Introducing the Guild Mentoring Program

Introducing the Guild Mentoring Program

Azeroth -- It’s a land of turmoil, harsh and unyielding for heroes of the Horde and the Alliance as they struggle against enemies from within and without. For those stepping forth for the first time into this implacable realm, life can seem overwhelming, but surviving in this hostile environment is not insurmountable with a little help. Will your band of brothers and sisters, heroes and mentors, heed your call for aid? 
 


Azeroth needs more heroes to rise through the ranks and your guild can help. We’re looking for a few good guilds to volunteer for the new Guild Mentoring Program. Guilds participating in the program will take part in identifying new players within selected realms, offering to invite them into the guild, and teaching them the ways of Azeroth as they level and reach the end game content.

F.A.Q.

Q. What is the Guild Mentoring Program?
A. The guild mentoring program identifies guilds on select realms to act as mentors for new and low level players (below level 85). 

Q. How long does the Guild Mentoring Program run for?
A.
The Guild Mentoring Program will run for a period of four months from the time that guilds are selected and notified.

Q. Is there a certain criteria for being selected as a mentoring guild?
A.
Guilds must meet certain criteria to be considered for the Guild Mentoring Program:

  • Guilds must be located on one of the selected realms.
  • They must be willing to commit to the program for a four month period.
  • They must be willing to change their name for the four month Guild Mentoring participation period. (Names will be changed back at the end of the program.)
  • Guilds must be at least level 6 and have an active membership.

Q. How many guilds will be recruiting per realm?
A.
Only one guild will be selected per faction on each realm.

Q. What does my guild need to do to volunteer?
A.
The guild leader will need to submit an application to wowguilds@blizzard.com with the following information:

  • Current guild name and guild leader name
  • Current realm and faction of the applying guild
  • Current guild level and number of guild members
  • Guild leader’s real name and phone number (this information will not be published and is for internal use only)
  • Brief description of the Mentoring Guild

Q. How long are you accepting applications for?
A.
We will be accepting applications for two weeks. We will then select a guild for the Guild Mentoring Program from those that meet the criteria and contact the guild leader.

Q. On what realms will this program be available?
A.
Mentoring guilds will be chosen for the following realms:

Q. Do participating guilds get anything special?
A.
Some of the benefits for taking part in the program include:

  • MVP status on the forums for the guild leader and recruitment officer
  • Guild member private forum access
  • Recognition for your guild as being participants in the program
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Comments (713)

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Fathermon
Velen
Fathermon
7/10/2012
My guild does do raids and heroics but we are not so heavy focus on them. I made my guild bases on helping one another in a fun manner and recruit anyone with good attitude. We love helping new players because WoW can be very harsh to those who are clueless at first and can drive people away from the game, I wish my guild could take part in this program but we are not in the given realm, but this is a great idea to have to help those realms with their new players, Good Job Blizz!
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Lietolis
Trollbane
Lietolis
7/10/2012
This is a great idea, mind you the idea is sound but as many have already expressed. This will become a huge problem with people making new players do silly stuff. I also wish my realm was on this list. Since D3 release (I play it too mind you) has killed my guilds activity I would have loved to sign up for this. Been playing since vanilla, I have great adaptive skills to different play styles and can/would share knowledge with new and old players. I will never brag to be the best, but I will say if you know how I am I would help you no matter the content. (Enjoy the older play style, where you had to "travel" not click a button.) Anyway Blizzard you should add more realms to this. Preferably Trollbane, *hint hint*
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Wolf
The Scryers
Wolf
7/10/2012
Why would 'how many members' you have in guild matter?! Our guild sits at about active members. If I kept every joker that wanted to me in a guild and never logged back in on that alt, I easily have upwards of 500+ members! What a mess! Dead weight! I hate seeing guild who have 400, 500, 600 members and there is, maybe, only a core of 50 who are actually active! Most see it as bragging rights; the reality is that your guild just looks cluttered and inactive. So, why Blizz? Why should this matter?
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Fathermon
Velen
Fathermon
7/10/2012
@Wolf: it matters because there is a guild member cap.
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@Wolf: It doesn't really help new players if they join a guild with 5 people in it. In addition to Fathermon's comment, they need to be sure your guild can actually be active enough.
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Wolf
The Scryers
Wolf
7/10/2012
@Rabbs: Neither of these comments truely address my chief concern. But thank you for reading.
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Lightzypher
Blackwater Raiders
Lightzypher
7/10/2012
Blackwater Raiders needs to be added to this list. I am a mentor at the university I attend, and I personally love this idea. I would be very pleased to take part in this program.
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Lilli
Bloodscalp
Lilli
7/10/2012
Sounds like an interesting idea. I do hope the selection process has a few more internal requirements that the gms look at because this could become the perfect place for trolls and jerks who like to screw with new players.
One a side note; I thought that social/leveling guilds were supposed to fill this role
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Lirriel
Shadow Council
Lirriel
7/10/2012
Aren't guilds supposed to be helping new folks anyway? Maybe more effort should be taken to improving the Guild Finder interface, cleaning up the Recruitment and Raid & Guild leadership forums (or more active moderation and participation in forums in general), and giving new players an info screen about guilds, what they are, and how to find them.

