1) How hard will it be to recruit to a guild restricted to just one or two races? And if you'd join, what one or two races would you prefer.
2) Will players hate a restrictive dress and colour code or will they love the image and the realm/guild pride that goes with WvWvW ?
I know I'd love to make such a guild, I'm just worried people won't like the restrictive ideas. Your thoughts gratrefully received!
1) Pick a race that appeals to you personally or don't bother. If you're going to be putting together a guild based on a single race concept, you'd best be invested in it in every way. Choosing one just because you think would be easiest to recruit for, is just not the way (IMO).
2) If you're tying together a common look and feel that you insist all you're members adhere to, I hope you're planning an RP guild. If you create a basis in lore behind it and you find people that are interested in it, then it will work. If you're just creating as an arbitrary appearance stunt, I think you'll find that few will follow it for very long, if at all, especially with all the customization options that will be available.
So the key to it will be the RP aspect. Some folks will go along with the restrictions outside of the RP aspect, but I think they will be few and far between. If you create a storyline to go along with your guild concept and make that appealing, I think quite a few people would show interest.
Judging by some of the activity in the forums recently, racial bias will be one thing you can count on to lure prospective members. The appearance thing will be a harder sell, but not impossible. As long as you aren't going to insist on charr of the Blood legion parading around in a pink and lavender color scheme. Sylvari though -- maybe not quite so tough.
I don't think that tolerance will be that hard of a sell though, because a lot of people are familiar with the lore and appear to accept it, the minority is loud but it is not many, at least as it appears on this forum. For every one die-hard GW1 nerd who's fixated on race hate, we have five or ten people who aren't, and some of those people are reasonable Guild Wars 1 fans who don't want to be counted as part of the race hate brigade (such as myself). So I think that if these forums are anything to go by, those who're against working together will be loud, but they'll also be a minority.
I feel that most players just won't care what race you are, it'll just be a game where everyone is having fun regardless of their race choice. And that's awesome.
Oh, so one dude wants a 'peace treaty' and the natural phenomenon of Racism is just supposed to dissapear? Lol Sounds more suited for Hello Kitty Online than GW2.
Kinda how it worked in the US. You seem to be forgetting that the war between the humans and charr in GW1 was because of the Flame Legion and now that they are gone the charr don't have to fight the humans. If you don't like it then just get over it. You just seem to be complaining that it doesn't make sense just because you don't like it.
lol Racism just dissapeared in the US one day because a leader said it should? lol That's hilarious. Your perception on reality is adorable, really.
If you don't like it, then you can simply join another guild that welcomes all races How hard is that?
Nowhere did I ever say that it vanished because one get said so. However it would have never been illegalized if one man didn't bother to say it should. Of course there was a big war, but none of that would have ever happened if Abe Lincoln never tried to illegalize it.
I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are not an American... Racism did not end with Abe It continues to this day. Things have improved, but it took a long, long time to get there.
In the GW2 timeline, that transition period simply has not happened, making it perfectly logical to have single race guilds
The Americans also didn't have five dragons on the loose that needed to be dealt with. Survival dependant pragmatism might serve to speed up the forgive and forget process. I mean, you've gotta have priorities. But for some, the old hatreds go so deep that they would rather see the world burn, just so long as it takes their foe up along with it. I think that pretty realistic too. Some people are just hardcore to the point of self-destruction.
It just makes me doubly glad I'm choosing Sylvari for my first character. I'll be there, scratching my head in wonder as the dragons come roaring down on top of you while you're too busy at each other's throats to notice. Oh well, you're fleshies. You aren't supposed to make sense.
I don't think that tolerance will be that hard of a sell though, because a lot of people are familiar with the lore and appear to accept it, the minority is loud but it is not many, at least as it appears on this forum. For every one die-hard GW1 nerd who's fixated on race hate, we have five or ten people who aren't, and some of those people are reasonable Guild Wars 1 fans who don't want to be counted as part of the race hate brigade (such as myself). So I think that if these forums are anything to go by, those who're against working together will be loud, but they'll also be a minority.
I feel that most players just won't care what race you are, it'll just be a game where everyone is having fun regardless of their race choice. And that's awesome.
The choice to join an all-[race] guild doesn't necessarily need to be as a result of hatred. I can easily see many smaller charr guilds popping up based on a concept of belonging to a single warband, with the guild leader serving as their legionnaire. With Asurans, they could all belong to a single college. I'm sure other concepts could be created for the other races too. Except maybe the norn. Being so firecely independent, having a reason to stay together might be a bit of a challenge. But with a bit of imagination, not an insurmountable one.
I'd prefer a diverse guild. I'm going for Norn fo sure. I suppose I'd join a Human and Norn Guild. Or a Norn only guild might be fun. But a norn and charr, norn and asura doesnt sound fun to me. But I do like the idea of having a uniform (did it all the time in City of Heroes).
