Site Name

Saturday morning consisted of preparing Haf’s famous Beer Brauts and eagerly awaiting the arrival of Beau and Leala Turkey. Upon their arrival, we dove into the bratwursts and snuggled in for the start of the Dungeons and Raids panel at 3pm, CST. As mentioned in the previous post, the DirectTV limited our direct exposure to certain panels. So, as for Saturday, we masses of streamers weren’t privy to the initial information from the WoW Open Q&A and the Game Systems Panel, but we kept up with the breaking information via various news sources and the masses tweeting direct from the event floor.

Dungeons and Raids Panel
This was the meat of the convention for me: content! The panel started off simple enough, showing the thought and development process of how dungeon/raid instances are created. Watching the idea take shape was a nice insight into the time and technology that is taking place behind the scenes of this wonderful game that we sometimes take for granted. I sat in awe of the huge chunk-lets of information that were divulged as the panelist reviewed the process. During this discussion, it was formulated that advances are made to accommodate the expansiveness of some dungeons, like the teleportation devices in Ulduar. Haf and I both giggled, “Wasn’t that new in Karazahn?”

After the process was disseminated, the dungeons being prepared for release at ship were expanded upon after initially being discussed during Friday’s preview panel. There will be a staggering 6 leveling dungeons and 4 raid dungeons upon initial shipment of Cataclysm.

Uldum
Within the new zone of Uldum there will be two dungeons, Grim Batol and and the Halls of Origination. Some interesting nuggets of information were shared regarding some mysterious AWMD (Azerothian Weapon of Mass Destruction) that is hidden within these dungeons in the desert. Let me guess, when we go looking for this weapon, without the support of our fellow Horde/Alliance counterparts, we cause great tides to turn and overturn the leader without the full support of the underlings working within the confines of this area. I think that GW wrote this story a few year back. Sounds familiar. I will be interested to see if we end up finding Bran Bronzebeard held up in a hole somewhere, covered in fleas. Just a thought.

Upon initial viewing, the Halls of Origination look and feel very similar to AQ40 with a dash of Ulduar. But, that isn’t that much of a stretch considering the story behind the zone. I think… You know, me and lore don’t always get along. Good news is, there will be stuff to kill in there!

Sunken City of Vash’jir
Also available at release is the Abyssal Maw, one of two 5-player dungeons within the Sunken City of Vash’jir. And, let me just say, it is beautiful. They have created an underwater oasis that feels so organic and harmonic that even the glass walls bow as to create the effect that the bubble of the ocean pressure could give way at any moment.

Blackrock Caverns / Blackwing Decent
Since the old world content is going to be new all over again, it was no surprise that new dungeons are being added to zones we had all known and loved back in Vanilla. In this mix is Blackrock Caverns, a new 5-man instance, which appears to be a subterranean area under the well-known Blackrock Spire. Expect a very similar feel to the lava-filled, iron-clad days of BWL and UBRS.

And, by doing a dive-bomb on Naferian’s terrace atop Blackwing Lair, you will come across the new 10 and 25-man raid instance, Blackwing Decent. Artwork wasn’t shared for this little gem, but I can imagine it is where we see Naverian’s decent into madness.

The Firelands
This new raid dungeon got my blood pumping more than all of the others announced on Saturday. We will once again face the Lord of Fire upon his homeland, the fire plane within destruction of Mount Hyjal. Being able to face Ragnaros is even more nostalgic for me, personally, than Onyxia was. This time around we are pitted against Rag upon his firy spire-like throne. And, this time around he isn’t weakened from his decent into the Molten Core.

Needless to say, I was as giddy as a pre-BC raiding ZG graduate once again when I heard this news. I can’t wait to hear what epic prelude cut scene or pre-combat storyline that Blizzard has in store for this journey into endgame.

3.3 Icecrown Citadel and Dungeon Wings
Before all of the Cataclysm hubbub is released, we are still slated to face and defeat (not that I think he is actually going to die), none other than the Prince of Loredarian, Arthas and the sick-ass voices in his head. Much as the outside of the Citadel leads us to believe, Icecrown is an expansive thrown, which upon entry gives feeling to the icy hole atop the spire where Arthas’ heart should be.

