I hate guilds

I hate WarCraft guilds so much.

They are no longer an essential part of play. Once upon a time everyone needed to be in a guild in order to get anything done, because it was required for people to play together often in order to learn each others' playstyles and become accustomed to executing the guild's strategy for killing bosses, which opened the door to epic loot, etc.

That isn't really an issue anymore, with epic loot being handed out like door prizes at Warren Buffet's birthday party. Pretty much everyone can go from zero to 5000 gear score in a couple weeks' worth of heroics, and it isn't at all challenging. After that, pick-up groups exist for the harder content, and that pretty much eliminates the last of what guilds have to offer. Who needs to associate with a bunch of people who (let's be honest) you really don't care about, when you can get exactly what you need by PUGging your way to epic gains?

People in your guild will only slow you down, because inevitably you discover that they're only in the guild or invited you to it because they want something from you. Whatever it is, you probably don't want to do it, don't have time to do it on their schedule, don't like the way they go about doing it, and there's nothing in it for you - just them.

So, screw guilds. Forget them, they are awful. They exist only to tap your time and resources (If I had got as much out of guild banks over the years as I've put into them, I'd own my own server) and to say "grats" when your achievement is spammed to guild chat.

Yes, there may be some advantages to being in a guild in Cataclysm, but unless it's really, really sparkly stuff, I just don't give a damn. Most of the people who play are complete idiots and timewasting fools, and I'm tired of pretending to like them just to hear a "grats" every once in a while when I ding.

Not exactly the best way to feel about social groups in an MMO, but as I've said before, WoW is the AOL of MMOs. It's scummy and trashy. It's like a cross between Middle Earth and a trailer park. The only way to find it interesting and entertaining is by either playing with everyone at arm's length, or to play at the expense of other players. Given the choice, I'll play alone.