Today’s gamer vocabulary word is “Guild/Clan”
A guild or clan is a collection of gamers who play a specific game together. Guild tends used in MMOs while clan tends to be used in FPSs.
There are three main advantages to being part of a guild or clan.
- They give your gamer a group of people to play with consistently. Normally a guild or clan will have scheduled nights and times they play. This can be good for you too because it can take the guess work out of limiting your gamer’s play time.
- They allow your gamer to accomplish things they could not on their own. This is especially true in MMOs. For example, one of the ways to get the best gear in World of Warcraft is to run end-game raids. However, these raids require anywhere from 10 to 25 people to complete. Being in a guild gives your gamer a group with which to run these raids.
- They give your game social interaction through video games, even when they are not physically in the same place. I used to have a guild that regularly ran raids in WoW. Those raids require teamwork, coordination, and communication. Plus, in the downtime we could goof around as well. It was a fun way to “hang-out” with my friends, some of whom had moved away.
You will want to make sure you know about any guilds or clans your gamer is looking to join. Some of them can be pretty hardcore, requiring more of a time commitment than you are willing to allow. Others might have behavior standards you are not comfortable with. Just be sure to have an open line of communication about this with your gamer.