I love my guild More Than Fair.

Some of the things advantages to being in a large friendly guild like More Than Fair are-

Always people to willing help craft awesome set gear

Alway people to help source/earn rare and hard to get gear

Playing with the same people in guild you can acomplish more by learning each other's play style

You can have many more friends in a guild (friends list only has 100 spaces)

Most good guilds have voice communication set up so its far easier to get to know players and complete content.

Any questions you have can be asked and answered by people in guild chat. And as you get to know your guild mates you will soon know if your question is answered by an "experienced" player

Most Items for sale are often offered at a cheaper rate or even free of charge "in guild".

Great guild humor and ongoing jokes

Guild events like pvp runs, crafting fates, raffles, skyshard and achivement hunts!

Large guilds often get better trader locations because they can support the cost.

There are many more advantages that I could list. Everyone will have their own preferences in regards to guilds of course, but those are some of the reasons I love my home guild More Than Fair

Alcon wrote: »

I wonder then, how does one find one of these genuine guilds? What do they look like? This isn't a guild recruitment thread so I'm not looking for plugs or invitations. I simply want to know how to find a guild with a proper community and anything I can look for in a guild for quick identification. I realize that that is a very broad question and in the end I'd have to decide for myself. I guess what I'm really asking is:

What makes your guild somewhere that people want to hang out?

We promote a friendly save environment away from people who try to take advantage of others. Primarily this is shown by friendly guild chat, an open bank (with warnings not to be selish), help with questions and with any tasks that people want to) And when recruiting people I go through a small interview saying what we are about and what the (few) rules are. We also have a website where prospective people can see what we do

UrQuan wrote: »

EQBallzz wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

EQBallzz wrote: »

It's interesting reading how some people are making the guild system in ESO work for them but I think by and large the system is just bad. I really don't like the multiple guild system. I hated it in GW2 and for the same reasons I don't like it here. If the point of a guild is for people to come together for some common goal (pvp, raiding, socializing or whatever) then by it's very nature a multi-guild system is at odds with what a guild is supposed to be. How can you expect loyalty or time or atention from your guildmates if they are committed to 4 other guilds that also may have expectations of time or attention?

This is only a problem if you think that guilds must be at odds with each other. That they must compete head-to-head with each other. Even with trading guilds, this does not have to be a problem. The only guilds where I could see this as a problem is PVP guilds.

It feels odd to me that someone would say that if a player is socializing with a group of other players that they should not be allowed to socialize with anyone else. I am in two social guilds. Somehow, I do not feel that I am betraying either of them.

The same goes with guilds that do pledges, or organize shard runs in Cyrodiil. I cannot see a reason why someone can't do that with more than one group of people. I know for a fact that some of the people in my guilds that do Trials are doing them with guilds I am not a member of. If anyone cares, it is between individual players, not guilds.

Guilds in ESO are not ranked against each other.

You are missing the point or gist of my post. I'm talking less about literal competition (as in raiding or pvp) but rather competition of time and attention. Lets expand your example a bit and say you are in 5 social guilds because that is totally normal. Now lets say you have something interesting to say or a question to ask. Which of those 5 guilds do you talk to? Which of those social guilds will get to hear your idea or question (and by extension get to know you better etc..) or will you attempt to talk to all 5 at once and carry on 5 separate conversations about the same thing with 5 groups of people?

Another example might be that you are in a PvP guild and a trials guild and each has an event on the same day/time and they both need you there because you are the super duper healer of both guilds. Now you have to choose between those guilds and one gets left out. If that guild knows they couldn't count on you for their event and it wasn't because you were busy outside of game but rather with another guild it's not going to make for great guild relations. Their event gets canceled because of that choice. It's just not natural and doesn't foster a cohesive type of guild environment IMO.

I understand what you're getting at with this, but I wonder how big an issue it would actually be for the majority of players. With 5 guilds, it seems likely that a player will join different guilds for different reasons. So a player's 5 guild might look something like this:
Guild 1: trading guild
Guild 2: general PvE guild
Guild 3: PvP guild
Guild 4: raid guild
Guild 5: RP guild

Of course, not everyone is interested in all of those aspects of the game, and other types of guild are possible too (vampire/werewolf guilds, fishing guilds, guilds that only exist for the guild bank, etc)

The trading guild (and I imagine a lot of players have more than 1 guild slot taken up by a trading guild) doesn't really compete with the others for game time.

