You've finally learned the finer details on how to be a raider and you're ready to move yourself into a raiding guild. Perhaps you've already been trying to do this, but have been unsuccessful, or simply haven't made the leap yet because you're unsure of what to do. That's okay! Here's a little guide on how to work your way into the raiding guild of your dreams.
The very first thing I want you to do is to take a good, long hard look at your character and its gear.
- Are you specced correctly? (No PvP talents for a PvE build)
- Are you wearing correct pieces for your spec? (If you're a Protection Paladin wearing Holy gear, you may want to fix this asap)
- Are you full enchanted with the proper enchants for your spec?
- Do you have proper gems in all of the available slots?
If you answered no to any of the above questions, I want you to stop reading this now and go fix these major issues. If money is an problem, either start doing dailies or find a friend who may be kind enough to loan you some gold/items. I don't mean to be harsh, but if you're looking for a raiding guild and if you have anything missing on your character - be it enchants, gems, proper gear, or a proper spec - chances are you will be rejected fairly quickly. Raiding guilds aren't looking to take in people to teach them how to gear their character, they're looking for well informed players who want to max out their character (ie someone who will benefit a raid instead of just tagging along to get them sweet epix).
Once you have tackled any issues with your character, I want you to take an account of how much raiding you have done, and in that raiding experience, I want you to think about all of the achievements you have accomplished. Compile of list of answers to the following questions. Knowing the answers to these questions will help you in your search to find a guild that will best suit you.
- Are you under geared, geared, or over geared for the current raid content?
- How many times have you completed the current raid? Or if you haven't cleared the current content, how much of the raid have you completed?
- Have you done hard modes?
- Have you completed any notable achievements in the current raid, or in past raids when they were current content?
- Are you only comfortable in one role, or in several?
- Are you looking for a hardcore raiding team, or are you seeking a much more casual atmosphere?
- How often can you raid, and what are your available hours that you typically dedicate to raiding?
Do you have your list? Alright, once that is all done, you should begin looking at the guilds on your server. There are several ways you can do this. The first, and not necessarily the best, way is to simply sit in LookingForGuild channel (if you're unguilded) and the Trade channel and inquiring those who advertise their guilds. Most high(er) end guilds do not usually use these two channels, unless it's simply to advertise that they are recruiting, and they'll usually give the address of their site. If you're looking for a more serious guild, I suggest first looking at something like GuildProgress.com. Search for your server, and look at the progression of the different guilds in 10 or 25 man (whichever of these two you prefer...if it doesn't matter, take a look at both) for your faction. This is where your list comes in. Compare yourself with several different guilds to try to find a few guilds that are roughly at the same level as you are, or just a bit above progression wise. Room for personal growth is by no means a bad thing, but trying to get into the #1 guild when you're a few raids behind with little experience can end up being disheartening.
Once you find a small handful of guilds that you're interested in, hop over to Google.com and do a search for these guilds' websites - usually a combination of the guild's name and your server turns up the desired website - almost all progression based guilds will have a website of sorts. After you find the guild website that you were looking for, take a look at their 'About Us' statements, look up what kind of looting system they have in place, and what they're looking for in terms of what they need for recruitment. Once you've done this, and if the guild (or guilds) seems to be a match for you, take a good look at their application (any decent progression raiding guild will have an application that you must submit either by email or right there on their forums). Copy/paste the application (if possible) into Word/Notepad so that you may work on it without accidently losing it if you happen to navigate away from the page.
Now, a few tips on filling out applications.
- Fill out all questions to the best of your abilities.
- Capitalization/spelling/punctuation/proper sentences are all must haves.
- One word answers and run on sentences often show lack of actual interest, and perhaps lack of intelligence...two things you do NOT want to convey.
- Incomplete applications are often simply tossed out; always fill every question out to the best of your abilities.
Fill out guild applications as you would fill out a job application. Yes, this may be a game, but you're applying to become a part of someone's environment that they've created for themselves. Any serious raiding guild will take into account how you filled out your app; they won't simply look at the information that you provided, but will take into account the manor in which you put the information down. The better your application looks grammar/information wise, the more interested you look. If it happens to look sloppy, it appears as if you didn't really bother to take the time to fill out the application properly, thus you must not really be completely interested in the guild itself and you may also be a sloppy player who doesn't much care about how you look or raid. It's very important to create a great first impression through your application. Presentation is everything.
Another thing that you should always be aware of (this isn't just a guild application thing, but it can severely affect your chances of getting into a decent guild) is your reputation. I'm not just talking about with the various NPC factions contained in World of Warcraft here, but your actual reputation with the people on your server. If you have a habit of spamming the Trade channel with nonsense, being unseemly in PuGs (be it in heroics or raids), have the tendancy to guild hop, or just generally tend to troll people, most higher end guilds will more than likely be aware of this fact and will turn you down based on the name you've made for yourself.
Alright, so you've turned in your application, they've finally responded and now you have your /ginvite. Congrats! Now begins your trial period. Yes, most high end guilds have a trial period for their new members. During this time they're trying to get a feel for you as a person and more importantly, as a player. It's best to lay low for the first little while; it's more than fine to join in on friendly chatter (I really encourage this actually), but definitely mind yourself behavior wise. Don't try to start anything negative with other members, show up on time for raids (you should always log in a bit early to be sure that you have everything you need for the raid), and try to not make an ass of yourself in any way, shape, or form basically. While you're in your trial period, the guild may have you on more of a standby mode for raids. Try not to be upset by this. Any good guild will get you into either a more neutral raid to get to know your abilities, or will have some sort of rotation system set up to get you into a raid to prove yourself. Any guild worth their rank on your server more than likely knows what they're doing, so my advice is to be patient. Unless you're best buds with management somehow, chances are you'll have to work your way up the ranks just like everyone else.
TL;DR
- Make sure your character is set up correctly before attempting to look for a guild.
- Look for a guild roughly at your level of experience in progression or a bit above.
- Make sure the guild you're going after is a good fit so you can avoid any negative mishaps.
- Fill out your guild application as if you were filling out the application to the job of your dreams.
- Be patient. Guild recruiters are busy people who play the game too, they may not get back to you right away.
- Once you're in, don't make an ass of yourself.
- Again, be patient while you work your way up the guild ranks.
If you've done everything right, chances are you'll end up landing yourself into a very good home. If this somehow isn't the case though (personality differences do happen), you may find yourself back at square one. Before you /gquit though, try to at least say "Thanks anyways, but this guild just doesn't seem to be a good fit for me. Thank you for giving me an oppertunity though!" This leaves a positive impression on those you're leaving, and may someday work in your favor in some way. If you /gquit more along the lines of "Screw you guys" chances are that anyone in that guild chat, or in management, will remember that and won't even bother to take you in on a PuG. Bridges left in tact work much better in your favor in the long run than burnt ones.
Good luck on finding yourself a good home to grow and have fun in!
World of Saz 2011
No comments:
Post a Comment