I also see this being abused by people to level their guilds, harass newbies, troll players, and otherwise ruin early game experiences unless the screening process is REALLY stringent and the rules for mentoring strict and monitored. Which doesn't sound like fun for anyone, but with a large population, abuse for personal gain ,or out of sheer neglect, is sadly likely.
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Miadoshi
Shandris
Miadoshi
7/10/2012
idk, its a decent idea...but the wrong direction imo...you dont make someone a software developer without first sending them to school.....make new player realms just that..blizz knows how many toons are on the account at log in. new player realm = have 0-1 max lvl toons, 0 heirlooms allowed, and 0 max lvl content. can't enter if you have more than that. Allow the max lvl's an option free transfer out....if nothing ele it will make a realm ful of lvling toons doing all the things a max lvl likely wont. no max lvls to escort you around ............but in the same respect dont allow access to the realm for accounts that have more than 2 max lvl toons.
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Miadoshi
Shandris
Miadoshi
7/10/2012
@Miadoshi: they'd get to learn the game with a lower risk of being trolled then get to move on to higher education.
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Falanoria
Eonar
Falanoria
7/10/2012
@Miadoshi: New player realms don't work. All you end up doing is having a server full of people who don't have any idea how to play and no one to teach them as the veterans all jump ship at the first opportunity. The way to get people to learn how to play isn't by segregating them, it's by mingling them and connecting them to everyone else.
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Falanoria
Eonar
Falanoria
7/10/2012
@Falanoria: Even schools have teachers...
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Raziya
Ravencrest
Raziya
7/10/2012
So glad that my server is able to take part! As a GM of a long-standing horde guild on RC I would love to do this. :)
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Zombix
Kel'Thuzad
Zombix
7/10/2012
Seems like a good idea, but something in the back of my mind is telling me that games shouldn't need a tutoring program.

Maybe limit the number of spells to provide a reasonable number of keybinds as well as make the solo content more interesting. Been playing D3 lately, and for all it's crazy flaws it has fun gameplay with only 6 abilities.

Sure, D3 it's not an MMO, but to stay at the top, I believe MMO's will need to evolve from Homemade Vanilla ice cream into Neapolitan ice cream, with Homemade Vanilla, as well as other awesome flavors mixed in. Just my two cents.
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Miadoshi
Shandris
Miadoshi
7/10/2012
@Zombix: I dont really think the ability count is the issue although im sure a warrior having 20-30 abilities availiable at all times makes it a little tricky. My opinion we lvl too fast...slow things back down....I can get from 1 to 85 in like 3 days play time easy...how am I suppose to learn about the world like that.
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Sybronis
Skullcrusher
Sybronis
7/10/2012
@Zombix:
I couldnt have said it better myself. Its going to be interesting to see how this plays out. I feel that the reasoning is so its more user friendly for the complete "noob" which, i dont really know anyone that has never played games before just start playing wow. On the other hand it could be extremely useful for a lot of people, even those that just want to help.
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Falanoria
Eonar
Falanoria
7/10/2012
@Zombix: Almost every modern game has tutorials on the first level. I know WoW has something like that, but honestly, are you really going to learn a lot about anything in WoW at levels 1-6? The best way to learn anything is under the guidance of a live teacher, regardless of whether it is gaming, art, music, science, etc. The solution isn't to simplify the game, as that would simply push existing players away and make new players get bored quickly. It is to get them up to speed as fast as possible and the best way to do that is under tutelage. I've played a few different games now that have something similar to this program. They are rare, but they work really well.
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Lunasanalay
Feathermoon
Lunasanalay
7/10/2012
Here's a possibly dumb question: When the 3 month mentoring time is over what happens to all the mentees? Do they remain in the guild and keep all the guild rep they've acquired or do they get bunked out?
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@Lunasanalay: A good question! Of course I assume they stay in the guild, but that's just an assumption. I'd also be curious if the time limit is because they will be providing in-game support for the feature (automatic invite on new character?) and want to test the waters.
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Diepestgeber
Zuluhed
Diepestgeber
7/10/2012
Add Zuluhed to this list of realms. Zuluhed has quite a low population and perhaps such a program there would help us get more people and make it easier to pug things, find what u want on the ah, etc.
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Miadoshi
Shandris
Miadoshi
7/10/2012
@Diepestgeber: Dont really this the realm would get a big neon sign saying pick me pick me at the realm selection screen. Maybe I suppose but dought it....
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Fieder
Zul'jin
Fieder
7/10/2012
Gawd, I HATE the speed at which Blizzard moves to fix problems for low commitment players. It should have been implemented with Guild levels and perks.

