Here’s to the People

It’s not often you’ll read about non-WoW stuff. But, this is one of my quiet anticipations for the year (Counterstrike: Global Offensive being my loudest). Guild Wars 2 and I had an interesting history together. It was by no means my first MMO. But, it was my first MMO as a healer.

It was also my first experience running a guild.

To be fair, I didn’t do much more than administration, scheduling, and logistics. It’s something I rather enjoy doing (and something most players detest, because they just want to play). Basically got suckered into it, but heh, I didn’t mind. The guild was tiny. It consisted of around 10 or so players. Everyone in the guild was someone I knew in real life – We were all on the Canadian west coast.

I affectionately refer to them as the Asians (and it’s what they’re known as now in the guild when I’m talking about them since they’re still with us but involved in other games).

We all levelled and blitzed through Tyria together.

We held the line against rival guilds together.

We ascended the Hall of Heroes together.

I have a hard time explaining this to friends. “Why do you spend that kind of time with strangers? It’s a waste!” Though I’m fairly certain that’s an Asian parents question. But when people ask this, I tell them it’s no different then playing in rec volleyball or hockey. Time is set aside each week dedicated to practice or matches and it’s either going to be for competition or for fun.  Ultimately you’re with people that you like playing with while having some goal in mind.

Because at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s Guild Wars 2, SWTOR, TERA, Secret World, WoW, or what have you. The platform or game can change. Games are going to change in features, textures, bosses, etc. But ultimately, the people is what makes the experiences worth it.

Seriously though, I can’t wait for GW2. No monthly subscription means I can play that and WoW. I don’t want to have multiple active subscriptions to games since I only have so much time I can devote. I was tempted to give TERA and Secret World a shot, but I couldn’t justify multiple subscriptions. It’s my firm belief that Guild Wars 2 is going to do quite well since it’s going to target a section of the population that’s not willing to stomach a monthly fee. It will offer competition to WoW and I want to see what the new “it” thing is going to be when the game comes out. WoW has a long, storied history of adapting ideas from other games and introducing it into theirs.

When gaming companies have to innovate and come up with new ideas, the winners always end up being the players.

Speaking of Guild Wars 2, I’m looking for some help. The community has certain leadership positions available and I’m looking to expand. A guild leader solely for GW2 would be tremendous. There’s almost no chance of me devoting my time there, with WoW, and other responsibilities. So if anyone’s looking to help quarterback a guild without the extraneous stuff that comes with running a guild, give me a shout.

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