The unOfficial PAX 2011 Thread

[Bilbo Baggins]

You won't be able to have multiple guild chat channels open at the same time. The guild you're currently representing is the channel that will be open, but changing guilds is as easy as selecting from a drop down menu. If you are currently electing not ro represent a guild, there will not be a guild chat channel.

[Simply Kedde]

Ok, that sounds good to me. Here's to hoping they expand in this direction by putting a lot of work into guild/social tools. This for one is a good start.

[Gorani]

I am not sure if everybody has watched the video prom the PAX panel, so:

If you do something together with guildies, you will earn "influence" for the guild, which you can use to get stuff like guild storage (==> quote, Eric), so being part of a guild and doing things with your guild is beneficial.
Micro guilds will be able to use that influence over time to get stuff without investing silly amounts of money like in GW1, guilds with bigger numbers of members will most likely be able to leave a mark on the world with "banners".

Sounds good to me.

[Thalanor Thornhale]

From those videos:

Wow, they just scrapped the trait system and are going to build a new one!

Thanks for the links, videos added to first post.

[shawn]

Wow, they just scrapped the trait system

No they didn't:

Hey guys, just thought I'd jump in and clarify some things. First, the term "scrapped" was an unfortunate choice of words on Jon's part. He tends to use very strong language to describe things even when it isn't warranted (all part of his charm). I think when most people think of something being "scrapped" they think of things being completely tossed out and restarted from square one which isn't at all what's happened with the trait system.

The changes that you will see made to traits, and the acquisition of skills all make use of and leverage things that were for the most part already in the game. To say we "scrapped" the trait system is an overstatement.

As to why we made these changes, when we explain the changes we'll explain why exactly we thought that we needed to make them. I think the changes are a huge positive improvement for the game but I'll leave that up to your judgement once we're able to explain things more fully.

The last point I wanted to make is that these changes have not delayed the game in any way. We are in Alpha and we are still on track for a Closed Beta sometime this year. From there we'll determine when open beta will take place which in turn will determine when we ship. That's the same plan we've been describing for most of the year.

In the meantime, thanks for all the patience and understanding you've shown, we'll try our best to live up to your expectations.

[sorudo]

ok, i just watched a really small video with an asura and i just can't shake the part where it just looks like stitch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHrOQh8ngbg

[BrettM]

If you do something together with guildies, you will earn "influence" for the guild, which you can use to get stuff like guild storage (==> quote, Eric), so being part of a guild and doing things with your guild is beneficial.
Micro guilds will be able to use that influence over time to get stuff without investing silly amounts of money like in GW1, guilds with bigger numbers of members will most likely be able to leave a mark on the world with "banners".

Sounds good to me.

Doesn't sound so good to me.

You might say my guild is a guild of curmudgeons. (Not really. Except maybe me. But I'm allowed, since I founded it. ) Most of us are very casual players who may be MIA for weeks or months at a time. We like each other, but we don't do things together, though any of us will lend a hand if someone needs one. If we want to do things with others, well, that's why we're in an alliance. Otherwise we just want to be left alone and have a guild tag to keep the recruiters off our backs. But we like having a guild hall and all of the services, and I spent many months earning the gold to pay for all of that.

We're all quite happy with the setup, and anyone who isn't is free to leave at any time with no recriminations. (That's the one and only rule I set for the guild.) We are free of drama and fuss, rules, requirements, dues, meetings, etc.

We're all over 21 (well over, most of us). We don't need ANet to nanny us and tell us that being social is good for us. We don't need to be forced to join some big guild just to get access to basic services, or to be forced to play with them just to avoid being called leeches.

If ANet wants to reserve perks like banners and XP flags for "influential" guilds, that's fine. But I would hate to see basic services such as storage and trader NPCs tied into this with no way out. This would essentially be the death of many small, casual guilds I think. Players would be forced to also be members of bigger, less-casual guilds to get access to services, and would be encouraged to spend their time with those guilds helping them to gain the influence needed to obtain those services.

[Bilbo Baggins]

I could be wrong, because I don't know anything more than anyone else here about the new system, but I doubt Anet will require tons of influence earned for the many "necessities" of a guild. I would also guess gold purchase might even be left in as a secondary option.

I belong to a small guild as well, we haven't tried to recruit at all for a few years now, and with the departures, it's actually only 5 active members now. I believe a single guild member could probably earn all the influence needed for storage and such, I'll be surprised if I'm proven wrong.

Speaking for myself, I'm glad that my small guild won't have to resort to endless farming for 100k upgrades, as a guild officer I'm broke-as-a-joke from sinking gold into our hall instead of spending it on my characters and saving it up.

[gildhur]

I love the social network version of guilds they're building. However, I have one concern. Why the limitation to one guild chat at a time? Is it a technical or philosophical decision? If we extend the social network metaphor, it breaks down. I don't have to close my Facebook window to open a Google+ window, Twitter window, or Tumblr window. Why can't we have a tab for each guild? Why can't we have a chat channel in the same tab for each guild (see user-created channels in LotRO, /1, /2, etc)?

What happens if my PvE guild is coordinating an event while I'm in my PvP guild doing WvW? It seems like an artificial restriction that's going to severely limit the social aspect of guilds that the rest of the system is trying to build.

[Gorani]

Doesn't sound so good to me.

*snip*

Remember that you can be in multiple guilds. You can stay in your own micro guild, gradually developing the GH, but also join/switch to a larger guild and get points for them for a visual impact of the world.

The only downside for small guilds would be, if the influence is eroding like Luxon/Kurzick points are at the moment, so small guilds have a problem keeping up the influence numbers.