Sometimes I find myself awed by how much our guild has grown since Krystalle and I formed it back in February. Other times I am frustrated by how small we seem to be. As of this writing, I am kind of on the fence. I wanted to take a moment, however, to jot down some thoughts about our little group in general and where we would like to go with it.

Mitternacht was always meant to be a social guild. Our invites have primarily gone to real life friends, with a few exceptions being made for people who we have well established online relationships with. As a result, we are very hesitant to break out of that mold. Because we are friends, we can feel comfortable conducting ourselves in any manner we choose over guild chat. We don’t have to worry about hurting someone’s feelings, or being bitched at for talking about our day. It’s like a lounge that we’re all sitting around in, with the added advantage of having some fun playing a game at the same time.

Obviously, this will not last forever. Many of us have now gotten characters into the 50’s, and the looming question of “when will we start raiding” has to be addressed. We already lost one really valuable member of the guild (Rakk) due to his frustrations over not being able to find raid groups. We don’t want to lose any more.

So what do we do about it?

Well, the first thing that I suggest is that we all remember to be patient. We have built a good thing here, but it has happened slowly. When we first started we had little in the way of manpower and resources. Now? It’s fairly common to see a new avatar get not only a free tabard, but a full compliment of high slot bags and a few gold. Need tradeskill materials? Someone has them on hand. Want help running through an instance? Nine times out of Ten you can find someone who will go along. None of this was possible back in February. Who knows where we will be by NEXT February?

Yes, there are larger guilds out there. They have more money to pass around. They have more players. They have high level avatars and constantly raid. It’s tempting to just jump over to one of those guilds and focus on grouping with them if all you want to do is focus on your character.

But what we have here is a good thing. A strong thing. Our guild does not HAVE to be reduced to nothing more than a chat room. We CAN get to the point where we are a viable raiding guild, but in order to do so we have to stick together. We will never get there if we give up and take the easy route. If we succumb to the allure of “phat lewt” and uber raids.

We can do it, and we can do it our way. In order to do so, though, it’s going to take time, patience, and commitment. From all of us. It’s going to take setting aside your desire to level to help the person out who just joined the guild with their level 2 avatar. It’s going to require you to suck it up while you watch people who their created characters after you did and joined a large guild walk around Orgrimmar in their epic gear. It’s going to take being scoffed at as being an inconsequential guild by those who do not have the tenacity to stick it out. It means you have to take pride in your guild. Take ownership in it. Instead of complaining about how it’s not what you think it should be, ask yourself what you can do to help it get there. Make suggestions. Speak up. If you have a problem with something that is happening, talk to an officer. Do something positive. Be pro-active. Don’t just expect the guild to achieve greatness while you tag along for the ride. Make it happen.

Or don’t.

It’s your choice, really. If all of this sounds like too much work for you, or if you are just in far too much of a hurry to become “ub3r,” by all means move along. I don’t pay your subscription fee, and as such I have no right to tell you how to play the game. When Rakk left us I understood fully why he chose to do so. At that time there was really nobody else in our guild for him to team with, and I do not fault him in the least. Beyond that, he has continued to make his skills available to our guild whenever possible without expecting compensation. There are no hard feelings there. As you read this, you may find that you have your own reasons why you think that Mitternacht is not where you need to be. You have my blessings to look elsewhere for a guild that will meet your needs.

But before you do, I urge you to remember everything I’ve said above. Remember everything that Mitternacht has done for you. The times when you have been helped out by someone who could have easily spent their time doing something more productive for themselves. The gold value of the free things you’ve been given. The good times we’ve had. The fact that if you’re in on the raids with us from the very beginning you’ll have priority when it comes to looting rights. The fact that, here, you’re not a small fish in a big pond.

You’re our friend, and we really like playing with you.

Stick around.