That said, it's a great idea, and I'm glad to see it's finally made it to the game.
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Geistbuster
Rexxar
Geistbuster
7/10/2012
Will there be guilds for both factions on each server?
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Miadoshi
Shandris
Miadoshi
7/10/2012
@Geistbuster: I do believe reading further will revieal that it say one guld per faction on each realm
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Kiragna
Moon Guard
Kiragna
7/10/2012
I hope that Blizzard really considers the guilds they choose for this program. I realize that maybe this is just about helping new players learn game mechanics and all...but I've noticed a sad decline in players (even many level 85s) knowledge of the world. Just yesterday someone asked me where Dalaran was, he was a level 85 and geared. While raid finder and dungeon finder have made it easier to achieve max level, questing has very nearly become extinct, which decreases players of all levels knowledge, and appreciation for so much of the vast world that is Azeroth/Outland. I just hope that the guilds involved in this program also are able to teach new players simple things like where old endgame dungeons and raids are, and why their purples from level 80 aren't "epics" anymore.
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Miadoshi
Shandris
Miadoshi
7/10/2012
How many big uild just made a new lvl 1 guild and shot all their alts to it for so it can be lvled up....Why blizz why such a low lvl requirement. must be lvl 25 would have been nice. You'd think there isnt enough tiny vacant low lvl guilds already.
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Crowlight
Icecrown
Crowlight
7/10/2012
All of the realms selected are classed as "medium population realms" according to RealmPop (http://wow.realmpop.com/us.html). I think it'll be interesting to see if the effect of these kinds of guilds would be different on a high-pop realm.

Finding a guild that meets the qualifications on a low-pop realm, or even enough players to make implementing the program there worthwhile, is probably its own answer.
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Miadoshi
Shandris
Miadoshi
7/10/2012
@Crowlight: which makes yet another reason these low pop servers should be merged.
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Furgoe
Thrall
Furgoe
7/10/2012
Good idea but i hope that this is simply a trial run and all/most servers will be considered for this should it go well.
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Alysian
Shadowsong
Alysian
7/10/2012
Great idea Bliz! I wish I could sign up since my guild does this already.
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Meegzgirl
Medivh
Meegzgirl
7/10/2012
This sounds like fun wish they would consider Medivh or stromrage or even quel'thelas
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Irishangel
Tanaris
Irishangel
7/10/2012
I have a guild on Cenarius aswell as Tanaris but the one on Cenarius is not level six :( However it is a great idea :) Wish the guild level requirement was different I would be more then happy to mentor seeming that our Guild on Tanaris attracks low levels all the time that are in need of help...GL Blizzard and again think its a wonderful idea.
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Movingon
Staghelm
Movingon
7/10/2012
No love for staghelm. Not that we'd do it anyway.
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Niasaga
Silver Hand
Niasaga
7/10/2012
This sounds like a great idea, too bad none of the servers I have characters on are on the list yet...
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Jerrith6138
Wyrmrest Accord
Jerrith6138
7/10/2012
Woo! Awesome idea!
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Statícshock
Rexxar
Statícshock
7/10/2012
I was ready to ask my GM to put in an app, sadly, Rexxar was not on the list. Rexxar is showing as high pop now and we have seen a large number of new players. I think our realm would benefit from this program.
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Digerati
Sargeras
Digerati
7/10/2012
Just a suggestion, you might want to increase the 1000 guild member cap for these guilds, as its pretty easy to hit. Then again, I don't see any of the top 10 population servers on here, so maybe it won't be a problem.

Also interesting to see they're testing some technology to give you a private forum for your guild.
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Landusk
Eonar
Landusk
7/10/2012
ah no enoar =(
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Aelynda
Azuremyst
Aelynda
7/10/2012
Ah, it's a shame my guild leader is inactive right now. We'd gladly sign up for this. :(