This post has everything you ever wanted to know about the guild leveling system and perks for the expansion.
Guild reputation
Edit: There is going to be a cap on the amount of reputation you can earn with your guild. That value will be capped weekly. It’s not like guild experience (that’s capped daily).
Like most other in game factions, you can gain reputation with your guild.
Note that if you decide to change guilds, you will lose all of your guild reputation and will be required to earn it again when you join a new one. Earning reputation is quite easy to do. As you are earning guild experience, you are also earning guild reputation.
The guild cap
A hard cap of 600 1000 members is allowed for a single guild in Cataclysm. If your guild exceeds 600 people, don’t worry. You don’t have to make immediate cuts right away. The problem you’ll have is that you will not be able to invite more players until your guild drops under the 600 1000 member count.
Guild experience
Guilds can now earn experience which contributes to the level of a guild. The higher the level, the better the rewards. guilds will have access to all sorts of cool stuff like additional bank tabs, increased experience gain, and increased money gain.
Ways to earn experience
There are a number of ways for your guild to earn experience:
- Killing bosses in an dungeon (At least 4/5 must be from the same guild)
- Killing bosses in a raid (At least 8/10 or 20/25 must be from the same guild)
- Rated PvP like a battleground or an arena where 80% of the group is from the same guild (8/10, 12/15)
- Doing normal quests or daily quests which award normal experience
- Players leveling up their professions (any)
- Players leveling up their reputation (any)
- Complete guild achievements
The experience cap
As guilds are participating in activities to level up, there is a hard limit on the amount of experience that can be earned for the week. Currently, the guild cap is weekly daily. Not sure if that will be changed to daily upon the launch of the expansion.
I’m not opposed to the idea of imposing a weekly cap instead of a daily cap. This places smaller guilds on a relatively even footing on larger guilds. For example, assuming the weekly cap is something like 10000 experience, the large< Mammoth> guild could easily score 10000 experience within 2 days. However, the smaller <Stingers> guild would take 5 days to reach that amount of experience. It wouldn’t matter though since the cap would then reset every week. Daily would work if the value was small enough that a 10 man guild (for example) would have the opportunity to max out.
Exception: Guild achievements that contribute guild experience will not count towards the cap. If you want to max out your guild fast, all you need to do is knock out some guild achievements!
Guild perks
As long as players have the appropriate reputation with the guild and the guild is at the right level, you’ll be able to access guild perks in a special tab in your spellbook. If you’re wondering where to find Mass Resurrection, this is where it will be.
On a side note, it doesn’t seem like Mass Resurrection has a mana cost associated with it. I also wonder if I’m in Ashenvale and I’m in a party with someone who is in the Barrens, if that player dies, will I be able to resurrect them from a zone away?
Here’s a full list:
Level 2: Fast Track (Rank 1)
Level 3: Mount up
Level 4: Mr. Popularity (Rank 1)
Level 5: Cash flow (Rank 1)
Level 6: Fast Track (Rank 2)
Level 7: Reinforce (Rank 1)
Level 8: Hasty Hearth
Level 9: Reinforce (Rank 2)
Level 10: Chug-A-Lug (Rank 1)
Level 11: Mobile Banking
Level 12: Mr. Popularity (Rank 2)
Level 13: Honorable Mention (Rank 1)
Level 14: Working Overtime
Level 15: The Quick and the Dead
Level 16: Cash Flow (Rank 2)
Level 17: G-Mail
Level 18: For Great Justice
Level 19: Honorable Mention (Rank 2)
Level 20: Happy Hour
Level 21: Have Group, Will Travel
Level 22: Chug-A-Lug (Rank 2)
Level 23: Bountiful Bags
Level 24: Bartering
Level 25: Mass Resurrection
Guild achievements
Some of these achievements don’t actually seem all that bad. Obviously you need to be in a group that contains a majority of your guild to actually pull them off.
But then you see these achievements…
… Any farmers out there looking for a guild?
