Welcome

Welcome to the Thundering Hammer Clan recruitment process.  As you’ve doubtless already read and heard we do guild recruitment a little differently here in the Thundering Hammer than most places.  In order to help you navigate the process and make sure that each applicant to the guild knows what they are in for we’ve assembled this guide which outlines the steps in the process and attempts to explain some of the reasoning behind this process and how we think in benefits both the guild and our potential recruits. If this is your first time hearing about us and you’d like to know more about our history and who we are, check out the About Us page here!

Philosophy

Here at Thundering Hammer Clan we value community and relationship very highly.  We believe that the measure of a guild’s success ultimately isn’t in server firsts or speed of progression through content but is in longevity and connectedness.  The anonymous and detached nature of online communications often fosters negative behaviors in online communities and we find that the best antidote to that tendency is for players to build real and lasting relationships with their teammates. 

We have been building a community that is connected both in and out of game since 2004.  Our members have shared meals and major life events, they talk daily outside of game, they know each other’s families and careers and they care deeply for each other’s success and well being.  That sort of environment doesn’t happen overnight and it doesn’t happen accidentally. We owe a great deal of our success to our recruitment process – a process which helps recruits make sure that the Thundering Hammer Clan is the right sort of group for their needs and desires without the painful buyers remorse that so many players find themselves saddled with as they hop from guild to guild looking for the right place.

Our recruitment process is built around relationships and the currency of relationships is time.  Good solid connections don’t form overnight. Moreover no two relationships develop identically. Each one is unique.  That is why we don’t place any specific time frame on the process for you the recruit, but rather let you take it at whatever pace fits your personality and comfort level.  At a minimum though you can expect to spend several weeks as a recruit, getting to know the members of the guild and making sure that the chemistry and the environment of the Thundering Hammer Clan are a good fit for you.

We recognize that this philosophy of guild recruitment and management is not a ‘high growth’ strategy and will likely be a deterrent for some players.  Not everyone is interested in spending the time our process requires or are looking for a more transactional setting that is focused first on progression and in-game achievement.  That is a perfectly valid way to approach the game and other players are free to do as they want with their entertainment time. We believe however that our methods have stood the test of time and many of our members who have been with us for ten and even fifteen years would agree.

Process

The recruitment process can basically be broken up into six stages, outlined below.  We have attempted to streamline this process somewhat for the early stages of the World of Warcraft: Classic release to help potential recruits who are trying to level up in the early days after the launch.

1 – Introduction
When a recruit comes to us through any channel the first step is to make sure they have read the guild membership post on our website.  While it is not an exhaustive explanation we believe it is a useful introduction to the guild’s history, values and recruitment process that provides a first level filter for interested players to decide whether or not what we are offering is desirable for them and worth the time and effort required to actually become a full member.

2  – Connection
In order to join the guild recruits need to first be connected with us both through Discord and Battletag.  Recruits will need to add at least one officer to their BattleNet friend’s list and to their Discord friends list.  The recruit needs to make sure their BattlNet account is linked to their Discord account so that the inviting officer can verify their identity.  (In Discord, “User Settings” – “Connections”, make sure that BattleNet is authorized and set to “show on profile.”) Once invited to Discord and verified, recruits will be added to the Recruits role and channel on the Discord server.  Lastly the recruit should also /join TheAnvil on Grobbulus or ask for an Anvil Community invite on Live (if applying from Retail WoW) so that they can coordinate with both Clan members and our allied guilds.

3 – Initial Evaluation
At or around the same time that you are getting connected on Discord and BattleNet one of our officers, most likely whoever your primary contact is, will ask you a few questions about your time in the game, your desires and expectations and a little about your life outside the game.  They’re looking to get to know you a little better so they can introduce you to other members of the guild and to help you get integrated as well as possible into our community.

4 – Invitation
At some point after your initial evaluation and promotion to Recruit rank in Discord a guild invite to the WoW: Classic guild will be extended and you will be placed at the rank of Recruit.  We do this to help you get acclimated and to facilitate engagement with members of the guild but this invitation is temporary and probationary.

5 – Long Term EvaluationAfter your recruitment invite we will be actively looking to get you engaged and involved with daily life in the guild.  Grouping for leveling, helping work towards community goals, doing dungeons and battlegrounds together, assisting (or being assisted!) in World PvP, and even just hanging out in Discord and chatting are all great ways to connect with the guild and get fully assimilated into life as a member of the Thundering Hammer.  If at any time you or the officers determine that the Thundering Hammer Clan isn’t a good fit for you we can part ways without any hard feelings or further expectations. At the end of the day we want you to enjoy your time in game and if that means playing with a different group or in a different atmosphere pursuing different goals we understand that and want you to pursue what will be the best use of your time in game.

6 – Initiation
Once the officers feel like a recruit has fully integrated themselves into the life of the guild and provided you, the recruit feel that the Thundering Hammer is in fact the place you want to spend the rest of your time in WoW you will be sponsored by an officer for promotion to full membership.  Your promotion will involve an RP ceremony with a PvP component. We call this ceremony the Rite of the Thunderlord as it honors the heritage of our Clan and its ties back to the old world Draenor. You’ll be expected to interact with the Chieftain and with some other members of the Guild and will be invited to lead a raiding party against an Alliance outpost (not Capital, we save those for other events) of your choosing – so choose well!