A Guildless World

Now, I know there are plenty of articles about what a guild is and how to run one; today I would instead like to give the guildless people, people who are not part of a guild, a chance to be in the spotlight. If your main interest is to recruit more people to your guild, please carry on.

There are many types of people you should be familiar with when you attempt to increase your guild's member count!

First and foremost, some disclaimers. I am not going to complain or say bad things about guildless people. For whatever reason they may have to lack a guild, I certainly respect that. In fact, I want to highlight and give nuances to the most common "types" of guildless people, because not every person has the same reason. I would also like to embrace the fact that this is simply the way I see it. If you see it differently, by all means, I am not asking you to change your point of view.

A: I just don't want to be in a guild, because.....

This is a very large group of guildless people and has its own varieties too.

Let's fill in the blank:

A1. ...I've never seriously considered it or even looked at that part of the site.

This is a variation that has got a high chance of getting rid of their guildless status, simply because there comes a point in their Neopian life when they get curious and want to discover something new. They might have been too young to discover the guild world and since the guild neoboard icon is pretty far down, it's possible they just didn't have a reason to check it out.

A2. ...I suspect guilds to be secret societies who hold contests, which are against the rules, and will force the members to break rules.

I've seen a lot of people with this in their mind. Although they are in fact correct about contests and such being forbidden by Neopian Law, their actual thought about every guild holding these is entirely wrong! I've seen plenty of guilds who are simply a group of people chatting and indeed having a few competitions, but completely following the rules because they don't give away items or Neopoints!

A3. ...I don't have time to manage my activity in a guild and only get on this site for my dailies and such.

This is the variety that has lost their interest in Neo for the most part and will maintain that loss in interest for the sake of their outside life. They are afraid of being dragged back to Neopets, because they might get emotionally attached to the people in the guild and don't want to leave them behind. Many of these people have been in a guild in the past and have had to leave them for real life situations.

A4. ...there is an option to send Neomails and there are Neoboards. I have no need for a specific group of people or desire privacy among them.

I am pretty sure I don't have to explain this one. These people simply don't feel the need for a guild, because they are satisfied with the options of Neomailing and chatting on the Neoboards.

B: I am looking for a guild, because.....

This is the opposite group of guildless people. Those who don't have a guild right now, but are working on it. Again, there are variations. Let's fill in the blank again, shall we?

B1. ...I want to make new friends and be part of a(n) (exclusive) group of people.

There we have it, the largest variation! A group of people who want to expand their friends circle and make some long lasting friendships. Usually they aren't too fussy about the theme. Sort of like home will do. These people will either stay for a long time or leave immediately because they are in fact picky about their new family.

Their decision to stay or to leave the guild behind can be influenced by a number of things: literacy (getting annoyed about the lack of capitalization, the length of the posts etc.), no personality matches, (which usually results in lurking and eventually a retreat back into the guildless shadows), the pace of the guild board (either too slow or too fast) or a sudden lack of interest in Neo.

B2. ...I only want to hang around with people my age.

It's very common nowadays. Board titles such as: "Looking for adult guild.", "Adult Neopian player seeking guild." or "Guildless, 18+ only." are now daily seen on the Guild Boards.

Why are they highlighting the fact they belong to the age group of 18 and over and say no to guilds that don't require you to be a Neopian adult?

There are a few answers to that. They are either afraid of the immaturity of the people in guilds without an age restriction, because they either lack literacy or aren't capable of handling "big" topics, they want to hear stories of people and their further expanded life experiences and simply get tired of hearing people whine about school or they are afraid of being kicked out due to inactivity and fear that the non adult guilds have a message board they can't handle.

They feel that adult guilds are more tolerant towards the members because everyone works and has a plethora of priorities which Neopets isn't actually part of.

B3. ...I just returned from a hiatus and think guilds are perfect to help me get back into the swing of things.

This variation is also often seen. People with ancient accounts or newly made, because they somehow lost access to their old account, are a daily occurrence. Their intro post most likely includes a short reason for their absence and/or return, an explanation why they aren't really a newbie and/or about how they used to be really into guilds and would like to experience the same feelings as back then. For example, if they used to be roleplayers in the past, they most likely start looking for one again to get back into roleplaying. They can also opt to give other guilds a chance or just look for either.

