Ryzom

Many guilds, including our own, have a trial period for new recruits. In our case, that trial is just as much for the potential new member's benefit as it is for the guild. Joining on a trail basis is one of the best ways to see if a guild is a good fit for you, without risk of getting the "guild hopper" tag.

As for being concerned about finding "the one and only" guild the first time you agree to join one, well.... People change, guilds change over time, and sometimes members will "grow apart" from the guild they started with. Generally speaking, it's not people who've changed guilds a few times that are frowned on, but people who seem to follow a pattern of joining, milking, and moving on, or who just can't seem to get along with any one group for more than a few months.

One thing that folks have failed to mention is that many many guilds will require you to have a "cooling off period" If you are leaving one guild. I have said many times that if the person is really interested in out guild they need to leave the guild they are in for a bit and cool off, and then if they are still interested to look us up.

This has often turned out that the person did not end up with us, for better or worse. I think it is best for us, and best for them. Cool heads prevail for sure.

Another way to "try on" a guild is not to join the guild, but to ask if you can join in on some guild activities, such as treks, boss hunts, digs, etc. In this way you get to work/play with the guild members, see how they do things, get acquainted, and so on, without "guild hopping".

I spent almost three months in game teaming with potential guilds' members in this way before making my decision. I must have turned down thirty or more guild invites witht he explanation that I was not sure what I wanted from a guild yet. Guilds that started spamming me with invites before they even knew who I was fell off my list pretty quickly, as did those whose members trekked me into places like Trench of Trials, then "dropped" me there with a laugh.

Eventually I narrowed my choices to three guilds I "liked", at which time I started talking to members about Guild Daily Life, in-game times, etc., and eventually approached my "chosen" guild with a request to join. Haven't regretted my choice yet...

I have to agree with Samar d'Naz there 200%... getting to know the people before guilding and avoiding those that seem to want to guild you for the wrong reasons seems to me to be the most intelligent way to approach things, and it's definitely a plausible method within this friendly community.

Many thanks for all the answers posted here.