Guild rewards
Guild rewards (like an additional bank tab) can be bought. Your guild needs to reach the appropriate guild level, have the appropriate achievement, or the members need to have the right reputation to purchase or use them. Members can buy items like that Worn Stoneskin Gargoyle Cape for 1200g. The item is considered bound to the guild. If that player leaves, the item is returned to the bank. Actually, it looks like once a player buys a next generation heirloom item, it’s theirs to keep. No word on whether or not the ability to transfer it to other guild members is going to stick though. The vendors for these can be found in capital cities near the NPCs that offer guild services.
Guild UI Stuff
The guild UI pane experienced an overhaul. There are a number of different ways to sort the guild roster now. You can see how much experience a person has contributed to the guild and where they rank (and look at that Matticus guy, he’s ranked 18th. The hell’s he doing? Sitting around capital cities trolling trade or something?)
You can even sort the roster list by professions and see what everyone in the guild has. The [View All] link shows what your guildies can produce combined. No more having to sticky forum threads with list of players who can craft specialty items.
My personal favourite? No more receiving messages asking “Matt, link enchanting”.
Guild Controls
Shots of the guild controls courtesy of Kurn. As you can see, it looks like ranks can physically be shuffled up and down the ranks. I’m not sure what the cap is on new ranks. Permissions of ranks have largely remained the same. Bank tabs are now purchased directly from guild control instead of the actual bank. Lastly, there is now an option to enable a rank that requires players to have an authenticator before they’re allowed to reach that rank.
What about you?
Are you still floating around somewhere hopping from guild to guild?
Not quite sure what you want or what to do?
You better figure it out fast!
At the very least, I’d suggest guild shopping now. Any guilds that are still actively doing stuff are a good bet to be stable into Cataclysm. To me, that indicates a leadership that has some idea of what they’re doing if they’ve managed to hold things together this long. I know some people are waiting for Cataclysm to arrive before they start the guild shopping process. But isn’t that a bit late though? Wouldn’t you want to look around now at the proven guilds instead of waiting to see what Cataclysm guilds flop or emerge as power houses?
No rush, I suppose. You still have around 2 months.
Frequently asked questions
For achievements like “Bushels and Bushels”, will the amount of herbs I (and other guildies) have farmed before Cataclysm count towards that total? Or do we all start at zero when this gets implemented?
No. Anything gathered before the guild achievements kick in will not be counted. The only exception is the achievement for We Are Legendary.
Question about “mobile banking” and “have group, will travel”: Does the guild share a cooldown, or can anyone in guild with enough rep to use it do so independently?
I can confirm that the guild does not share a cooldown. I activated my guild Mobile Banking ability and checked with the rest of the guild. It activated my 1 hour cooldown but it did not trip the cooldown of anyone else. I suspect Have Group, Will Travel will work the same way.
If I missed something, point it out and I’ll add it in/make an edit.
Or heck, if you have any questions.
Great post! Thanks for this information!
Heirlooms are NOT bound to the guild, once you buy them they are yours to keep. Blizzard changed this before implementing them on Beta.
TBC and WoTLK 25man dungeons will only require 8 players, instead of 20.
Fixed, thanks.
From the looks of things, the idea of a weekly cap is for beta purposes only.
That’s… not at all what Mumper said. There is a daily cap on guild experience gains (which is currently increased five-fold for beta testing purposes, along with XP gains), and a weekly cap on an individual’s guild Reptuation gains (which are not inflated right now, I think).
The 5x inflation of the cap and XP gains is beta-only.
Edits made, thanks. Had to read it slower and five additional times to make sure.
“The item is considered bound to the guild. If that player leaves, the item is returned to the bank.” This isnt accurate. Blues said it is too restrictive to players due to guild breakups and things out of their control. Players keep all items they get from guild rep.
Corrected, thanks. Going to try to hunt down that blue post as well.
Looking over all of the guild information I had two immediate thoughts:
1) Thank god for the overhauls they have done to the overall guild ui and guild management ui.
2) I believe all of these features are meant not only to increase the interest level of being in a guild, but also distract the people who keep asking, “I can haz a guild house now? kthxbai.”
It’s like, “Look-shiny new features. Now stop asking about guild housing because you aren’t getting it.”
