Alliance and Server

We have 2 main questions , one is what server the alliance goes to, and the other is how are we going to work as a alliance on gw2.

I think server selection is not as important as alliance having a structure on gw2.

ALLIANCE

Each guild can create their own guild and we can meet on the forum, mumble, steam chat, xfire , etc etc ... and wait for arena net to implement something like a alliance that will merge us into one in-game system again.

Or According to this http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Guild the guild limit is now 50 and can be upgraded to 500.
I dont think our alliance as more then 500 active players, so i still think it would make sense to merge everyone into one guild.

Imagine if we can pull out of this alliance a near 500 members guild

i eard many of you talking about guild traditions , guild caracter , guild rules , guild colors , guild sex orientation , guild everything ... but we have one thing in comum, and that is to have fun, that is what made this alliance right ?

SERVER

After the last and final beta event we came to the conclusion that crystal desert was not a unpopular server and it was full after a while.
it was also true that all US servers got full at some point ?
Did anyone tried the guest system in anyway ?

For Reference here goes the links from other threads
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/32389-world-choice-guilds-and-communities/
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/World

Please explain your pool selection and pick a server from the wiki list, if possible give a reason for server selection. Even if its just , i think it will be empty.


My choices are , we make one guild with everyone on the alliance and we move into a server that we can all fit in ... i have no clue how to chose a server that we can be sure it will have space for us.

Discussion in HEH is still ongoing, so best I can do here is give my own opinion on the matter.

One big guild will not cut it, simply because you cannot follow the chat there at the same time, and most of us are quite attached to their own guild, with the alliance coming (distant) second. So they would probably only look at the AC when there is nobody at all in their own guild (which will be rare, unlike GW1 now).

That makes the idea of an alliance (with its communication as a vital part of it) useless, so I think Anet doesn't offer us a good way to keep the alliance alive in GW2. The option then is either to disband the alliance, or to look elsewhere for options. Steam for example offers the option to chat, and occasionally voice-chat (i'm not a huge fan of that, because of the noise involved for surroundings, and requiring a headphone, which I prefer not to wear). Add Mumble or Ventrilo to that for the real voice stuff, and I think we are quite set. Steam of course comes with its own set of problems, mainly that you cannot see it well if you have GW maximized. There are solutions for that (either alt-tab around, or have GW run windowed, or just idle somewhere else , I'm not quite sure about the overlay, haven't tried that), and I think it offers a better chance than just killing the alliance.

As for servers, I think an euro-server is preferable, because most of our members are European, so the American servers will be quiet at best when we're awake. I would hate to wait until late in the evening to see activity, and that goes for probably everyone with a job starting in the morning. So far Lakeside looked good, not very busy, but enough life to make things interesting.

As said, only my opinion...

My suggestion is go to same server if we want to maintain an ally-feel, but resist the drone mentality of a mega guild and allow each at least the chance to have a valid presence in GW 2.

RLR's Collective mind is made up. We have decided to keep our own identity in GW2 . We've spent 6 yrs making it what it is and we can't give that up. If we all join together in a secondary guild to keep the ally together for alliance party ups and alliance events until an alliance option is available, then sure We the leaders and officers at RLR Will allow members to participate, but overall they will be expected to represent RLR for the majority of their time. As I mentioned previously, I still think our best bet is to use mumble/steam/vent or other and the ally forums to keep us together. I love a great many of you in the Alliance as gw/gw2 friends and hate the thought of losing contact with you all and a good many I consider friends socially outside of gw/gw2. I'll accept any invites sent to me from this Alliances guilds and would love to and will spend time in each. but overall my focus will be what is best for RLR. As for server I can't say. Seems whichever we choose ends up full early and only about 1/3 of us can get in. Henge has been RLR's fallback on the bwe's but otherwise I'm open for any.

I'm with Kiera and Rick. The start of GW2 is the prime opportunity to grow our own guilds with new members. I think it would be incredibly easy to maintain the alliance via the forums and mumble. I've played other MMOs where there is no option for alliances and they're maintained via a forum and shared voicechat.

Btw out of curiosity... The prev threads that have been removed indicated RLR, BOOM, and HEH planned to create in GW 2. Liar will as well. Why this new poll?

Because now we know a guild can hold 500 people, the guild limit was the only reason for not doing it in my opinion..

I'm with Kiera and Rick on this one as well. Every guild in our alliance has it's own presence and mind and they should be allowed to continue to grow. GW2 is a great way to bring members in guilds even closer than before, everyone working together to figure new things out. also, what with members in our guilds having gone silent waiting for this release, it will be good to have our newer and older members connecting and building up a strong guild.

Server wise, I honestly have no clue, having not been able to participate in the beta events, so I'm good with whatever AoL decides to do!

