A guild is typically an in-game association of player characters. Guilds are formed to make grouping and raiding easier and more rewarding, as well as to form a social atmosphere in which to enjoy the game. Banking guilds are also used by many individual players as a way to increase the rather limited bank storage space available in the game.

Guilds offer many benefits including free items, opportunities for groups, access to trade skill masters, quest items, and readily available trade skill ingredients through gathering guild members. You may discover that a guild greatly enhances your gameplay experience. You can meet friends, share adventures, and find people to protect you if you fight in faction versus faction combat. Typically, players in good guilds can go places and do things that players in poor guilds or no guild can't. This is especially the case at character levels 60-85, where the dungeons become very challenging.

Keep in mind that guilds are run by players and not Blizzard. The quality of the guild and the guild experience depends entirely on the players in that guild. Guilds can be a grab bag where you never know what you'll get. Every guild is different.

Finding a guild can be very easy. People often sit in town asking anyone to join their guild because guilds require a minimum number of members to create. However, finding a quality guild with quality members and leadership can be a difficult task. Don't be afraid to shop around. You can join one guild, try it out, then leave and join another guild until you find one you like.

Talk to a guild master NPC in a major city. A charter can be purchased for 10Silver. You will need 4 Players to sign the charter before you can turn it in and start your guild. Due to a bug, your Guild Charter must be in your original backpack when you give it to the Guild Master to create your guild. Another bug is that sometimes the charter breaks and tells you that any name you choose already exists, including random letters. The only 'fix' for that is to delete the charter and start over. Choosing a tabard design costs 10 Gold, but the guild can be created without paying for the tabard design. When you still have the guild charter you can change the guild name to something that isn't taken.

Guild names are case sensitive - this means that there could be two guilds, one named Guild of Rogues, and the other named Guild Of Rogues on the same server. (Note the "o" in "of" is capitalized in the second.)

Note: When signing a guild charter, once a player's character signs, no alternate characters on that account may sign. The charter must have signatures from 4 other Players, each on a different account. This is why people sometimes offer to pay to have their charters signed. Yet you can have different character from the same account join the guild after charter is turned in.

Once you begin getting signatures on your charter, focus on getting the remaining signatures on your charter and registering the guild. Signatures can disappear if you delay, since players are allowed to put signatures on other charters until you turn yours in.

Guilds now receive guild perks after gaining levels, which offer a variety of rewards including an increase in experience, reputation, and money earned

Having a group of people willing to help, and on later levels, being able to do high-end instances and raid instances such as Obsidian Sanctum, Naxxramas, Eye of Eternity and Ulduar. Also finding Battle Groups will be much much easier.

Having a group of people to talk to socially wherever you are and whatever you're doing.

A guild bank lets you exchange items not right for your class or style with ones you prefer or simply help out those less fortunate. With patch 2.3 real guild banks have been introduced and players no longer need to host a bank character for their guild.