Ok, I’ve gotten a little off-topic here, but overall I am a big fan of the new guild system and I am very excited to experience it in action.
For achievements like “Bushels and Bushels”, will the amount of herbs I (and other guildies) have farmed before Cataclysm count towards that total? Or do we all start at zero when this gets implemented?
Good question, I believe guild achievements are NOT retroactive.
The only exception would be the We Are Legendary one.
Question about “mobile banking” and “have group, will travel”: Does the guild share a cooldown, or can anyone in guild with enough rep to use it do so independently? For banking I’d feel bad using it if it meant no one else could for an hour, but mass transit almost feels too useful if everyone gets it. Not that I’m complaining 🙂
I just confirmed it. Looks like the cooldowns are individual. I activated my Guild bank ability with a 1 hour cooldown. It did not trip the cooldowns for anyone else in the guild.
Not sure about the mass teleport one. I suspect it works the same.
What I’m confused about, it it advantageous for our guild to start working on the ‘Guild Edition’ achievements when 4.0.1 comes out, or should we be waiting for Cata?
I realize the Guild Perks won’t be out until Cata, but will points achieved accrue, allowing those to count when Cata releases?
I don’t see the connection between guild size and whether the xp cap is daily or weekly.
You say that with a 10k weekly cap, Mammoth guild could score it in 2 days, but the smaller guild would take 5 days. But couldn’t you equally argue that with a daily cap, Mammoth guild would reach it by lunchtime, while the smaller guild would take all evening as well?
Seems to me the difference between daily and weekly caps is that for guilds full of kids and basement-dwellers, every day is much the same and it will be easy to hit the cap every day. But for guilds mostly made up of full-time working adults, they might not tend to hit the cap during the week, only on Saturday and Sunday.
Having said that, I suspect the cap won’t be too hard to hit for any guild of even moderate size and activity.
Bingo on the play time. Might be harder for guilds with players who are full time working or full time students to contribute to a daily cap. They might have an easier shot of doing so over the weekend instead.
I will be interested to see how this changes attitudes to members, not least those who may contribute in ways which do not always involve actively raiding.
That is one of my main issues with previous guilds, and the reason why I have through choice remained guildless for a good number of months now.
Indeed, Envoy. The line between raiding guilds, PvP guilds, social, casual, hardcore, and whathaveyou guilds have blurred since a large assortment of activities will eventually strengthen the guild overall.
I really do have to say, I’m not a huge fan of the idea that guild members will be keeping heirlooms after ditching a guild.
I do wonder how common it will be to have people join and stay just long enough to snag some rewards.
Also, I really, really wish they were making the Guild Achievements go live in 4.0.1. It’d be great to have something to get my people motivated to do.
Jadissa: I forgot to mention. Some of the items have reputation requirements to wear them as well.
I think.
Diplomacy ftw.
Heya, any word on what the daily cap is at the moment? both a number and as a percentage of the xp bar?
i am aware numbers are buffed by 500%, but ill just divide by 5, wont i 😛 hahaha – hope you can help.
Gazz, I’m sorry but the cap seems to change. I haven’t had time to look at it any closer. But I’m going to spend a little more time on the beta when I can and see what I can find out for you.
Hey Matticus,
I have a question for you. Are dungeon guild achievements (Molten Core / Trial of the Crusader / blah blah) retroactive? Or should we redo once Cataclysm launches?
Thx in advance and excuse my poor english ^^
Kainic
Kainic,
There are two sets of dungeon achievements: One for you personally and one for your guild. When I checked my raiding tab, it showed I had cleared out Karazhan, and Molten Core and so forth.
But when I checked my guild tab, it says I have to do those same achievements WHILE in a guild group.
Hi Matticus,
Do you know if guild achievements will include details of who completed them? I’ve organized my guild into going after a heap of these in small groups and it will happen at all sort of times, including when none of my officers are online.
I’d like to offer bounties for some completed achievements and I can’t see a way to track who was involved at the moment. Stuff like the names of the 4 guild members who completed a dungeon is what I’m after.
Maybe the armory feeds will show it on individual characters, but I’m wondering if there is anything in-game at the moment.
cheers,
Eaowyn