Would guild alliances be beneficial?

[Zimodd]

<p>Would it be good to have a combined guild window yet retain guild identity?</p><p>Would it be good to have a combined guild chat?</p><p>Would it be good to have an enhanced group of people to choose from in building groups as a way to avoid PUGs?</p><p>Would it encourage more grouping?</p><p>I think it would be a useful tool.</p>

[Freliant]

<p>Depends alot on the members of each individual guild.</p><p>What will eventually end up happening, as what happens with every single alliance I have seen in this game, is that the more active/fun guild will absorb the other guild.</p><p>I have yet to see a guild survive an alliance, except when both guilds are extremely large and have core groups with indivudual goals that differ way too much one from another.</p><p>As for your other points... yes. Being part of a guild that has absorbed many other smaller guilds, I can attest to the fact that there does indeed seem to be more grouping, and more interaction.</p><p>As for having development time for making something in game that facilitates the interaction among alliances... I don't support this idea. What has worked for us is to build a chat channel where all guild chat among all guilds in the alliance takes place.</p>

[Kendricke]

<ul><li>How many guilds would you allow to join an alliance?</li><li>What shared stats would you envision within an alliance window?</li><li>Who would have moderator control over alliance voice chat or text chat channels?</li></ul><p>These are just a few of the questions I'd want to know with any sort of alliance system.</p>

[Baccalarium]

<p>No to shared guild chat.  Chat channel that can be shared amoung the guilds in an alliance is already present.   Current approach allows including individuals that are allies to the guild even though the guilds they are in may not as a whole be allies to the guild.  Yes it increases grouping though the guilds still tend to stay within their own groups more often than not.   The fact that the guild chats are still distinct is currently desired.    Our allies don't all have the same rules and preferences about guild chat.    We wouldn't want our guild chats merged,   so having an alliance channel seperate from the guild channels serves our needs fine.</p><p>Yes to ability to shared member information into guild panels.   Options to allow a guild leader or individual users to control what information about them selves would be visible in the guild "members" of allied guilds  is not present and would likely need to be to support a guild alliance system.  /whochannel in the alliance channel is pretty limited replacement for the guild panel since it doesn't include the notes about alts and plans/needs as well as can't use the panel options like showing folks on in last few days or sorting by craft level.</p><p>You didn't ask, but yes to alliance transportation options.  The ability to offer alliance members quick transportation to friendly guild halls is not present, but could be introduced without introduction of an extensive alliance system.   I still think we should be able to craft and distribute magic guild hall door's that our alliance members can use to reach our hall either from their guild hall.  (or perhaps even from their houses)</p>

[Lleren]

<p><cite>Zimodd wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Would it be good to have a combined guild window yet retain guild identity?</p><p>Would it be good to have a combined guild chat?</p><p>Would it be good to have an enhanced group of people to choose from in building groups as a way to avoid PUGs?</p><p>Would it encourage more grouping?</p><p>I think it would be a useful tool.</p></blockquote><p>Might be usefull to have a second form of player grouping/alliance thingy that was  supported.  But I would not want it to be only a guiild to guild device.  </p><p>A custom chat channel is easy to create, how many will use it is another matter.</p>

[Blackluck2]

<p>I think an in game, supported integrated Alliance chat system would be useful. It would be kept separate from the guild channel.While custom channels can be created, you cannot see the persons class, level, location or notes (e.g. "My main's alt" or some such.) This would be the primary purpose of an in game supported alliance channel feature. This would effectively remove the anon or roleplay tag from characters in the alliance.Officers from the Allied guilds would have moderator control over the integrated channel. All other guild functions would remain distinct, with the exception that members of the allied guilds would automatically be friends of each others guild halls.</p><p>This would be particulary useful I think for small guilds to create a system of small guild alliances to help with grouping and perhaps raiding. After putting much time, effort and energy into our guilds, leaving them for larger ones just feels too painful <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>(For example In A Tale of The Desert we could be members of multiple guilds; this was particularly useful when joining forces on a large project but we also remained in our 'main' guild.)</p>

[yohann koldheart]

<p>you can alredy do all of what you posted so far.</p><p>on venekor  qeynos side we have a alliance , we have a combined chat channel, voice channel, we always pull from one or the other for PuG's and best of all we raid , also have a alliance website that we use to track our members DKP.   were progressing through ToS raid content atm in our alliance. </p><p>soe has already implemented all the tools your asking for.</p>

