A Guide to Guild Hopping

Hey there, so imagine you want to be in a guild. Why would you want to be in a guild? To meet people and make friends most likely. Something that enhances your enjoyment of Neopets at any rate. Now then, you just have to join one!

'Great!' you may say, understanding that on the Neoboards there is a chat specifically tailored to help you find a guild – the Guild chat. It's very convenient.

But then as you enter, you realise all you see is a dozen colourful names, all trying to tell you about how great a certain guild is. How can you possibly know where to start?

Now a Guild hopper is someone who frequently joins and leaves guilds, supposedly looking for the perfect one and that may seem like a reasonable idea, trying each one out to see if you fit the guild but be wary of moving around so much. A problem may arise where you quickly began identifying what's lacking in each guild in your opinion without really taking in how nice it would be to stay.

And the more you tend to Guild hop, the worse it may get as you'll be more inclined to see the negative and any time you see something done well, you'll raise your standards as to what makes the ideal guild. In the end you may have limited yourself and struggle to fit in anywhere.

So what can you do?

Well, first off, don't just join the first guild you see and then rapidly attempt to integrate yourself. There's a rather nice convention on the Guild boards for people to make Guildless posts. That way, active members from a variety of Guilds will come to greet you and tell you all about their Guild and why they'd like you to join. (Sometimes there's boards about guilds on the avatar and Pound chat, you may have to come to them in that case.)

As well as informing you better of what to expect (bearing in mind that they may be ever so slightly prone to exaggeration), many will probably stay to chat with you while you try and make a decision and you can get to know at least one member before you join. This makes the guild feel less intimidating once you've joined, seeing as you already know someone.

As different guilds may be active at different times of the day, consider making more than one board in order to gather a few more options, though if you find one you like, then don't be too hesitant or you may lose your nerve altogether.

Unfortunately now you'll likely encounter another problem on your quest to find your ideal guild: all the guilds you've been introduced to sound interesting.

Bear in mind that you will probably have to reject some guilds and try to be nice and polite as you do so – you want them to like you and there's always a chance that you may find yourself considering their guild again in the future. Now the best way to know how to reject Guilds is to think about refining what you'd like to see in a Guild.

Do you want a small tight-knit guild where you know all the members really well or do you want a larger guild whose board is always active? Would you prefer a private guild that will send you the invite if they like you or would prefer an open and public guild? Would you like a guild with a definite theme so you know the members have similar interests or a themeless guild where you can chat about anything? Do you want an established guild with up-to-date activities or one that's not yet established and you can help it to grow better and really contribute?

Everyone has slightly different preferences and though it may be difficult, try to join a new guild that fits more of yours as you will feel more comfortable there. Don't make your requirements too narrow though or else you won't be able to find anything potentially.

So once you've finally chosen the guild, is it the right one for you? First off try introducing yourself so they can welcome you and maybe make their conversations more accessible until you've got to know your new guild mates. Then try making friends with everyone you meet, later this will give an indication as to whether they're online so you can know when you can chat with them.

Now you won't necessarily really integrate with your new guild right away but try and give them at least a week to warm to you. In that week attempt to participate where you can as it'll be appreciated. Obviously you can't be active all the time but don't be too shy.

After some time you may have come to the conclusion that you're not in fact fitting in. Maybe the members are all far more active than you so it's an effort to keep track of discussions. Maybe all the activities aren't well-maintained and it genuinely feels lacking. Maybe the guild is simply far more inactive than you anticipated and until it doesn't really feel like a guild.

If you don't fit in, then it is okay to leave; there's always new guilds that may be more fun or just better suited to you. There are nice people in every guild and if you can find them, then you'll probably enjoy yourself, so do keep looking!

Finally if you do have some great ideas of your own that simply don't seem present in other guilds, then another solution is to try and make your own guild. Anyone can do this, but you'll need help if you want to really make it good. Ideally someone should be able to be good at editing pages and you'll need a few keen active members to get you started. This might be a lot of work and you'll need to be active and dedicated to get it established.

The best way to start is to make a board in the build chat entitled 'making' and maybe some more details. People who wish to build a guild from scratch will come and offer help if you show some potential and keep at it.

Guilds are a great opportunity to join and do indeed make your Neopets experience more satisfying as you get to make good friends and get into interesting discussions. Don't be too discouraged if you can't find the perfect one immediately but be optimistic and try again. Guild hopping can be fun too, seeing all the different ways things are done and the different expectations from different people.