Join or Die

Guilds: What's in it for Me?

But in being a part of the friendly, family-run SemperFi, Ysandre is also a member of the UltimateAlliance, an alliance that occupies one of Lineage II's coveted castles. The alliance provides him with perks such as use of its Manor system, a system that allows Ysandre to trade in easily obtained fruit for rare scrolls and items, but it also provides him with a lot of responsibility and trouble. "I don't get killed for my clan. I get killed for my alliance. Since we are a castle-holding alliance we have enemies, and sometimes people on both sides decide to go out and cause a little more trouble."

Some of these enemies include Ferst's temporary clan, and Ysandre has to be constantly vigilant for powerful attackers' approach. "People like me who don't take part in the outside PvP get dragged into it because of their alliance." And while his clan quickly comes to his rescue, by the time the cavalry arrives the enemies have long since cleared out. On top of random political attacks, Ysandre has to help his alliance keep their castle. While the castle lords receive taxes and benefits from the Manor system, holding a castle is still an expensive endeavor.

If guild members don't get what they need from their group, whether that need is companionship or gear, they are going to leave it. The guilds that thrive are not the ones that recruit hundreds of members with no common interests - in this case, finding members might be easy, but keeping them would be impossible. Similarly, if players refuse to accept the costs of a guild such as sharing loot or defending castles, the guild will have a harder time functioning as an efficient unit. The guilds with higher rewards and lower costs are the ones that will last.

A guild also needs to know how to be flexible; their focus is in constant flux as new members leave and join, and old members change their priorities. A PvP guild requires players interested in PvP combat, a casual game play guild would quickly lose members if they started scheduling constant raids, and a crafting guild requires a delicate balance of materials and trade. If Tau had quit and left his guild without an architect, they would have had no way to obtain more harvesters or housing until they replaced him. Guilds are the backbones of MMOGs, but even more importantly, players are the backbones of guilds.

Laura Genender is a Staff Writer for MMORPG.com, and is also an Editor for Prima Strategy Guides.