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We have Bind to Account items (BtA predicted), and personal achievements for characters now, and these are really cool features. The attaining of achievements has become more than a “grats” opportunity and many players relish the experience of gathering as many as possible.

Other players view these as distractions, and if you’re such a player then please return later as you’re not going to like what is following.

The next step in evolving and broadening the player experience is making Bind to Guild (BtG) items, and Guild Achievements (GAs) included in the game as well. A Guild is a fundamental choice for a massive selection of the WoW community (my opinion), but we have not seen an advance in treatment of Guilds in the same manner as we have seen in Characters.

Don’t get me wrong, this is no gripe; I just want to push for more.

As a start lets look at the pros and cons:

Cons

• more ass-hattery bragging
• will make us spend more time getting these
• opportunity for betrayal

Pros

• all the against items apply here
• a definitive way to reflect and reward the dedication to a Guild as different from the dedication of a player.
• tangible in-game items, that only your Guild can use
• roleplaying potential is significant

Bind to Guild

Possibly the weaker of the two ideas, but potentially the stronger in terms of the impact this would have on the community. A BtG item would be something that exists for the life of the Guild, which is an asset stored in a special tab in the Guild Bank. Any member with the appropriate permissions could withdraw and use the item, but it would not be permanently removed or used up when that character is done.

– How are the purchased? Badges, gold, or a special drop; depending on the item in question.

– Can they be deleted? Not permanently, but they are destroyed if the guild is disbanded.

– Who can use? Based upon the permissions system in the guild setup.

Examples

• Standard of Hope =  A teleporter that summons all members of the raid group to the raid leader once per hour, which of course looks like a war standard carried by the character that has it.
• Relic of Perseverance = Portable Repair Bot and Reagent Bot, once per few hours.

The real question is why these items, and the answer is probably personal. I’d like to see these to give advantages and encouragement for guilds to work and stay together. A guild name may become like a company name, passing through leadership and difficulties – and retaining value just like any other asset.

The opportunity for betrayal and hatred would also be present, which is why I like this doubly so. You’ll need to trust or at the very least not care what your GM is like if BtG items mean anything to you.

Guild Achievements

Much like character achievements (which should have Account Achievements, but thats another post), these show the trails, successes and failures that the Guild has undergone.

Examples

• Wiped 50 times in Uldar as a Guild Run.
• Cleared an Instance, without Puggers, in the hardest manner.
• First kill of bosses, mobs, etc that require 10 man runs, done as a single Guild.

Any takers?