Guild

A Guild (ギルド girudo) is a term used in online games to refer to a formal group of players with an organized structure and a leader. The current number of existing guilds in Elder Tale is unknown, although there are about thousand on the Japanese server alone.

Overview
All guilds have a single leader called a guildmaster, although most guildmasters have at least one adviser or assistant. Many larger guilds also have subcommanders to help with the massive amount of work running a large guild entails. Some guilds possess a council that helps decide major decisions and participates in running the day to day operations.

One of the advantages of forming a guild (instead of an informal Party) is being able to rent a guild hall in Akihabara's central Guild Meeting Hall. A guild can rent halls of various sizes, and the monthly rate depends on the number of rooms required.

In the events of Log Horizon, after the Catastrophe struck, many guilds in Akihabara started a widespread campaign to recruit as many players as they can find into their fold in preparation to confront the alternate world they were trapped in. Female players were especially a target of such pressure, which was among the reasons why Shiroe recruited Akatsuki into his party so that she wouldn't face such harassment.

Since then, major guilds began to exert their influence while minor ones became smaller and weaker ultimately ended up being absorbed by the bigger guilds or were forced to disband. After the formation of the Round Table Alliance and the revelation of magical engineering, many small guilds have formed to experiment with new techniques and sell their products.

Meanwhile, in Minami and Nakasu, Plant Hwyaden took over both cities as the sole guild, becoming a massive conglomerate with different divisions within it. Other major guilds have taken control of the major cities in different parts of Watano Islands such as the Round Table Alliance in Akiba or the Silver Swords in Susukino.

Types of Guilds
In general, there are two main types of guilds in Elder Tale: Those that focus on fighting / raiding and those that focus on turning ingredients into products (crafting).

Battle Guild
A term for guilds that use the collective strength of their members to claim territory, hunt for ingredients, explore dungeons, and complete quests that require fighting such as Boss Raids. Since the Apocalypse many battle guilds are hired as bodyguards for people or caravans traveling from one city to another. The defense of adventurer cities often falls to battle guilds as they are best suited to be an impromptu army when necessary.

Production Guild
A term for guilds that use their members' subclass skills to turn raw ingredients into products which are then sold for at a profit to other players, particularly those in battle guilds.

Small to Medium Sized Guild
A term for guilds that have a small or considerate number of members who may have important roles. Since the Apocalypse many smaller guilds were absorbed by larger ones hoping to gain strength. After six months some smaller guilds have begun to appear again either because they are now protected or they formed to investigate certain aspects of the new world.

PK Guild
A term for guilds that commit atrocities and crimes like looting, slavery, PK-ing, and other crimes. As many of the major adventurer cities have become more organized these guilds have become rarer either because of forced disbandment or banishment from the cities by other more powerful guilds.