Guilds 101

Whether you’re a newbie or have been on this site fifteen years, just graduated high school or have a couple of grandchildren, there’s a guild for YOU. Your hobbies, likes and dislikes, favorite book, even gaming abilities are all aspects of finding the perfect place for you to meet other likeminded users and add to your Neopian experience!

First let’s discuss exactly what a guild is. If you go here you will be redirected to the Guild HQ; here you will see the different neighborhoods that house the guilds. Typically, you won’t find your guild just randomly searching—there are thousands upon thousands of guilds out there, some that are simply for layout testing and some that have been abandoned years ago! Guilds are housed in these neighborhoods for the sake of organization, and aren’t necessarily a factor in deciding what guild you choose (unless you’re adamant about joining a guild in the Space Station, then by all means sift to your heart’s content).

Here is where you will—9 times out of 10—find the guild of your dreams! This is the Guilds board, where users can advertise their guilds or where guildless Neopians can actively search!

Advertising is simply where a guild member will create a topic that catches the eye; typically, it will have smileys or symbols with the guild name, the type of guild they are, and if they’re recruiting. Some guilds create boards to advertise their guild, but won’t be in a “recruitment period”.

There are all types of guilds, and I’ll do a quick rundown of the terminology you may come across.

Semi-lit “Semi-literate”. This means the guild expects you to maintain a somewhat proper level of grammar, punctuation, etc. Smilies are generally allowed (because who can resist the Quiggle smiley, seriously?) but text speak isn’t (wh0 cAn r3aD t#iS?)

RP “Roleplay”. This means the guild is roleplay-based; they’ll have their own rules regarding character, power-playing, and post requirements.

Private. This means the guild is a private guild only accessible to members! Not everyone from the public can join, and you’ll need an invite to access the guild.

Block. This means the guild has specific “blocks” you could fit into, such as “Account Improvement Block” or “Expert Block”. Each block has requirements—for example, “Expert Block” may require you to have three of the following: 300 avatars, 20 trophies, 100 Kads fed, 3 painted pets, or 10 million Neopoints saved.

16+, 18+, 21+. This means there is an age requirement to join! Most guilds will be 18+, but you’ll occasionally see 16+ or 21+.

NR “Neorelated”. This means the guild is based on Neopets, although it’s very common for the guild members to talk about their real lives … after all, there ARE people behind these screens, you know!

HP “Harry Potter”. This means the guild is Harry Potter-based, which is incredibly popular—another term you’ll see related to this is HOH, which means “Head of House”.

Chat. This means the guild is chat-based, requiring you to post a minimum amount of posts in a certain time period (generally 15 posts in your first week, then at least 50 posts a month).

Ranks. Each guild has ranks! While the requirements are different, each guild will tell you what is required of you to move up in your ranks. For example, you may join a guild as “Relentless”, and to move up to the second rank “Lifeless”, you’ll need to posts at least 300 posts, be a member for a week, and be Neofriends will at least two council members.

Council/Sub-Council. These are the guys who run the behind-the-scenes work, updating ranks, requirements, layouts, and activities.

App “Application”. This means you need to send a short application, typically your username, name, age, and why you want to join, to a council member to be considered for membership. This is a good way of determining whether you want to put forth the effort required of members or if you’re a good fit for the guild! Maybe you don’t really know why you want to join, you just want some friends … probably wouldn’t be a good fit for a guild that requires you to create a multipage portfolio within your first week, as well as provide graphic examples or Kad screenies.

If you’ve gone through the Guilds board (commonly known as “GC”, or “Guild chat”), and still haven’t found a guild, you’re not out of luck! Simply make a new topic saying you’re looking for a new guild. Topics like “LOOKING FOR …” or “Need a guild” won’t get you much traffic—try being specific with good capitalization! “Seeking AI Guilds”, “Potterhead Searching for Guild”, and “Older Adult (Any Laidback Guilds?)” are all great topics sure to bring some nice offers!

