One of the most important aspectsof ay good MMORPG is the system of Guilds. Across the cyber world hundreds ofMMORPGs are present both in paid and in free mode, and most, if not all, ofthem incorporate the guild system. The guild system is infact so popular thatan MMORPG solely based around this system(Guild Wars) exists in the cyberworld. But what are guilds? What do they do? What is their purpose? And howwill a common player incorporate them in their own gameplay? And how does itwork in MWO? Let us try to answer these questions.

 Now for those who do not know, Guilds aregroups within the game which have been created by an individual player, whothen becomes its leader, and joined by other players to form something like a militaryfaction. A guild is like a family and the guilders(members of the family) worktogether to make it stronger. There is usually a hierarchical system within theguild, with the leader at the top an other officers at their designated places.The functions of a guild consist of taking part in guild wars, fighting fortheir faction, helping younger players and prospective guild members andfinally being better than any other guild.

Guilds in MWO:

Now that we know what guilds are,lets see what they mean to a game like MWO and how the system has beenincorporated in the game design.

            Nowfirst of all, the guild functions do not apply to a player until and unlessthey have attained level 20 on their character. After this they can duly applyto Saul, the Baron in Sky City, or -----, the Baron in Sun City (see the NPC section for more details) and send in a applicationto the desired guild. It is to be kept in mind that Empire players may notapply to Dynasty guilds and vice versa. I you are accepted, the name of theguild will appear in white above your characters name and you will be able totake part in guild chat(see Chatting section for more details).

            Forprospective guild leaders and curious players an explanation of the workings ofthe guild is required, which I will now supply. For creating a guild the eligibilityof level 20 is required as stated above. Players wishing to create a guild mustgo to the respective Barons in their main Cities and accept the PowerEstablishment quest from him. This quest requires you to kill Skeleton Horror,the Death Warrior in Skeleton Hole III. He is a boss and appears in SkeletonHole III every half hour after being killed. Although players receive the questat level 20. It is impossible for them to kill the boss at such a level as hehimself is level 35, besides being a boss. So at this point players have onlytwo choices: I) team up with other powerful players and defeat him in a team.ii) wait until atleast level 40 before attempting to kill him. Although franklyspeaking he still hard to kill without a team.

            Afterkilling Skeleton Horror, the Death Warrior you receive the Warrior's Heart fromhim. Take it back to your Baron and get the Overlord’s Certificate and 30,000exp. Use the Overlord's Certificate and 2,000,000 gold to create your guild.

Guild Hierarchical System:

Now every group or organizationhas a hierarchical system which enables the functioning of the group bymaintaining a balance of power. Such too is the case of a guild. In MWO theguilds have the following hierarchical system.

President:

-Vice-President

-Propaganda Minister

-Interior Minister

-Industry Minister

-Foreign Minister

--Colonel

--Major

--Captain

--lieutenant

--sergeant

---warrior

The Guild can have only 1 each ofthe -positions 2 colonels,4 majors and as many no. as required of the rest. TheWarrior's position is the most basic post which applies to all members. The coloneland major are a assigned by the President, vice-President or the interiorminister.

Guild Resources and buildings:

As soon as the guild has beenestablished and well on its way to prosperity, the thing to do would be makeguild buildings. Guild buildings do a variety of things. There are mainly nineguild buildings-

Warehouse- You can donateresources and gold to the guild along with keeping objects you don’t need.These objects can only be removed by high ranking guild officials.

Parliament-This is where theforeign affairs of the guild takes place. Managed mainly by the foreignminister. Wars can be declared against other guilds and enemies and      alliances can be formed.

Meeting Hall-Core of the guild.

Blacksmith-Here the industryminister can make weapons(mainly catapult and Moving Castle)

Fort-This is the main line ofdefense for the guild. Guards can be stationed here to protect     the guild from invaders.

