State of the Guild

AFK GUILD


Last update we had here on the state of the guild was about a year ago, when we were doing recruiting to get serious about some progression raiding. We are on the cusp of serious progression in 25-man raids, meaning more recruiting and emphasis on larger raids, so it's worthwhile to talk again about where we are and where we are going as a guild.

First and foremost: We will keep to the ideals that make us AFK.

AFK is, and always will be, a place for people with real lives who want to play a game with a good group of people. AFK is a Friends and Family guild that raids. And it so happens that we're good at both.

When guilds grow larger, they sometimes (read: "almost always") lose the essential qualities that made them a good group to begin with--similar to a band selling out for fame. Too often, guilds trade raiding progression and phat lewt for the friendship, willingness to help and spirit of fun that many people joined a guild for to begin with. This will not happen with AFK.

As we grow larger and progress in the endgame dungeons, AFK will always keep to the following:

 

First: RL > WoW Friendship > Raid Progression Fun > Loot

This is not to say we don't want to progress in endgame raiding. We will progress. But we will not do it at the cost of what makes AFK a cool place to be. Does that mean it will be slower? Maybe. But when we do clear the 25 raids it will be with people we like playing with.

 

Second: Loot. The blessing and the curse.

On our runs, anyone can roll on anything they need. This keeps things fair, particularly in a guild that encourages people to have a real life, and therefore will not always have the same people at every raid: anyone who shows up to raid is contributing, and therefore all get an equal shot at the spoils.

Conversely, this also means that a pug can get loot you want and sometimes we are not going to progress as quickly in dungeons because certain key classes (mostly tanks) are having to share T10/etc drops with other classes and therefore will not get geared as quickly.

This somewhat simplistic loot rule was designed to combat the number one killer of both guilds and fun in this game: arguments over loot. We have been in endgame raiding guilds that loot squabbling tore apart, and, like many of our members, have seen it happen to numerous others. We are determined not to let it happen in AFK. We keep it simple, and we don't stress about loot, it's not why we're here anyhow.

If you need it for raiding, you can roll on it. This serves to keep things as fair as possible for the casual player, who has a RL, true; but, quite frankly, it also serves to enforce the point that loot is of secondary importance to us as a guild. I know it can be hard to see loot you want go to others, particularly pugs, but the that is the price of having the cool guild we have. People know that AFK is a fair and respectable crew, so they are happy to run with us. The minute loot becomes more important than fairness, friendship or fun, we create a ticking bomb that will eventually tear the guild apart or, even worse, create a group that treats the game like a job and robs it of all its fun.

There are plenty of guilds that don't do things this way, but none of them are as cool as AFK.

 

Three: All we can promise you is blood sweat and tears.

As we move forward in new content we can look forward to one thing: we will die a lot. No matter the boss, we are gonna end up dying a bunch more times before we have them on farm. This means some nights we will all spend huge amounts of gold on repairs with nothing to show for it. It's frustrating, it's long and it's repetitive.

And it's necessary.

Every guild wipes on new content. Some of you were with us when we were working on Karazhan, Naxx, Toc. Now we are entering bigger challenges, and we need more people who are willing to take the hits so that all of us can benefit.

I know some of you get frustrated with this process, tired of dying over and over. And honestly: that's okay. If you are done, we don't require raiders (as many guilds do) to work past the point of complete frustration. This is a game, not a job.

However, keep in mind: the more people who leave after a bunch of deaths on a new boss, the more people we have to pug to fill their spot because they didn't come on the day we're fighting a boss we haven't downed yet...the longer it takes until we can 1-shot them.

New challenges take persistence and dedication. Our guild does not require people to show up to die, or stay up late to die. But the more people who are voluntarily willing to do so, the more we as a guild will be able to achieve.

Anyhow, that's it. Any questions, concerns or comments, talk to a member in-game.

-the management

03/20/2009 updated yearly