The massive Icecrown Citadel raid dungeon will consist of 12 bosses, and is situated upon 3 floors, the last of which will be reached through an airship event as you spiral upwards towards the pivotal thrown room. I must say, the excitement was evident through the room as they described this unique Alliance vs. Horde event which has you racing the opposing faction, jumping ship in a pirate-isq fashion, shooting turrets, and generally causing much mayhem as you strive to reach your final destination. It looks to be an epic ride.

In addition to Icecrown Citadel, developers are throwing in three new 5-man instances under the bowels of the mines and refinery along the outskirts of the hold. And, as an added bonus, players who participate in these more “casual” encounters will interact with Arthas, much as we have throughout our experiences in Northrend. It was mentioned, and I agree wholeheartedly, that Wrath has been a success because we faced and interacted with Arthas more than players had come to know Illidan in Burning Crusade. By making the player interested in Arthas, the story feels more relevant and important to players of all levels of play.

3.2.2 Onyxia
Lastly, the Dungeons and Raids panel covered the previously released information regarding the reworking of Onyxia’s Lair, and covered a few specific itemization updates, including the Burnished Quel’Serrar. Previously the vanilla veterans had moaned when Blizzard posted that the original Quel’Serrar was being removed when the reworked Lair is released. But, alas… The epic, simple, and stately sword is being reworked as well in a less quest-y version.

I’m equally excited about the 5-year anniversary pet. It is NOT the same-old dark whelping that was originally thought. It is, indeed, a unique broodling, complete with deep breaths, hiccups and smoke rings. My warm-fuzzy girly side is brimming with anticipation, no matter who wants to pewp on my parade.

More to come later…

Now that Blizzcon has come and gone, and we have all learned just how true the leaks were, I think it is important to put the entire situation into some perspective.

Blizzard, despite what you or I may think of them, is a company whose mastery of PR is almost as good as their games. We eat up whatever they give us, and often sharpen our weapons to come to their defense, as much of the Rawrcast chat room did when TotalBiscuit was on Saturday.

I have little faith that the “leaks” were leaks at all. I’d call them seepage, but that gives me bad thoughts of the warning labels on products with olestra. I know that wow.com broke, and sometimes smugly, defended their break, but there is a HUGE difference between breaking news and reporting on what Blizzard expects you to report on. I have always thought the leaks were actually plants, and even suggested they could be red herrings.

Why would anyone expect anything more than a Blizzard plant?

Michael Sacco is a former Blizzard employee who now writes for wow.com. If there was any breaking news made by the site that was not under the guidance of Blizzard, he would be the first person targeted in a Blizzard investigation. Blizzard management would know exactly what he knew and, if they were serious about their NDA, they would pursue him with the full extent of the law, and since he still probably carries some information and sources with him, particularly since Cataclysm was being worked on before WotLK shipped, the burden would lie with him and wow.com to prove the information didn’t come from him. It seems much more likely that Blizzard’s marketing department either worked with them or played them to post the news Blizzard wanted out prior to Blizzcon.

Some of you might be asking why in the world Blizzard would want to plant such information when Blizzcon has typically been the marquee stage for similar announcements. Well, there is always the subject of cash. If Blizzard is able to build enough hype leading up to Blizzcon, they are able to entice many players to purchase both the DirectTV and internet streams of the event. Unlike the venue where Blizzcon takes place with a certain amount of overhead involved in occupying the convention halls, the streams are almost entirely profit. If a player is convinced, through the use of outside sources, the next expansion will be announced, many would be willing to drop the forty bucks for the confirmation and any new information then released at Blizzcon. Do you think it’s coincidence the Cataclysm announcement was the very first thing to happen at Blizzcon? Of course not, Blizzard expected anyone and everyone who is that involved in the community to already know the name of the next expansion.

What about data mining sites?

Here is where Blizzard again played the community. They understand the unquestionable talent at sites like MMO Champion and were able to plant exactly what information they wanted mined out of the game files. If Blizzard was that concerned with data mining, don’t you think they would purposely refrain from planting such information for people like Boubouille to find? Blizzard knows what he does, and they know he’s amazingly good at it. They also know the only way to prevent him from piecing together information is to not put it in a place he looks. If you don’t want your kids to find their Christmas presents, are you likely to hide them in places they frequent? Ya, didn’t think so. MMO Champion was able to confirm the “leaks” because the information was planted all along. Much like the new archeology profession, we will only find what the developers want us to find. If there are not artifacts, there is no archeology.

