Membership would mean paying dues and adhering to a code of conduct. Members would be accountable to the group and could be kicked out for violating the code. Members in good standing would be endorsed by the guild and get a presence on the guild's web site. If the guild got big enough, it might be able to use dues to defend members. The guild might also vouch for anonymous members.
Such a guild might be organized along the lines of free-software/open-source projects like Debian. Anyone can download and install Debian, and anyone can contribute bug reports, but to become a contributor you first have to show yourself to be useful, then be vetted by one or more current members. This entails meeting a current member in person, displaying personal identification, and exchanging encryption keys. If the applicant is accepted the current member vouches for them. Membership can be revoked through some process.
]]>and also the world in the backstory of the Eclipse Phase RPG. Existential horror plus technology. That game does have wormhole-like gateways and aliens, which definitely breaks the mundane thing, though the aliens are mostly off-stage.
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