Originally Posted by |TG|SugarNCamo

To be fair, real life issues are but ONE reason he gave for quitting the guild. It is logical to admit, as members leave, that some "ostracizing" is going on even if it is completely unintended. But with many leaving the TG guild, for whatever reason, it's not helpful to ignore it completely.




At the risk of further stirring the pot, I do want to back up Atomic and say I really couldn't agree with you more. I've made two characters in the "TG" WoW guild about six months apart and both times I felt completely isolated and excluded. At times I was literally ignored. (I did PM an admin without knowing anything about who's girlfriend was with whom... Sympathies were expressed, I was told others felt the same... but I'm unaware if anything was said towards a change.) There ought to at least be the opportunity for another TG WoW guild where people can feel more welcome. Going from WoW to BF2, even with "TG" people, is like going from Mars to Venus. Maybe this isn't the thread to do it in, but I agree with you, and salute you, AtomicDog, for speaking up.

Well, I couldn't just let this ride. First, Atomic's post was generated when he was (ahem) under the influence...and was based from his perspective as a non-WoW player. While we welcome all input, it's difficult to respond to observations based only on watching the forums rather than actual in-game experience. Even so, your experience with WoW and our guild is your experience...not subject to argument. I also know that our guild is growing and adding new members at a rate greater than in the past, so the evidence of a "problem" is mixed.

I know we can do better about welcoming and incorporating new members. There is always room for improvement. If your experience was one of being ignored and isolated, that is an experience we regret and have worked to minimize its happening. I'm sorry if you felt ignored.

Part of our "reality" is that at this stage of our existence (2+ years of WoW), our guild is heavily weighted toward higher level players...level 60+ with a majority at or near level 70. For a new player, finding peers to venture and level with is much more of a challenge in that environment. We simply don't have enough beginners or low-level alts to make that easy. My personal experience on half a dozen characters is that most leveling is, in fact, a solo experience. Other's mileage may differ.

We have brainstormed from time-to-time about starting another TG-based WoW guild solely for the purpose of providing lower level players a place to hang out. We have thus far not pursued that, believing that (a) we don't want to further segment our TG WoW players, and (b) our shift toward squad-based groups DOES create the possibility of more peer grouping, including lower level players (mains or alts).