Oddly, much of the information released that is still in early development, like talent trees, archeology, and the path of the titans, was not in any leaks or data mining reports. The stat revisions were also missing. Boubouille may have found clues, but, it appears, only tried to report on things he was able to confirm, like any good journalist would. Why though? Well the easy answer is because they were never intended for any of that information to be found. They wanted all of that to be revealed in their panel discussions and releasing such information would make most of the Warcraft news pretty boring.

If anyone one doesn’t believe Blizzard listens to the community and uses GIANT rabbit ears any wolpertinger would be jealous to check our pulse, they need to evaluate how they played the community like a giant violin to build Blizzcon excitement.

-Rhab

photo courtesy of New Line Cinema – Austin Powers: Goldmember

Friday morning I sat down at the helm of ©StompRot Studios and dialed in through the interwebs to follow the DirectTV stream of Blizzcon ’09. With twitter at the ready, I eeked with anticipation as the stream aimlessly looped through old cinamatics and commercials trying to sell me the stream that I had obviously already paid for.

Then, at 10am, PST, on cue, right when I was ready to fall out of my seat with eagerness, we are welcomed by some dude who is leading the charge, Kat Hunter, and some Asian chick – who, by some miracle is able to pronounce all of the tournament player’s names. Imagine that.

What’s that? Suddenly the stream breaks… the first of many… And, we then see Dude, Kat and the Asian chick getting their hair and make-up done and talking about how they look.

Then we are taken to the “Field Reporter”. The only reason that this chick earned the title of “Field Reporter” is because she obviously plays the field; Jo “I-had-to-blow-someone-for-this-gig” Garcia. BJ must have been the WORST correspondent I have ever seen. DTV would have been better off giving the mic to the kid in the gruntling costume.

So, we push forward. As we are set to begin the panels MMO-Champion reports the DTV schedule before it is published on the stream. Once again, MMO-Champion gets the jump on news. Alas, they are showing the StarCraft Panel on Friday instead of The Guild panel!

Let me get this straight – they have camera set up and recording ALL of the panels for replay later EXCEPT the The Guild. If DTV is so advance and taking full advantage of high-quality streaming video, why not make it interactive and let me CHOOSE which panel I want to view since ALL of the panels overlap?

Opening Ceremony
Twitter is a fluster with anticipation as Mike Morheime takes the stage and starts dropping Cataclysm innuendo and reliving the previous year’s achievements. And, @Rawrcast takes off out of the gates as Kenny D and I begin Live-Reporting and posting screen shots of the proceedings as they happen.

Preview Panel
Metzen and a few other developers take the stage and drop the bombshell. YES, the next expansion is World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. YES, the new races are Goblins and Worgen. And, YES, this expansion will change the face of Azeroth as we know it. Deathwing will awaken from his slumber and rip Azeroth a new one as he is unleashed from the bowls of the earth.

So, all of those weeks that everyone was calling Inquisitor a crack-pot for his informed speculation were completely unfounded. In a humorous fashion, Metzen jokes that this is new information that no one has ever heard before divulging that the rumors, leaks and informed speculation were all true.

Blizzard is doing something with Cataclysm that no other MMO has ever done. They are completely reworking the existing content for everyone, introducing phased terrain, all while advancing the story of the World of Warcraft.

More to come soon on the story of Deathwing, and all of the other developments surrounding Cataclysm in the coming months.

In a segment between panels, Morheime explained that there are two major releases planned for Blizzard between now and the next Blizzcon, in addition to elaborating on the fact that Blizzcon has outgrown the Anaheim Convention Center. It seems that Blizzard is already making plans to expand the capacity of the convention for next year!

Class Discussion
Ghostcrawler (Greg Street) scrambled up to the stage and dropped a huge bombshell on the flock of fans. No more Mp5, spell power, attack power, defense, armor penetration, haste, or block. Thank God they are realizing that min/maxers have overwhelmed the game, and they have finally decided to take some of the math out of my fun.

