World of Warcraft®

...I'm not sure how to go about it these days, and how easy or difficult it is now to get the signatures. Last time I tried starting a guild before Cata, I could just stand in Razor Hill and offer 5g, didn't take very long at all. Now however, Durotar is mostly Moon Guard players, and I feel like a cheapskate offering 50g when they're saying 200 -- I can afford that too, and I'm okay with giving it to someone's 9th alt, but not someone who's brand new and won't know what to do with it (and frankly the only way I could tell the two apart would be checking for heirlooms). I figured I'd throw in a Frostweave bag too, maybe give the bag first, then the gold when the guild is formed, theoretically to prevent getting scammed.

I've also considered doing it with my mage so I can /who the starting zones and whisper people with a polite offer, that way if someone accepts I could travel to them quickly. Is whispering a good idea though, given how annoying it can be?

Has anyone started a personal guild recently, without getting the signatures from people you already knew? What days/times/places seemed most ideal for it, and any suggestions regarding how I might do this with the least amount of hassle? Any advice will be very appreciated.

No advice, but I just wanted to wish you the best of luck! I think any person who's genuinely willing to help would be happy to do so for free, but that the offer of gold shows how much you value their time. If I were just starting out, I think that the Frostweave bag would be even more useful than the gold, although it's thoughtful of you to think of both!

Also, if they're genuinely new to the game, you might want to offer instructions on how to whisper back when you whisper them with the offer. Even though I'd played plenty of other online games, it still took me a bit to adjust to the communications controls in WoW. (Although now, of course, they seem intuitive.) I hope everything goes well for you, Jinkjink!

I started my own bank guild when I transferred here in November, and to be honest, it took a lot of effort and gold. I knew no one on this server and I remember asking in trade and general chats, and occasionally whispering guildless folks without much success. I had to use large gold bribes and because of how long it took for me to find five people, I ended up losing some signatures - and the gold paid for them - when people who signed got tired of waiting and joined guilds. It might not be that bad nowadays; in November the expansion was pretty new and people were busy with leveling, gearing up, dailies, etc...

Good luck with your signatures! If I happen to be online when you're looking for them, shoot me a whisper and I'll sign with one of my alts. :)

Thanks for the replies and well wishes :) I'd resigned to the idea that I'd probably have to do some heavy bribing, and for now I'm still weighing all of my options and goals for how I want to be guilded before I get back to leveling my Hordies. I've missed 'em, and I definitely don't want to miss out on the upcoming events.