in who they recruit and generally, you do need to know the GM or at least some of the people in the guild to exist. A further requirement is a certain level of PvP experience, skill, and reputation. However, their mission is quite different. They are fighting with each other for the dominant PvP position. There are already several guilds at level cap and I can easily imagine guilds dedicated to twinking coming up.
Thoughts (all of this is strictly based off of my experiences with other games):
The most common type of guild appears to be Category 1. They are a nuisance in any town. In many cases, they ask people already in guilds to join them. But they may be shooting themselves in the foot, as the majority of the guilds seem to emphasize quantity of members over quality. First, even well run guilds can become unwieldy once they reach a certain size. Second, the loyalty of their new members is highly dubious. Finally, the quality of the members can be dubious. I seriously doubt that many of these guilds will survive for long, or if they do, they won't be in their current state. This is based off of prior experiences with other MMOs.
The second category is more interesting. They already exist in SL and have built up their reputations. Generally, broadcasting is not necessary as they already have a reputation, although people who don't play the other game may not know. Seeing as they are already well built in SL, their long term viability is generally not in question in SL. However, whether they can replicate their successes in PL is open to debate, particularly because so many guilds exist. Many of these guilds can be traced back to the beta and became entrenched in SL, whereas in PL, they do not have this advantage and may be forced to build from scratch on a base of players that play both games. Working in their favor though is that they are usually far better led than the first category, or they would not have survived SL. As mentioned before, they usually have a website and a structured guild organization (for things like officer promotions). That said, promotions to officer could become political. Guild masters will have to be careful to screen for possible griefers. Another weakness is that they will have to replicate similar successes in PL or they could see their existing SL base leave. This will mean putting as much attention into both games, which could cut into the time of the senior members. Guilds in this category could find themselves forced to choose to prioritize one game over the other. That said, they do have substantially better (and by substantial, I mean at least one order of magnitude) viability than the first category.
The third category is also generally stable - probably the most stable of all in fact. Being selective about members means that the probability of a "griefer" or trouble member is very low. Only reputable members, members with certain knowledge or skills are permitted in. The only problem that they face that I can foresee is potential resentment between guild members on who is permitted to join the guild and who isn't, particularly if the guild master considers candidates to be unsatisfactory or if they guild (many have voting systems) has requirements that the candidate does not meet. Guilds that rely on unanimous consensus are especially vulnerable, as they could reject an otherwise promising prospective member based off one vote for a poor reason. One potential danger is that over time, this could balloon into something much worse. But in general, they face far fewer challenges as most members probably know each other well.
PvP Guilds on paper at least seem as viable as the third category. After all, they do choose selectively and only people who are reputable, if not close to the existing members. In practice, they are likely to foster inter guild rivalries. Guild wars could get out of control (I have already in game seen several friendships jeopardized due to inter-guild rivalries). It remains to be seen how these guilds end up, or how ugly things could get (worse case is if they decide that in public games, if they see a member of the other guild, it is their duty as a guild member to rush the opposing guild's member on sight).
Most probable outcome:
Looking at this, it seems that the majority of guild 1's are probably doomed to failure. This is not a race on how many sardines you can pack in a can. The ones that survive will eventually become more like the guilds in category 2.
It seems that categories 2 and 3 are the ones that are likely to survive, with 3 taking top spot. The way that they are set up promotes mechanism that are good for a guild's long term viability.
Guild class 4 is less certain. It depends on the dynamics between inter and intra guild members. Too many variables to predict, but the uncertainty means less likelihood of viability than 2 or 3.
For players:
Don't join guild class 1. That they have to spam speaks volumes about how well known they are and the type of people that will end up joining. If you are in one, find a guild in class 2. Get out of the guild and don't shed any tears - the guild masters of this guild care about numbers not actual players.
Class 2 is well worth considering. In fact, for players who don't have a well known reputation, it is the best choice. They are generally friendly and have an established guild structure. Plus, there is the pride of being in a well known guild, even if their reputation is entirely from another game.
Class 3, well, if you are in this category, you are probably already a reputable player and many of your most immediate friends are in this guild.
Class 4 - if you have had any offers from this type, you are a veteran PvPer who is considered to be a capable PvP player. Most of the people that you PvP with are in one of these types of guilds. One reason you may want to avoid this type of guild though, is to avoid any chance of potential fallout that comes from guild wars.
For classes 2, 3, and 4, the challenge is, if you have friends in different guilds - which guild is for you? That is something that only you can answer.
Originally Posted by NECROREAPER
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