FoE: Notes on an Legendary Guild Experience

Guilds exist on many levels and for many reasons, some exist for end-game raiding, some for high-end crafting, some follow factional lines for the pvp lovers and occasionally we even see special needs guilds that are formed for pure comic relief, (“2 Inches of Fury” comes immediately to mind). If you are lucky and a halfway decent player occasionally you will run across a Guild that encompasses all of these within one body. I had the luck to join such a guild (guess this means I must be at least half-way decent, no matter what my class leaders says to the contrary).

I joined Fist of the Empire (FoE) about a year ago. I was well aware of this guild and the guildleader, Praelian Darkpath from my long run on Bria back in SWG (Star Wars Galaxies). Unfortunately I was a Rebel and FoE was Imperial so I was unable to be a part of their guild then, except as fodder, and although I would like to think that I had a large part in making things hard for them back then, after joining I came to realize that my band of merry misfits was little more than a fly buzzing around the head of a giant, just waiting to be swatted down at any given moment. Come to think of it, I do believe I still have some of their butt cheeks still imprinted on my head from all the asshats I was given over the years in that great game.

When WoW (World of Warcraft) was released some of their players moved to Archimonde, after NGE (New Game Enhancements) the majority of the guild came to WoW leaving few behind in SWG. The guild then had a presence in 2 games both under exceptional command, “Edra” in SWG and “Nightshade” in WoW, but these 2 were just the tip of the iceberg and there are many officers under them that did their bidding to make the guild grow stronger and stronger. This is the secret to becoming a Legendary Guild.

In WoW, when “Nightshade” needed time away, “Blackcat” stepped into the leadership position without a hiccup to the raiding schedule. During the transition Praelian oversaw that things would progress with as little loss to the core of the guild as possible.

This chain of command is exemplary in its simplicity and effectiveness in regards to keeping the players active, but the real genius is not just in the guild leadership of the game but the higher level of leadership that along with Praelian oversee the guild as a whole in all the games. These players are not associated with any one game, they jump back and forth across the games we play and oversee the overall guild experience. This has allowed us to be involved in many other ventures including this one; Guildnetwork.net. This has also allowed us to find the time once a year to meet in person at some designated spot to form real-life friendships and engage in drunken revelry with our fellow brethren.

We are now in 4 games, SWG, WOW, WAR (Warhammer), and DFO (Darkfall-Online). We also have the makings of a professional FPS team. The Guildnetwork Team has had several gaming strategy articles published with more in the making.

FoE got a serious feather in its cap in the Mar/Apr ’09 Issue of “Beckett Massive Online Gamer” when Fist of the Empire was named Guild of the Month. This just brought to the public what most of us members knew all along, FoE is a legendary guild with a humble beginning, a colorful past, a steady present and an eye to the future.

“Some of my best friends are avatars” - Momologic