Guilds are meant to be a gather of people with a common purpose and where you can build relationships and do stuff that alone would be harder or not that fun!
For me, "perks" for guilds should be having the option of having a place (like a building like a castle or a dungeon or something along those lines or a set of smaller buildings much like a small town) that the guild could own somewhere on the map or in an "alternate map" so people could gather and talk strategies, objectives, common day-to-day struggles, store some common stuff, etc.
This would have to imply a contribution of some sort, much like a decay tax, so you wouldn't have abandoned places all over, giving guild actions meaning
Another thing that should be on "the menu" should be being able to host guild events, both private and public, like sparring contests, trade markets, etc also with a pre-designated fee, where prizes or tradable items and prices would be determined by the organizers of the events themselfs.
These 2 things I point, for me would make a huge difference in the economy and how gathering materials, weapons, pets, etc would make even more of a difference and where people that normally gather them would have an extra motivation to maintaining those types of "professions", applying also to PV training and trying to obtain better loot to use in these types of events.
When it comes to the guild management itself, there should be the option to have ranks and with them "perks" that the GM could define from some options available for each rank, like being able to have a guild crest or a guild tag imbued in the name, or a special shield or a pet or a mount that symbolized that particular rank and guild. Also, maybe put the option to make some sort of quest to achieve a certain rank and/or a contribution of a certain item or gold to rank up... there are endless possibilities but have more control has a GM and having a clear pathway to achieve a certain rank (other than the GM liking you or not) would be a great way to improve the rank up experience.
Also, GM/higher ranks that are trusted by the GM should have tools to enforce guild rules other than "expel from guild", making this a last resort and not the 1st and only thing you can do when you have some sort of problem with a particular guild mate...
Also entering a guild or leaving a guild should be a thought out process, so you don't have players jumping from guild to guild just because they feel the guild around the corner 5mins in, is better than this one I'm in! Being in a guild should be made has a big step towards community play and fun, other than just another tool for me to get what I want and leave asap when I get that!
Therefor I think the guild objectives should be well-defined beforehand, and there should be a way to see how active are the present members before a person decides to join in, and ofc, also penalties for leaving a guild without any apparent reason (i.e. not being able to join another one for a pre-set time!)
I'm stating this thing having a Role play heavy guild as my direction when everyone has a sense of purpose and knows that being in the guild means acting accordingly to the guilds expectation and not just having the name of the guild backing them up only when they need it!
I can think of many more but for now I think I already took too much of your time ;)
Bottom line: Guilds should be about another level of experiencing the game, rather than just another feature that in the end, is meaningless to your gameplay!
Thank you! :)
This is exactly what we wanted to achieve with these Dev Discussions, amazing ideas!
Huge thumbs up for the "penalty for leaving a guild", without this no one will care and will abuse his guildmates in order to get what he needs and quit.
The Guild events hosting is another thing I liked, would be cool to have a Trade Bazaar or to organize a PvP Tournament, of course, the hosting guild pays and determines the prizes.
Guilds will have to reach a certain level, members count and will have to pay for the Guildhall for sure.
We really want to make the Guilds a solid aspect of the game, not just a Guild chat and a tag under your name, so yeah we will pay special attention to them.