5 Reasons Why Guilds are Overrated

Chimerus, my tauren druid, is into his sixties now, and barely a day goes by that someone doesn’t ask if I want to be in their guild. I understand their reasoning; an unguilded, high-level druid who’s almost ready for end-game content is a rare commodity indeed. Almost universally, I politely decline their invitation and leave it at that.

What bugs me is the mentality that getting into a guild is a goal that I’m expected to have. It never even occurs to other players that I don’t, in fact, want to be in a guild. Yes, you heard me right. I don’t want to be in a guild. In case you find that difficult to understand, here are five reasons why I think guilds are overrated.

1. Scheduling pressure. I’m a casual player, so my free time is not wholly dominated by Warcraft. There’s also time with my family, side jobs, hobbies, and chores to consider. I can’t always be available to do instances and raids. Unfortunately, I haven’t been in a guild yet that didn’t expect me to treat group activities like a second job. End-game raiding guilds are particularly bad for this.
    
2. Social obligation. In the time I do play Warcraft, I want to have fun, which usually involves advancing my own characters. In a guild, however, high-level characters are often expected to assist low-level characters with tough quests and instance runs. I’m not necessarily against lending a hand, but it can become a pain when you’re asked too often. It’s even more annoying when the tables are turned and other guild members refuse to follow suit.
    
3. Chatter. I usually only keep one chat channel open, and that’s a private channel for family and friends. Occasionally, I’ll keep General chat open when it isn’t too noisy (i.e., not in the Barrens). In a guild, however, it’s expected that you’ll keep guild chat open and not only listen to all the inane chatter, but contribute to it as well. Sorry, but I have better things to focus on than random conversation.
    
4. Internal politics. More than a few guilds I’ve been a part of dissolved or suffered mass attrition as a result of internal politics. One member says or does something that rubs another the wrong way, lines get drawn in the sand, and, before you know it, there are hurt feelings and bad morale. I play Warcraft to have fun, thanks, and situations like that are anything but.
    
5. Inactivity. In contrast to the frustrations already mentioned, which are typical of more active guilds, inactive guilds strain logic. Why, exactly, would I be in a guild that doesn’t actually do anything as a group? That’s pretty much the same as being guildless to begin with. Then again, it might stop people from constantly asking me to join their guild…

I think that sums it up pretty well. To clarify, I’m not an asocial person. I just find that being in a guild more often diminishes than increases my enjoyment of the game. And why am I playing at all if not to have fun?

As much as i understand and have lived your opinion, I think that being in a guild that wants to work together on getting the high end instance (kara, gruul’s, serpentine cavrens….etc …ect) in there game time should be on the list of things. Wow is alot of things to alot of people.

You may start questing to 70 by your self and even pvp. But it takes a good guild or group of people that are working on the same thing like taking down Gruul’s for instance.

A guild might not be for everyone but sooner or later you might want to see what the end game brings. I just hope there you find the guild that brings what you want out of the game and you can have fun trying it out as well. Not all guild have to be full of the bad things. At least i hope not….

Trust me, Schotzie; I’ve experienced end-game raiding. And you are correct in that the gear is better than anything you could get otherwise. However, I’m of the mind that it really isn’t worth the trouble. If getting the best level 70 epics means I have to pull my hair out doing 25-man raids, I’ll simply pass and go do something more fun with my character.