Guild Wars 2 has a lot going on. You have personal storylines, huge dynamic events, and massive PvP battles. But perhaps the most important part of GW2 is the part where you join other players in the world and create guilds. To me this is the most important part of the game, as it’s in the title. ArenaNet is getting ready to improve the game with several updates, but perhaps there’s more they could be doing to help strengthen the importance of guilds.
Being in a guild already has a few perks. First off, you have access to an entire group of players to ask for help or to just join up with to do some random exploring. You can also gain access to a guild bank, which can be used as a resource for crafting materials, as well as storing extra items for another time. Banners are also a great addition, as they help increase the amount of karma points and influence points you gain to further help out the guild and the individual player. These rewards go even further when you complete events, and conquer forts with other members of the same guild. It’s not like there aren’t any perks to being in a guild, but why do it? Why be in a guild at all?
ArenaNet is starting to see the need to beef up these groups of like-minded players. We know they will be adding in guild missions. These can only be completed alongside your fellow guild members, tackling different types of objectives within certain constraints. It’s not clear on what the rewards will be, but more influence points are a given. These missions will make being in a guild feel more important, and through the trials of combat, bring guild members closer together.
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That is an awesome update, but is it enough? Is that plenty to help you have more pride in your guild? What about proving your strength as a group, by crushing others? This is something guilds did in the original game which created intense rivalries. It was one of my favorite things about Guild Wars. There were actual guild wars! WvW in a way fills in some of this need. A guild can conquer a fort, but most of that pride goes more towards the server as a whole, rather than just your guild. Other players can’t see how many forts you’ve conquered, or how many points your guild has gained towards your server’s victory. The ability to challenge a guild in combat is the only real way to fill this bloodlust, and that only happens via forums and the like.
I see guilds constantly fighting for new members in chat, bragging about having banks, banners, and even the numbers of their active players. They all want you to join them. You can join multiple guilds, which is a great way to expand your resources for finding dungeon groups, but you can only represent one guild at a time. This means you can only gain influence for the guild you represent. Guilds have started to fight for that, by offering weekly prizes in a drawing where only representing players may join.
Guild recruiting is very common.
How low a guild must feel to have to give away prizes in order to keep their members active and representing? This doesn’t bring that whole sense of pride to being in a guild at all! I feel alliances need to be brought back into the equation. Let guilds form alliances, building bonds with each other, instead of having to join each other’s guilds, which constantly fight for your representation. You can still contact anyone within an alliance for help on a tough quest, or join in on a dungeon run. You also don’t have to fear players having bad motives and joining just to steal things within your guild bank.
Having friends is always a good thing. I see a lot of potential with alliances. Maybe guilds that fight alongside each other in PvE help increase the influence gain for everyone. This still keeps the social aspect of players reaching out to others outside of their guild, and makes it even more important than it was before. More importantly, it stops the need from jumping from guild to guild to find help. Within one alliance, you have access to every member to call upon for help.
Guild halls will probably more than likely be mentioned in the comments, so let’s talk about those. ArenaNet has commented that they are planning on adding this feature later on. But why is it so important to players? It’s a sign of achievement. The guild hall can be a way to brag. Anyone can build a guild hall, but to pull in the interests of merchants, craftsmen, and even other players as guests requires a grand hall. This would be something for guilds would fight for, to show off the accomplishments of their guild all in one place. This is what players would fight for.
Guilds still offer much for everyone, but they don’t hold as strong of a bond as they used to. We have players jumping from guild to guild, milking them for resources. ArenaNet needs to bring back that pride of being in a guild. Give us a reason to hold the banner high in the air, and conquer in the name of the guild. The addition of guild missions is a step in the right direction, but more needs to be done to put the guild back in Guild Wars.
What new features would you like to see in Guild Wars 2? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
- Read David's thoughts on Fixin' Things.
- Read about what we can expect in Future Events.
- Read about David's idea of a Quest for Power.