It seems that they are taking stats back to the simplified base stats of old and putting more weight into a players ability to actually play the game, as less into their ability to number crunch.

GC also shared the new legendary 2-handed axe slated to arrive in Icecrown, Shadomourne. And, the masses cheered…

Of course there were loads of other updates shared in the Class panel, most of which will simplify the game and are contributing to the overarching theme of Blizzcon – Blizzard wants for all of their games to get back to what made them fun to begin with, and start taking out much of the clutter.

Speaking of clutter, DirectTV did a GREAT job finding the dorkiest idiot in the crowd and cutting to him multiple times during this panel. Way to perpetuate the image that we are all idiots in our parent’s basement who only AFK to go to Taco Bell or buy more Mountain Dew. Eat me, DirectTV.

More to come on the Class Discussion and Itemization changes in the coming weeks.

Who thinks that Jay Mohr is funny anymore?
Friday night closed with one very obviously stoned Jay Mohr onstage hosting the costume, sound alike and dance contest. I find it funny that the only people who find Jay Mohr funny are people with the name Jay who happen to have the last name of Mohr. Granted, Blizzard spared no expense when bringing in Ozzy for the closing concert, but they should have saved the money they spent on Jay Mohr and paid some corny wedding DJ to to the same job that Mr. “High-as-a-kite” Mohr did Friday night.

Regardless, the costume contest entries were amazing, cute, inventive, and rather funny. I was glad to see that the right person won, and it was a costume that peaked my interest into the freaky kinky factor evident in Diablo.

Shared Experiences through Twitter
The best part of the day was getting twitter updates and pictures from LOADS of fans at Blizzcon. Both Thursday and Friday night I wrangled two giveaways via Twitter which prompted to pretty funny responses to various questions. Congratulations to the winners @Osys and @SirDoctor, both of whom picked up a Spectral Sandbox Tiger Loot Card!

Also, we were all sharing our Blizzard experience with Brutaliz at Blizzcon. I couldn’t be happier when I received word that he was able to meet-up with Travis (@CultofRazer) from Razer, and that he was able to test drive some of Razer’s latest products. We are looking forward to having Travis back on soon to chat about his Blizzcon experience as a vendor, and the hot new products that are sure to help us play like a pro.

That’s all for Friday… I will follow up with Saturday’s recap soon!

Make sure to check @Rawrcast for a full recap of all of the screen shots, RTs and up to the minute opinion of the changes announced at this weekend’s Blizzcon.

Malfurion’s back, and he’s pissed! Two weeks ago, wow.com featured the cover to Richard A. Knaak’s Stormrage, the next Warcraft novel. Now, I’m a huge Warcraft lore nerd so this sparked my interest immediately. With Blizzcon only a day away, and an imminent interview with Knaak by WC Radio’s Pride, I figured this would be a good time to discuss some possibilities with the book.

At Blizzcon ’08 Christie Golden was quoted saying that Stormrage was not going to be Illidan centric, but Malfurion centric. Seeing as Malfurion is my favorite Warcraft character, I couldn’t be more excited. I am disappointed that it is going to be written by Knaak as opposed to Golden, because honestly, Golden’s writing is much more captivating than Knaak’s. I guess though, Knaak was the one to originally flesh out Malfurion so who else would be better to continue the Stormrage story.

As anyone who has followed the Warcraft story knows, Malfurion is currently sleeping. He’s sleeping, but his “spirit” is in the Emerald Dream battling the Nightmare. I’m sure it’s pretty safe to say that in Stormrage he wakes up finally. It will be the first time since the battle at Mt. Hyjal against Archimonde.

Aside from the obvious, what else can we expect from Stormrage? There’s no telling for sure until Blizzcon! We can come up with some theories and possibilities ourselves in the mean time though.

The main source we have right now on the novel is the cover art itself.

Let’s review this:

He’s obviously pissed off

This isn’t the Malfurion I know from prior books. Malfurion is usually very calm, and peaceful. You know, druidic. My only assumption about this is that he’s seen/experienced things in the Emerald Dream/Nightmare that has changed him. He won’t be a bad person, I think. He’ll just come out with thicker skin and ready to battle what waits.