We cant discount what each gl previously stated because now the cap can go to 500, that was never the issue. the prev discussions were about walking away from all existing guilds to fold into a single one which was deemed unacceptable. The poll is flawed too as its not up to an unnamed majority vote to decide one way or another, its each Guild and then the individuals in each Guild (oh and all forum accounts can vote, regardless whether still in an allied guild here or not

I don't see it working. In a perfect world yes. From the things I've heard there are going to be different focuses for different groups in GW2. I'm thinking one mega guild would be unrealistic. 500 members would be really hard to jeep up with. I like the idea of an alliance server, but even there I don't see it happening. Maybe an idea would be to split up by interests, mostly pvp players go one place pve another, etc.

As of right now I have about a dozen members that want BOOM to continue into GW2. Some of which not wanting to join AoL, so BOOM will be moving into GW2. Some of my members are euro players and are thinking of joining a euro server for the PvP benifits and chance of less lag. Thats not a problem with me. The guesting option that wasn't available in the last B.E.W. will solve that. I do like the Idea of maybe , the Leaders and some Officers joining the other alliance guilds to maintain the connection. The Idea of getting as large a group of players as possible in the same server is also very good. The last B.E.W. A-Net reduced the # of servers and supposedly raised the population caps. All servers filled fairly quickly . I saw Henge of Denravi seemed to be one of the last servers to fill on each of the days. It seems something like ventrillo will be the only real link as of now to keep the largest amount of alliance members (in touch). With regard to influence and such. I play this and other games to relax and seek enjoyment, A player should place his or her influence where they believe it to be deemed at that time. I am pretty laid back , and won't care if a person is a member of BOOM and places influence elsewhere, as long as they are friendly, have fun, and help out when they can in group activities. [ My 2 cents worth] Thank You..

the pool was not to make a decision out of it , it was just to have a feel of what people think about this idea. I agree that is unrealistic but being this a game my hope for unrealistic dreams will always try.
We are all going to do what is in our reach, i understand that.
I always had this vision of the alliance being a big guild but it was never like that.
Each guild as its own pride just like each member within a guild. Members change guilds and guilds change alliances.

HEH will go to GW2, that was written in stone 7 million years ago, a stone that we found from HEH gh. So therefor having only one guild in alliance doesn't get my vote. Each guild continuing in GW2 is something I see is best, and we make alliance same what it is in GW1. 
 


My dedication and influence that I gather will go to HEH. I don't see me gathering it to anywhere else for a loong time from launch, as there are very interesting Guild Upgrades we can seek together as guild.

There are players who find 500 members "terrifying" idea and there are players who find it "friggin cool" idea. Having the option of alliance gathering place is good. Like I actually suggested to all leaders at the Leaders section of this forum, we could try this: start using Steam program and create a community page there, to support this transition time of alliance, until A-net creates us something in game. People come and go in game but can always join the group chat of the steam AoL group. This my suggestion cause I found that Steam supports & helps HEH in many awesome ways.
 


Something that we shortly talked with some of the officers was Guild Privacy. Some of us guilds don't wish to be open for everyone to join, and are a tight circle of friends. Neoteo, does whole original AoL guild want to be mixed with other guilds? If not, just create AoL guild from the launch, AoL that is just for AoL. Also, make Alliance of AoL. Invite All AoL members first to AoL and then seek names of current alliance leaders and invite us to that alliance group you created. Create ranks that suit the group. Then the leaders invite in everyone from their guilds who wants to join. Then we have made an actual, in-game effort to bond us. We all live our lives forward in our own home guilds, but as we see familliar names stocking up in Alliance AoL-guild, we can whisp them or hop in to represent and chat. We could even gather weekly to test GUEST-possibility (because for example HEH goes to EU world, of which we make final decision near launch) and take group pictures in various places. Last beta I was experimenting Hide & Seek, and that will be an awesome event, heh heh.., not to mention Screenshot Contests. 
 


Some guilds might start recruiting from start, and therefor it wont be balanced how many members from each guild joins the alliance group. Thats why leaders + and several officers from each guild is important to have there in start, so we continue the Pyramid-chain-of-command type of thing when gathering. I guess there are a lot of things to decide or make a rule about if we decide to make that Alliance gathering place, for example if member leaves a guild, we must remember to kick from the Alliance group..or NOT? Hehe.. 
 


Day by day we will see after launch how it will work out. If many feel the same: don't wanna lose touch with alliance, remember that phone works both ways, can't expect that everything is offered on a silver plate for you so make your own effort to stay in touch!! Keep in mind: Friendlist Friendlist friendlist, and these forums. (And hopefully Steam ) 



thank you hennu , reading your post inspired me to something even more astronomical ( insert evil laughter here )

i was dreaming small when i had the idea to pack us into a tiny 500 man guild.

what we can do is each one creates their own guild , and we create the alliance with our third party means ... and then each guild grows to be 500 ! this means we can reach 4000 members with our current 8 guilds !!!

im joking , but yes i guess this is a good option too , since anet will eventually add alliances into to the game.

