Ding 60! Any casual/semi-casual raiding guilds?

[Arcler]

I'll say this, a lot of guilds portray/think of themselves as "casual" (it's sort of like how every American says they are middle-class), usually because raiding isn't mandatory, or only that you only need to make a small % of raids to be considered a full member and collect loot.

This is how I think of it - can the guild summon a kill-ready force to a zone in under 5 minutes in order to engage/kill a competitive FFA target? If the answer is yes, then it's a hardcore raiding guild (this is definitely how such a guild would be seen on live during EQ's heyday). In order to do that, the guild must have a few things: 1. a raid capable force that is parked in the zone or can quickly mobilize to said zone, 2. an alert system ("batphone"), that tells members to log in even when they are not in game or at their computer, 3. the infrastructure (CoTH mages, factioned toons, clerics, well-geared tanks/pullers, etc.) capable of competitively FTE'ing said raid target, pulling it to camp and successfully killing it and 4. some sort of voice communication software to expedite planning and organization.

Casual raiding guilds generally don't compete in that way, and their raids are generally confined to less contested content (rotated sky, raid targets that have been left alone by other entities, planar clears, epic encounters, etc.)

If you define those as the opposite ends of a spectrum, then virtually every raiding guild falls somewhere along this spectrum, and all of it is a matter of degrees. In other words, how many scheduled raids a week do they have, what days/hours do they compete for FFA targets in a given week, what infrastructure do they have to compete for which targets, etc. People point out that most raiding guilds only require 10-15% RA for loot, but there's a huge difference in the number of raids that is and what that sort of commitment really means, depending on what guild you join.

So, if on one side of the spectrum we put a hardcore raiding guild that competes for any and all raid targets in every zone (and can mobilize and kill all of those target competitively), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, then they are having about 300-400 raids a month, the 10-15% RA they expect of you is about 30-40 raids a month, or 1/day. It won't be every day, as the current earthquake system will keep 7 day targets confined to a 2-3 day span for the most part - but if you join such a guild, expect that you'll be keep your rogue buffed, logged out in a raid zone waiting on a spawn (or you'll be logged in and helping with pull, etc.) When there's not a raid target in window, most of the guild is generally logged off and not doing much in game. This guild will have all 4 of my points - they'll require voice comms, a batphone, pre-parks, and they'll have guild infrastructure for every raid target.

On the other side, you'll have a casual raiding guild that will have 2-3 scheduled raids a week (usually Plane of Sky on their rotated time, and then some form of velious armor farming (Kael Arena or HoT/West in ToV), chardok royals, Plane of Hate/Fear, scheduled/spawned epic fights, etc.) but otherwise, you'll be on your own to make your own fun. However,the guild will likely have a lot of people on, and a lively small-group non-raiding content (Velks, SG, DN, etc.) scene. A truly casual guild won't even have a batphone (it's not needed), or use it only to communicate a schedule. They won't require voice comms, won't ask people to park toons, and won't have an infrastructure capable of engaging high-end targets.

No guild on this server is 100% on either side of this spectrum (though a few come close, in both directions) - and certain guilds prioritize parks, infrastructure, etc. in different zones or for different raid targets. Beyond that, there's guild culture and mefdinkins made a lot of good points for how different guilds tend to operate. Talk to members of many of the guilds that people indicated above, and see where they fall on this spectrum and what makes the best fit for you.

A few of my guildmates above tried to steer you to Paradigm Shift - so I'll give you a rundown of where we fit on that continuum. PS has 1 scheduled raid a week (Sunday AM sky), but we usually organize HoT in ToV once/week and announce it well in advance (usually Saturdays but sometimes on a weekday evening - it depends on FFA spawn windows). We generally ask members of the guild to pre-park their mains for FFA targets 2-3 days a week, and we usually set hard time limits on when we'll try for a particular FFA target, that our members know in advance (so can make informed decisions about when to park, when to be available to play, etc.) We don't go after every raid target on every cycle, and pick targets strategically based on spawn windows, what people want to do, and to ensure we're keeping things variable and fresh. In addition, we'll often rally to help guildmates with epic fights, kill Vindi in Kael, etc., several times a week. We average around 60-70 or so raids a month, however, as pointed out earlier, a lot of those can be in the same day for different targets (earthquakes, "repop" day(s), etc.) We have many people who generally only log on for raids, and many who organize small-group content almost every day. Generally speaking, on any given US evening night, they'll probably be something organized to do, though it might just be a quick kill and the night is otherwise organized by guildies doing small-group stuff.

So my plug for my own guild is this - PS is a raiding guild capable of going after every single raid target in the game, but we don't feel the need to park characters and mobilize for every raid target, either. We have tight-knit community of players that organize and do things together whether there's a raid target in window or not. We are also a friendly bunch, and not going to berate you because you made a mistake, though we'll do our best to inform/teach you in advance so that you'll not make the mistake in the first place. You'll see and engage every high-end encounter with PS, but you won't be outfitting your character in every dream item within a year. On the other hand, you'll be able to enjoy and play your rogue outside of raids, because you won't be consistently parked every day for some FFA target. We compete seriously but we prize fair play, sportsmanship, and fun above all. If that sounds like the right fit for you, feel free to reach out to me or Baylan (see above).

[Evia]

Really helpful responses from everyone! Thank you!

I think I'll look into PS and Anonymous first. Both sound like they could fit what I'm after.

[tycohunden]

Dawn Believers is the best guild! Join Dawn Believers! Lots of progress lots of fun!