I have no idea as to how many people have left your guild, but of the ones that have, do you think they were all just after loot, or do you think some of them just didn’t have any attachments to your guild?

Ideally, a guild that advertises itself as “close knit” has established some sort of relationship with all of its members, to the point where the officers maybe don’t care that this other guild comes sniffing around because you know that your members are having too good a time to leave.

I’m not saying that members are never going to leave, that would be next to impossible. However, in the absence of “uber fat lootz!”, is your guild doing all it can do to build relationships with its members?

Cliques. My use of the word clique implies a level of negativity, especially when they exist within a guild. I applied a negative use of the term based solely on the reply I read, stating that “it takes time to break into the inner core”. Your comment further states, “all that it takes for admission to that rank is the effort of talking to people”, which is fair enough. It’s definitely a two-way street, but I hope that it’s not left entirely up to the new member to approach “the core”.

Consider what it’s like starting a new job. You’re the new person in the office and don’t know anyone. Lunch time comes around and you don’t really feel like eating alone. Would you prefer having to approach a group of your co-workers who have obviously eaten lunch together for quite some time and ask if you could hang out with them, or would it be easier if that group of people approached you and asked if you wanted to join them? Sure, there are many sociable people who have no problem approaching others, but there are also many in the opposite camp who can be intimidated by such situations. When I’m at work I’ve always made a point of approaching new staff and inviting them on breaks, lunch, etc. Several have approached me afterward to let me know how much they appreciated it.

Again, it’s a two way street, but I’d argue it’s easier for the officers to approach those individuals outside of the core, rather than the reverse.

I’ll still maintain my argument that cliques are not healthy for a guild that advertises itself as “close knit”. I hate quoting dictionary definitions because it’s an incredibly lame way to build an argument, but I’m pretty lame myself, so, a quick search tells me that a clique is “a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons”. The key words being narrow, and exclusive.

Imagine for a minute that your guild is a football team. Inevitably, there will be certain individuals within that team that have tighter bonds. The offensive line for instance, all have the common goal of protecting the quarterback and opening holes for the runners. The “men in the trenches” share a tight bond with each other because they need to act as a single unit if they’re to be successful. They’re just one small part though. They still need to work closely with the quarterback to know what play is going to be called. They need to work closely with the running backs to know how to open the proper holes. If they were so exclusive as to shut out the quarter back, the running backs, or the coaches, then the team as a whole would never succeed.

So it’s all fine and well if there are segments of your guild that are drawn closer to each other for whatever reasons, but the trouble comes when they’re exclusive of the rest of the guild.

I believe in what is written on our page — we don’t bear ill will to those who move on to other pursuits. In fact, that’s why we often have people returning to us, or people who mention frequently that they miss our guild.

I also modified my “I wouldn’t have an answer” with a long answer. Years out of school = dulled writing skills! After getting through my muddy answer, I guess what I was trying to get across was that anyone who is looking for a casual atmosphere is going to stay, and we hope recruits to our guild are looking for that. Those that aren’t find that out quickly and move on. We remain on good terms with many — most! — of our past members who remain on the server, and even those that don’t continue to check in with us to see how we’re doing. People do have a sense of attachment to us One ex-member with alts still in the guild said the other night: “God, I miss you guys. It’s all asses and elbows in .” Things like that warm my soul in a mean and petty way.

I also think that cliques are inevitable. Cliques begin to worry me when they stop dealing with other cliques — which is to say, I don’t care if people spend a decent chunk of their time playing with those they are closest to in guild. It bothers me if they refuse to allow anyone else to spend time with them, and refuse to take part in anything that doesn’t include others in their clique. Thus far, I haven’t seen this happening, so I’m not hugely concerned. When I specifically mentioned an inner circle, I wasn’t so much talking about some exclusive in-guild clique as I was talking about the large ranks of welcoming, friendly and talkative inguild folks. All that it takes for admission to that rank is the effort of talking to people.

However, I’ve been a member of the guild since I was a wee one, level 46. I’ve certainly got a blind spot that is probably miles wide.

I bet that if weeded out the people that are in it just for the loot, then there wouldn’t be enough people to raid and the guild would eventually disband. I’ve seen it happen plenty of times. I’m guessing it might have a lot to do with the age level of the majority of players in World of Warcraft.