[Morgane]

<p><cite>Zimodd wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Would it be good to have a combined guild window yet retain guild identity?</p><p>Would it be good to have a combined guild chat?</p><p>Would it be good to have an enhanced group of people to choose from in building groups as a way to avoid PUGs?</p><p>Would it encourage more grouping?</p><p>I think it would be a useful tool.</p></blockquote><p>Our guild leader started an "<a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?topic_id=445773" target="_blank">alliance chat channel</a>" on Everfrost. It's been slightly successful and for smaller family type guilds like ours it's a good resource, as there are currently about six or seven guilds involved. Like anything though, it takes work and actually USING the channel.</p>

[Yimway]

<p>Lose the affinity for the tag under your names.</p><p>If there is sufficient reason to have a guild alliance, there exists enough reason for you all to just be one guild.</p>

[Morgane]

<p><cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Lose the affinity for the tag under your names.</p><p>If there is sufficient reason to have a guild alliance, there exists enough reason for you all to just be one guild. </p></blockquote><p>Oh I dunno. I think it's reasonable that some folks want to keep their guild in tact yet still have alliances with other guilds. Guilds who, for example, hesitate to merge with another for reasons such as children involved and playing or whatever. Our guild, for example, doesn't use the colorful language you find in other guilds. We can't expect other guilds to adhere by our rules but we can limit the interaction for the kids in our guild whom we don't wish to be exposed to that. In this way, we keep control of our guild rules but still have the resources to tackle content we don't have enough folks for.</p>

[Sedenten]

<p>Currently what makes guilds unique are those guild only chat channels and other tools available.  While I fully respect alliances (Crushbone has one very successful one as well as a few smaller ones that work quite well), the tools are already in game to help those be successful.  What I could agree with is some additions to the guild hall permissions system that would allow adding an entire guild to the access list of another guild.  It's already possible for me to add any number of non-guilded people as friends and those same people use my guild hall's features (including teleporting to a banner set in the world).  Allowing a "group" to be added in the access levels might help accomodate raiding alliances easier.</p><p>I don't agree with having alliance tools that merge guild chats or else--there's already world channels that can be used to serve the same purpose without removing the "special" features of having a guild. </p><p>I do think that it is fully possible to have several people in different guilds are unguilded form a successful alliance currently and can respect desiring to keep those guilds intact and separate while doing so.</p>

[Gruelien]

We do something like this on Najena. The alliance seems to be of mutual benefit to the parties involved. We also had something like this going before ROK and its solo quests kill it. I don't want to lose our Guild name its been around since UO and the guild levels help with some neat toys. We do have children that play and get together once a year.

[feldon30]

<p><cite>Adriana@Venekor wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>you can alredy do all of what you posted so far.</p><p>on venekor  qeynos side we have a alliance , we have a combined chat channel, voice channel, we always pull from one or the other for PuG's and best of all we raid , also have a alliance website that we use to track our members DKP.   were progressing through ToS raid content atm in our alliance. </p><p>soe has already implemented all the tools your asking for.</p></blockquote><p>QFE</p><p>If you really want the same "guild alliance" tag under all your names, guess what? form a guild.</p><p>Would be nice to see a raid alliance form on Butcherblock some day. Currently you either buy updates or join another guild.</p>

[Tehom]

<p><cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Lose the affinity for the tag under your names.</p><p>If there is sufficient reason to have a guild alliance, there exists enough reason for you all to just be one guild.</p></blockquote><p>There can be compelling reasons to not be one guild while being in a guild alliance. Roleplay, maintaining group identity or intimacy for a small group of friends while working in a larger context, and personal preference for smaller guilds are reasons to be in raid alliances rather than monolithic guilds that don't necessarily mean people don't want to raid.</p><p>That said, about the only feature I'd like to see is letting allies buy city merchant signets without swapping them into the guild temporarily. Letting people set to friend access buy from the relic merchant regardless of guild level wouldn't be a bad modification to that amenity.</p>

[Yimway]