The other guilds do compete with each other for game time, but because they have different focuses, they don't really compete. What I mean by that is that if the player is doing some PvP with his PvP guild, odds are it's not cutting into his PvE time with his PvE guild, because he was probably planning on doing some PvP on that particular day anyway, so he wouldn't be playing with his PvE guildies.

Of course, the situation you describe where the player is the #1 healer in 2 guilds which both have events at the same time is still possible, but as adults shouldn't we just be honest with each other, and in such a case just say to the second guild (as in: whichever guild asked you to participate in their event second) that you've already committed to healing for a different event at that time? If the guild members in the second guild are the type of people to get upset at something like that, then to my mind that would be showing a distinct lack of maturity, and it would be a sign that I should probably quit the guild.

I'm not saying it's not possible to juggle 5 guilds at once with limited overlap or interference but I think there is an inverse relationship between the number of guilds you are in and the quality of each guild membership. I mean if you are in that many guilds doing all these events and things and each with a different group of people it has to degrade each guild membership in some way. In your example you are likely joining a different voice chat server each night and talking to different people which is spreading yourself thin and making the potential bond between you and your guildmates of any one guild less than it otherwise would be.

I also don't think most have the guild arrangement you list. It seems to me most people have 4 or 5 trading guilds to maximize their guild trader options and maybe 1 other guild (social or pvp or whatever). It's also not true that each guild is just doing that one thing. I think every trading guild I'm in is at least attempting to be more than a trading guild so has events or does trials or pvp in addition to "trading". Not to mention there are some good and social people in each of these guilds so guild chat is usually flying by but it's honestly hard to keep up with when I have 3-5 guild conversations happening at once. I even changed my guild chat color to slightly different shades of green to try and follow it better but it only marginally helps.

I have personal experience with this issue. I had a perfect size guild of many old friends and players from my guild that has had a presence in several previous games going back to EQ1 but over time many of them left the game. That's fine because ESO isn't for everyone but I found as I tried to recruit people to fill the gaps it was hard to find/keep players because when I would schedule events in-game there was always a certain segment of players busy in other guild events which just starts a viscous cycle that causes events to fail and then more people to not show and then people leave. It's also unlikely that people will register and keep up with 5 different guild forums so then your out of game communication is diminished. I don't completely blame the guild system for my personal guild issues but I don't think it was very helpful, either.

Maybe I'm just old-school with respect to MMOs. I prefer to have that close-knit feeling in a guild where you get to know people and their quirks and their sense of humor and their back-story etc..I don't feel like that happens when people's attention is split between so many guilds.

Alcon wrote: »

I wonder then, how does one find one of these genuine guilds? What do they look like? This isn't a guild recruitment thread so I'm not looking for plugs or invitations. I simply want to know how to find a guild with a proper community and anything I can look for in a guild for quick identification. I realize that that is a very broad question and in the end I'd have to decide for myself. I guess what I'm really asking is:

What makes your guild somewhere that people want to hang out?

@Divad Zarn @LMar @Mercury71 @Grundiin @Lithium Flower @Snippit_Thomas @AlnilamE @Observant @Nightscar @lordrichter @Maidenname @Geraltoc @Nestor @timidobserver @UrQuan @TiberiusTryton

I have played with my "main" guild in LOTRO (not the same persons tough) so that is how i found them. They are one of the larger mmo-communities in Sweden.
They accept all kinds of playstyles. Some only do pvp and some just dungeons and raids. Some, like myself, just quest and talk a bit in chat or mumble. I am rather new to this game so i have not yet done so much group content but one night the guild aranged a nice educational trip to Cyrodil explaining the basics of ESO pvp.
Guild bank is open far all and a very good place to dump or redraw things like green and blue recipies or motifs. And ofc mats and gear.
Some days i dont talk in chat at all and some days i do.

I think that guilds that demand you to apply on there homepage are the best community wise. Also there homepage can tell you a bit of how they are. Guild forum is also very nice for spreading knowledge and information.

Mercury71 wrote: »

Alcon wrote: »

I wonder then, how does one find one of these genuine guilds? What do they look like? This isn't a guild recruitment thread so I'm not looking for plugs or invitations. I simply want to know how to find a guild with a proper community and anything I can look for in a guild for quick identification. I realize that that is a very broad question and in the end I'd have to decide for myself. I guess what I'm really asking is:

What makes your guild somewhere that people want to hang out?

