Definition of a Family Guild

Raiding guilds take your time, energy, and focus. Social guilds take your conversation and company.

Family guilds take your firstborn.

It might seem a little offbeat, but it's an accurate description. A family guild isn't a place to sit around and hang out -- it's a legacy. Members are expected to tie themselves to the guild and bring in the people they care about, and when a member's child is old enough to start playing, we expect that kid to start playing with us.

Plenty of people confuse family guilds with social guilds. In social guilds, it's often perfectly all right to skip out of the guild without notice, come back, and just hang. Social guilds are very relaxed about member policies (you just have to be nice and not cause a ruckus) and focus more on social events or leveling than endgame.

Family guilds are never casual about who joins. It's like breaking into the mob. And it can be just as hard to break out. This is why family guilds often have very strict application processes and are wary of random recruits. Yes, that guy might be the best tank on the server, but how loyal is he? What does he need as a player, and what does he expect from us?

If a player expects to offer a family guild anything other than long-term commitment, possibly for the rest of his existence in the game, neither he nor the guild will find satisfaction together.

But family guilds, by their loyal and steadfast nature, and if emotionally healthy and possessing of a competent leadership, are the most stable guilds in the game. Their foundation is based not just on how well the guild does in a raid or how entertaining the other players are, but on a basic intense loyalty and trust that no matter what happens, no matter the slow raid progress or personal drama, guild members remain loyal to each other. Individuals may stop playing or fall away, but the guild itself will always remain. It is a rock to which members may cling when times are rough. It is a safe haven.

The best family guilds are forgiving, trusting, and unfailingly fair to members. The member base is made up by people with strong, unbreakable ties: family members, real life friends, and friends made through the game itself. That base slowly broadens as new members bring friends and family in. Sometimes sections break away. Sometimes they don't. But the guild always keeps a steady base that never panics because even if everyone new leaves, they will still have a fun game to play with the people they love.

And that's what it's all about. Playing a game with the people you love.

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Beth Blevins is an officer in In Vino Veritas.

She's a writer, artist and avid blogger.

Beth's been married since her junior year of college.