Why do Guilds Fight?

I understand that the characters wish to fight the Charr. I understand why the characters want to defend themselves from monsters. What I don't understand is why my character, as a member of a Guild, wants to fight members of other Guilds.
Have I missed some critical Lore?
Shouldn't all Guilds be allied against the common enemy?
What motivates Guild battles from the Character's viewpoint?

It's a little known secret but the winner of a guild battle recieves a warm, tasty, homebaked pie.

Why do you think that Guild Lord won't move? Why, he's slaving over a hot oven for you ingrates!

(Sorry, couldn't resist. And, due to the NDA, can't talk at all about any storyline or lore reasons that might exist for your characters to be fighting one another...)

Do you ask why grass grows? Why the wind blows, and the sun rises and sets?

That is why guilds fight, because that is their nature.

Peace,
-CxE

Then...the pies are not covered by the NDA? Wow! ANet finally let us a get a real peak at the 'inner workings' of the world!

If you follow this link and read the collection of "lore" short stories collected here, you will understand why the guilds fight each other.


If these stories still leave you wondering....consider this..... in one of them it says it is a singular honor to be bestowed with defending the "wall" in tyria and the ones who have that distinction are those guilds who win the right through gladitorial conquest. Hence, the reason why guilds have need to fight each other. (game history-wise)

Hope that helps you out some.

http://www.guildwars.com/lore/default.html

Great answer. It's how I learned WHY they fight, not "because" it has anything to do with nature. Sometimes, cute answers don't answer the questiuon, only create more.

From the dawn of times, in a bloodthirsty battle for all that is holy, the guild were formed. They fought in the icy age of pre-civilization. They fought when lawyers emerged from the sea and evolved into Charrs. They fought when Ascaron was barely a place where lovers came to gaze at the stars. Even now they fight. They fight untill there is only one guild left, untill a single guild dominates the world of Tyria. Why? Because there can be only one!

And, of course, because I have a lot of free time to write up all this nonsense.

The grass grows due to a complicated sequence of photosynthetic reactions.
The wind blows because when warm air rises, cool air must take it's place.
The Sun rises and sets because the earth turns.
Guilds fight because they have fun doing it and are very competitive.
... You think your character can't see the ladder? haha. Just because we have had our guild lord knocked to the edge of death several times doesn't mean we aren't still fighting for it. (the reason the Guild Lord doesn't move is because we glued him to the floor. you think he would *willingly* sit there and take abuse from a team of 8?! ha!)

I like Saus's answer. The Guild Lord does kinda look like he is wearing an apron, and Pie really gets my ire up for a good fight. Mmmm pie.

The pies, sure. Now, if I were to tell you that the pies bestowed 500 bonus hit points and +4 to all your attributes while tasting of a delightful blend of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and five different kinds of cherries and razzberries then, boy, would I be in troub...

Ah, hell...

Jam... Raspberry... There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry: Lone Starr!

why would you ask why do guilds fight? do you not enjoy slaughtering other players? lol, and the guild lore cant move cuse hes so FAT! he doesnt have the streagnth to charge the enemy, why do you think hes an archer and the question about the grass and stff maybe joe you might know this "if flamingos are pink because they eat shrimp, and shrimp are white or blue untill you cook them....why are flamingos pink?"

I was gonna put a long lengthy list of reasons why i do this action and that action all in the name of fighting another guild but it really comes down to one thing and one thing only.
Another person (guild) is a living, breathing and i assume thinking creature with limitless potential.
Once I've obtained enough lvls,skill or equipment to beat a computer generated mob then I will almost always beat that mob regardless of outside circumstances.
When fighting another person I could beat you 20 times in a row and yet when I think I own you, you could beat me 20 times in a row.
I saw this game being compared to Magic the Gathering in the way that. We will all have the same deck of cards (skills,equipment,etc) to draw on but the winner will be the person who chooses there cards wisest and plays them at the most opportune time.
And that is why I like pvp, I wanna see what deck you bring to the table

i don't remember where i read this but i read that Guilds compete for parts of the world, guilds fight for certain places until they control the entire world. I don't know if this is so but i hope it is and if it isn't than i hope their is a better reason that they fight, for blood lost over no cause is damnation

what do you want the guilds to stop fighting so everyone can live and we all can have teapartys and pick flowers togheth?!?!?! you guys act like real people are dieing!! its a game and people kill each other for fun! lol they might have a story behind it but i dont really need one (sorry to be mean but this is just dumb!)

Many guilds fight for their own reasons, some fight for the challenge, some need the reward money in order to pay for the cure of an ultra rare disease that has inflicted the guild leader's granddaughter, others hope to meet long lost rivals in the ladder, and even an obscure few are in fact agents or assassins, sent to infiltrate the ladder posing as guilds.

What most people do not realise however is that the GW Ladder is led by a shadowy hand, one that is secretly recording the battle data of all the best fighters in the world. Their objective? Why, it's none other than to use the battle data to create the WORLD'S ULTIMATE WARRIOR!!!

Be sure to check out ANet's next instalment, King of Guild Wars Alpha Zero 2007, a game so faithful to the original, they didn't even bother to update the graphics - and yet they still charge you the standard game price.