Need advice, got an guild invite but...

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by golfelf, May 21, 2020.

  1. golfelf New Member

    A difficult dilemma. I got an invite to join a high end raiding guild from a friend of mine and hes one of the friends of Guild Leader. He sent me an email with the invitation to join. He told me contact one of 2 guild officers first, I did contact one of them as suggested, but the problem is the 1st guild officer is never online. I contacted the 2nd guild officer and he was unfriendly. He told me they're subjected to certain rules and for some reason he says he isn't allow to accept any new members at the moment...

    I told him I didn't quite understand what he meant and I politely asked him to clarify. He got irritated and he suggested I contact an entirely separate guild that he claims they sometimes collaborate with once in a while and he offered to provide their contact info. I don't understand what's really going on here. I contacted my friend (again) and I politely asked him to kindly contact someone else, as I've had absolutely no luck as the 1st guild officer ( non-active ) and 2nd guild officer who tried to send me away. I told my friend, I was disappointed and he hasn't responded yet.


    What I don't understand is why did he bother to invite me to join their guild in the first place if they're not recruiting right now or is it just me?

    Any advice; Should I ask him to contact the Guild Leader directly on my behalf? Should I contact the Guild leader myself and show him the invitation I got or is that a bad idea?
    or should I do what the 2nd guild officer suggested and join the other guild?? I feel like I'm stuck...
  2. Sissruukk Rogue One

    Honestly, I would move on. If you are treated that way trying to get in the guild, I can only imagine how you would be treated when you are in the guild.
    Nennius and Andarriel like this.
  3. CatsPaws No response to your post cause your on ignore

    I would contact the guild leader himself, and explain that you really want to join his guild that your friend recommended and you have the invite but have not been able to interact with the 2 officers and could he, as leader, resolve this issue. That way it puts it in his court to take care of the snafu.

    Sometimes the leader may have forgotten to tell the other leaders about it or they may have forgotten your name etc. Its not you.

    But it certainly causes one to question if and why you still wanted to join such a guild. Most guilds are very courteous, exp with new recruits. So hopefully this is just an oversight or miscommunication.

    If you again get the runaround then you may want to look at other guilds, maybe not the one he suggested but I am sure there are a few others on your server
  4. Thraine Augur

    maybe your buddy was just being hopeful
    Andarriel and svann like this.
  5. golfelf New Member

    I get what you're saying but I am suspicious as to why he bothered to invite me in the first place? I know English is not his first language and maybe I can forgive him for that, however I am concerned was it ever a genuine invitation to join them or is it a joke?

    If I attempt to communicate with Guild Leader, I'm concerned either I won't get any reply for a good long time (if ever) or I may get a very delayed half-baked answer as why I can't join them. Maybe he will allow me in but I won't be allowed to do much within the Guild?

    Maybe if the Guild Leader discovers this little mishap, he will do something to help? I really don't know as it's unpredictable what his reaction might be....

    What I don't get is why the 2nd guild officer attempted to turn me away? I don't really know what the Guild Leader will do.

    It might be my so-called friend will lose his standing in the guild but why would he risk it? Alternatively, maybe someone else in the guild told him to do it? Either way, I don't get it. Why did he bother?

    I am completely perplexed by their behavior.

    The rumor is there's another guild on the server, a split-off made up from former guild members and if THEIR guild leader finds out about this mishap (that I got the runaround), I wonder what if anything he can do? I know he knows the Guild Leader personally but I don't know if they're on speaking terms with each other or not.

    I hope you're right, I hope it's an oversight because otherwise I feel really stupid.
  6. Silver-Crow Augur

    You don't say how much experience you have in EQ, or whether you caught the officer at a bad time.

    Most high end raid guilds are quite elitist in their recruitment and usually have gear/aa requirements for people to join. They may even have a full roster of people attending every raid, so they don't need you, and probably can't be bothered even talking to you.... especially if they're in the middle of something.

    EQ has a lot of history and many vets cannot be bothered educating people in things which they deem to be common knowledge e.g. raid rosters, raid requirements, how to play your class etc. As a result you may get a rude answer if you ask a 'daft laddie' question and double down on follow up questions.

