Over the years I've played a great many different MMOs. There have been communities as varied and interesting as the surrounding lore of the worlds involved. That said, the thing that has continued to keep me coming back for more in World of Warcraft after two and a half years is undoubtedly the absolutely fantastic people I'm honored to be guilded with.
While there have been the occasional odd visits and meetings, this weekend marked the first concerted effort at a real life "guild meeting." While sadly not everyone was able to make it, I feel relatively certain that I am speaking for the livers and/or tummies of all the people involved when I say that it was a smashing success. From Thursday to Tuesday we grilled out, drank, sang, danced, invaded local nightclubs, eateries, shops, and even "raided" both the zoo and an art museum! Many truly bad inside jokes were born ("Philosophically, you have already eaten the cookie.") and many people were introduced to a drink that has been dubbed "the Smitey Paw." (This is due to it's noxious green color, it's reference to a certain evil cat, and especially the fact that it has a tendency to smite you with very little warning.) But the absolute most amazing thing that came out of this weekend was getting to spend real-life time with my guild mates in the picture above -- and those were just the ones willing to pose for WoW Insider!
Over the last two years we've geared our mains, geared our alts, raided everything from AQ20 to Ragefire Chasm. (Yes, you can raid RFC.) But no matter what we've done, we've been focused on doing it together. Some folks have come and some have gone, but our core group has stuck together despite setbacks and guild drama and everything else that is no surprise to anyone who's ever been in a fairly large guild. This weekend was a celebration of that togetherness and those friendships that have been formed (or grown closer in some cases) thanks to World of Warcraft. So to my awesome guild mates -- and to all other guilds out there who have members that get together in real life to show that Gamers can party down too -- I raise my Smitey Paw in /salute to you!
While there have been the occasional odd visits and meetings, this weekend marked the first concerted effort at a real life "guild meeting." While sadly not everyone was able to make it, I feel relatively certain that I am speaking for the livers and/or tummies of all the people involved when I say that it was a smashing success. From Thursday to Tuesday we grilled out, drank, sang, danced, invaded local nightclubs, eateries, shops, and even "raided" both the zoo and an art museum! Many truly bad inside jokes were born ("Philosophically, you have already eaten the cookie.") and many people were introduced to a drink that has been dubbed "the Smitey Paw." (This is due to it's noxious green color, it's reference to a certain evil cat, and especially the fact that it has a tendency to smite you with very little warning.) But the absolute most amazing thing that came out of this weekend was getting to spend real-life time with my guild mates in the picture above -- and those were just the ones willing to pose for WoW Insider!
Over the last two years we've geared our mains, geared our alts, raided everything from AQ20 to Ragefire Chasm. (Yes, you can raid RFC.) But no matter what we've done, we've been focused on doing it together. Some folks have come and some have gone, but our core group has stuck together despite setbacks and guild drama and everything else that is no surprise to anyone who's ever been in a fairly large guild. This weekend was a celebration of that togetherness and those friendships that have been formed (or grown closer in some cases) thanks to World of Warcraft. So to my awesome guild mates -- and to all other guilds out there who have members that get together in real life to show that Gamers can party down too -- I raise my Smitey Paw in /salute to you!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-30-2007 @ 11:11AM
Sleepyeyes said...
I would give a lot to meet with my guild in real life. They all seem like awesome people to hang out with. Plus I love how this article emphasizes that it's not just fun to play WoW with friends it's fun to go out in real life and hang out with them too.
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5-30-2007 @ 11:25AM
Zie said...
Our guild tries to plan an outing twice a year. It just so happens that we plan to have one next week. Looking forward to raiding Houston Texas!
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5-30-2007 @ 11:31AM
Nelson said...
Onyxia-US-PvP - All 20 ppl are RL friends. =) So fun.
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5-30-2007 @ 11:33AM
Rainwizard said...
Neato!!! I'm jealous! I don't know ANYONE who plays WoW here....let alone any guildies...I'm on the proverbial "island in the middle of nowhere." Any ideas to remedy this situation.
Thanks!!
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5-30-2007 @ 12:00PM
Quoi said...
I want to meet my guildmates!
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5-30-2007 @ 12:05PM
Keysdawg said...
When I was in Sadhus of the Smoke, we held a annual "Sadhu-Con" where we alternated different sides of the country and once a year we would try to gather as many people as we could and have a great time. We went to Las Vegas this year. Was a hell of a time. Lots of drinking, laughing, same old guild jokes and a generally good time.
It definately made us better friends as we know each other in real life and not just our virtual persona's. I highly recommend it.
Next year, MIAMI!
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5-30-2007 @ 12:17PM
Sylythn said...
Awesome! :) We've got one planned for early August and it looks like a pretty good turnout of our core folks. What's even more awesome is significant others and family members will be coming along too - they may not play with us, but they're part of the fam. :) I'd love to make it a semi-annual event, spread it around the country so we can get everyone involved. Now we just need some Euro players so we can have an excuse to raid Paris.
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5-30-2007 @ 12:49PM
rafe.brox said...
@7 - We'd invite our SO's to come along, but, with only one exception, they already play with us! I have a pet conspiracy theory about the supposed non-playing SO - I bet she's a PvP fiend. ;-)
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5-30-2007 @ 1:58PM
Meg said...
I haven't had the chance to have a guild get together yet, but I did make the trip down to meet three of my guildmates this weekend. They were such amazing people that I can't wait to go back down and see them again.
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5-30-2007 @ 2:07PM
kirrathjehrain said...
My guild actually did a 40man raid on Disneyland last year. Was loads of fun, and we each even got a trinket (it was Earth Day, apparently, so they were handing out the giant blue pins).
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5-30-2007 @ 3:08PM
eyan.hempler said...
@2
I will personally make sure that Houston doubles its defenses in preparation for the coming week... So don't forget your consumables.
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5-31-2007 @ 5:18AM
Lucas said...
My old Guild are all from Denmark, little country, easy access, we had a gathering and Christmas lunch (actually we had people from other guilds on the server there as well) over 60 people was there drinking, farting and having fun. it was very rewarding for a Guild Leader to have such nice people in the guild.
We did the gatherings a few times, and meet up occational, 20-30 people at a time, it's awesome.
Now ThatI'm in a new guild with new people from all around the world one doesn't get to see as meny as one did before - but the good thing is that my old guild is still alive (and surviving without me as their leader) so we stil have fun.
There is it's share of tards and happy people in the RL and some people just look entirely different in RL from what one would think of them online - it's funny like that.
//Tallens'out
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