Well the honest fact of it is of a "500 member alliance" how could we be sure if people want to be part of a mega guild. There's a lot of issues. What about activity? I bet you only one fifth of our totally membership are socially active. What about choice? As stated this is an oppurtunity to start fresh, and if guilds had decided to continue on in GW2 then the will do so. What if we give people the option to join the composite guild? That's there own choice. The only thing we need to decide is...

If your guild is continuing on in GW2...
What server you will be playing on...
If you want to be part of a "composite guild"...

Its all up to a guild's current leadership and more importantly the individual players. Lets let people make their choice- and lets keep people in the loop. This poll is not needed but the discussion probably is.

I think the talk boils down to, does anyone want to join AoL 2.0 in GW2 so that we can stay together. Though this is an admirable gesture- as a leader guild we need to give people the choice to follow their endeavors and make their OWN decision.

500 is a number that soon will not scare anyone ... to reach 500 will be as easy as

never kick inactives ... keep recruiting.

until the day you really need to kick the inactives to give room to the new ones

when someone said that maybe there would be no limit in guilds made me think that eventually everyone would be in the same guild on that server.

to explain the nature of all of this threads that i have created before someone thinks i want to be hitler.
main reason is to fire this discussions and put everyone trowing their ideas.
my opinion being that we should all be in one guild is to express how i want to keep this alliance together. i know is extremist , unreal , out of this world , insane , ridiculous ... but ... it's a option

@Hennu you hit the nail on the head with what I was trying to convey. The poll gives me the impression that this is an "absolutist" sort of approach to a community problem. It speaks to point that theres so much discussion, and that discussion is good discussion.

@Neo I understand what you are trying to get across perhaps better than you realize. The fact of the matter is its going to be EXTREMELY trying in the upcoming months to MAINTAIN the connections we have between guilds let alone build upon what we have.

With "mega" Guilds we'll have to deal with more membership issues
With "servers" we'll deal with hosting issues that will keep us apart
More over...I don't want to be dramatic but I think alliances are going to die out because the management is going to be a bitch. I think Neo recognizes this, and he really wants to salvage what we have ALL built for these years. We don't want to rob guilds of their identity so much as we want the people we've grown up with, shared this game with to be close by. The closest an alliance can get in GW2 it seems is by being in a "mega" Guild. It really is unfortunate but we have to respect the decisions guilds are making.

I think the "mega" Guild concept is something that everyone will have to deal with whether we each make our own guilds or make a composite. I personally want quality over quantity- its easy to build up the numbers but its difficult to build the community. I would much rather take our time in building larger guilds and the "larger" AoL community. Its important now to think of ways we might be able to manage our own guilds in a game where membership can exceed 400+ . Imagine this forum with 3 or more guilds with 250+ members who may or may not know each other, imagine voice chat with rooms of 15+ people. Its not too crazy to see how this will become a zoo.

I want the best for all guilds, I want the best for this alliance but the best course of action is to control growth and perhaps having a "mega" Guild will be a good way to start out the game but if we choose to part paths perhaps additional forums need to be made. I don't want to banish people from the forum nor am I suggesting that "If you're not with us you need to hit the road" but we need to maintain the integrity our social mediums to get the most out of them.

I am very torn on this issue. Not sure what will happen in GW2. The idea of having a large active guild seems like a great way to ensure there is always something new to try and different groups of people with different focuses. I know if I decide I want to start doing PVP it will be harder not having an alliance Chat to see if anyone is doing it. Or say one guild starts doing a lot of dungeons... You get the idea. It will be hard without alliance chat to see whats going on. Having one guild will make it easier for a noobhead like me to get in to all that GW2 has to offer.

I am concerned with the lack of ability to communicate with other guilds in GW2. I think if we end up in separate guilds that will be the end of it.

But at the end of the day I am 100% loyal to AoL so where they go I go!

Ps I think the pros of a Mega guild out weight the Cons.

It seems a consenus (including members of ros) is for groups and guilds to stay w/ the members they most conect with. But still maintain contact w/ alliance and alliance members. So for me the most important issue is what server. It seems that if all our guilds and the alliance guild itself can pick one server it will only help for grouping for wvw, high end dungeons, and just fun silly stuff. We members of ros really dont care which na sever we pick, would just like to know what the consensus of ally members are.

I am a fan of steam, i use to make maps for half life 2 deathmatch, if i could i would still do it, i want to look into the comunity aspects of it. And try the always on top functions.. Etc

I think it best to allow guilds to migrate themselves into GW2, then join up on mumble, etc for the time being. Im sure maintaining identity will be important to some leaders.

As for servers, I think we need to be careful not to start in a server that is under-used. I think it important to be on a relatively active server that will allow for "running into" others in-game. If for no other reason than for a little recruitment activity.

There's my two cents

This discussion is out of date.

there will be no merged guild

The selected server of AoL is BlackGate

Im closing this thread