B4. ...I want help with a certain aspect of the site.

Most often seeking a theme guild. Whether it be about habitarium, artistic stuff, games, avatars or something else, they want to be among people with the same interest(s).

They usually seek help and want to improve themselves. They can be either new to the subject or close to an expert. They might also consider joining block guilds, because those are certain to have people with interests that match theirs.

B5. ...I'm really into a certain fandom and I want to talk about it all day and all night!

This is the non neopets related version of type B4 and instead of seeking help, they would love to go crazy with a bunch of people about anything that relates to their favorite fandom.

That's it for the I (don't) want to be in a guild, because... groups, now onto the next one:

C: Why are people still guildless after searching?

Why do some people still opt to stay guildless even after searching for one? Is it their own choice or are they forced to stay guildless? I will provide and discuss several possible answers to these questions.

C1. Makes a topic and forgets about it.

This happens on almost every board, whether it be the pound chat, avatar chat or guild chat. Sometimes you are all set on making a topic, but all of a sudden you realize something very important you must do first. On the guild chat, recruiters post their advertisements like usual. Some even send a neomail. As soon as they notice that the topic creator isn't present and hasn't even posted since making the topic, most of them leave or nudge the topic every now and then. The creator will eventually return to a silent topic and are given several options: revive the topic, choose from the posted links, neomail some people for more information or simply create a new topic.

The latter is a good option if the topic is nowhere to be found.

C2. Kicked out of the guild.

These are people who got deleted because they had been rarely showing up or had been breaking rules in their guild. They will probably just look for another guild again soon, (because I personally have never heard of a guild blacklist) or take their inactivity as a sign and move on from guilds.

C3. The guild disappeared, oh no!

Sometimes people disappear for a little while, lose their time for the guild (Because of real life issues) and return to find themselves guildless! Despite having notified their guild leader and having their absence approved, they still have been kicked out! Or so they think. They soon neomail someone they remember from the guild and anxiously await their response. Only to find out.. The guild is no more! Yeah, that can also happen, while you are away or not!

Either guilds get too inactive and fall apart, or the owner(s) want to have some free time again. Nevertheless, the people once part of that guild have to start somewhere anew!

C4. Scares away potential recruiters with a largely inhabited topic.

The reason behind the extended duration of their guildless period has got a few different possible causes.

Number one: Several friends and/or rejected recruiters have settled in. Being polite enough to let them stay, the group ends up chatting. However, this will have a negative effect on new potential recruiters, because they usually assume they have found a guild and decide not to advertise. This will result in the original poster to give up their search and start over with a new boards, or a few more if it happens more often.

Number two: A group of friends is searching together. Seems fun and besides, who doesn't love a few members joining at the same time? However, they might have a hard time finding the perfect guild. Potential recruiters can feel left out if the friends get too much involved with one another. Their taste in guilds is also different, since one might like the guild and the other might not like it at all. Their best bet is to continue searching.

C5. Finds it hard to choose, because everyone on their topic(s) has been so extremely nice!

While leaning towards variety B, there is a difference. This kind secretly enjoys the company of a lot of people and hesitates to choose. It usually takes days for them to actually make their choice and do actually regret having to decline the others. Besides, it's a good thing to consider well before joining a guild! By saying something like "If this doesn't suit me in the end, I'll keep your guild in mind!" or "Yours was pretty awesome too, though!" they try to comfort the other recruiters.

C6. Wants to be more than just a member so spends ages searching for a few people to make with.

New guilds are sprouting all over the place and the overall number of guilds is increasing every single day. Some people just can't sit still and want to have a lot of influence in the making of something new. However, not everyone in this group just makes their own guild, but rather joins in with some other people who are already in the process of making a guild.

And with that, I would like to put an end to this article. I hope the people seeking to add new people to their family now realize there are many different types of guildless. So they must keep that in mind while recruiting, but they should remember that they do have one thing in common: some empty space on their user lookup!