Filed under: Guilds

The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including the famous Random Acts of Uberness shout-outs to players who make WoW memorable.

"The Llane forum has a great contest going from a guild named <Monolith>," writes WoW.com reader and enthusiastic tipster Gimmlette of <Spectacular Death>. "They have been around since the server went live, and with some of the top raiding guilds on Llane folding their tents and going home, that alone says a lot. The contest is ingenious and falls in the 'I wish SD had Arthas on farm so we could do this.'" What is this ingenious contest, you ask? <Monolith> is taking up to two players a week to ICC-25 to slay the Lich King -- and it's not gold they're asking for. What is this mysterious payment they're asking of applicants?

"Well ... you will have to tell us why you want to kill the Lich King," writes <Monolith>'s Beruthiel. "You can do this in any number of ways: a short essay, a piece of fan fiction, a short comic or a roleplay story are all acceptable submissions! Regardless of your method, what you need to convey to us is what makes killing the Lich King important for you. We don't care about your gear, your GearScore or how amazing a player you are. What we do care about is why it is important for you to kill the Lich King. Creativity is encouraged!"

If you're a Hordie on Llane who'd like to give this a whirl, visit the forum thread linked above for all the details. This sounds like a creative contest from a classy guild -- best of luck to all involved!

Let's crack open The Classifieds ...

Blue poster Mumper was busy the past day or so answering questions about guild advancement over at the forums. His answers are spread over several posts, so we've compiled some of the most useful answers for you. If you've been curious about how guild XP will work in Cataclysm, hopefully Mumper's answers will shed a little more light onto the situation.

Polegara asked:

What exactly contributes to guild XP at the moment?

Mumper

Guild experience can be earned in any of four ways:

1. Completing quests / daily quests that reward experience
2. Killing any dungeon / raid boss with a guild group/raid
3. Winning a rated battleground with a guild group/raid
4. Earning a guild achievement (these are nice, fat chunks of experience so they feel great when you get em)

A guild group/raid is 4/5, 8/10, 12/15 or 20/25 members of the group/raid being guild members.

source

The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness.

When I receive an especially tasty tidbit or tip to tuck into The Classifieds, I usually nudge it quietly into my 15 Minutes of Fame or World of WarCrafts folder so that I can give it a little more breathing room and chat with the creative force behind whatever's going on. I could do that for the lead of this week's The Classifieds, too -- but I'm not going to. The folks behind TheOpenTicket.net have cast a mind-bogglingly huge net of humor and parody over an entire web site, twisting current world and WoW news into wry stories, cartoons and videos. Want more? Just explore the site -- it's all there.

"TheOpenTicket.net ... (no ads, just fun) that has been writing fake news stories about Azeroth since WoW open beta," writes co-creator Caldwel. "The site is written, designed, and illustrated by myself and one other from the Shadowsong (US) guild <Redridge County College>. Up until this past January, our stories were just published solely on our guild site, but after prodding to write more stories, we decided to move it off to its own site. We do one story a week and try to tie in some timely world events. ... Our current story which mimics the iPhone4 fiasco and has the head of Gnomish Engineering handing out free rubber bumpers for the malfunctioning devices."

Ready for something a little more (ahem) actual, factual about the WoW community? Let's crack open The Classifieds ...

The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including our famous Random Acts of Uberness.

While we at WoW.com are hard at work puzzling out the latest round of changes from the Cataclysm beta, we've got something for you to puzzle over as well: a "Where in the World of Warcraft?" crossword puzzle from The Puzzle Hub. This one's themed around places throughout Azeroth, Outland and Northrend. If that mind-bender strikes your fancy, there's a "Who in the World of Warcraft?" version, too. Thanks for the tip, Benji -- these look they'll most assuredly help keep our minds off the agony of watching beta test class changes scritching and scratching back and forth.

Let's crack open The Classifieds ...

The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including your shout-outs to perpetrators of the famous Random Acts of Uberness.

