Consider yourself lucky if you've never seen the sight above before -- it's the sign of a former guildleader yanking everything out of the guild bank (including all the stuff above and a good 12,000g) and transferring off to another server. Good times. This is why I usually keep all of my Hearts of Darkness under my mattress at home -- the banks just aren't safe.
This isn't the only guild leader ninja we heard about this week, and it's definitely not the only messy drama -- there's lots more right after you click the link below. Don't forget to send in your tips about drama, downed and recruiting news from around the realms to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. We really appreciate it, and lovers of drama of all kinds do too.
Dark Haven on Baelgun actually killed our buddy Illy D this week, but we liked this picture on their website better. Yes, they're coming for you, Defiler.
This week's Guildwatch is chock full, as always, of drama, downed, and recruiting news from around the realms. If you've got some to share with us, about your guild or anyone else's, feel free to send it along to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Click the link below to see what's going on this week in guild news.
And yet we play World of Warcraft all the time. You wouldn't think this tiny little tell, above, would cause a guild to rupture apart, but in fact it did exactly that -- Runforyalife sent this tell to someone, they posted it on the forums, and the next thing you know, the GM had kicked Run right out. For his part, Run regrets what he said (we think the GM is a little testy, and whoever posted the tell is at fault, too), but there's a point to be made here: even the little tells you send in game can cause big trouble.
All this drama and more after the break. We've got good news too, though: there are guild downings aplenty, as well as a few recruiting notices (though it seems recruiting has slowed down with the Wrath beta in full force. If you've got a tip, send it to wowguildwatch@gmail.com as always. Click the link below to read on.
Although at times contentious, thecurrent recruitment promotion has certainly sped up leveling.The triple experience point bonus comes to mind first, but the ability to give levels at a rate of one per two gained is also a real boon.The rule is that the levels can be applied to a character lower than the givers current level, capped at level 60.Theoretically someone who has reached level 60 could donate enough levels to raise another character from 30-59* in a matter of minutes.
This new mechanic is pretty easy to use and potentially abuse.Málfurion of Wildhammer is not happy with the change.To quote "I just saw a Warlock go from level 31-59 in 10 seconds in front of my eyes... The new recruit a friend is bull > <.... NERF NERF NERF!"The post was met with some disbelief, but it clearly is a possibility.Some players indicated that they have something similar in mind.Abilene of Aegwynn believes that this practice ruins the game for some.
Blizzard does not particualry appreciate petitions on the official forums.This does not stop players from starting them.Lyccan of Ner'zhul started a petition in the Suggestion forum to make the Recruit-a-Friend benefits retroactive.At this time Blizzard has announce no current plans to give these rewards to folks who have brought players into the game in the past.
Most of us are pretty open about our love or World of Warcraft, and many of us have invited our friends and family to join us in WoW.In the past, the joy of sharing the game and a potential game-time buddy was enough to bring our friends into the game.
It's strange how just one little action or one little phrase can completely unravel a whole guild ingame. Of course, you could argue that guilds are ad hoc organizations anyway, and that it shouldn't be surprising that it doesn't take much to knock down a house of cards built only through text on a screen. But for a lot of people, their guildies are good friends and fellow players, and yet one misplaced phrase or piece of loot given out the wrong way can make those ties snap right apart.
There's plenty of that in this week's Guildwatch, along with better news (downings from around the realms), and your chance to get in on some of those weak ties (recruiting notices). Click the link below to see the 'Watch, and send your tips to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Because as weak as these ad hoc ties may be, they're still worth having.
There's a new splash screen on the WoW homepage, but instead of hinting at a new game, it is instead showing off Blizzard's new Recruit-a-Friend benefits. Looks like they found a place for that Zhevra mount we heard about a while back -- whenever you recruit a friend into the game (by convincing them to create an account with your name as a reference and having them pay for at least two months of game time), you can choose one of your characters to nab a Zhevra mount. Additionally, you can summon referred friends to your character, and when questing together, you can pick up triple experience until level 60, for both quests and monsters that you kill together.
More details on Blizzard's support page. Just yesterday, we heard Mike Morhaime saying Blizzard was aiming to bring tons of people into the game this holiday season, and it looks like the recruiting drive has started.
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.
Bleak is the word I would use to describe the current situation for raiding guilds. For many guilds, activity and recruitment are at all-time lows. It's becoming harder and harder to cobble together enough people to run anything these days. Must we simply endure? Is there no hope for us until Wrathlaunches? Will we officers respond to this crisis with moral fortitude -- or weakness? Will I actually use boldface to call out our officer community on their behavior? Find out after the break! But first, the author of this week's e-mail relates his own guild's experiences.