<p><cite>Chath@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Lose the affinity for the tag under your names.</p><p>If there is sufficient reason to have a guild alliance, there exists enough reason for you all to just be one guild.</p></blockquote><p>There can be compelling reasons to not be one guild while being in a guild alliance. Roleplay, maintaining group identity or intimacy for a small group of friends while working in a larger context, and personal preference for smaller guilds are reasons to be in raid alliances rather than monolithic guilds that don't necessarily mean people don't want to raid.</p><p>That said, about the only feature I'd like to see is letting allies buy city merchant signets without swapping them into the guild temporarily. Letting people set to friend access buy from the relic merchant regardless of guild level wouldn't be a bad modification to that amenity.</p></blockquote><p>You can be a clique in another guild and still be all those things.</p><p>Most larger guilds are comprised of several different cliques that band together for common progression that requires more resources than any one clique can provide.</p>

[Apos]

<p><cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Chath@Antonia Bayle wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p><cite>Atan@Unrest wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Lose the affinity for the tag under your names.</p><p>If there is sufficient reason to have a guild alliance, there exists enough reason for you all to just be one guild.</p></blockquote><p>There can be compelling reasons to not be one guild while being in a guild alliance. Roleplay, maintaining group identity or intimacy for a small group of friends while working in a larger context, and personal preference for smaller guilds are reasons to be in raid alliances rather than monolithic guilds that don't necessarily mean people don't want to raid.</p><p>That said, about the only feature I'd like to see is letting allies buy city merchant signets without swapping them into the guild temporarily. Letting people set to friend access buy from the relic merchant regardless of guild level wouldn't be a bad modification to that amenity.</p></blockquote><p>You can be a clique in another guild and still be all those things.</p><p>Most larger guilds are comprised of several different cliques that band together for common progression that requires more resources than any one clique can provide.</p></blockquote><p>That ignores the roleplaying reasoning, with dramatically different backstories and personalities, it doesn't work so well. For myself I view guilds as largely irrelevant except for guild hall amenities and buyable status items. They and voice chat are completely unnecessary for progression.</p>

[Donilla]

<p>Alliances come and go just like guilds, so it would probably not be beneficial to have formalized tools or the like.</p><p>THere was fairlylarge alliance on AB, The League, and it went through numerous permeatations. But eventually,  it folded. They had a website, a chat channel, etc, and these were enough to help people group, plan, etc. There were raid schedules, quest schedules, forums, the whole bit. In the end, people have to lead, organize, plan, and they run out of steam just like guilds do. Unlike guilds, allliances don't fair as well when you shift to a casual, laid back, loose affiliation.</p><p>Doesn't mean you shouldn't try though. For a small guild, or a family style guild, its the best way to get access to raid content and other zones your guild may not be able to handle on its own. Tlak to people you group with, you never know what might come of it.</p>

[Seidhkona]

<p>It's ridiculously easy to create a chat channel for an alliance.  Just make a chat channel and tell your member guilds about it, and voilá! You have an instant channel where you can direct group requests and swap info.</p>

[Baccalarium]

<p>A chat channel is a nice start for an alliance, but the ability to see the guild notes that players put on their guild panels, as well as class and level information for players not on at the time is not conveyed by the chat channel.   Yes you can see names with /whochannel but that doesn't let you know that Joe the wizard is really Jim the pally's alt, or that Jim would really like help with his claymore line like an ability to share the alliance through the guild roster would.</p>

[Valdimere]

<p>Personally, I would love to see a guild alliance feature added to the game, so that 3 to 5 small guilds could come together and actually afford a top tier guild hall with all the amenities.</p><p>That is the one thing I do not like about the small family guild I am in.  Having a tier 1 guild hall is all we can afford, and there are not enough amenity slots to have all the guild hall options we want.</p>

[erin]

<p><cite>Valdimere wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>Personally, I would love to see a guild alliance feature added to the game, so that 3 to 5 small guilds could come together and actually afford a top tier guild hall with all the amenities.</p><p>That is the one thing I do not like about the small family guild I am in.  Having a tier 1 guild hall is all we can afford, and there are not enough amenity slots to have all the guild hall options we want.</p></blockquote><p>I would definitely be against this.  If that's what you are looking for, then the 3 to 5 small guilds should merge.  That's not an alliance, that's a single guild unwilling to BE a single guild.</p>

[Steve11418]

<p>I would like to see another community type feature developed that represented “Society”, “Clan”, or some other group definition.Assuming you called it “Clan”. It would provide you with a “Clan” window (like the guild window) have a clan chat (both text and voice) and allow you to have a clan bank and clan ranks.You could chose to show your “clan” tag/name in place of your characters surname.This way you could belong to both a Guild and a Clan at the same time. A clan could consist of members from many different guilds… or be a subset of members within a guild.This would allow you to set up a raid “clan” alliance amount many small guilds.This would allow you to set up a raid “clan” force with a larger casual guildThis would allow guild mergers with the merged guild still retaining some of its identity.This would allow raiding guilds to have a clan that included member alts (to easily see if someone was online)</p>

