Guilds in an MMORPG: how to create one, join one and run the guild bank

A guild in an MMORPG is your permanent crew inside the game: its own chat, a shared treasury, its own rules and people you raid with not because a random queue put you together, but because you’ve been playing side by side for a while. In Zarhold you can create a guild for free at any level, and every guild has ranks with permissions, a log and a guild bank — for gold and for items.

We’ve already covered friends, parties and trading in “MMORPG with friends”. This article is all about the guild itself: how to found one, how to join one, how ranks and the bank work, and how to pick a guild you’ll actually want to stay in.

Why join a guild

• Your own people for groups. Dungeons take a party of three, raids and world bosses a party of five. Putting together a live party is much easier when there’s a channel full of people you know.
• A shared bank. Materials, consumables and gold for common needs sit in one place, and rank permissions decide who can take how much.
• Chat and a message of the day. Plan a run, call people to the arena, let everyone know about a meet-up.
• Guild level from 1 to 25. It grows on its own: the guild gets 10% of the experience its members earn, plus 50 for every PvP win by a member.

Joining a guild at all also unlocks the In the Brotherhood achievement.

How to create a guild

You can create a guild for free at any level — all you need is an available name and a crest.

1. Open the guild window — the G key.
2. Pick a name 3 to 24 characters long: letters, digits, spaces, hyphens and apostrophes, starting with a letter or a digit. The name must not be taken, and the same filter that checks hero names keeps out swearing and insults.
3. Choose a crest — one of 12: Lion, Raven, Dragon, Wolf, Hammer, Crown, Skull, Tree, Kraken, Sun, Swords and Phoenix. The crest is free when you found the guild.

Whoever creates the guild becomes its leader, with the Guild Master rank. A hero can only be in one guild, so you can’t found your own while you’re still in someone else’s.

How to join a guild

There are two ways in.

• By invitation. You get a card with Accept and Decline buttons. Ranks with the invite permission can invite — by default that’s the leader, Officers and Veterans.
• By application. The guild window has a Find a Guild list with a name search: each guild shows its level, member count and an Open or Closed tag. An open guild takes you straight away with the Join button. A closed one receives an application, which members with the invite permission review. Open guilds are listed first.

A newcomer joins at the lowest rank, Recruit. Whether the guild is open or closed is up to the leader.

Every guild in the world is also on the website, in the Guilds section: it has a search too, and each guild has a page showing the leader, member count, average level, founding date and the full roster.

Guild ranks and permissions

A new guild starts with five ranks. Their default permissions:

• Guild Master — every permission, plus unlimited gold and items from the bank;
• Officer — invite, remove, promote and demote, edit the message of the day, take items from the bank (200 pieces a day), the right to withdraw gold;
• Veteran — invite and take items from the bank (50 pieces a day);
• Fighter — no special permissions;
• Recruit — no special permissions.

Any member can deposit gold and items in the bank, whatever their rank. You can only remove, promote or demote members ranked below you: those buttons don’t work on an equal or higher rank.

Only the leader can:

• pass leadership to another member — the old leader then becomes an Officer;
• disband the guild;
• buy item bank tabs;
• change how much gold and how many items each rank can take from the bank.

The leader can’t simply leave: they first have to pass on leadership or disband the guild. More on permissions in the knowledge base article “Guilds: founding, ranks and permissions”.

Chat, message of the day and the log

The guild has its own chat channel — Guild. Only members see it, and it works like every other channel: an “@Name” in a message is highlighted, a line that mentions you is lit up, and spam protection applies here too. How chat works as a whole is covered in “Friends, chat and requests”.

• Message of the day — up to 240 characters, shown to every member. The leader and Officers can change it.
• Guild log — who created the guild, who joined, left or applied, who was removed, promoted or demoted, and who leadership was passed to.

The log isn’t just for keeping order: it shows how alive a guild is — how often new people come in.

The guild bank: gold, items and the log

A guild has two banks — gold and items. Any member can put things in, but only ranks with permission can take things out, and only up to a daily limit.