@Divad Zarn @LMar @Mercury71 @Grundiin @Lithium Flower @Snippit_Thomas @AlnilamE @Observant @Nightscar @lordrichter @Maidenname @Geraltoc @Nestor @timidobserver @UrQuan @TiberiusTryton

I have played with my "main" guild in LOTRO (not the same persons tough) so that is how i found them. They are one of the larger mmo-communities in Sweden.
They accept all kinds of playstyles. Some only do pvp and some just dungeons and raids. Some, like myself, just quest and talk a bit in chat or mumble. I am rather new to this game so i have not yet done so much group content but one night the guild aranged a nice educational trip to Cyrodil explaining the basics of ESO pvp.
Guild bank is open far all and a very good place to dump or redraw things like green and blue recipies or motifs. And ofc mats and gear.
Some days i dont talk in chat at all and some days i do.

I think that guilds that demand you to apply on there homepage are the best community wise. Also there homepage can tell you a bit of how they are. Guild forum is also very nice for spreading knowledge and information.

Good to know we have more players from LOTRO community. " Mae govannen". Which server in LOTRO your played on?

With a Guild that you can hang out everyday and group together, you get to practice grouping and play dynamics making veteran dungeon easy that helps a player to complete all the veteran dungeon achievements whether it's for farming loot drops or pure achievements points and pledges. Pugging a VR 12 or 14 pledge can be a Pain.

wOOOOt_of_SD wrote: »

The original MMO Guild concept was destroyed in ESO with the 5 guild system.
Guilds in ESO is just a place to trade items.
This game would be much better guild and trade wise with an auktion house and a limit of 1 guild pr. char.

My guild is private and social - how a guild is supposed to be in an MMO. Its for members only,
and invites only happen via our forum.

But ESO has also made nothing to enchourage guilds at all. There are no other guild systems than a trader and a chat.
Why the hell can we claim keeps in PVP? It has no function at all.

ZOS should immidiately cancel the 5 guild system, and make an auktion house.
Then implement guild Projects, guild challenges, quests and goals, and guild pvp objectives.
If they did that, you would see ESO change from an MMO where all play solo, to an MMO where
coorporation and teamplay was the center of the game.

w

I have to disagree.

Guilds in ESO are what you make of them.

I am a member of four active guilds, and only one of them is a trading guild (and a very friendly and sociable one at that).

I think being able to join guilds that focus on different aspects of the game you are interested in is a good thing.

I would never be able to do everything I want in game by being a member of only one guild, even if my main guild covers most of my needs.

I play in a core group guild (Chrysamere Pact) of between 8-15 active members (rl varies those numbers at times). This core group guild is my home and my little ingame family. Everyone in the core group has their other four guilds for trade, pvp, pve, etc. There is often overlap among these guilds. Generally, if we do something we ask in the core group chat first before picking up people from the other guilds. This keeps us tightknit and, through this kind of constant interaction, we work very well together. We've been on weekly trials leaderboards, crowned a few emperors on Haderus (the right way, the way zos designed), and stuck together for almost a year now.

In order to create this environment, we have to be very selective in our recruitment. You will never see us advertise in zone or in groups. Our self-worth is not derived from a reputation on the server, or even being known. Invitations are personal and private and based upon our interactions with people. There is no application process. I did this (I founded the guild) to keep out the people who don't play well with others and the general undesirables (emp traders, pvp braggarts, dps-worshippers, and anyone else who is abusive to the game or to its players). At the same time, it's important to be open to differences in playstyles. Sometimes it took us longer than average to complete vet dungeons before we could farm them, for example. Skill and gear can be fixed, character cannot.

Once you have a core of people who get along and play well together, the sky's the limit. There's really no drama, no guild bank worries, no one left out of activities unless they want to be. There aren't any rules, really, either. Why would we need them? Every guild that I've seen that gets bogged down in titles and rules and procedures and all of that garbage eventually collapses under it's own weight. The keys, I think, are to plan on the front-end, be very careful about whom you let in the doors, and treat your fellow members right. People usually return what you show them, so be loyal to them.

