Weak Carrots

Yeah, I'm back to discussing carrots again, this time in the guild level context.

I have to admit, I have not really paid much attention to my guild's level lately. It's somewhere between 36 and 40, I know that.

This is a surprising change for me, since, in the old days, I was all fire and brimstone, arguing behind the scenes to deny people patron status based on my crazy spreadsheets. It was a grind to be sure. But part of me misses those times in what we called "writ valley," laying the smackdown on pioneers and doggies. The emotional payoff when we were the first on the server to 30 was worth the journey.

But now, I'm not even sure how we have jumped from 30 to the upper-30's. I know I turn in my status items, so that helps, and people seem to be doing a bunch of heritages. But I don't see the kind of concerted writ-mania that got us to 30. We're also much larger now, so I'm assuming that has a lot to do with it. Obviously, the changes to the Patron system must account for some of it as well. It may also just be because I'm not as involved in the guild level business these days so it seems painless to me.

I'd be interested to hear what other people have noticed about guild levels.

But, I am losing track of my point for writing this post. Yesterday, I decided to check out what the rewards were for hitting 40. I remembered that the rewards for 30, though now gathering virtual dust, were fun at the time. There were paintings, titles, a cool formal outfit and the option to buy a magic carpet or spirit steed if you had the funds. Of course, I would have also liked to see a new raid or some sort of special quest connected to the lore of the game. But I was relatively okay with the level 30 rewards.

I did some research and the sum total of guild rewards I was able to find for level 40 was some extra slots in the guild bank. Wow. I have to say I was surprised and not in a good way. You have to give people something to strive for, some reward for attaining a goal.

What's the deal here? I can't think of any possible reason why SOE dropped the ball on this one other than lack of time and resources. Would it have taken that long for someone to add in a title or two? (Not that I would purchase one, anyway. I've come to realize that most people drop the titles after a few weeks.)

I really don't see how anyone can argue against me on this one, unless I'm mistaken and there are guild level 40 rewards. If there are not, that's just weak.