When Guilds damage the social fabric of a game.

Humans seek out adventure, they challenge the unknown, in spite of the risks. As counterintuitive as it may seem to put oneself in great danger, evolutionary psychology has an answer for this, the few that survive reap the rewards. The thrill of adventure is merely an evolutionary stimulus to take risks.

EQ's social fabric was created on the backdrop of a world that invited adventurers willing to take risks.

Finding like-minded players allowed one to seek bigger rewards. This created its own dynamic and thrill, the ability to challenge greater foes was now in the hands of a collective. A social fabric was being built.

But when static Guilds become a safe-haven to shield oneself from adventure and risk, they do much harm to this social fabric. They create a parallel world shielded and isolated from risk. Developers have not been mindful of this. When guilds no longer contribute to the social fabric of a game, but become an gateway to avoid risk, you kill the sense of adventure, you kill a dynamic social world, and you kill the thrill of the game.

ok, my tl;dr then

When Guilds serve as a safe-haven, where one is shielded from risk, the unknown, and the unpredictability of finding like-mined adventurers, they damage the social fabric of the game. EQ developers were not mindful of this, guilds create parallel worlds. Instead of contributing to a dynamic world, they remove the thrill of adventure.

Ahh c'mon. There's more to it then that. truthfully, I don't agree with you in this and I was looking for an amusing story. Oh well, back to real life.

There are some things that can help widen it open further like having casual ranks and stuff to increase player counts, but nothing will prevent clique like stuff, it is everywhere in life

It's really hard to create an adventure in an open world EQ, when other players establish camps have the mobs cleared.

Usually when I have someone complain to me about cliques its just really the fact that some folks are better friends with other folks then the complainer. Guild or no guild folks form close relationships with some and not with others.

A guild of like minded players improves your chance of forming closer bonds with others but it does not guarantee it. If folks look at a guild as a porkchop around their neck that will make all the dogs play with you then they will be disappointed. Even in a guild you have to build relationships with others.

Once again, as long as you don't break the rules or the EULA, there is really no wrong way to play the game. Some folks rush through all obstacles to get to the end game, and that is not wrong. Others stop and smell the roses, work on Tradeskills, hang out in PoK and buff people (or get buffed up), and none of that is wrong. Some of them spend all their resources making a really cool house, or GH. That is not wrong either.

Some just like to be a pain in other player' hind end because they are major control freaks. These players are usually loners, in my experience. When they can't get others to bend to their will, they make it about that subset of players who are "playing the game the wrong way!"
The /ignore feature is awesome.

Are you talking about alts or guild mates that don't contribute to group or raids but exist to soak up the rewards that others in those groups/raids have passed down?

Interesting theory that has to be proofed. A few questions came up, that are not getting answered in your post:

1. How exactly do static guilds shield and isolate the players from adventures and risk ?
2. What is the difference between a static guild and just a guild ?

My guild kill me at least once a week, there is plenty of risks in guilds!

As long as we have multi servers and /picks there will always be parallel worlds. I'm making plans for a new parallel world at the moment, starting in Kunark!

The complaint is guilds keep us from finding like minded players when guilds are a bundle of like-minded players who are always trying to recruit like minded players.

I think the proper response to the OP was stated in Billy Maddison.

There is strength and power in a group. Perhaps so much so that risk is exponentially diminished. This is how I interpreted Strawberry's statement. This, however, depends on the level of danger the group confronts.

Right, individuals face the greatest danger. Seeking allies allows one to mitigate this danger, the process of seeking out those allies results in a social dynamic we attribute to MMO.

It is the duality of fear of the world, and the protective effects of towns and inns, that creates both spikes of thrill and coziness. One requires the other. Necessity to mitigate some of the risks, then creates a dynamic social fabric.

However, collectives like guilds create safe-havens. They create stable parallel worlds that are not very dynamic, they remove a lot of the challenge and unpredictability and therefore psychological fear in the game, they sidestep a lot of the game's dynamics.

And DnD 5e's level cap of 20 where you become GOD-like is awful. If you implemented it in BG3 it would remove any sense of challenge, which is why Larian never implemented it.

A lot of things in DnD don't translate well to games. DnD has its own major flaws, it's not the be-all and end-all of RPG design, quite to the contrary.

You're looking for a fantasy world that doesn't exist. Maybe you could write the book and create it.

You're right, but if that's what OP is getting at, then they don't understand EQ. EQ's challenge is aimed at a full group of 6 players or a full raid/guild in the case of raid events. One was never expected to solo the content. Single mobs are designed to be an even challenge for a full group and a severe overmatch to someone trying to solo. Solo play being a playstyle they've gone out of their way to suppress over the years.

The formation of guilds **IS** the direct result of "seeking out those allies". How is this a hard concept to understand? Or do you expect people to play with a completely different set of randos every time we log in?

How is this such an alien concept to you. What did you do before joining a guild?

inductively, what he expects is for people to play with a very specific rando every time he logs in.

Just like in the good old days after being lfg for an half hour. Well, sometimes people remembered one; sometimes to the good, sometimes to the bad.