I heart my guild…
My little Necromancer hit level 37 in Age of Conan, but I haven’t played much over the past week. Part of that is due to preparing for a cross-country move on the 30th, and part of it is because I don’t have any social connections in AoC. I’m at a point where I feel kind of lonely. Global chat is incredibly bad, so I keep my combat tab flipped to the front which makes the game feel very quiet.
Last week, I logged out of AoC, and jumped in Warhammer, where my guild was putting together a warband to defend the Inevitable City against the inevitable push by Order. Within minutes, I was in vent, and in the warband.
As much as I like being able to solo, I’m really a social gamer at heart. If I don’t develop a strong social community within a game, I won’t stick around. As much as I’ve enjoyed playing some other games (Vanguard, DDO, AoC, LotRO), I have a hard time staying with them because I haven’t connected with the community. In smaller games with small communities, like Vanguard, that’s particularly difficult.
I’m also a fairly shy person in games (which is funny because I’m so NOT that way in real life). I don’t enjoying pugging, for the most part, and I don’t have a very thick skin. I need to feel like I’ve got a firm grasp on the mechanics of a game and my class before I jump into a group. That way, it’s no big deal if someone tells me to “l2p” because they’re just being a jerk. But if I’m actually learning to play, or feeling insecure about my abilities, then yeah… it irks.
In WoW, my first character hit 58 unguilded. I was at a point where I knew I’d quit unless I found a good group of people. There was *one* person on my friends list, a mage who asked me for directions a couple of months before, and afterward told me to pop him on my friends list.
I noticed he was a guild called “Shotgun Bunnies,” which seemed like a cool name for a guild, so I sent him a whisper. I was ridiculously nervous! I got a guild invite, and here we are almost three years later. My characters are all still in Shotgun Bunnies and I’m an elder, which is the rank just below the GM. In BC, our little social guild farmed Karazhan, downed Gruul’s a few times, and ventured into Serpentshrine. We had a tough time pulling together a 25 man, but we had a couple of great 10 man groups. We started out as a 10-man raid guild in Wrath, but after farming Naxx, OS and Vault, we fizzled out. A few key people quit the game or drifted off to other things, and a couple of people went to hardcore raid guilds where they could see more 25-man content.
But I still love those guys. For me, they ARE WoW. They’re the only reason I played as long as I did, and the only reason I still log in sometimes. Last year, I went to Blizzcon with one of them (my bud, Alicia). We met another guildie for dinner. We’re all friends on Facebook, and have a running group message thread going where we regularly trade links, chat, insult each other… and lately, talk about the mating habits of turtles. (Yeah… we’re a strange bunch.)
(I meet two of my guildies at Blizzcon 2008. I’m the short one on the left, with the Shotgun Bunnies shirt on.)
When I started playing Warhammer, after switching from Order to Destruction on Phoenix Throne, I shopped around guild adverts in the forums, and checked out lots of guild websites. I finally applied to a guild that I thought would be a good fit, but I’d never applied to a guild before, so that took me out of my comfort zone a bit. They ended up being a really great group of people, and I love playing with them. War Seekers is what largely what keeps me going back to WAR. A group of guildies is moving over to Aion in September, so I suspect I’ll be bouncing back and forth between both games.
It’s funny that in all my time playing MMOs, I’ve only ever really been in two guilds. I’m definitely not someone who enjoys guild hopping!
So now the question is do I like AoC enough to find a guild? I really don’t know.
So here’s to your second real comment ever.
Eh, I’m the same way with lots of MMOs. If I can’t find a place in the community quickly, I tend to get lonely and loose interest very, very quickly. I’m considering playing Mabinogi just because lots of my friends seem to play it, and thus I’d at least have one buddy to grind with.
Another, interesting, reason I seem to loose interest very quickly(even though it sort of doesn’t relate) is that it seems like with most MMORPGs now they’re more like MMOGS. I find roleplaying to be an immensely fun part of a game, perhaps because I tend to do it a lot out of games. So if a game lacks roleplaying, I loose interest quickly.
Eh, I bet half of that made zero sense. xD
…*runs off to go play SPORE Galactic Adventures*
The social aspect of those games are totally what kept me going. You know how long I’ve played WoW, but initially I almost stopped logging in once I hit 60 for the first time. Then I joined that ally raid guild I used to bore you with stories about, and met some really awesome people which kept me going.
I don’t want to get into melodramatic details, but there was kind of a dark time in mine and Shan’s past, that happened around that time, where things weren’t going to so well for our family. At the time all my friends had gone of to college, or moved out of the area and I felt very much alone.
Through that Alliance guild I met some great peeps, and I know that because of them I came out of that situation on top, mostly because I had people to talk to, and was able to escape what was going on around me. It may seem silly, but I’ve often thought about writing a book called “How the World of Warcraft saved my life”.