His eyes

In the War of the Ancients trilogy he is characterized as having the normal silver eyes of his people. Illidan was always the one expressed as having amber eyes, which were the symbol of greatness to the night elves. What could’ve caused the change in Malfurion’s eye color? My guess is it was a change that happened over time as his power grew, a gift from Elune or Ysera, or it could just be a mishap by the artist. Hell, all the WoW night elves have amber eyes!

There are a few possible reasons why Malfurion is returning in the first place, but I think it will be the most obvious one: Cataclysm. It makes sense, right? Since Malfurion did stand against both in the War of the Ancients, of course he would come back to fight them again. I’m sure he will also have an impact on the world as it tries to heal, and as it changes after the catastrophe. Also, maybe the Nightmare will become more prevalent in Azeroth since an old god’s influence is strong within Azshara and Deathwing.

Like I said, there’s no telling what’s going to be included in the novel until the Lore panel, and interviews with Richard A. Knaak begin. But what do you all think? Let me know what you feel will be included in Stormrage. Have any theories on the future of the druids after the cataclysm? In particular, if Malfurion comes back, what do you think will happen to Staghelm?

-Astrella

Some other awesome sources for lore:

• Scrolls of Lore
• WC Radio: But Wait There’s Lore
• Elitist Jerks: Lore and Storyline Discussion

Well Rawrcast readers, I should have thought about this before now, but at least I’m getting the information out to you some time before Blizzcon. Here is a quick travel guide to the Convention area for those of you that are attending Blizzcon. I have lived in the area for my entire life, so I would like to think that I am a relative expert on the Disney / Convention Center area.

Disneyland and California Adventure

Directly across Katella Avenue from the Convention Center is California Adventure. You will have to enter the parks either off of Harbor Blvd. or S. Walnut Street. The main parking garage is off Walnut. Be advised the parks are still very busy during this time of year. I would expect waits for the top rides to be in the 45 min to 1 hour in length. If this is your first or second visit though, it is still worth the wait. My recommendations for rides at California Adventure: Hollywood Tower of Terror, Soaring over California, the Toy Story Ride. My recommendations for Disneyland: Buzz Lightyear Ride, Space Mountain, Pirates of Carribean, and this weekend is the end of the Summer Fireworks Spectacular so enjoy.

Downtown Disney

This is the area outside the parks between the park entrances and the Disneyland Hotel. This is a really good place to walk around, shop, hit some restaurants, maybe even see a movie or two. Prices for stuff are a little expensive here, but it is within easy walking distance of the convention center so check it out. Most of the stores and restaurants are open until 1 am. My recommendations: Ralph Brennans Jazz Kitchen (little more expensive, worth it. Try the double chocolate soufflé for dessert), Naples for Italian food and La Brea Bakery for sandwich type meals.

Restaurants

There is a number of easy to get to restaurants near the convention center so you do not need to eat bad convention food. If you walk approximately 2 blocks east on Katella Ave. on the north side of the street are a number of restaurants which are part of a shopping district called the Garden Walk. Here you can do some shopping, but eating is the best around the area. You can find restaurants such as Bubba Gump Shrimp Company, Cheesecake Factory (more than just cheesecake, the menu is like a mini phone book), PF Chang’s (some of the best Chinese food around), McCormick and Schmicks (higher end sea food) and many more. Also, if you go north on harbor across from where the Disneyland Harbor Blvd. parking lot exits, there is a Mimi’s café. Good for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Beach

If you want to see or hit the beach before you leave, you will need a car. If you have a car, take Katella going east from the convention center until you get to the I5 Freeway. Take the I5 south to the 55 Freeway south (approx. 5 miles from the I5). The 55 Freeway will end being a freeway and becomes Newport Blvd. Take Newport Blvd. all the way into Balboa Island, or you can turn either direction onto Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). If you go north on PCH you will go through Newport, Huntington Beach and up into Seal Beach. If you go south on PCH you will go through Newport, Newport Coast, Laguna Beach and into Dana Point.

Religious

If you ever wanted to see the Crystal Cathedral where the Reverend Robert Schuler preached for so many years that is close, but you will need a car. Take Harbor Blvd. south from the Convention Center and turn left onto Chapman Avenue. The Cathedral will be on the corner of Chapman and Lewis Street.

