Iemand ooit van een 'vapor guild' gehoord? Nee? Ik ook niet . Gelukkig bood Mr. Kenickie van Corporation het antwoord: Vapor guilds zijn clans voor een spel dat nog lang niet uitkomt. Voorbeelden zijn Diablo II, Ultima Online en natuurlijk Anarchy Online Deze mensen groeperen zich, en wi elen informatie uit over het spel, totdat het spel uitkomt, dan worden ze pas een 'echte' clan, en spelen dan samen online. De reden waarom mensen lid van dit soort dingen is echter niet omdat ze het spel cool vinden maar omdat ze respect willen:Now that we know that pretty much everyone who follows a game before it's released is part of a Vapor Guild, it's time to figure out why they join. Simply put, Vapor Guilds allow people to climb that social ladder and become major pillars of the community. Nobody follows a game just because it looks spiffy, it's because they want their name to be a name of respect (or fear) when the game actually ships. If you ask anyone in the Shadowbane community who Luz Arius is, they will know--Luz has made a name for himself this past year and has formed one of the most prominent Vapor Guilds around: Nex Imperium. Sure, when Shadowbane actually comes out and thousands of people buy the game that have never visited the Shared Forums, they won't have any clue who Luz or Nex Imperium is, but the closely knit group of "elite" people that have been following the game for over two years will be close friends with him and pa the legend down to more and more people. These people will probably gain levels and power the fastest since they're familiar with the game, and they will talk about Luz and others in the community to the new people. Eventually, it's very po ible that Luz could gain the status of celebrity, especially if his Vapor Guild grows to a respectable size.

Not everyone joins a Vapor Guild just to gain rank, though. Basically, it can just be "something to do". Guilds have always been a way for people to have more fun or get involved whether it be through web page design, guild recruitment, infrastructure, or politics. A lot of these people have a lot of time on their hands and are trying to find a way to pa it. Instead of joining a charity organization or youth group to have good, wholesome enjoyment, they decide to help out some soon-to-be uber guild in their quest to take over the world and destroy everyone in their wake. Actually, I shouldn't talk since I did the same thing. Damn.