Then of course, I joined you guys over in SGB, and though life was/is considerably better by that time, it was the reason why I kept playing for as long as I did. It bums me out that things kinda fizzled out, but like you said, I love that we have that conversation going on in Facebook.
I definitely feel closer to some of you than friends I’ve actually known in the real world, and I would be lying if I didn’t say I missed playing with you all.
-Sean
Its funny, even though I’ve quit the game, it still surrounds me. And not in a bad way. There are sooo many people that play or have played the game that it makes for easy conversation. Its so nice that we all keep in contact via FB. I know that one day, we’ll all get together when the game is not running through our blood. A time when we talk about real things, but remember those many times we laughed on vent. OMG even to this day I cant believe some of the conversations we had. You all are so very naughty. I used to be so innocent.
I, like Sharon, hated looking for a guild. I got so lucky to find SGB. I hated pug groups. I hated running with people outside the guild (and even some people in the guild…). But our little/big group kept me going. It kept me in the game.
I remember my first SGB experience. I had just transfered to the server. My brother, Ivan (Fungess), was moving over with in the next day or so. Coming from a pvp server, we had decided that soloing wasnt going to do it for us. We wanted to experience a little more but have fun at the same time. The transfer went through.
With his first breath, Doc raised his arms casting a gentle heal to invigorate himself as he prepares for new adventures. Cautiously, he lifts his dress…err robe up over his heals and with great pride walks his new land. A hermit life he’s led, battling only in those grounds which lay for Horde to clash with Alliance. Capturing flags, towers, and farm houses was not only his way of life, but his addiction. His addiction that grew with every newly pressed piece of cloth; every new spell; every new wand. Alliance blood become his staple; their bones his toys. He was an undead lost in his new drug: PVP. Doc wanted a change. He wanted to rip off his veils of victory and settle down with a family. A place he could call home. No more lonely nights with the wand…err I mean cleaning the wand…I mean….umm….SQUIRREL!! Doc stared at that tree for what seemed to be two minutes. That’s when the feminine voice in the background echoed. He was entranced. Listening closer, holding his breath to cut out any controlable sounds. He needed to hear it again. It was his calling. Then he heard it in the background, the faint yell. Not like a battle cry, but more like a yell from a child as their bottle is ripped from their innocence. Doc knew this was his time, his calling. He had been struck by the arrow of serendipity. He heard the young girl calling for the last time. He knew he found a home. The words etched in his mind…
Shanore: Shotgun Bunnies now recruiting
Docdeath: Need a 60 priest? My brother is xfering shortly as well, he is a 60 mage. We are a package deal.
*** You have been invited to join Shotgun Bunnies ***
Shanore: No problem. One requirement: You have to cyber Ziller for 3 hours with in the first month.
Docdeath: Only three hours? What if we go over?
Shanore: The more hours you go over, the higher rank you climb as an officer.
Docdeath: sweet!
Shanore: Welcome to the guild!
Docdeath: Oh yeah Ziller, thats how I like it, harder please!
Docdeath: Shit sorry Shanore, mt….thanks..this guild looks cool.
And my SGB family was born.
My brother just showed me this blog and I have to say your post here just brought up a lot of emotions for me.
I still remember when I first started SGB. It seems so long ago and I guess it kind of was. 4 people started in our little family. Ziller, Zambie, Tinook and me. You guys didn’t know Tinny but I wish you had. She was awesome.
Then came Bart and everyone else. It just grew like wildfire. Ziller, Zam and I didn’t expect what would happen. We just wanted to play WoW and maybe do some runs. The fact that after 3 years or so our little band of misfits turned into friendships from around the world is amazing.
I’m sad that the guild was lost but I’m happy that we have all mostly stayed friends through it all.
But that’s the thing isn’t it? We still keep in touch. I played WoW for at least a year before SGB was formed and we all met. I was in a guild and raided with them. I never stayed in touch. What was it that made us become friends? I honestly don’t know. I’m in a new guild in WoW (yes it’s still in my blood but the addiction is gone..AION hurry up already) and I wonder if I could form friendships with these guys. It’s weird I know, but something about our little “clique” helped us become friends and maybe I won’t find that in this guild. /Shrug. I don’t know. I’m just glad I had the chance to meet everyone I did.
And Mali…er Sharon (still weird calling you that haha) your guild hearts you too. I promise.
Doc…Awesome haha. I miss your humour. I can’t even remember how many times I’ve died laughing or wiped a run because of you lol!! Good times we had for sure!
In the end I have to say guilds and games come and go but the friendships you form within those guilds could last a lifetime. Don’t play MMO’s solo. They don’t call them Massively Single Player Games. They’re multiplayer for a reason.
P.S.
I know I’m a heartless bastard =D but I miss you all. I miss our guild chat and our officer chat. I miss the late night vent sessions and our hilarious runs. I miss it all very much.