The gold bank

• Any member can deposit gold.
• Withdrawing takes the rank’s right to withdraw gold and stays within that rank’s daily limit. The day is rolling: the last 24 hours count.
• In a new guild only the leader withdraws without a limit. Every other rank has a limit of 0 until the leader sets one — Officers included.

The item bank and its tabs

The item bank holds up to 5 tabs of 100 slots. Every guild gets the first tab free; the leader buys the rest in order, with gold from the guild bank:

• 2nd tab — 1,000 gold;
• 3rd — 5,000 gold;
• 4th — 10,000 gold;
• 5th — 50,000 gold.

You can deposit an item from your bag or a stack from your pouch — whole or partial. Each slot holds one stack of up to 20: deposit more and the bank spreads the rest over the tab’s free slots, topping up unfinished stacks of the same item first.

You can’t deposit anything that can’t be sent by mail or traded: personal items — that’s all gear of green quality and above, except crafted items nobody has equipped yet — heirloom and unique items, bags, quest items and “self only” items. So a guild bank is mostly about materials, consumables and gear your guild’s crafters make for their own people.

Who can take how much

Ranks with the “take items” permission can withdraw within a daily limit counted in pieces: an item counts as one, a stack as however many you take. By default the leader has no limit, an Officer can take up to 200 pieces a day, a Veteran up to 50, and Fighters and Recruits can’t take anything. Stacks you take go into your pouch, and whatever doesn’t fit arrives by mail.

Every deposit and withdrawal — gold and items alike — goes into the bank log, which you can page through. That way it’s always clear who put in what and who took what.

If the guild is disbanded

Everything in the item bank and all the bank’s gold goes to the leader by mail that never expires — nothing is lost. Details in “Guild bank: gold and items”.

How a guild helps in the game

• Live parties without strangers. In Zarhold everyone in a party plays their own hero, and entry follows the “everyone or nobody” rule. A guild of your own is the shortest path to a party that plays well together; how co-op combat works is covered in “Co-op MMORPG”.
• Passing loot around after a run. An item won in a live party’s loot roll can still be traded for 2 hours to any member of the same run who took part in the roll — handy when everyone is in the same guild.
• Crafting for the guild. Crafted gear nobody has equipped yet can go into the bank and be handed over, and materials even more so. A guild with a blacksmith, a tailor and an alchemist keeps itself supplied. What’s better sold to outsiders — see “The auction house in an MMORPG”.
• Duels among your own. A friend or a guildmate can watch a duel in progress — great for breaking down fights as a guild.

How to choose a guild

Pick a guild the way you’d pick companions for a run.

1. Look at the roster. A guild’s page in the Guilds section shows its full roster with ranks, classes and levels, and every hero opens in the Armory. Are there heroes at your level, and the roles a party needs?
2. Compare the average level with yours. A guild of level 60 heroes lives in raids and the arena; a younger one in dungeons and levelling.
3. Open or closed. An open guild takes you right away; in a closed one Officers review your application — but people there tend to be picked on purpose.
4. Ask about bank rules. The leader sets withdrawal limits for every rank, and it’s better to know them in advance.
5. Can’t find the right one? Start your own. It’s free, and you can invite your first members from your friends list and World chat.

Guild FAQ

How much does it cost to create a guild?

Nothing: you can create a guild for free at any level. You need an available name of 3 to 24 characters and one of 12 crests — which is also free when you found the guild.

Why can’t I withdraw gold from the guild bank?

Most likely your rank’s daily limit is 0 — in a new guild that’s true for everyone except the leader. The leader sets the limit for every rank.

Can I put an item from a dungeon in the guild bank?

Not if it’s gear of green quality or above: it’s personal and stays with its hero. Materials, consumables and crafted items nobody has equipped yet can go in.

How do I leave a guild if I’m the leader?

First pass leadership to another member — you’ll become an Officer and can then leave — or disband the guild. In that case everything in the bank comes to you by mail that never expires.

Can I be in two guilds at once?

One hero, one guild. To join another, leave your current guild first.

The bottom line

A guild in Zarhold means a free start, five clear ranks, a shared bank with a log and people who make dungeons and raids easier. Find a guild in the Guilds section or found your own — and jump into the game: the G key opens the guild window.