I’ve been in big guilds. I’ve been in small guilds. And yes, for a very short time, I was in Alea Iacta Est which I honestly believe is the largest World of Warcraft guild in existence.
AIE – as it is referred to – was started by the folks over at The Instance podcast some time ago. If the posts I read today are correct, they have over 7,000 characters in their guild. You heard me. Seven THOUSAND. That’s more characters than the population of some towns I’ve lived in. Of course I can’t imagine more than a few hundred online at any given time, that’s a lotta people and a lot of accounts. They’re all fans of the podcast, and whether you agree with the monstrosity they’ve created you have to give them kudos for doing what nobody else has done.
I remember being in their guild during the inaugural session of their “Running of The Bulls” event when they ran Level 1 Taurens from the Tauren starter area to the Undercity. It was ridiculous. There had to be nearly a thousand bipedal cows trying to get on the zeppelin at Orgrimmar at once. Shortly after that, I’m pretty sure there were rules handed down by Blizzard about events like this that put undue load on the server.
Now the word has come down from Blizzard that guilds with over 1,000 members will be allowed to continue to exist but they won’t be able to invite new players to their ranks until they fall below the 1000 member level. No word is given about whether this means 1,000 warm bodies or 1,000 accounts — but does it really matter?
I’m sure AIE will continue. In fact, I’m sure it will thrive. It’s not going to die anytime soon.
But if you were them… wouldn’t you be pissed? I know I would be.
There’s gotta be a better way.
