If you’ve been around in a guild long enough, you’ll be exposed to people with a diverse array of hobbies and people who work in varying fields.
I’ve raided with two Doctors (Ph.D professors).
I’ve raided with soldiers.
I’ve raided with politicians.
Policemen, Firemen, and ambulance personnel (EMT, I think?).
I’m almost positive that I’m not the first to have raided with someone who’s in IT in some capacity. Actually, I’d argue just about every guild had someone who’s worked in IT, or some related position.
Take advantage of their knowledge outside of the game. I once clogged a toilet and had a plumber guildie who taught me how to unclog it. My lawyer guildie gave me some helpful pointers helping me ace my US law class years ago. There’s no harm in networking with your own guild because you never know if they can hook you up with something or get your foot in the door somewhere.
Now if I could build a dream team of guildies based solely on their real life jobs, here’s what I would pick.
Lawyer
They might not be able to represent you or officially give you legal advice, but they can help you with suggestions and what’s right or wrong. Alternative: Police officers.
Mechanic
Totally not a car person.
Travel Agent
I like planning trips and vacations, but it gets a little overwhelming at times. Would be great to tap into the insight and tools of a travel agent.
Plumber
Really though, any person with a tradeskill would be a plus. They can give you pointers on home improvements or helping you troubleshoot problems.
Chef
Having a foodie on hand who can throw in tips about meals or getting started would be nice. Bonus points if they’re stars on the grill, too.
Bartender
For the times you need to loosen up and need drink suggestions. And they make great listeners.
Accountant
Someone to help with taxes every year!
Philanthropist
That’s just self explanatory :).
Retail
This one’s a little more common then you think. Nothing wrong with the occasional family and friend discount here and there. I’ve seen guildies hook up other guildies with tech hardware just to help boost their computer performance in game.
IT
Can’t forget these guys. They’re the ones that can help you resolve any computer issues and give you tips on upgrade suggestions as you need them.
Now if you do take advantage of the skills, you should show appreciation somehow. If they’re a player in the same area and they offered you a discount on something, use the money you saved and take them out to lunch. That’s just one example.
What about you? Have you ever tapped into the expertise or field of a fellow guild member? Or on the other side of the fence, have you offered benefits to your guild?
I’ve copyedited for a couple of guildies – one of them was in a creative writing class and needed his final paper read by someone else, stuff like that. I can’t do anything more practical, sadly… unless correcting their grammar and spelling counts. My boyfriend’s a programmer and sometimes he gives classes to our younger guildies who are still in school for computer science 😀
We’ve got a lot of IT people and they usually give advice in guild chat about computery stuff. One of them wrote me a nifty script to get rid of the results of a php injection on my blogs o/ It was twice as cool: he saved me a lot of time and he spared my boyfriend from having to remember Unix.
I’m not sure if you can contractually disclose that :S.
You forgot Customer Service Rep for the game you are playing, or at least some kind of MMO CSR who’s hooked into the network
@Feliz Haha, I can’t believe I forgot that! I’ve played for years with 2 Blizzard employees and yes, it did help a lot. Free transfers and prepaid 1 year game cards… No inside info though, I never found out the dates of the patches in advance or anything.
(And no, you can’t disclose that. They could have lost their jobs if I told anyone.)
You have to remember that what you are asking for is something these people get paid to do. They are logging in to the game to escape work. So not only are you asking them to work, but you are asking them to work for free.
So please be sensitive to your guildies. Be cognizant of when you are merely “talking shop” and when you are imposing on them. Ask politely, and don’t feel you “deserve” support just because you’re guildies. And if you are also a professional, be equally giving – or maybe gift your professional guildie with an in-game tchatchke as thank you. It may not be needed, or requested, but it will certainly be appreciated.
I have met all kinds, too. From soldiers currently serving overseas to medicinal marijuana growers in CA. I, myself, am a news anchor. People get a kick out of that, and they are always asking questions about current events trying to figure out which market. It’s cool to know the WoW-verse is so diverse.