Guild Membership Sales

From Gaile Gray:

Some of you may have heard about guilds selling memberships. It happens sometimes, and we really don't have a position on it, although some on the team feel strongly about it privately.

A high-ranking guild is currently offering to sell "temporary memberships" to their guild. I don't know what's driving the buyers, whether it's wanting to get high-level training or whether it's a desire on the part of the player to gain the reward connected with the fun season just concluded on the Guild Wars Ladder. If a purchase is based on the regards, then two things need to be known:

• The reward for this "fun season" is temporary, and it will go away at the end of the 1st Qualifying Season of the GWFC.
• The reward only applies to those who are active members of the guild, not those who have joined on a temporary basis. So if you join and are cycled out for another temporary member, you will outright lose the reward and you will not be able to get it back.

Anyone considering buying their way into a guild needs to be aware that they may be getting exactly what they seek or they may end up with far less than they bargained for, depending on their personal objectives. I hope providing the information above will help answer a couple of questions about the in-game item and guild membership sales.

that's what happens when almost every guild wars ladder event is made for the top 10 - top 20 guilds.

Bleh...I'm feelin sick....bleh...cough

Thats so lame...

Top guilds sell membership? That is so lame - my opinion of them drops even lower

Indeed - that's about as lame as it gets. Well, it takes more to be a "Top" guild than only having a good rank, obviously. In terms of ethics, these guys seem to be a "Bottom Guild"...

The concern we had was that people were not disappointed by the outcome if they were purchasing the guild reward. Now that the guild is making it clear that the reward is temporary, and that it will expire of the person leaves the guild, all should be well on that part of it.

We don't have an official position against selling guild memberships, as long as it is for in-game items or gold, which this is. It's a great guild and they consider the gold given as "donations" to help them acquire items for their competitive characters. I guess now that everyone knows the conditions of the reward, as to the guild membership sales, if everyone is happy -- buyer and seller -- it's really between them. It's not something I expected to see, but capitalism shows facets that continuously surprise me.

Slightly off-topic: Does anyone know what exactly the reward is?

Out of curiosity, what exactly is so wrong about selling temporary guild membership positions?

Nothing, if you read the words right.
This is a clarification about the workings of the new in-game reward, so that players won't buy membership for this reason. Because they won't get then what they had hoped for.

Are the people buying these temporary guild memberships being trained or whats the deal?

There is no rule against it. Few do it, but no rule prohibits it in any way.

The only thing that is wrong is if the person is buying to attain the "guild reward" that is being distributed this week. If that's the case, the prospective buyer needs to know (1) it will go away if he leaves or is removed from the guild and (2) it will only last until the end of the qualifying season (unless you are No. 1).

With communication about those issues, then it's a free market.

Those people were appearently tricked into thinking that by buying their way into the guild, just being a guild member could allow them to get the special rewards from the guild thingy that's comming up.

So, buying membership to get those rewards is kind of like being scammed?

Or not so much tricked as "led to believe"

That is everyone's guess. It could be training, it could be fame powerlevelling, it could be bragging rights to belong to a high ranked guild. Or the in-game reward, in which case they won't enjoy it long aparantly.

I would hope that the benefit is at least training... it's kind of silly to pay just to say you're in a high ranked guild :/

To each his own I guess.

im sure there are a lot of people out there that would pay just to have bragging rights. I dont see the point of it but hey whatever floats your boat

Well, the only thing I really can see for bragging rights:

1. enter high ranked guild
2. make screenshot of you being in the high ranked guild
3. apply for membership with ohter mediocre (/high) ranked guild, saying you were in guild X.

.............

This sounds so strange, it can't be true... Then again, some people are very talented in bending their minds in strange ways.

Easy way to get a tombs group too.

Well, most people are members in good guilds because they are good players and deserve it. So most people will assert that someone wearing maybe an iQ or LuM or EviL tag is an elite player.

Buying a top ranked guild tag is like buying a Ph.D. degree in real life. Technically it might be legal in some cases or countries, but people who have a real one will consider you lame for doing it...

A top ranked guild should be better then people selling Ph.D. degrees, don't you agree?

I would argue that their guilds are on top because their members are good, not because their members "deserved" to be in a top guild. They worked for their rank X guild, so if they really wanted to sell memberships, they can go ahead and do so. It may be lame, but lame =/= unethical.