Top left: what you see when you press U before joining a guild, vs. what you see after joining a guild.
In EverQuest 2, a guild is a player-founded and player-run organization within the game. Guilds, like the people who form them, have many different modes of operation and goals. Some guilds exist purely as a social network of players who enjoy gaming together, while others work long and hard to reach end-game content and to become rich and powerful. Like your character, all guilds have a level that can increase. Levels are attained by completing adventure writs, tradeskill writs, or by selling items that can be looted while adventuring, like Opal Amulets.
Guild Styles
There are many types of guilds: some focus on gathering to raid, some take on smaller group quests, while others may focus on Tradeskills or Roleplay. Almost all guilds love to socialize using guild chat, a channel you'll gain when you start or join a guild in EQ2. To talk in guild chat for the first time or to switch back to guild chat after being in a group, you'll use /gu (short for guild) before typing what you want to say.
Any time you join or form a guild make sure you are clear about what you want to do with the guild to assure you've made a choice that suits your play style and lifestyle in order to maximize the fun you have playing EQ2. It's often helpful to make your schedule clear (which time zone you are in/what hours you usually play) so you can find members who play at the same (approximate) times as you.
Some guild have very organized and full schedules for adventuring or roleplaying and require certain time commitments from members, while other are more laid back with some events or no events take each day as it comes.
The Perks of Being in a Guild
Qeynos Tier 3 guild hall at night with the centre courtyard amenity statue visible
Freeport Tier 3 guild all at night with the centre courtyard amenity statue visible
Guilds are given various perks in the game, depending on their level. Some of these include:
- Housing that's tied to guild level
- The freedom to purchase certain mounts and other nifty items that are paid for in part with Status points
- Various prefix titles
- Guild Raids
- The ability to display cloak heraldry if the guild has purchased a cloak design.
- A special shared bank that only guild members can access to trade or share loot, crafted items, and coin.
One of the most popular guild perks is access to a Guild Hall, which is a special building designed for guild members to meet in. Most guild halls have various amenities like a localized broker, banker, world travel options, and more, depending on what the guild has chosen to add to the hall.
When you join a guild that has a hall, you can also gain a new ability from visiting the hall and interacting with one amenity. The ability, Call to Guild Hall, works like the ability that allows you to teleport back to your home city (Call of New Halas, Call of Neriak, etc) from almost any location in the world.
How to Start a Guild
In order to start a guild you'll need to have 6 of your soon-to-be members online and they can not be in another guild. The intended leader needs to visit a NPC known as a Guild Registrar in a major, player inhabitable city like Qeynos, Freeport, New Halas, Gorowyn, Neriak, or Kelethin. The cost of starting a guild is 60s.
As of 2014 there are some restrictions on who can start a guild, based on account type. See the article on types of free and paid accounts for info.
Joining an Existing Guild
If you'd rather join an established guild, the easiest way to find one is by pressing U while you are in game. This will open the guild recruiting window. In it, you will often a list of guilds that are actively accepting new members, descriptions of their guild style or focus, and any requirements they may have like minimum level or the classes (fighter, priest, mage, etc) may specifically want to recruit. If a recruiter is on, you can usually send them a private message (a /tell) by clicking on their name in the window.
After you join, the same window will become the Guild Roster when you press U and will list the members, ranks, any limits on guild bank access, and a list of events or member achievements.
If you like to shop around for a guild, you can try doing a Google search using the terms "EQ2 and Guild" and you may find guild websites that are kept to describe the guild and if they are recruiting. Such sites may also have forums as a way to communicate about upcoming events, like raids or roleplaying. The most popular site for guilds is frequently Guild Portal, because it offers free and easy to build websites if only basic features are needed.
See Also
Related topics that may interest new players in a list format:
- Guild Hall and Guild Hall Amenities
- Cloak
- Mounts
- Writs and Tradeskill Writs
- Status points, Status Items
- Bank to learn about the bank, and how the guild bank works.
- Players who start a guild may also want to see
- Guild utilities which described various software and websites that are useful to guild leadership and their members.