FW: Guilds

Guilds: A Guide

In my previous posts, I addressed how guilds in Forsaken World made the game better.  I touched on the fact that had I not found Osiris, I would not still be playing the game.  I showed a quick picture of a guild base, but really didn't discuss them in depth. Well folks, that is about to change!

Anyone who has played in an MMORPG of any sort will likely have a basic concept of what a guild/clan is about.  Essentially it's a group of people who have a tie to one another for mutual benefit and to do things with.  That holds true in FW as well, of course.  However, taking it from where some games left off, FW takes it another step.  Being in a guild becomes nearly mandatory after a certain point, and more importantly being in an active guild with a base is vital for high end characters. Unless you feel like being a heavy cash shopper, and don't mind spending real life currency to get your in game currency to buy things you need in bulk or are really good at the Auction House.

First things first, however.  Guilds level from a level 1 guild to a level 6 guild, based on two criteria: Contribution and Zeal.  These are earned by members doing quests and events both pvp and pve.  The more of each a guild has, the higher level they can go. Once they reach level 3, they can bid on a base.  Although that isn't a sure thing, either. One of the guilds I have characters in, Shunned, has been level three for nearly a month now, and there are not enough competitors to bid against, so no auction for bases has been held.  It takes 4 level 3 guilds with enough contribution to be able to bid for an auction to be held.  One of those four guilds gets a coveted base, and the other three have to wait for another guild to join the fray.

Bases are a huge part of the game for guilds, as they unlock a number of options to do daily quests that help both the guild and the members of that guild.  First are the "GBQs" or Guild Base Quests, which are essentially construction quests.  Your base comes unfurnished.  You have to build it up, using these quests.  Most are simple and they come in packs of 4. The only requirement is that you need to be able to fly, so characters under 25 can't participate in them. One "envelope" of 4 quests gives a fair bit of guild perks to the guild, and decent contribution and merit to the player.  Merit is a currency that you use at your base to buy things which are very useful.  Merit can be used to buy high end crafting materials, experience buffs, experience buffs for your pets, and other items including soul gold, which is the currency used with NPCs.

Once a guild builds their base up, they can hold Campfires. These are guild banquets, which are open to anyone. They last half an hour, and depending on the guilds size and base completion can have up to three buffs. What this means that for half an hour people from all over show up at your base and sit there, often dancing, often chatting and soak up large amounts of experience points.  As you have to be guilded (not necessarily by the host guild) often campfires are a good place for a new guild to pick up bodies from the unguilded who want the buffs.

Campfires are a vital part of leveling for lower level characters.

 

The second event for guilds is the Base Exorcism. This is something that is done once a week by players, if they choose to, to get dedication (which is important for personal rewards) and merit.  It's also a huge amount of experience points.  An exorcism is an event where there are a number of phases to the event from running energy from one place to another to constructing towers and fighting baddies.  It can last up to two hours, but most last under one.  It usually is a good time, as there is a lot of joking around for the more social people.

The third event is the Immortal Rift.  Open to characters fifty and above, Rifts are guild vs guild territory wars. It's a pvp event on Saturday evenings.  Not only do you fight the other guild, if you are a pvper, but you can also run carts for your base. While this doesn't exclude you from PVP combat, it lessens the amount you do. It's actually rather fun, and this coming from a person who doesn't like PVP.  The guild gets things for this, among them currency to fund other functions, but also mounted combat licenses that can be given to those who participate.  These are better than those a player could get on his own.

Another event is the Guild Midas Event.  This is where characters level 60 and above can get a bonus twice a week for doing their guild base quests.  It requires a minimum of 80 dedication to get the better rewards: real gold that can be used on the AH. The more dedication you have, the more gold you get per envelope. At the high end, you can get 1 gold per envelope. Not a bad deal.

And lastly, there is the guild lottery.  Once you have 80 dedication, if you are in a level 3 or higher guild (with or without a base) you can trade 15 merit for a roll in the Guild Lottery up to 3 times per day.  The rewards can be anything from soul leaves (currency to buy a most racial mounts, pets, and fashion from the cash shop) to real gold to other things of varying value.  You can also get a VIP card either from the Cash Shop or the AH which allows you to wave the 80 dedication rule.

So that's guilds in a nutshell, and I have barely scratched the surface.  Next time I will look at the Mentor system in depth.

EdgeOfChaos, my personal guild that I created to explore some of the functions for this article.