Maidenname wrote: »

ArcanusMagus wrote: »

I play in a core group guild (Chrysamere Pact) of between 8-15 active members (rl varies those numbers at times). This core group guild is my home and my little ingame family. Everyone in the core group has their other four guilds for trade, pvp, pve, etc. There is often overlap among these guilds. Generally, if we do something we ask in the core group chat first before picking up people from the other guilds. This keeps us tightknit and, through this kind of constant interaction, we work very well together. We've been on weekly trials leaderboards, crowned a few emperors on Haderus (the right way, the way zos designed), and stuck together for almost a year now.

In order to create this environment, we have to be very selective in our recruitment. You will never see us advertise in zone or in groups. Our self-worth is not derived from a reputation on the server, or even being known. Invitations are personal and private and based upon our interactions with people. There is no application process. I did this (I founded the guild) to keep out the people who don't play well with others and the general undesirables (emp traders, pvp braggarts, dps-worshippers, and anyone else who is abusive to the game or to its players). At the same time, it's important to be open to differences in playstyles. Sometimes it took us longer than average to complete vet dungeons before we could farm them, for example. Skill and gear can be fixed, character cannot.

Once you have a core of people who get along and play well together, the sky's the limit. There's really no drama, no guild bank worries, no one left out of activities unless they want to be. There aren't any rules, really, either. Why would we need them? Every guild that I've seen that gets bogged down in titles and rules and procedures and all of that garbage eventually collapses under it's own weight. The keys, I think, are to plan on the front-end, be very careful about whom you let in the doors, and treat your fellow members right. People usually return what you show them, so be loyal to them.

Geraltoc wrote: »

Maidenname wrote: »

Mercury71 wrote: »

Alcon wrote: »

I wonder then, how does one find one of these genuine guilds? What do they look like? This isn't a guild recruitment thread so I'm not looking for plugs or invitations. I simply want to know how to find a guild with a proper community and anything I can look for in a guild for quick identification. I realize that that is a very broad question and in the end I'd have to decide for myself. I guess what I'm really asking is:

What makes your guild somewhere that people want to hang out?

@Divad Zarn @LMar @Mercury71 @Grundiin @Lithium Flower @Snippit_Thomas @AlnilamE @Observant @Nightscar @lordrichter @Maidenname @Geraltoc @Nestor @timidobserver @UrQuan @TiberiusTryton

I have played with my "main" guild in LOTRO (not the same persons tough) so that is how i found them. They are one of the larger mmo-communities in Sweden.
They accept all kinds of playstyles. Some only do pvp and some just dungeons and raids. Some, like myself, just quest and talk a bit in chat or mumble. I am rather new to this game so i have not yet done so much group content but one night the guild aranged a nice educational trip to Cyrodil explaining the basics of ESO pvp.
Guild bank is open far all and a very good place to dump or redraw things like green and blue recipies or motifs. And ofc mats and gear.
Some days i dont talk in chat at all and some days i do.

I think that guilds that demand you to apply on there homepage are the best community wise. Also there homepage can tell you a bit of how they are. Guild forum is also very nice for spreading knowledge and information.

Good to know we have more players from LOTRO community. " Mae govannen". Which server in LOTRO your played on?

With a Guild that you can hang out everyday and group together, you get to practice grouping and play dynamics making veteran dungeon easy that helps a player to complete all the veteran dungeon achievements whether it's for farming loot drops or pure achievements points and pledges. Pugging a VR 12 or 14 pledge can be a Pain.

Fully agreed, a run with a few friendly guildies is much more fun and relaxed than a pug.

I also came from LOTRO, used to be on Dwarrowdelf server.

As for the question asked, i simply do some investigation to find a guild that suits me, started by checking forums here, then going to their websites, check activity and what type of guild they might be, then contacted one of the officers and finally gave it a try, doesnt hurt to join one and give it a trial run.

I agree with both of your comments. I wish sometimes we have instances more than 4 players in a group dungeon like 6 person as in LOTRO...lol... Even though we try to include our Guildies or Kinnies or rotating someone out in next run , there are still players being left out because we do not have enough Tanks or Healers online at once.

@Geraltoc ... We are from Meneldor server Lotro

I just hit VR1 and belived i would become more viable for pvp and diferent types of runs... but no... to many in my guild are VR14 with a lot of CP. A bit sad it is.

It's interesting reading everyone's opinions and personal insights into their own guilds and think I have a much better idea of what I, personally, want to look for. I appreciate everyone's inputs and I'm a little surprised at how many people have commented. Thank you everyone and by all means feel free to continue.