Other Amusement Parks

If you want to hit an amusement park, but don’t want to go to Disneyland there is Knott’s Berry Farm only 20-25 minutes away. Take the I5 north to the 91 Freeway and go west. Get off at Beach Blvd. and head south. On Beach Blvd here is Movieland Wax Museum and Knott’s Berry Farm. Knott’s has some really good roller coasters and thrill rides. They also have a water park called Soak City that you can hit if you are hot.

That is all I can think of for now. If you need more detailed information on a specific restaurant recommendation or anything email me at rawrinquisitor@gmail.com. Otherwise be safe and have some good old fashioned geek fun. I will be there in spirit and watching on DirecTV.

Inquisitor

Last week Blizzard released twitter accounts for Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo. These are officially sanctioned twitters and are about as interesting as living in Bland County. Honestly, battle cries? It’s been going on for a week now and I can’t help but imagine this twitter scenario playing out in real life. It would be like thousands upon thousands of nerds clashing in some great chasm of geekitude, screaming at each other so loudly that the gales (smelling pungently of mountain dew, cheetos, and pocky) push their targets back to the edge of infinity. Think of 300 without badasses or abs, no weapons, and no reason for living. Yeah, that’s my #battlecry.

But it’s not all bad. In fact its linking a lot of Blizzard fans together and helping to network, especially for relatively new community sites like our own. Also, it got me thinking: What would twitter look like if our favorite heroes and baddies had accounts?

FTHorde Garrosh took MY beemer out on a joy ride last night and now there’s stains on the back seat. I hate that guy.

FTHorde I was broodin in my throne room today when I thought about the old Night Rider theme song… what were the lyrics? Looking it up on my iPhone later.

HakkarRI Ugh, just woke up. I feel like ass.

FTHorde Beer Basted Boar Ribs again today. They’re good… but three times in a week?

Varian_WINN @FTHorde stop complaining pussay. I wouldn’t know tho, since im a VAGitarian! LOL #hordesux

The1DarkLady Me and some of the boys just found a bitchin new poison. Shit’s boss.

BlueRaisen @The1DarkLady OK ur new poysen thing is getting old. 4 real power talk wif da elemnts n stuff. I no a guy if ur intrestd

FTHorde @Varian_WINN eat a beer basted cock you asshat

AlbertJMimiron LOOK @ MY PROFILE FOR SEXY PICS

Dungeon_for_my_soul Hi twitterfolk. I had an absolutely horrible dream last night, anyone want to know what it was?

BlueRaisen @Dungeon_for_my_soul no.

FTHorde @Dungeon_for_my_soul NO

BABYLJP @Dungeon_for_my_soul is it about how you killed your dad?

Dungeon_for_my_soul @BABYLJP …maybe

BABYLJP @Dungeon_for_my_soul then no.

The1DarkLady @BlueRaisen what was that? You seem to be missing vowels… and consonants… you know what? Nevermind I shouldn’t have said anything

Theprophet4real Dingey in the castle today. Think I’ll get my minions to clean up the place.

Varian_WINN @Theprophet4real haven’t u died like 3 times now… like ‘4real’? jesus, stay dead.

BlueRaisen @The1DarkLady obvisly the scop of my typin r beyond ur pewny intllct

Dungeon_for_my_soul @Theprophet4real hello compatriot, did you get the package I sent you? It was the one filled with mangled organs and children’s tears.

Varian_WINN enough of this, im gonna go bang some hoez. @BABYLPJ you game? Hit me up on my celly if ur wantin to get busy on this

BlueRaisen HAH! I did it. Elmnts typ 4 muh nao. Cnt typ 4 muhslf cuz of teh arthritis n stff.

Dungeon_for_my_soul @Varian_WINN @FTHorde @BlueRaisen @The1DarkLady Do you all really not see why I want to destroy you all? Have you even READ what you posted?

BABYLPJ zomg look at teh cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute ducks!!!!! http://tinyurl.com/5p6afl

It just kind of goes on like this ad infinitum. Turns out that Azeroth twitter isn’t any better than regular, Earth twitter. Oh well.