Have you ever wondered what lies on the other side of the mountain? What's going on down there below your flight-path flyover? Wonder no more: The Glitch Hunters have arrived to show you the unspoiled areas of vanilla WoW in all their pre-expansion glory. Contrary to their name, The Glitch Hunters explore entirely on live servers with no exploits or trickery. They use simple tactics to gain access to difficult-to-reach areas, including Levitate, Slow Fall, vehicle mounts, Death Grip and the liberal use of pally bubbles. "We're traversing the continents and documenting all the weird and unique landscapes and borked terrain before the Cataclysm revision hammer destroys them for good," explains Glitch Hunter Alyssa of Dawnbringer (US). Explore the entire series -- now some six episodes deep -- on The Explorers League YouTube channel.

If the scenery of classic WoW leaves you feeling nostalgic, wander through our growing collection of galleries devoted to zones that will soon feel the sweeping hand of the approaching Cataclysm: Undercity, Scholomance, Eye of Eternity, Shattrath City, Sunwell Plateau, Azshara, Tirisfal, Redridge, Stranglethorn Vale, Western Plaguelands, Quel'danas, Trial of the Crusader, Deadwind Pass, Teldrassil, Tanaris, Blackrock Mountain, Thunder Bluff, Feralas, Mulgore, Moonglade, Ironforge, Westfall, Darnassus, Thousand Needles.

Vanilla WoW holds many charms -- but if it's more current news you're after, let's crack open The Classifieds!

The Classifieds brings you weekly news from around the WoW community, including your shout-outs to perpetrators of Random Acts of Uberness.

They came, they went ... And now <There and Back Again> is -- well, back again. This Thorium Brotherhood (US-A) guild, formed specifically to quest its way through a farewell tour of vanilla WoW Alliance content from start to finish, has hit the level cap, marked its territory and is preparing to launch a similar effort Horde-side.

"After starting with over 100 members who joined us (in most part due to your article!), we ended up with around 35 who stuck through to the very end," reports GM Mistigris. "Lots of adventures along the way! Foot races through Stranglethorn, marches through Dalaran, cooking contests, random dungeon madness, tons of visits to the NPC that turns off XP ... We did ZG and Karazhan at very close to level cap, and there is a robust kernel of folks who are gearing up for 80th heroics and raiding."

Time now for the flip side of the coin. "We're going to nest within <Imminent Rueage> on Thorium Brotherhood (US-H)," Mistigris continues. "Our starting date is Saturday the 24th of July -- starting zones and guild invites galore! Level cap for the day is 12th; we'll be gathering the following week at Crossroads for our first 'official' event."

If you've been looking for just the right way to wrap up the pre-Cataclysm era, look up <Imminent Ruage> and give all things Horde-side one more for the road. We've got plenty of other news from around the WoW community this week, as well ... So let's crack open The Classifieds.

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself; email lisa@wow.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.

Required reading for this week's post: Setting an Incredibles standard for guild meetups

Synopsis <The Incredibles> of Boulderfist (US-A) sets the standard for designing WoW-themed guild meetups, with custom-designed collateral including an Oscars-style golden statuette volunteer award, picnic decorations, over-the-top publicity posters, game-themed menus -- even custom-designed, WoW-themed beer labels.

Evidence See the gallery below.



Want to learn more about that golden bird? Click past the break for more details about the incredible Increddy award.

The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Send it to TheClassifieds@wow.com.

Waldo's for noobs. Carmen Sandiego belongs in the kiddie pool. The name of the game for deep-diving members of <Kumpania> (Turalyon [US-A]) is "Where in Azeroth is Sofa?" You see, <Kumpania> GM Cowpies is no couch potato -- he's got "Sofa," his alt, running all across Azeroth to find the ultimate hiding spot for a hide-and-go-seek contest awarding the lucky winner a cool 4,000 gold. Each day, contestants poke through clues posted on the guild forums and make their best guesses in guild chat. "If the guess is close enough to his location, he logs into the contest toon," explains guild officer Mellyne, "and if you're in line of sight, you win."

A few sample clues:

• Sounds like a CLASSIC from 1973.
• When you figure out what these have in common, it will help you down the road: Benjamin Franklin, Ronald Reagan, Joan of Arc, John McCain, Hellen Keller, David Letterman, Phil Collins, Carol Burnett, Michelangelo, Barack Obama.
• It would be hard to put a square peg here. ... If I face NW of my location, I feel the bitter sting.
• You must "listen" and be "turned on" to get some clue as to my location.

