Been a while, huh? Over a year now. Welcome back. Let's not waste any time.
Sometimes you can tell when the ship is sinking. The expansion has been out for a while, sitting on the same patch for what seems like an eternity. Other guilds that used to be at the top of the leaderboard have crumbled, the RP is stagnant, PvP is old or the season is over, and people are leaving the game. Sure, finishing out Firelands on heroic is an option, getting those last few achievements is too if one is into that sort of thing. The end of an expansion always tends to put guilds through the wringer, but what happens if the guild never quite recovered from the last time that happened? Wrath of the Lich King was especially hard on people due to its nature as 'the easy expansion'. In Burning Crusade, there were still guilds who were working on Illidan or The Sunwell. It was harder to accomplish things back then. So fast forward to the end of WoTLK, when nearly everyone and their mom had finished everything in the expansion, both on normal and heroic, and people were just waiting for it to tick over into Cataclysm. It was brutal. If the guild never got over that hump and stumbled into Cata still wounded, then spent the majority of the expansion hobbling on weak legs, it is only a matter of time before the braces holding it together snap.
If people aren't communicating their problems to the rest of the guild and/or the people that need to know how one feels (because they may be thinking about leaving), that sets the stage for that spark to happen. Not happy with a change in authority? Talk to the guild leader. Not happy about how loot is being distributed? Talk to the raid leader. Not happy with a person or people in the guild? Talk to them. Lack of communication is what kills guilds, and correcting that problem before it gets out of hand can decide whether the group survives or dies. The officers should tell the rest of the guild (and each other) what is going on, and keep the guild leader up to date on the rest of the guild. When there is meeting, people must speak their mind if they have a problem in order have a remedy or compromise, and be willing to work with what comes of that. In the end, if the guild and the game are still making you miserable, one needs to step back and have a reality check.
I've never had as much fun as I did with this guild, and I know there will never be another like it. I'll miss it and fondly remember Grover yelling at us to get out of the fire and stop sucking because we're all failed abortions, jumping into Wintergrasp on Tuesdays and showing the rest of the Alliance how the Masons roll, being the third best guild on the server, getting promoted to officer chat, one shotting bosses and wiping on trash, Hazrat popping heroism as soon as someone said any word that began with an 'H', Cleanshot raging at Kit, Helen levitating Grover repeatedly, not giving a shit what the rest of the server thought of us, Ceyla hanging her computer out of her window, having the sacrificial warlock, Niz telling people how the fuck it is, being the only warrior in the raid, Aeter rage quitting and rejoining, Umeko's gender being unknown forever, Keebler elfing it, Frodo's numbers song, being the 500lb asian gay man, and most importantly, being a part of the G'damn Stonemasons.
Thanks for being the best guild ever.
Almost anyone you ask who plays World of Warcraft daily for long periods of time will tell you that WoW is more than 'just a game'. When you add the human element; getting to know a person, creating friendships and working together, it becomes another entity entirely. For some it becomes like a job, others it is a lifeline that helps them escape from the 'real world', and even more see it as just something to do when they get off work, to unwind and enjoy. One logs in, sees people they know, and begin chatting about their day, what happened in the game - any number of things. It is no different than walking into a place and seeing those same friends. The same thing would happen.
If a person has been raiding with, PvPing with, RPing with or any mix of those things with their guild for years, seeing the same people over and over (given that said people don't leave within that time period), they tend to become attached to the group they've bonded with. They're proud to see The Stonemasons, for example, above everyone's heads. When the guild is doing well, people are generally happy. The quality of the game and life are raised. Of course, just like any other human relationship, it is almost guaranteed that problems will arise at some point. In WoW it can range from compatibility issues to getting bored of game mechanics. Usually it's a combination of things, and one spark can set off a giant powder keg if more than one person is involved. When this happens to a guild, things can get ugly.
Sometimes you can tell when the ship is sinking. The expansion has been out for a while, sitting on the same patch for what seems like an eternity. Other guilds that used to be at the top of the leaderboard have crumbled, the RP is stagnant, PvP is old or the season is over, and people are leaving the game. Sure, finishing out Firelands on heroic is an option, getting those last few achievements is too if one is into that sort of thing. The end of an expansion always tends to put guilds through the wringer, but what happens if the guild never quite recovered from the last time that happened? Wrath of the Lich King was especially hard on people due to its nature as 'the easy expansion'. In Burning Crusade, there were still guilds who were working on Illidan or The Sunwell. It was harder to accomplish things back then. So fast forward to the end of WoTLK, when nearly everyone and their mom had finished everything in the expansion, both on normal and heroic, and people were just waiting for it to tick over into Cataclysm. It was brutal. If the guild never got over that hump and stumbled into Cata still wounded, then spent the majority of the expansion hobbling on weak legs, it is only a matter of time before the braces holding it together snap.
After BlizzCon last year, I took it upon myself to create a costume with the intention of wearing it to BlizzCon the following year. I stopped playing World of Warcraft entirely for almost six months, and it was the best decision I ever made regarding the game after having been playing for about five years straight. I had fun not being tied down to a raiding schedule, not caring if I was going to pull decent DPS, not worrying if I should leave the guild or not, and not wondering if the guild was going to eat itself from the inside out before I got back. When I did return, I had a different outlook on the game, and despite problems with the guild going from bad to worse, I was confident in knowing that I took care of my shit before hand. I did my best to get my feelings across to the guild leader before I stopped playing, the one I felt needed to know how I felt about my raid and the guild.
I returned when problems were coming to a peak. There was nothing left for me to say when the guild finally crumbled, when the keg finally exploded. It was a long time coming. People were crying, yelling at each other in guild chat, learning things that should have been said after the damage was done - after there was a mass exodus of members from the guild. I went with them. It was a sign that after two years with the Masons, it was finally time for me to go.
Thanks for being the best guild ever.
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