If there is one thing I have been thinking about as of late and have discussed with close friends of mine, and that is whether or not FFXIV will include a guild or linkshell system for people who wish to team up on a more frequent basis to just chatting about something like food or lackluster party members.

In case you aren’t sure what the difference is across different games, here is a rundown:

Most games typically employ a “guild” system in which a person choosing to join a group stays with that group. They can’t be a member of multiple guilds unless they have different characters to place into the different guilds. It certain circumstances it may also require more work to make a guild bigger and better than it would for a linkshell. Often in order to gain bigger and better perks such as a bank everyone can access, the ability to invite more members, or personalized gear, some games may require monetary compensation and some may require experience points (e.g. Ragnarok Online). In most games there is also a way to set a guild icon to further set your guild apart from the rest vs. using a color that another guild could possibly share with your own. And most importantly: it doesn’t take away inventory space to be a part of a guild!

With a linkshell you can join as many as your inventory can hold, can be the owner of as many as you wish as long as you have the money to afford one, and it doesn’t need extra costs to maintain unless you are wishing to get a mule for bank purposes or maintain a site for potential applicants to visit. And if you are just sick and tired of listening to the babble of your LS mates you can always unequip your pearl and just sit in silence. It is also possible to be friends with a larger variety of people who may have different interests or personalities that vary from group to group.

Personally, as nice as the guild system is, I would prefer an upgraded version of linkshells in FFXIV. I like being able to unequip my pearl once in awhile or switching to a different group that certain friends may not typically hang around. I also tend to feel more comfortable with a lower number but more tightly knit crowd than a guild that boasts guild membership in the hundreds.

What about you? Are you interested in joining a guild like setting or something like a linkshell that you can switch off/on at any given time?