Since joining Covenant of Crows, I have had a number of previous guild mates and unguilded friends reach out to me asking “how are they?” and “what are they like?”. I thought I might kill about oh, thirty (and counting) birds with one stone by putting together a short bit on my thoughts and perspectives as a new hatchling within the Murder of Crows….
First and foremost, this is not your father’s guild. Nor your mothers, frankly; if I had to come up with a single sentence to define the atmosphere and general culture within the guild I would say that it’s like a summer-time pool party; everyone is there, they’re all having fun in their own way, it’s clear they’re all friends, they’re friendly to you, too, and best of all, if you scream heebee jeebies over something, they’ll not only stop and listen, they’ll actually try to help.
Mind you, I’ve been goobering around in MMOs (and before that, MUDs, MOOs, MUSHes, and other acronyms that likely won’t make sense to most of you reading) for a long time; I’ve lead guilds, I’ve officered guilds, I’ve PvP’d, RP’d, PvE’d, and pretty much every shade of variety between them. In my experience thus far with this guild, they strike me as that rare environment in which people, preferences, and perspectives are balanced in a way that makes them able to withstand the ebb and flow of “the gaming world”; the summer time exodus, the “expansion fever”, the rollercoaster-addictive-love-hate raid relationship, and all the skinner box insanity that happens between them.
I see that my new guild focuses on the people, not the pixels. I see they have respect for one another. I see they often help out “just because they can”. I see they speak kindly to one another (except when the smack-talkin’ is on, because, well, you know, when it’s on, it’s ON); most of all, I see that everyone seems to have this remarkable perspective that both understands and behaves in accord with the notion that we’re all here to have fun, that we may define “fun” in very different ways, that we may even change our minds (repeatedly!), and that this is both acceptable and expected. Also, they seem to hold true to the idea that almost anything fun by yourself is more fun with others who find it fun, too.
They raid, but they don’t demand I do. They appreciate my presence even if I’m the worst DPS in a SP they’ve ever seen (grin). They offer advice when I want it (and not when I don’t), they offer assistance when I need it, they let me help out if/when/as I can, and most importantly, they don’t treat me like a sub-human because I am no longer a theory-crafting, 14+ hour a day playing, purple-pixel-possessed thing (but when I want to dive in that deep end for a bit, they also can hang right there with me!).
In short, they’re the kind of guild I always built – people who game together for the people, not the game. In a time when most games work hard to leverage the selfish perspective, guilds that work just as hard to make communities rather than just collectives are special, rare, and uniquely enjoyable; I think that is a damn good thing and I’m quite happy indeed to have found them.
My name is Phydra, and Covenant of Crows is more than my guild, it’s my home.