In guild wars, I find it hard to stay in one guild, so hopefully there will be actual reasons to stay in a guild time (CoH for example would let you teleport via group bases). In guid wars though, there isn't really need to jon one unless you do GvG.
The amusing part about that is that lore-wise the norn think more highly of the charr than any other race. I'm not saying you need to follow the lore, not even remotely! You do your own thing! I'm just pointing it out because it amused me and proved my point. I think that most people are just going to go and do their own thing, and that's all I was saying.
Great replies thank you. I'm taking to heart many of the intelligent points raised. I get the feeling that I may make the colour/dress code optional but the race part a requirement in the hope that those who want to wear the 'uniform' inspire others to be part of the identity. Those who want to have their own unique appearance can; I don't want to rain on their parade. But I'll make all this very clear at the start, so people know what they're getting themselves into.
I hope GW2 lives up to its promise of a less steep levelling curve - after all Arenanet don't need to keep you grinding to get your subs. This would mean that if your character is the wrong race it should not be too hard to get another going, except well into end game perhaps. But even then I like the idea of RPing a reason to make a few exceptions to the race rule. A mini-band of Asura or a cat-pack o' Charr on the side would be most amusing.
There's as much enjoyment in your seeing your character stand out in a crowd as there is in being part of a uniformed guild in the Mists, standing out themselves.
I still cannot decide on which one or two races however, although I will pick one that I love as Unlight advised earlier. The only race I would not want to play is the Charr (but to be far I have not tried any of them). I am perhaps leaning towrds Human and Sylvari. I can imagine the humans extending a paternal hand to the Sylvari to introduce them to the world and society, albiet for the desperate reason of needing all the friends they can get. The new and the old. The fresh and the desperate.
I think the less serious the guild is, the more likely you are to get members who are on board for sticking to one race. In WoW, I think the gnomes had that kind of vibe. You'd see gnome only guilds with names like Gnomercy and stuff like that. I think you could either try to use the asura to repeat that kind of vibe, or maybe the norn to get some kind of viking horde thing going.
Or...since I keep having flashbacks to Master Blaster from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, make it an asura/norn only guild, lol.
As far as I know, it's possible to just switch the dye of your gear anytime you want, as often as you want (someone correct me if I'm wrong). If so, that I think is the way to go for your guild, not worrying about getting a particular style of armor. Have your people look however they want at regular times, but for large group PVP or PVE, just switch over to a standard color scheme (blue primary, white 1st secondary, black 2nd secondary, for instance). Then they can just switch back to however they want to look when done with little to no hassle.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
As far as I know, it's possible to just switch the dye of your gear anytime you want, as often as you want (someone correct me if I'm wrong). If so, that I think is the way to go for your guild, not worrying about getting a particular style of armor. Have your people look however they want at regular times, but for large group PVP or PVE, just switch over to a standard color scheme (blue primary, white 1st secondary, black 2nd secondary, for instance). Then they can just switch back to however they want to look when done with little to no hassle.
If that feature is in then yes, very handy for the 'uniform'.
And I love the amusing image that an Asura guild would bring, the ugly techno gmomish little buggers. I guess they are the most funny race.
Hmm that's put me off humans a little - they're a little bland in that regard. I hope Sylvari lore and style are well away from the "elven queens in pink" category, as that is not particularly appealing either. Perhaps an image for the guild for Sylvari could be tree hugger hippy types. "Hay maaan, look at that huge chicken, yeeaaah".
Comments
1) Pick a race that appeals to you personally or don't bother. If you're going to be putting together a guild based on a single race concept, you'd best be invested in it in every way. Choosing one just because you think would be easiest to recruit for, is just not the way (IMO).
2) If you're tying together a common look and feel that you insist all you're members adhere to, I hope you're planning an RP guild. If you create a basis in lore behind it and you find people that are interested in it, then it will work. If you're just creating as an arbitrary appearance stunt, I think you'll find that few will follow it for very long, if at all, especially with all the customization options that will be available.
So the key to it will be the RP aspect. Some folks will go along with the restrictions outside of the RP aspect, but I think they will be few and far between. If you create a storyline to go along with your guild concept and make that appealing, I think quite a few people would show interest.
Judging by some of the activity in the forums recently, racial bias will be one thing you can count on to lure prospective members. The appearance thing will be a harder sell, but not impossible. As long as you aren't going to insist on charr of the Blood legion parading around in a pink and lavender color scheme. Sylvari though -- maybe not quite so tough.
Good luck if you choose to go through with it.
@Unlight
I don't think that tolerance will be that hard of a sell though, because a lot of people are familiar with the lore and appear to accept it, the minority is loud but it is not many, at least as it appears on this forum. For every one die-hard GW1 nerd who's fixated on race hate, we have five or ten people who aren't, and some of those people are reasonable Guild Wars 1 fans who don't want to be counted as part of the race hate brigade (such as myself). So I think that if these forums are anything to go by, those who're against working together will be loud, but they'll also be a minority.
