I know leveling is not really an issue here on Phoenix but will there be the option to /gc buff xp for any kind of added bonus for players joining guilds. It wouldn't have to be nothing large even if it was a 1% bonus would be nice to have. Not to sound like I'm complaining or anything just any added incentive to get players to want to join the existing DAoC communities is cool in my book!
It is in, but not working correctly atm. Will be fixed before launch. There will be also special guild tasks available. where a guild can earn extra bonuses for every guild member.
One strong disincentive to join a guild on the "other" freeshard is that the newbie chat channels go away, but your guild / alliance were likely to not take up the slack, especially if they were dying. And many were dying even long ago. I've been left on a dead channel more than once.
Here, we have the /advice channel, which was a wise decision and should alleviate that problem. So while I used to actively avoid guilds, I intend to join one at least after launch if not sooner.
And devs, if we're crowded at launch and you feel the urge to remove /advice and break up newbie guilds to spread the chat around... please don't. Even a strongly successful launch will eventually have the population settle. Just gag the jackasses spamming the channels with nonsense, and all will eventually be good.