    Saying that, many guilds have a friends and family membership, where non raiders can join and just hang out with friends.. which sounds like you want to do.

    My recommendation is go to their website and check them out to see what type of guild they are and see if you would fit in even as a friends and familly. If you think it's a good fit, post an application introducing yourself, say you know your friend and want to join for hanging out (or raiding if that's your thing). Once there's an intro there and the officers know who you are, you may get a better response.

    Good luck.
  7. Tucoh Augur

    I'd recommend trying to speak with them in whatever voice chat they use (discord etc). Your buddy should be able to give you access at the very least.

    Being able to just have a voice-conversation and not sound like a drooling potato already puts you above a lot of the detritus that guild officers have to deal with on a regular basis.
  8. Zamiam Augur

    is this buddy/friend a RL friend or just an in game buddy that you've been grouping with ?

    you dont mention what lvl or class your toon is .. like was said above if its a high end raid guild most usually have lvl/aa req and some even progression to a certain extent before they will even consider you ..

    also your "Friend" if he is not an officer might not have had actual authority to "invite " you the way he did ..

    Now if your friend is a RL <real life> buddy and he has connections with the actual GL <guild Leader> then you might have an in to a high end raid guild, however if that is not the situation with your "friend" then a high end raid guild has a certain app process ..

    like was said above I would either wait to hear from your "friend" or try to contact the GL himself .. and if you get run around .. go somewhere else .. if your low lvl below 95 id suggest a low to mid range family guild that does light raiding .. before you go up to the big dogs..
  9. golfelf New Member

    You may be right, if Guild Leader ever asks why I want to join or what do I want from the guild, what would be the best recommended answer to give? What's your suggestions
  10. Heajol Augur

    This is very likely. You may get in to the guild in the end, but you might not have many people to interact with, except for perhaps your real life? friend. If it is a high end raiding guild, there might not be much they have in common with you if you are still coming up the ranks.

    It might be more fun for you to join a mid level guild that welcomes new and/or returning players.
  11. svann Augur

    Probably your buddy wasnt aware that they werent recruiting.

    But also there is no reason imo for a guild to not accept non-raiding members. That makes me think they arent very friendly.

    Then again, the officer that was unfriendly might just not know what he is talking about either. Ask your friend and if you cant get an answer from him then forget about it.
  12. Vumad Cape Wearer

    There is a good chance you friend likes you and wants to recruit you to the guild but has no authority to do such, which is why he is referring you to another individual.

    Onto more general guild information...

    There is a lot that goes on with in game memberships. Guilds, clans, alliances, whatever name they are called in the video game you happen to be playing. This is not limited to EverQuest.

    To be overly general, let's say there are a few kinds of guilds in EverQuest.
    Raiding guilds
    Family/casual guilds - broken down into raiding and non-raiding.

    Raiding guilds will have various degrees of rules and commitments. RoI is well know as the top guild in EverQuest. It is reasonable to conclude that RoI is not filling their ranks with new players using auto-grant AA, T1 armor and low play times. They are not going to tolerate missed emotes on raids and etc. Everyone is expected to carry their weight. (disclaimer, my knowledge of RoI is limited)

    Most raiding guilds are like RoI, but perhaps a bit more flexible out of necessity. You will see players with lower play times, fewer AA, but they are still going to be expected to not miss emotes, have the majority of their core AA and be in at least T3 group armor.

    (These requirements are not elitist in themselves. The accusation is based on a few players who belittle those who are not in these guilds with different commitments and play styles. The expectations of the guild membership however is not in itself elitist. If you're out of shape and don't practice, you are not getting on an NFL team.)

    Family/casual guilds are much more of a social network. Their raid format is going to be a lot more like "open" raids or through guild alliances. They might raid, but often that is only T1 current or past expansions, and they might raid with other guilds or pickups from the general channel. They wont have required tools (such as voice chats or audio triggers) and they will be much more tolerate of missed emotes, lower play time, lack or armor and AA, and ETC. These guilds are focused much more on experiencing the content or getting the Achievements out of era. If you have no experience raiding, and want to play at the high end of things, one of these guilds should be your stepping stone.