Sound like fun? <Kumpania> members think so, too. Despite a winner last week, everyone had so much fun that Cowpies/Sofa is starting another round with an all-new location and all-new clues. "We're not a raiding guild, we're a social/leveling guild that occasionally makes a Naxx run," Mellyne says. "This contest does wonderful things for us, bringing members together and getting them on our website. Even for the folks not participating, it's truly funny to watch everyone making their guesses." Kudos to Cowpies for donating the time, prize money and creative energy to make this four-year guild tradition such a resounding success. (And by the way, Sofa's location from the photo above is listed at the end of this week's column.)

Let's crack open The Classifieds ...

• Cash Flow (Rank 2): Each time you loot money from an enemy, an extra 10% money is generated and deposited directly into your guild bank.
• Hasty Hearth: Reduces the cooldown on your Hearthstone by 15 minutes.
• Guild Mail: In-game mail sent between guild members now arrives instantly.

The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Send it to TheClassifieds@wow.com.

MMOs aren't MMOs unless you're doing plenty of the MMing part -- and <The Incredibles> of Boulderfist (US-A) are doing an incredible job at an incredible amount of just that. This incredible guild (can you tell we think they're incredible?) is one of those gregarious guilds that organizes annual real-life meetups. With publicity posters (like the portion of last year's poster, above). And hotel welcome packages. And WoW-themed meal menus. And custom-made golden statuette awards (à la Oscars) for guild volunteers. And, and ... and don't forget the custom-designed, WoW-themed beer labels.

Yup, these folks from Arkansas have pretty much thought of everything a guild meetup could do, have or celebrate. We'll be talking more to <The Incredibles> next week, starting with a World of Warcrafts look the onslaught of creativity that goes into their event materials. Then on Tuesday, 15 Minutes of Fame will peek farther into the meetups themselves, plus the camaraderie and people behind the events.

In the meantime, we have a huge batch of Random Acts of Uberness, community news and guild recruiting this week, so let's get busy and crack open The Classifieds ...

New around here? We've got your back! See all our collected tips, tricks and how-to's for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide.

Guilds are in the news a lot recently. Not only are we talking about upcoming changes in Cataclysm, we're also talking about all the guild hopping and dissolving that goes on just before an expansion. So, this week, we're going to cover everything about guilds.

How to create a guild

If you want to create your own guild, you'll need some cash and friends (whom you may have to pay for). Here are the minimum steps you need to take to create a guild:

1. Go to a Guild Master. They are located in all capital cities. Just ask a guard for directions.
2. Purchase a Guild Charter. Ask about creating a guild and then choose the purchase option. You need 10 silver and a name.
3. Get 9 signatures. They can't be a bunch of alts from a couple of people. The signatures are by account. If you don't have 9 other people to help you form your guild, then you can recruit strangers. But strangers often expect around 10 gold for a signature.
4. Tip: Ask before throwing a Guild Charter in someone's face. Just because people are unguilded, does not mean they want to sign your charter. Ask politely in a whisper and wait for them to be ready. If they are at the mailbox or auction house, your slapping a charter in their face will kick them out of whatever they are doing. Someone who may have been willing to sign your charter for free, may refuse to sign if you don't ask first.
5. Register your Guild Charter. Return to the Guild Master and register your charter. Poof! You now have a guildname under your name.

In response to players' concern over guild organization and management in Cataclysm, Ghostcrawler's been frequenting a thread answering questions about their design goals for guild leveling and why developers decided to axe guild talent trees.

While you should definitely read all of his responses, there are a few points concerning the new system that really jump out:

• They didn't want to encourage guild-hopping, and forcing a guild to pick and choose among talents would have wound up suiting some players and not others (e.g. a guild leader picking PvE-oriented guild talents and alienating the more PvP-focused players in the guild). Hence the leveling system rather than the almost-inevitable squabble over which talents to get.
• Because only a certain number of people in the guild can advance your "level" at one time, there's a cap on the advantage a large guild would otherwise have held.
• "The guild bonuses used to be talents. They are now more like leveling spells. We call them perks now instead of talents. We haven't cut any content, but just changed the UI from boxes with prereqs to a list."
• The hazing ritual to get into Ghostcrawler's guild "is pretty dehumanizing."