I feel that most players just won't care what race you are, it'll just be a game where everyone is having fun regardless of their race choice. And that's awesome.
The Americans also didn't have five dragons on the loose that needed to be dealt with. Survival dependant pragmatism might serve to speed up the forgive and forget process. I mean, you've gotta have priorities. But for some, the old hatreds go so deep that they would rather see the world burn, just so long as it takes their foe up along with it. I think that pretty realistic too. Some people are just hardcore to the point of self-destruction.
It just makes me doubly glad I'm choosing Sylvari for my first character. I'll be there, scratching my head in wonder as the dragons come roaring down on top of you while you're too busy at each other's throats to notice. Oh well, you're fleshies. You aren't supposed to make sense.
Flower power to the rescue!
The choice to join an all-[race] guild doesn't necessarily need to be as a result of hatred. I can easily see many smaller charr guilds popping up based on a concept of belonging to a single warband, with the guild leader serving as their legionnaire. With Asurans, they could all belong to a single college. I'm sure other concepts could be created for the other races too. Except maybe the norn. Being so firecely independent, having a reason to stay together might be a bit of a challenge. But with a bit of imagination, not an insurmountable one.
racism be making its mark in all mmos
but seriously, elves all need to die, dirty stinking elves
I'd prefer a diverse guild. I'm going for Norn fo sure. I suppose I'd join a Human and Norn Guild. Or a Norn only guild might be fun. But a norn and charr, norn and asura doesnt sound fun to me. But I do like the idea of having a uniform (did it all the time in City of Heroes).
In guild wars, I find it hard to stay in one guild, so hopefully there will be actual reasons to stay in a guild time (CoH for example would let you teleport via group bases). In guid wars though, there isn't really need to jon one unless you do GvG.
@jinxxed0
The amusing part about that is that lore-wise the norn think more highly of the charr than any other race. I'm not saying you need to follow the lore, not even remotely! You do your own thing! I'm just pointing it out because it amused me and proved my point. I think that most people are just going to go and do their own thing, and that's all I was saying.
Great replies thank you. I'm taking to heart many of the intelligent points raised. I get the feeling that I may make the colour/dress code optional but the race part a requirement in the hope that those who want to wear the 'uniform' inspire others to be part of the identity. Those who want to have their own unique appearance can; I don't want to rain on their parade. But I'll make all this very clear at the start, so people know what they're getting themselves into.
I hope GW2 lives up to its promise of a less steep levelling curve - after all Arenanet don't need to keep you grinding to get your subs. This would mean that if your character is the wrong race it should not be too hard to get another going, except well into end game perhaps. But even then I like the idea of RPing a reason to make a few exceptions to the race rule. A mini-band of Asura or a cat-pack o' Charr on the side would be most amusing.
There's as much enjoyment in your seeing your character stand out in a crowd as there is in being part of a uniformed guild in the Mists, standing out themselves.
I still cannot decide on which one or two races however, although I will pick one that I love as Unlight advised earlier. The only race I would not want to play is the Charr (but to be far I have not tried any of them). I am perhaps leaning towrds Human and Sylvari. I can imagine the humans extending a paternal hand to the Sylvari to introduce them to the world and society, albiet for the desperate reason of needing all the friends they can get. The new and the old. The fresh and the desperate.
Finally, what have you all got against pink! :P
@OP
I think the less serious the guild is, the more likely you are to get members who are on board for sticking to one race. In WoW, I think the gnomes had that kind of vibe. You'd see gnome only guilds with names like Gnomercy and stuff like that. I think you could either try to use the asura to repeat that kind of vibe, or maybe the norn to get some kind of viking horde thing going.
Or...since I keep having flashbacks to Master Blaster from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, make it an asura/norn only guild, lol.
As far as I know, it's possible to just switch the dye of your gear anytime you want, as often as you want (someone correct me if I'm wrong). If so, that I think is the way to go for your guild, not worrying about getting a particular style of armor. Have your people look however they want at regular times, but for large group PVP or PVE, just switch over to a standard color scheme (blue primary, white 1st secondary, black 2nd secondary, for instance). Then they can just switch back to however they want to look when done with little to no hassle.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
If that feature is in then yes, very handy for the 'uniform'.
And I love the amusing image that an Asura guild would bring, the ugly techno gmomish little buggers. I guess they are the most funny race.
Hmm that's put me off humans a little - they're a little bland in that regard. I hope Sylvari lore and style are well away from the "elven queens in pink" category, as that is not particularly appealing either. Perhaps an image for the guild for Sylvari could be tree hugger hippy types. "Hay maaan, look at that huge chicken, yeeaaah".