Why I’m a Guild Hopper

When I play MMOs I, like many of you I suppose, tend to join a guild at some point.  It could be pre-launch, it could be quickly after getting into the game, or it might be a few months into a game.  There are a lot of variables that influence the timing of when I join a guild and which guild I eventually join.  Regardless of the final choice I make, I’ve noticed a trend over the last few years.  I tend to be a guild hopper – not within an MMO (typically), but between MMOs.

I’ve tried to think about why that is.  I’ve come to the conclusion that it can likely be attributed to three things:  1.  The type of guild that will help me achieve my personal goals in the game;  2.  A unique set of circumstances and factors around each MMO I play, and 3.  A desire to start fresh in a fresh MMO.

Achieving Personal Goals:  A good example of this would be the guild I was a part of in DAoC.  It was really the first guild I had been a part of in an MMO in an integral way.  I really enjoyed the people, had fun playing with them, and we had fun playing the game together.  This was back when labels weren’t quite as prevalent as they are today, but they would likely fall into the “family” guild category, which means a bit more ”casual” most of the time.  There were exceptions within the guild – those who liked to RvR a lot and were very good at it, or those who raided often - but overall it was fairly laid back and didn’t push the envelope.  However, as I moved on to other MMOs, my personal goals shifted.  In WoW for instance, I didn’t hook up with my DAoC guild.  I instead joined a guild that was a bit more hardcore and dedicated to raiding, although I would term them “hardcore-lite”, or “moderate” perhaps.  They did enough high end raiding that we could progress through the content, but we weren’t raiding 24/7.  For my goals in WoW, that was the perfect fit that my previous guild could not have provided.  But for each MMO, that particular guild fit the bill.

Unique Circumstances:   This can be a variety of things, and it influences everything from what MMO I play, to whether or not I join a guild, to what guild I might ultimately join.  A lot of times this is where both my RL and online gaming buddies enter in.  They tend to be big influencers on me most of the time as to what I might play, because I really want to play with them (although there have been exceptions).  If they are all united in a desire to play a certain game (as was the case with CoH and EQ2), it works out great.  Same game, same guild.  And in both of those cases it was a guild we formed ourselves, rather than trying to get any other guild to accept 15 people.  On the other hand, if everyone is sort of split in their desire to play different MMOs (or perhaps on a break from MMOs), then I may touch base with each of them to see what they are playing and what they are doing in terms of a guild.  In those situations, I will choose the MMO I think I will enjoy the most, will create on my friend’s server, and will likely app with the guild they are in.  The other unique circumstance might simply be whether or not any of my former guilds exist in the current MMO I”m playing.  If not, then that forces me to join up with a new group of folks.

 A Fresh Start:  This was true for me in WoW more than any other MMO I’ve played to date.  When I got into WoW, I had no clue whether any of my friends were going to play it or not.  I didn’t know what server I was going to play on, and had no strong direction regarding a future guild affiliation.  I went into WoW with a “blank slate” mentality, to enjoy the game on it’s own merits, on my own, and find a place where I could make some new online friends.  This process took me through four different servers in about a month’s time, and two different guilds before I finally found the guild that was right for me on the Gilneas server.  The other guilds I tried were guilds associated with other online buddies from EQ and DAoC days, but neither was quite right for me (even though these folks treated me great in every respect).  I think having a clean break with the past - putting that past MMO and those experiences on the shelf and saying, “You know, that was a blast and I enjoyed it for what it was” – and then moving on to something new and different is liberating.  I think it’s liberating because I get excited again about meeting new people, while still retaining those contacts and friendships that have grown out of past guilds and games.  Each MMO and each guild experience challenges me in different ways, and teaches me different things.  To me, making that fresh start each time provides that kind of refreshing experience.

I think my guild hopping ways have evolved over time.  I certainly didn’t start out with a goal to become a guild hopper, and I can’t say for sure that I will always be one.  I really do admire guilds out there that have been around for 5 or 10 years across multiple games.  It’s really a testament to their leadership, the membership, and their core mission and culture over time.  It’s just hard for me to imagine being in the same guild that many years.  Maybe someday I will find a guild I connect with so well, that I can’t imagine leaving.  But for now, I’ll continue to scan the horizon, hunting for my next MMO and my next guild.