The upshot is that Blizzard's trying to encourage guildies to stick together and reap the benefits of a strong guild without punishing players who don't feel they've got any choice but to move. I was initially worried about guild talents for just that reason, and the "leveling" system sounds like a much healthier way to do this.

The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Send it to TheClassifieds@wow.com.

Looking for a refreshing, silly and utterly engaging way to slip through a sweltering summer of pre-expansion doldrums? We have just the thing: the Ironman Instancing Challenge. Ever heard of naked Deadmines races? It's like that -- on steroids. Here's the best version of this event we've yet seen, from <The Risen> (Thorium Brotherhood [US-H]):

• Start with your character completely naked in Ragefire Chasm. Using only the gear you pick up during these runs, clear your way through every 5-man instance in WoW.
• You can Ironman alone or with a group. Eventually, groups become necessary.
• Any class abilities (like pets) are available at all times.
• Any mats needed to use class abilities/buffs are also fine.
• Screenshot every final boss you kill; it's on the honor system. All kills should be accomplished according to the gear rules of Ironman Instancing.
• You are welcome to farm instances for gear -- but again, you can only use gear picked up during Ironman Instance runs.
• You cannot instance with anyone not participating in the Ironman contest.
• The winners are the first five people to successfully clear every instance.

<The Risen>'s prizes include a special guild ranking for the winners -- a guild tradition and year-round reminder of the fun. Send us your best screenshots from your own Ironman Instancing Challenges and we'll share them here in The Classifieds.

And speaking of, let's crack open The Classifieds ...

Want to get into the beta and don't know how? Well, here's a chance for you and nine of your guild members to make it in. Blizzard is asking for players to send in a short essay on why their guild should be accepted into the beta and what they'll do to push the new Cataclysm systems to the brink. You'll be able to play with and give feedback on the new guild leveling system, updated professions, the new archaeology system and even run the worgen and goblin starting zones.

They'll be picking 100 contestants each week over the course of five weeks. Check the contest rules and then send your essay to blizzardcontest@blizzard.com to enter.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From goblins and worgens to mastery and guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.

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The Classifieds brings you weekly updates on news from around the WoW community. Have guild news or a Random Act of Uberness to share? Email TheClassifieds@wow.com.

Is it just us, or are players revving up the retro vibe to record RPMs? From retro and classic raiding to world PvP events, players are chasing away the pre-expansion blues by rocking and rolling some classic Southshore-Tarren Mill action. Case in point: a massive mix-up on Anachronos (EU-A) being organized for next weekend by <The Stormwind Crusaders>. "The aim of this event is to enjoy this epicness one more time before Cataclysm flushes Southshore away like Atlantis," write event organizers, "and of course for the generation of players who kinda missed the epic fights in the old days. (Yeah, I had to force some guildies to Google 'Southshore vs. Tarren' because they didn't understand that it's 100% wow cult!)" Organizers are hoping players from both factions will transfer or whip up a new death knight to come relive the epic tug-of-war battles of old on June 11 from 21:00-23:00 server time. Check the official realm forums for more details.

As often as we discuss zones and aspects of the game that will be changed in Cataclysm, it hadn't yet occurred to me for some reason that the epic Southshore/Tarren Mill battles of yesteryear will be forever wiped from our slates. If you never had the chance to submerge yourself in the madness back in the day ... Yeah, this is worth a pool of tears to drown your sorrows in. Talk about pure, addictive, adrenaline-fueled fun ... My first character became a Knight-Lieutenant, in fact, off kills made in the fields outside Tarren Mills. My brother-in-law and I would roust each faction from their respective homes every weekday afternoon to kick off the action, tempting them out with the prospect of an easy kill on the two little clothies scuttling along the roads. ("Easy"? Not for a second; we knew every dirty trick in the book.) I heartily endorse more recreations of these tug-of-war epics before Cataclysm alters the killing fields playing field forever.

Let's crack open The Classifieds ...