Now to the good stuff! If you find a guild you like, and they send you an invite, you don’t have to join. You have no obligations to the guild until you join and become a member. Don’t think of an invite as something a guild is offering you, but what you can potentially offer the guild. It’s a two way street, and guild members need to work together to create a positive, fun atmosphere. There are many warning signs of a failing guild, and you need to do as much research into a guild as possible before joining. Of course, you can always leave the guild if things don’t look too good, but once you get into the habit of guild-hopping (going from guild to guild), it’s really hard to break. You should always stick to your commitments and put effort in! If you’re upset because you’re not friends with any of the guild members, but only have 30 posts, then you’re probably not dedicating the time necessary to get to know your lovely guildies!

Here are some things to be wary of when you join a guild. Remember … don’t just leave a guild because you don’t think anyone likes you, or you think some of the challenges are a little too hard. You need to push yourself in your Neopian career! But if something is seriously wrong, then you should separate yourself from that negativity.

Inactive Council. If the council is hardly even posting or present, then what does that say about their activity in running the guild? If you’re worried there is no leadership, you should contact a council or sub-council member you trust and tell them your concerns! Chances are they’ll be just as concerned as you are. If there’s obvious apathy with the council, then maybe you should seek out another guild … while it’s true people get busy with real life, guilds can take a huge chunk of time. If they require you to put forth an incredible amount of effort to be there, they should put in the same amount of effort, or more, to keep you there.

Donations. Some guilds have a “donation shop”. This isn’t necessarily bad! In some case, guilds will have a “mall”, where many guild members with 150+ size shops keep completely stocked for different things; one member of the mall will be all Air Faerie quest items, one member will be all plushies, one member will be all books, etc. But some guilds have a “donation shop”, which is typically owned by the owner. Be cautious with things like this, because how easy would it be for someone to clear the shop till and keep it all for themselves? Don’t expect the worst in people, but realize some people can have bad intentions.

Layouts. Not everyone is gifted in graphics, but a good layout is typically a sign of a good guild! Premade layouts aren’t all bad, but a plain guild generally means no effort was put into making the guild look clean and professional. Well-established guilds will have an “honorary graphics maker”, usually not part of council but with council privileges, to custom make layouts, buttons, badges, and lookups for the guild itself and the guild members within!

Heavy Requirements. Expecting your guild members to post every once in a while isn’t cruel. But some guilds have some pretty steep requirements that would be impossible to achieve unless you dedicated all your time to your guild. If you feel like you can’t keep up with the work, don’t join! It’s not a bad thing to be incapable of dedication several hours a day. Neopets is a site meant to offer relaxation and fun, not stress! Real life comes first, as does your sanity … so don’t go crazy trying to keep up with crazy requirements.

The next thing I want to touch on real quick are webs and portals. It may seem confusing at first, but once you get familiar with your guild you’ll be able to navigate all the different pages in no time (and trust me, there can be a LOT of different guild pages)!

A web (more commonly referred to as webbie) is where all the requirements, ranks, council, and rules are listed. You’ll generally find links to other important pages here, pages that are extremely useful to new or prospective members.

A portal is simply a page where links are listed for active members—challenges, activities, member directories, portfolios, etc. It all depends on what type of guild you’re in! If you’re in a 21+ chat-based guild, they may not have as many portal links as an intense NR, AI guild.

Despite all this information, it’s important to realize … GUILDS AREN’T FOR EVERYONE! You may never find a guild that works for you, and that’s totally fine. You may only play Neopets for the flash games and don’t care about making online friends, or already have a few friends you sent the occasional Neomail to. Being in a guild doesn’t make you elite, or more important, just as not being in a guild makes you a “bad” user or lazy. We all have our preferences, and being in a guild may not work for you.

A guild is supposed to offer you something! It will take some searching, and it may take some time getting through all the activities and requirements, but at the end of the day a guild is meant to be fun. You can make great friends, try new things (before joining my guild, I didn’t even know what a Kad was … now I can say I’ve definitely got a bad case of Kaddiction!), and be part of something special and unique to Neopets. I can say, without my guild, I wouldn’t be on this site … I wouldn’t have achieved what I have … and I wouldn’t be as happy.

Now go out there and make someone smile!