Guild Systems

Just like the individual player reputation systems, guild reputation is just as important in how the world and the player interact. There should be suitable reasons to join a guild, both from a community perspective and from in-game rewards and unique opportunities presented to members. It would make complete sense for a new member to be viewed more (or less) favorably by an NPC based on what organization they are a part of, much like we do in real life. If your guild is Trusted in a specific Region, then it makes sense that members would have additional benefits relating to the Region, like increased personal Influence gains from those NPC's. 

• Tied to individual “Regions” of the world 

• Earned passively by the guild and its members completing quests, dungeons, raids, and other activities in the associated region(s)

  • Slower to level, takes multiple people doing these activities while a part of the guild to raise your guilds level

  • i.e. If only one person completes a Region's activities, the Guilds Reputation is unlikely to reach above Unknown/Recognized

• Can potentially affect how NPC’s interact with members

• Benefits provided to the individual guild members are influenced by multiple factors; Length of time in the guild, accomplishments with the guild, etc. 

  • Ideally you would discourage "guild hopping" to get higher benefits, but the length of time required for the max guild benefits would be minimal/moderate

• Higher guild reputation should reward members with increased gains of Influence within that Region

  • Levels:

    1. Unknown

    2. Recognized

    3. Friendly

    4. Trusted

    5. Distinguished

Guilds should have their own progression system and benefits, one that is influenced by members actions while interacting with the world. I think this translates to designs and systems that reward groups of players adventuring together. These incentives shouldn't be overwhelming where it is a detriment to solo players, but at the end of the day you're not playing an RPG, you're playing a MMORPG. Some systems should be designed that reward collaborating with people. 

• Guilds start at Level 1, can go up to Level 5

• Experience earned by doing guild events, earning individual player Reputation Levels in Regions, unlocking new buildings, and members completing activities while in a group together (dungeons, raids, etc.) or doing solo activities while wearing the guild “symbol” (i.e. tabard)

• New Levels unlock a Perk Point, Guild bonuses

  • Lvl 1 – One Perk Point

  • Lvl 2 – Two Perk Point, Faster Mount Speed (~10%)

  • Lvl 3 – Three Perk Points, Instant Guild Mail

  • Lvl 4 – Four Perk Points, Guild Banking Improvements (shared consumables/resources?)

  • Lvl 5 – Five Perk Points, Building Maintenance Fee's are eliminated(if applicable?)

Why even join a guild? Well, ignoring the social benefits for a moment, I do think it makes sense to have tangible incentives when dedicating your character to a wider group of players. One of the things a guild could provide is perks! 

• 15 Points total available (earned from leveling up your guild)

  • Can reallocate with small flat cost

    • This allows guilds to be flexible when deciding what type of benefits they need at specific times

• Choose from multitude of options for guild-wide bonuses

  • You can submit any amount of points into perks, up to a cap based on the perk

    • i.e. Up to 5 points in Increased crafting speed, up to 3 points in Increased XP gains, etc. 

  • Can choose any option, no prerequisites for specific perks

  • Perk options:

    • Increased crafting speed

    • Increased gathering speed

    • Increased Reputation gains

    • Increased XP gains

    • Larger Guild Vault 

    • Larger Personal Vaults

    • Faster Mount Speed

    • Additional Guild Banking Improvements

    • And more

I've always loved the idea of having a Guild Hall in a game, one where we can show off our trophies earned as a guild,hang out, and even provide some nice QoL improvements. I think it should be intrinsically tied to the Region that your guild is "based" out of. In other words, if you as a guild identify with a specific Region's Identity, that should be reflected in the game by having that Region as your guild's natural headquarters.

• Guild can unlock guild buildings in different Regions

  • Each different region is unlocked by earning Guild Reputation to that Region

• Four levels of buildings that Guilds can purchase

  • Guild Room, unlocked with Recognized Guild Reputation in Region

    • Cost: Small

  • Guild House, unlocked with Friendly Guild Reputation in Region

    • Cost: Nominal //Not sure if having a maintenance fee is a good idea? Would want second opinions and system iteration

  • Guild Hall, unlocked with Trusted Guild Reputation in Region

    • Cost: Moderate //Guild Hall might make more sense for a fee, but the benefit would have to outweigh the cost

    • Unique: Only one allowed per Guild

  • Guild Headquarters, unlocked with Distinguished Guild Reputation in Region

    • Cost: High

    • Upgraded from Guild Hall

    • Unique: Only one allowed per Guild

• Can build specific room types that serve specific functions for the guild (i.e. trophy room, servants quarters, etc.)

• Can be designed just like player housing, access to same equipment and furniture along with unique guild rooms and furniture

  • Influenced by your Regions unique atmosphere

While this section is small, I do feel like there could be a lot of systems created that would allow guilds to throw their own events in game. While a focus would be on the guild buildings, you could make it where guilds can host public events outside. This could be things like in-game black tie balls, hosting your own rave, or even having public meetings to discuss various subjects.

• Guilds can host Guild Events in their buildings (Minimum required: Guild House)

• Can make it invite only or open to public, send out invites via in-game mail

How badass would it be to have the ability to hire NPC's to run your Guild buildings? You could customize their names, backstories, jobs, etc. (within reason). Just another customization option open to guilds and their members. It would be based on size of the guild, guild level, amount of buildings they own, and various other criteria. 

• Guilds can “Hire” NPC’s to staff/manage their guild buildings

  • Bankers to staff bank access rooms, Maintenance staff, Class Trainers, etc.

• Customization options

  • Clothing, Name, Gender/Sex, Race, Jobs, Backstories, etc. 

• Manage the NPCs at the Guild Hall or their respective branch they are "hired" in

You're a lone wolf, a solo player, a free-styling adventurer that just wants to stay away from people. I bet you're thinking right now "enough with the guild and community stuff, what about me?". While my first question would be why are you playing a MMO, I understand how you feel. With the systems above, you're left out on all the additional bonuses and might feel like you need to join a guild. That doesn't help anyone, both because it goes against what you want and and because the guild is tailored towards having people work together. I think you should be able to have some of the benefits of a guild that are specific towards your play-style, though limited in comparison to the benefits of playing with others. 

• Companies, the solo player's answer to guilds

  • Different types of Companies to join

    • Crafting Company

    • Gathering Company

    • Fighting Company

    • Etc.

  • Different types of companies provide different default benefits (i.e. Crafting Company provides Crafting Perk bonus's)

  • Does not grant any Guild Level bonuses or Perks outside of guild default

• Short story-line to join them

  • Can potentially serve as tutorials to various activities that all players go through