Hi Alana,
Well as you rightly say many guilds are promoting and it is hard to find out what is real and what is hot air. The only way to really be sure is to join a guild and get to know the people in it. Find out if you can get along with them and if the guild is active, dynamic and its members committed.
Of course I will tell you AO is a good guild and that all the latter is true for us. Only way to find out if I\'m full of it is to try it out. Our website can be accessed at:
Arcane Order and if you click on Forum in the menu you can access our own AO forum. You will get access to General Discussion only as the rest is for members only.
From your choice of name for your Character, Althan, it sounds like a male Ylian. Be that as it may we would welcome such a character. AO takes characters of all races, abilities and persuasions (evil, neutral, good). The guild itself is neutral though and will act that way as a whole. AO is governed democratically by a council of 6 members, one for each of the ways of magic in Yliakum.
In Ao we value engaged and committed members, inactive members are placed on probation and/or asked to leave, and we have a great time together. We are not very active in-game now as there is not much to do. However, in PS forums, our own AO forum and online we are very active. We are a close-knit group of friends and therefore we put new members on a mandatory 3 week try-out so both us and the new member can find out if the chemistry works.
We have members covering many timezones and from many countries. Until now we have only male members ;( although I will be playing a female character, Illyria the White - Council member for the Crystal way. You will be more than welcome to come and give AO a try, and no hard feelings if you don\'t feel you fit in.
Regards,
