Wow. What developments in my guild recently! You may recall in a previous post I mentioned that our guild was hitting a bit of raid fatigue. Things have progressed a somewhat since then...we no longer have a raid force. Sadly, several of the core raid force who were initially involved in forming it (one of whom kinda helped me decide to join the guild when I bumped into him in Sanctum of Scaleborn..lovely chap) had given themselves a time limit on getting a full and dedicated raid force together. That time ran out, and our raid force was sporadic at best. I must say I actually agree with their decision. For months now several of my guild have been struggling tirelessly to organise and motivate members to attend raids. Things went quite well for a while, until everyone got in to T3 armour and their myths. Strangely enough, raid attendance then started to dry up. Apart from mine that is! Yes, I am a good boy and attended every single raid, not missing one since I joined the guild.
But that’s how it went. Our raid force went from two / three solid groups to about four members who always attended. The raid leaders and main raid members who were all intrinsically involved in the running of our setup have been through the ringer. I know how much hard work and effort they all put in, trying to please everyone, researching in their spare time and having been part of no less than three raid setups in the process of trying to get one to work (Pheonix Unity>then started Vindheir> then merged with Clan Werre), one can totally understand how it can get a little demoralising that just when you think things are going well, members stop turning up and you have to start gathering more in to the fold.
It’s not the first time I have seen this happen in EQ2. In fact I have seen it happen to every raid or casual raid guild I have been in, eventually. Things may go well for a while (especially in the totally dedicated raid guilds), but eventually, someone key always drops out and if that person is followed by a few more..well, it’s inevitable is what I am getting at.
Both our previous raid leaders did a fantastic job in my eyes. Under difficult circumstances they never stopped trying to gain enthusiasm for the raids and guild and always seemed to make the night fun. Personally that’s one of the reasons that although I understand why people stopped turning up (even though I don’t agree with it), that I am more than a little confused. OK, so you have full T3 and your myth, but there is much more lootz to obtain, many more mobs to get down as a team, feeling part of something that achieves and most importantly, the fun. We always had fun. I personally can’t understand why it stopped being fun for some just because they had obtained their kit. For me it was about getting together with new friends and enjoying each others company and also the occasional crushing of a tough mob. I’m gonna miss it, but more importantly, I’m gonna miss the people.
I have only been in the guild for about 2 months and I was just getting to know some of those people behind the characters well, and I really liked them. But now, some of them are gone and I guess I kinda regret not having got to know them better. I know mostly their alts are staying in guild, but I also know what that’s like. Most of my alts are still in Acolytes of Valor, but I rarely play them as TSO (I feel) kind of forces those with limited play time to concentrate on just a couple of toons max if you want to achieve anything. So although I still have ties in AoV, I very sadly rarely visit as I just don’t have the time. I hope it doesn’t happen like that for those new friends who have moved on, but I am kinda guessin’ it will be. Circumstances seem to make it happen that way.
Things move on. It is the way of things. That’s one of the big problems with MMOs though. Your closest allies, you will probably stay in touch with for a long time. But, those who you like but didn’t really get to know too well, will probably fade in to the distance and that’s that. I often think about the many players I have got to know over my time in MMOs and I still wonder what happened to them and how they are getting on. Strange thing is, in ‘RL’, if I met someone I got along with that well, we would remain in touch. But with MMOs, it doesn’t seem to happen that way. Kinda sad really.
So, to those raid leaders who have had a tough time out there, thanks for all your hard work and dedication you put into your play time to make other peoples play time more enjoyable. A seriously selfless act, respect to you guys. To those friends I started to get to know and really liked, I wish you well on lifes path, I’ll miss not having the opportunity to get to know you better. To those who will surely follow now our raid force has gone, stay in touch! If you need Adurjy goodness, you know where to find me.
A toast to lost friendships and dedicated hard workers.
Cheers.
Be Well.
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