-Kenny D

Guilds, what are they and why do I need one?
For the first 30 levels I soloed without a guild. There was no need. I was not running instances and for me it was a solitary game, not a true social game that MMORPG’s are meant to be. The fact that this way of thinking was wrong in so many ways was only evident to me after I had found a good, interactive guild in which to be a part.

A Guild is a group of people who are like-minded in their play style, their in-game goals and their attitudes towards the game as well as, many times, their life. You tend to find people in a guild that have similar personalities or similar approaches to the game.

The idea of a guild originates in society from the earliest days of ancient history. Guilds were formed to bind workers in a specific field, such as stone cutting or leather working, to each other and their profession. They were intended to be a source of support in the market and under the political leadership of the day they needed the support. The thought was that an individual could easily be pushed around in the market or by the more powerful politicians of the day, but if they grouped together they might have more power and influence.

As guilds continued through history many developed a means of educating and training future members by creating apprenticeships and different levels within the guild such as artisan, craftsman, master and/or grandmaster. It became a method to pass on the knowledge of their field, while at the same time, keeping certain members in power.

Today, there are associations that act as guilds once did and the idea of a union is a guild of a sort. These groups and associations, even in today’s society, provide some of the same benefits to their own group as they once did. They stabilize power; provide influence in the market and in society. In most cases, they are successful in putting people together for a common goal. (Bored with your history lesson, yet?)

That is the same thing that happens in WOW. Guilds put people together for a mutually accepted goal, whether that is raiding, leveling, or because you’re a guild of teenagers. No matter the raison d’etre of the guild, it really only matters to members or prospective members. Guilds that are made up of people with goals or desires that do not match quickly fall apart and have constant turnover in members.

In comparison a properly managed and led guild is like have a good a combination of a workplace, home life and a group of really good friends. I say that because when you look to a guild as an overall entity you realize that it encompasses all of these factors. If you ask a good guild leader, they will tell you much the same thing.

The first and foremost thing that a guild provides you is support. The members of a guild work together to help every member of the guild accomplish what is good for both the individual character and the guild itself. A raiding guild will support its member in getting geared up so they can attack the hardest instances and raids and then raid, raid, raid. Where as a leveling guild is more focused on helping its entire group of members move up through the levels to get to 80.

This support can take many different forms. For your purposes, being a lower leveled toon, you need a leveling guild or at least a guild that is willing to take time away from raiding to assist its member’s level. A guild such as this will help to organize groups for instances so you can fully experience the game and get better gear. Also, a leveling guild will be there to help you enchant your equipment, provide necessary gear upgrades, provide materials for your professions, as well as many other functions.

Many guilds use some kind of server based means to talk to one another such as Ventrillo (aka vent). This allows the guild to support each other even more. You can use the in-game chat along with vent to ask for members’ advice on any in game issue; organize to run instances, and just chit-chat. In my two guilds, we spend more time talking about in-game and out-of-game stuff then we do for organizing or running instances. The truth of the matter is that during the day vent is filled with chit-chat and some instances, then at night when raiding is scheduled, it is primarily about raiding.

In the end however, vent is just one more tool to make WOW a form of social media, where we can interact with our friends. I have real-world friends in my guilds, I have only in-game friends in my guild and now after having joined Bound, I have some colleagues in the guild. This is probably the way that most people define their guild.

One word of caution however: some guilds do require you to apply. That is not necessarily a bad thing. The guild wants to make sure that it gets like-minded individuals into the guild. A guild needs to make sure it is compatible with its members and that the members will fit together or the guild will never be successful. In fact, most of the high level raiding guilds requires an extensive questionnaire and interview for a person to be accepted. For them, it is like interviewing for a job and you have to earn the right to be a member.

You need to find a guild that first meets your goals in the game. If you play only part-time and are taking your time leveling find a guild that supports that. If you do not like foul, dirty language then find a guild that supports those beliefs. The guild needs to be a tool for you to use and to enjoy or there is no reason for you to join a guild.

So, go find a good guild. Join and if you like it then stay, if not bail and find another. Let me give you a fortune cookie fortune from the Inquisitor: A Guild is only as good as its worst member.

Now, go level!

Inquisitor