Why It's A Good Time To Be Guildless

I look at guilds the way that I look at relationships. You see a lot of people who stay in relationships they know they’re not happy being in because they are afraid to be alone. They don’t know what to do with themselves when they’re single or they have nobody to call their own. So they stay, they take bad treatment and they take being ignored. They settle for people who don’t understand them. These people try and try, but nothing ever changes.

Those who aren’t afraid of being alone don’t fear such things. They won’t stick around and settle for being treated badly, They know their worth. They don’t have that threat hanging over their heads of waking up to an empty bed or having nobody to walk side by side with them when they walk down the street. When you don’t fear that, you will put up with less. You will know what you deserve and you won’t hesitate to look for it.

The same goes with guilds. You hear stories all the time of “My guild doesn’t want to take an enhancement shaman, so they made me go resto.” Or “This person is really bothering me and the officers just won’t do anything about it.” And finally, “We have hit a wall, regarding our progression and I don’t see my guild ever recovering from it.”

You might stay for any number of any reasons. Maybe you have a long history with these people and you have been through thick and thin with them. Maybe personal loyalty is a factor, either because these are real life friends of yours or you have been gaming for a long time together. Or you’re staying out of guilt, because you know if you left they may not be able to replace you and they may hate you for leaving.

None of those reasons are worth sticking around and being miserable.

So you have reached the point where you know what you need to do, but you just don’t know how to do it or what is waiting for you on the other side. You may be thinking to yourself, “Oh God. Who is going to want a ____ that is only ____ in progression and who is wearing ___ iLevel gear?” Lots of people! Let me give you a few reasons why this is a great time to be on the hunt for a new guild.

It’s A Buyer’s Market Out There

Many people have written about their troubles, with regards to recruitment and how tough it is to find people to help fill their ranks. Guilds are pursuing people more aggressively than ever before. With just one post on the Guild Recruitment boards, I had recruitment officers sending me whispers from level 1 alts to express interest in me. I had people throwing their contact information at me and even inviting me into their Vent channels, to sit in on their raids to get a taste of how their guilds do things.

All of the links above are working links that you can click on right now and see who is looking for what and where. In terms of healers, I have noticed a huge demand for holy paladins and resto shaman. Those two classes and specs have been pretty consistently in demand, since Cataclysm debuted. I would like to say that you would have even more of a chance of getting picked up, if you were one of those two things. Which brings me to my next point.

Everybody’s Got Their Something

One common concern that I hear from people who are thinking about leaving their guild is that they’re not sure if anybody would want them, for their particular class and spec. While most guilds will have specific needs and they may say, “We would like two fire mages,” you may also see guilds that write something on their recruitment threads like “All exceptional applications will be considered,” or “Looking for solid ranged DPS.” I would certainly keep an eye out for guilds like that. Most recruitment officers will agree that they will take talent over a certain class. The first guild that I raided with started off with three warlocks, no moonkin and one rogue. Then I joined a guild that had one mage, no warlocks and one shaman. Both guilds did incredibly well with what they had, because they were flexible with their needs and had people who filled general niches (melee DPS, ranged DPS, heals) and performed well.

If all else fails, keep looking. This brings me to my next selling point.

It’s Called “World” Of Warcraft For A Reason

Whatever you want in a guild, someone can provide that for you. If you want to be part of a third shift guild that happens to speak French, there is one out there for you. If you want to be in a 10 man guild that only raids on weekends, they have that, too. There are hundreds of servers out there, with thousands of guilds looking for people just like you. Whereas you may have settled for raiding four days a week before and you know you were sleep deprived and not doing well in your personal life because of it, take a second to think about whether you are really cut out to raid on that kind of a schedule or not. You may not have to do that again. Think about what you want, what you’re looking for and don’t settle until you find it. It’s a big world out there. Don’t be afraid to step outside and take a look around.

Gear Can’t Fix Stupid

I love hearing people that are looking for new guilds say “But I’m not geared enough for that!” My response to that would be, “Is anyone in this game ever geared enough?” I’m kidding. What I mean by that is that gear can be fixed. If you’re using the wrong gems or enchants, we can work on that. If you aren’t sure what to reforge the stats on your gear into, someone can tell you. Odds are your new guild has had a certain shortage of a class or spec that they have been disenchanting certain kinds of loot for a while now and they may welcome the chance for someone to use it. But guilds can’t fix stupid. They can’t make people stop standing in bad. They can’t make people stop pulling threat. They can’t teach you how to use your cooldowns properly. That’s where you come in.

Let’s say you’re a few boss kills below where the guild you’re applying to is at and your gear is in the same place, but the potential is there. The talent is there. The logs are there to show that you weren’t dying to avoidable things or that you were otherwise doing your job; most guilds will still consider your application if all you need is some upgrades. Everything else you bring to the table can trump that. If you were playing your character well, wearing the gear you already have, it’s safe to say that they can expect that same level of performance from you if they throw a couple of upgrades at you.

Everyone Starts Off With A Clean Slate

The time right before a new tier of content is released is the perfect time to join a new guild, because you’re all going to be learning the fights together. One of the things that makes joining a new guild difficult is having to forget the previous strategies that you learned before and having to adapt to the way that your new guild does things. When you’re stepping foot into a new raid zone together, nobody knows what they’re doing. Your guild most likely will not have found what works yet and when they do, you will be there to learn the strategy along with everyone else. You won’t be that odd person out saying “But in my last guild, we did it like this.” Instead, you will be able to proudly say to your friends in other guilds “In my guild, we do it like this.” See how much better that sounds?

Also, most guilds will be resetting their DKP and EPGP numbers for the new tier. So you shouldn’t have to worry about being at the bottom of the totem pole, when it comes to loot for too long. Of course, you will still have a shot in hell at getting the new legendary, if you’re a caster. But there should still be a number of other upgrades for you to look forward to that will seem as attainable for you as they would for more seasoned veterans of your new guild.

Hopefully, if you’re reading this and you are thinking about leaving your guild, then I have given you something to think about and made things seem a little less bleak than you may be imagining them to be. If you are already guildless and unsure of what to do next, I would like to think that I have given you some suggestions or some tips on how to start your journey.

In any event, good luck and thanks for stopping by!