Bar-This is a general place tohang out for the guilders. You can see a list of all the

guilders, their contributions andonline status, and their levels and official guild ranks. You can also seprospective guilder's application(to be approved by the President) or put up a bulletin.

Barrack-Here the guild Presidentcan recruit NPC guards to guard the guild against invaders by paying them ahefty sum.

Tower-A mysterious place.Discover its mysteries by yourself.

Miracle-It gives guild bonuses.

To make each building the guildneeds resources and experience. Players may often see certain quests scrollingacross the top of their screen. The rewards include guild experience. t is thisvery experience that the guild needs. The more the guilders do these quests,the more the experience increases. And finally when you have enough experiencesthe guild building can be made. But only experience is not enough. The guildalso needs resources. Resources are mainly four: wood, mercury, stone, sulphur,and crystal. Often when gathering(see living skills), we come across these resources.If we dump them in the guild warehouse(it can be done even before the warehouseis made) it will be added to the guild funds. Mind you the guild also needsadequate cash to start construction of buildings. This usually 1,000,000 gold(1mil). To add it to the guild, open the warehouse and put it in the donation barand click donate. After the guild has all the resources, construction canbegin.

Guild Wars:

A very important part o any guildsystem is the power to have wars. Not wars between the two countries, wealready have state war and siege war(check wars section) for those. It meansofcourse guild wars. Each and every guild can declare war on any other guild,although guilds which have been created within seven days or sooner are immuneto war. This is done in order to give that guild time to grow and evolve. Warcan only be declared by the guild President, vice-President or foreignminister. They can select from the guild's list(in the parliament) a guildwhich they wish to attack and declare war. Mind you they same guild cannot bedeclared to in 24 hrs of one declaration. When war is declared the defendingguild is allowed a chance of truce by paying a certain amount as gifts to thewarring guild. If the defending guild fails to pay this amount, has less guildcash than required amount or refuses to pay the amount, then war begins. Thedefending guild can set time of 0, 3, 5, or seven hrs to let them preparebefore the war begins. (if defending guild did not reply to truce offer in fivemins, war starts in 20 mins). Now the guild wars are rather exciting and cool,but also extremely risky. More so for the defending guild than the attackingone. For if the defending guild is defeated, then all of their buildings willbe lowered by one level, and if by chance all of the buildings ARE at thelowest level, then the defending guild will be dissolved.

        Now lets us see how the actual wartakes place. The attacking guild has two hours to achieve victory once the warbegins. The two guilds will fight in a special warfare map(which belongs to thedefending guild). Each guild has an entry point or spawn point where each guildmember enters the battlefield. If a guilder dies and are sent back to town thenthey must enter the battle from this spawn point. It is generally recommendednot to go back to town as the time it takes to return to the battlefield is ratherlong and can be a deciding factor in the battle.  

          In order to gain victory theattacking guild must destroy the defending guilds 'Heart of Guild' within twohours. In order for the defending guild to win, they must protect their 'Heartof Guild' for two hours. The attacking guild must defeat the fortress walls inorder to enter into the secondary battlefield(which houses the 'Heart ofGuild') where they would fight the defending guilders PvP. But it can be verydifficult to enter the secondary battlefield. It all depends on the level ofthe fort. A guild with a low level of fort will easily be infiltrated. But witha good fort level and strong NPCguards(who have o be hired by the President) the guild can be easily defendedand there is no need to deploy guild warriors. But without a strong defense theonly choice for the guild is to have strong warriors.

Tactics for a Guild:

Now a bit of advice forprospective guild Presidents. First of all, don’t create a guild unless youreach atleast lvl45. Otherwise you might find it a bit difficult to maintainauthority in your guild. Also have your personal coffers full so you cansupplement the guild donations and keep yourself up on the donation ladder.Also the first building to upgrade

should be your fortress. You getseven days protection time, so use that well. Do enough

guild quests, collect yourresources, gee the gold and upgrade your fortress. That is the only way tosafeguard your guild incase of attack from a superior guild. 

Tag: Guild    War