    One is not better than the other. Some people want to ride a mountain bike casually down a paved road while others want to push themselves and their equipment to the absolute limits. I myself land somewhere in the middle.

    So anyway, you have to make sure the guild you join is a good fit for you. The armor is nice, but you need to be prepared for you coach to tell you that you are sandbagging in practice. Otherwise you should look into a more social environment.
    Corwyhn Lionheart likes this.
  13. golfelf New Member

    If the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing, I guess in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king? o_O

    Lol. Really. If the unfriendly guild officer doesn't know what he's talking about, why can't he just go ask someone or can't he?
  14. Vumad Cape Wearer


    There is a term for what is happening and it is called freelancing. Raiding guilds have a chain of command. I'm not going to just tell a person to send my guild or raid leader a tell for an invite. It doesn't matter if I am friends with them. That is not how things work. If I did, that would be reflective of me, not of my guild as a whole. If I am friends with the leader, you will get a tell from the leader, I wont be telling you to contact them.

    A more appropriate process would be to tell you to fill out an application on the guild website, or to ask a class leader to talk to you, or something along those lines. Your friend is setting you up for failure, or maybe the guild doesn't have a lot of structure. We wont know here.

    But ultimately you see the guild management as 1 or 2 people who seem unfriendly, but they are dealing with dozens of people daily within the guild and outside of the guild. And in the end it is a video game, no a job. They manage for free, and they still get a bunch of people bringing them their problems.

    If the guild is not right for you, then don't join it, but if you are interested in it, then follow the proper process. Those processes are not there because they are jerks. It's to control their workload. Their websites list all the minimum requirements and the application processes, and if that information is available to you and you choose not to use it, then you are not a right fit for a raiding guild.

    It may seem strange to use the terms "chain of command" and freelancing, but raiding guilds are structured. They have to be to ensure 54 people are working in unison each night, with a many number other processes like managing a site, teamspeak/discord accouts/servers, etc. If it lacks these traits, it's not "high end" in raiding.

    Was this an in game or out of game email? And how does a non-leader/officer/class lead invite a person to a "high end raiding guild". All signs to point to your friend over stepped or gave you bad information, which is making you look bad, so people are blowing you off for not being able to follow directions.
    svann likes this.
  15. golfelf New Member

    You're right. I could do it the appropriate formal process like you suggest and wait forever for them to get back with me and it would be far easier for them to say no, no way and heck no and reject my whole application, wasting more of my time.

    That makes sense, don't it?
  16. Vumad Cape Wearer


    A "high end" raiding guild is probably not a good fit for you at this time.
    Corwyhn Lionheart likes this.
  17. Marton Augur

    If you are a raider (geared, aa'd, proper augs etc) and you got this treatment, then move on and find another guild.
  18. Dracolindus Journeyman

    Any High-End raiding guild is going to require a detailed application friend or not. Unless you're being invited as a "Friends and Family" member. If you are expecting to raid though, you are going have to go through the same process as everyone else.
    Your application is pretty important. It's the first impression you give, and if you half a s s it, or expect to be exempt from it, well that's a pretty poor first impression to give.
    Corwyhn Lionheart and Vumad like this.
  19. golfelf New Member

    Ok got updated from someone else, a friend of a friend :)

    I think I know what the problem is. There's a huge leadership gap at the moment. Many recently left and quit because the guild is starting to split up and it's been happening for the past month.

    Unorganized and confused, the unfriendly guildie officer is newly promoted and he doesn't got any clue.

    I guess I thought with my friend's invite and with empty slots, they would be desperate to fill up their ranks quickly but I guess not....

    No one knows much for now.
  20. Herf Augur

    Sometimes guild members aren't aware of the latest class/lvl restrictions the raid leaders have instituded and you can get caught in the middle. That happened to me; guild recruiter recruited me but hadn't been told the guild wasn't recruiting more raiding warriors. But they took me anyhow. Which was fortunate because a lot of the other warriors eventually left.