Hi Scott,
My name is Dmitry. [My guild is] a casual raiding guild made up mostly of people over 20, who either go to school, or work, or both, many of whom have kids. This is all taken into account and we have a very strong RL-before-WoW stance.
Unfortunately the past month or two has been really hard for us. Our MT was gone for 3 weeks because of a new job, lots of people went on vacation because of the summer, others stopped playing as much to spend more time with their kids, etc. After having guild firsts on Mag, Hydross, and Lurker in 3 weeks in June our guild has started to go backwards, having trouble taking down Gruul some nights.
You'd think that with the expansion coming, people would be taking a break from this game -- you'd think raiding would slow down, drama would subside (since it's a lot easier now then it used to be to get lots of great gear), and that recruiting would slow down. But this week's Guildwatch is a testament to players' dedication everywhere -- the raiding hasn't stopped, a few guilds are still picking up stragglers, and people are as selfish and whiny about their loot as ever. It warms our heart. Kind of.
Drama, downed and recruiting news all after the break. If you've got news for GW, don't hesitate to send it along: wowguildwatch@gmail.com. On to the good stuff (including a baby momma drama llama).
The guild above, Natural Order on Steamwheedle Cartel, has graced these pages before for dramatic reasons, but just to show there's no bad feelings, we're highlighting them in the downed section this week -- as you can see, they were able to topple Archimonde, and that's an achievement for any guild. As long as you can keep progression going, no drama is all that bad.
Unless you run into some of the really harsh drama found in this week's GW, which starts right after the jump. Drop us a tip (anonymous or otherwise) at wowguildwatch@gmail.com if you've got news about drama, downings, or recruiting notices from around the realms, and Sargeras-willing, you'll see it here next week.
We'll be straight with you, Guildwatch readers. Your intrepid blogger has been at E3 all day, writing like mad, and not only that, but is now surviving on his third day of sleep deprivation. So this week's Guildwatch is a little shorter than usual -- we still stayed up to get it out, and there's still the drama, downed, and recruiting news that you'd expect, but we realize that there may not be as much of it.
Worry not, though -- next week, after your intrepid blogger has returned home and refilled his sleep meter, we'll have an extra long edition of Guildwatch, and all of the tips sent in (to wowguildwatch@gmail.com, if you want to send us one) that we didn't get to will be published. Thanks for putting up with us, enjoy this week's GW right after the break.
There's a disturbing trend happening on the forums lately -- all the great drama threads are getting deleted. It's not like it's not out there -- this week's GW, as usual, is full of good drama, and the truth is that drama threads on guild forums are better anyway. But it seems like every time a tipster kindly sends us a link to an official forum thread, it's mysteriously disappeared? Could someone at Blizzard... not want us to make fun of drama? We'll keep an eye on it.
Until we figure that out, keep sending us the tips, whether they be about drama, downed news for your guild or others, or recruiting notices for up-and-coming raiding groups. The place to send it all is wowguildwatch@gmail.com, and clicking the link below will show you just what we heard about from the realms this week.
Now that's a good looking website. There aren't many around, and while, sure, you don't really need a great looking website as a guild (it's probably better to actually be downing bosses ingame than building resources outside of it), a good-looking website doesn't hurt when getting your guildies excited about being a part of the group.
Lots more guilds and websites (including the drama, downing and recruiting news you're here for) in this week's GW, which starts right after the jump. Don't forget to send us your tips at wowguildwatch@gmail.com -- whether it's your guild or someone else's, we want to hear about it here!
That's Alyxandria of All That Remains on Sisters of Elune, professing the opinion that the stuff her guildies stole from Just a Game on the same server isn't being given back. Apparently taking a bunch of stuff out of the guild bank and then /gquitting doesn't count as stealing -- we'll leave you all to decide the morality there.
For our part, we don't judge, we just report on all the guild drama, downed, and recruiting news from around the realms. If you've got some, feel free to send us a tip, anonymous as you'd like, at wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Whether it's a particularly interesting screenshot of chat (as above), or an all out hilarious forum thread, or just news that your guild has downed a boss they've never downed before, please let us know, and you can see it here next week.
Whatever you do, don't get Rob Parkins angry. That's the lesson Nucholza learned when he watched a Warlock named Adriyel die to a double pull, and then nabbed one of the mobs (and the Fel Lotus it dropped) away. The good news is, Rob Parkins isn't for sale: Nucholza's account never did get "scrubbed." But be careful whose loot you gank -- you never know who's first cousins with Rob Parkins.
That bit of funny drama and more, all after the break in this week's Guildwatch. And don't forget that your tips help fuel our column -- send in drama, downed, and recruiting notices (and make sure to include your guild and server, as in "US Cenarius-A") to wowguildwatch@gmail.com. Whether it's your guild's proud downing, or a rival guild's juicy drama on their forums, send it to us so we can all enjoy it!
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