Clans vs Guilds

I have thought alot about how Clans and Guilds are so much alike but are so different. I am currently the CO (or GM) of a clan and a regular member of a WoW guild, so I have experienced them both for a number of years. They are both groups of like minded gamers banded together to have fun, make friends and play their respective gametypes. Clans are groups of players that play mainly First Person shooter type games and Guilds are formed from people playing MMOs or Massively Multiplayer Online games.

I have found that clan life seems to be much less hectic, changes happen slower, member loyalty to the clan means alot more to them then guildies to their guilds. I have also seen it from the leadership point of view...clans leaders are much more loyal to their members then Guild masters and officers are to its members, albiet the GM I have now has somewhat bucked that trend. I have been in levelling guilds, casual raiding guilds and now a hardcore raiding guild.

Guild members tend to change guilds ALOT during their time in a game unless they have found a really good home...in the 3 plus years I have been playing wow, I think I have been in over 10 guilds. They tend to break up alot, so the lengitivity of guilds falls far behind clans. I have been in two clans in the past 8 years...one that I had created with a couple of friends over 5 years ago and the one I was kicked out of due to politics within the unit which is still in existence today.

Guild members who level up and get to the highest level outgrow the levelling guild and move on if they actually want to expierence progression of the mmo game content. Even though they were helped alot by the higher level members of that guild, they dont hesitate to leave when the guild doesnt have anything further to help them with. If a guild is not progressing thru content fast enough, alot of people will leave their guild to find another one that is. I have also seen guild masters clean out a guild bank of all its gold and items, and change to another server taking everything the guild members have donated with them and leaving everyone left behind with an empty guild bank. Another common action is guildies dropping their guild tags late at night when no one is around so they dont have to explain anything.

I do have to say my early time in World of Warcraft was very disheartening considering how little loyalty I saw people showing their guilds compared to my clan. A clan where few people do leave and if they do its because life changes have caused them to stop playing but still choose to be considered a retired player rather just then just disappearing without a word. Dont get me wrong, we have had people leave for other clans but they are a small minority. In essence(IMO), guilds are for people to advance their personal goals in the game and not so much for making friends and just having a good time. Clans are more the other way where personal goals are not really relevant as the gameplay is no where near as serious and more based on teamwork.

I do have to say the guild I am in right now is more like my clan then all the rest of the raiding guilds I have been in...so I am pretty happy there. My first loyalty will always be to my 82ndAB clan though...its my baby and always will be.