[Blackluck2]

<p><cite>Baccalarium wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>A chat channel is a nice start for an alliance, but the ability to see the guild notes that players put on their guild panels, as well as class and level information for players not on at the time is not conveyed by the chat channel. Yes you can see names with /whochannel but that doesn't let you know that Joe the wizard is really Jim the pally's alt, or that Jim would really like help with his claymore line like an ability to share the alliance through the guild roster would.</p></blockquote><p>Exactly.</p><p>I don't think posters on these boards bother to read responses. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>

[Kellin]

<p>My tiny guild is in an alliance with a larger guild and is currently raiding TSO.  We know we're certainly welcome to join their guild, but we prefer not to.  The reasons are many, but can really be boiled down to the fact that we like our guild and are too [Removed for Content] stubborn to let it go.</p><p>That being said, the reasons some guilds prefer to ally rather than merge are their own, and it's not really appropriate to criticize them based on your priorities.  Alliances have been around ever since guilds have, which means there's something more than desire to raid or convenience involved.</p><p>Also to be noted:  Some raiding guilds prefer to only have their active raiders on their roster, and form alt guilds for the non-raiding/lower level players.  These setups would benefit from the same types of tools that an alliance would, especially since the alt guilds don't tend to be as rich or level as fast, which can limit access to certain amenities.</p><p>What I'd love to see added:  the ability to give friend access an entire guild for the guild halls, so the amenities can be shared.  Currently, you have to add each person individually, which is not only time consuming to start with, you have to constantly monitor it if someone leaves the allied guild or new people join.</p><p>One other thing that might be nice is to add a guild hall amenity that you can set to transport you to another guild's hall, kind of like the portal to member housing that we currently have.  Right now, it's not too bad if the guild hall you're going to is a T3 one, but if you're a shiny pally trying to get to that evil FP T1 guildhall, it's kind of tricky.</p>

[Gladiolus]

<p>Although there are several benefits to an alliance, this game wasn't designed with that in mind, so doesn't have the features such as in Guild Wars, for example. Much of the benefit could be derived if there were a simple way for one guild to offer an alliance to another (similar to inviting a member to join), the leader of the other guild could then accept (or reject) and that automaticaly created an Alliance chat channel. As others have pointed out, it's easy enough to create a custom channel for it but getting people to use it is another matter. If the alliance channel were joined by default by members of guilds in an alliance, it would be a lot simpler. Either the alliance leader (leader of the lead guild in the alliance) or the leader of any allied guild could break the alliance. The number of guilds in an alliance would probably have to be limited.</p>

[Anordil]

<p><cite>Sigrdrifa@Lucan DLere wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>It's ridiculously easy to create a chat channel for an alliance.  Just make a chat channel and tell your member guilds about it, and voilá! You have an instant channel where you can direct group requests and swap info.</p></blockquote><p><nods> I do wish, at times, Drifa, that there was a more formal way of establishing things so that new members to our respective guilds would auto-join the channel without  having to remind them to do so. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Still, as Drifa stated, it's remarkably easy to set up an alliance channel.</p>

[Kimber]

<p>This sounds pretty good to me.   My wife and I have our 80 toons in a raid guild and all our alts in a FnF ( read very casual ) guild that we run.  We would like to add our alts to the raid guild and what not but its set up like someone else mentioned with the raiders in one guild alts in anouther.  Now we could move our alts to that other guild but its not an FnF guild its a PvP guild so its run quite a bit differant than our FnF guild as you can imagine.  With this type of system and the 3 guilds allied all would be able to see if we are on our alts ( mostly lv60+ crafters with all the books ) or some of the other members of our lil FnF guild that could be of help in some situations.  There by benifiting all.  I understand we could all make a chat channel and all that add each other to friends list yada yada give guild hall permission and all that but then when one person leaves a guild they need to be removed from guild hall permission from 2 other halls manually asked to remove the chat channel from thier use or change the pass word for the chat channel and get that new password to everyone.  Much nicer if they just made it like joining a guild but with a seperat channel for the alliance.  Just my 2cp</p>