My Profile tag - the Guild Wars era

Copyright © 2011 Mark Kelly

I recently, within the last thirty-six hours, changed my profile tag/image. Mainly for the fact I had become bored with my last one, but also as a true representation of me as a gamer, past and present.

The words contained within were written by me at a time when I was Guild Leader within an MMO game entitled Guild Wars.  I signed up for this game back in 2005 when beta testing events were held on every first weekend of the month prior to the game going gold - being released for sale to the world. And what made it all the more appealing? No monthly game fees! So purchasing the game was never going to be an issue, as I wouldn't be dipping into my pocket once that was done. A ground breaking approach (at the time) by ANet, which many scoffed at - amazing how those who paid a monthly fee assumed the role of superiority against those of us choosing to play Guild Wars, based on the fact they were paying out each month for something they had already paid for (which I have done myself for WoW)?



I must admit, taking part in that beta phase was an immense experience for me. The friends I made were great, though the majority have now slipped back into the ether, and the weekends were nothing short of a great adventure. Each of those first weekends of every month I slept little, if at all, such was the immersion and wonder of exploring the game setting. The world would change each month in order to test out new additions to the rule systems, items, mobs and monsters, and the quest plots and non-player characters.

A Saturday night group shot of my old cronies and I, 2005. Great times indeed.

But, as with all things, time moves on and newer, fresher ideas emerge as do games. Guild Wars of old is now a former shadow of itself as the imminent advent of Guild Wars 2 open beta testing tinges the distant horizon with its arrival, many of the old guard wait with baited breath. I included.

A banner I created for one of my female Officers depicting all of her characters.
It intentionally goes from dark (left) to light (right) to show the 'purity' of her characters.
Fiona was amongst one of the best, and most loyal Officers I have ever had the pleasure of gaming with.

I still roam the lands of Tyria, on occasion with a friend or two, but the ghosts of friends long since gone whisper to me the glory days of our guild's achievements within the Guild-versus-Guild arena. Heady days of victory, mingled with solemn days of defeat, but always great camaraderie, especially in the quests across Tyria that took us through jungles, across deserts, over icy tundra and into the very depths of the world itself.

A 'one off' banner created for player within Guild Wars - not a member of our guild.

One funny memory I do recall is to do with the changing of our original guild name. To begin with I had named the guild 'Hellspawn Legion'. All seemed good and well. The guild members were happy and recruiting was on the up. That is until a boyfriend/girlfriend joined our ranks. They seemed very enthusiastic and looked as if they were going to fit in nicely. All introductions were made and that evening's game session went well.

A brief moment of levity before a Guild-vs-Guild match. Mine is the Ranger on the left, my friend's character is the warrior, and at the time he was 'AFK' (away from keyboard).
When I took this screenshot we were 'guesting' with a guild called 'Phoenix United Kingdom', whose guild tag was 'PHUK' (ours was MiLE). So, the devil got the better of me and I did this just for a laugh.

The following day I logged on only to find that the boyfriend/girlfriend had left the guild. I made enquiries with the other members; did anyone know why they left? Was there a problem? Did they fall out with anyone? No one knew the answers or why they had left?
Eventually one of them 'whispered' me in game (whisper is a private chat channel that only you, the recipient, and the sender can see). It was the girlfriend of the couple. She apologised for leaving, but hadn't realised the name of our guild. Puzzled, I asked why the guild name would cause them to leave. She replied, 'We're church going Christians and don't want anything to do with the devil.' Oh, how I laughed!

I thanked her for telling me and apologised for the misunderstanding, but went to great pains to explain that we were not, nor in any way, devil worshippers. But it did make me reconsider the guild name, hence the change to Midnight Legion.

I now look forward to the release of Guild Wars 2, and especially look forward to meeting up with some of my 'old guard' from Midnight Legion, exchange some tales of former glories and take to creating fresh new tales to tell of fighting side-by-side with comrades in arms, exploring the dungeons, ancient and forgotten, and discovering uncharted lands.

Will I see you there?