About Us
What is Guild Network?
Guild Network is a collaborative project dedicated to being the single source of news for online organizations and communities playing Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG). Guild Network is lead by gamers who participate or run their own guilds and are experienced professionals in real life. Our goal is to provide timely and relevant information about games, guilds, technology, and lifestyles for emergent and veteran online communities.
What makes us so special?
Guild Network staff has over 40 years combined experienced in the world of online gaming. We have grown tired of media outlets that often server the game industry's needs over the community's needs and believe that there must be a place dedicated to the development and advancement of organized online communities. Guild Network recognizes the importance of guilds and clans, without them the online gaming industry would be mediocre at best, and we will orient our content to capture the essence of this community.
Executive Editor: Chad Caison (GN_Chad)
I’ve been passionate about video games since my Atari 2600 and in 2002 I entered the PC online gaming world and never looked back. I started Guild Network because I’ve grown tired of sub-par sites that cater to the gaming industry and not to the community of gamers that actually provide the substance to the online gaming world. I also found the internet lacking one central repository of information for aspiring guild leaders to learn from more veteran leaders.
Likes: Watching a discipline unit of players dominate the opposition, destroying player cities, Sam Adams beer, forum trolls (they make me laugh) and Nine Inch Nails.
Dislikes: Purple-love’n loot whores, whiney people, cats that can’t find the litter box, quitters, long lines (I’m impatient), people who talk on their cell phone while in the bathroom (is it really that important?).
Email Contact: ccaison@guildnetwork.net
Senior Editor: David Kirchhoff (GN_David)
I love playing PC games and am eagerly looking forward to finding one that I am actually any good at. I generally roll healing characters because most players are willing to overlook the fact that you suck as long as you throw the occasional heal towards them.: this is the only reason I was ever able to get into a guild in the first place. Guild dynamics are probably more fascinating to me than any of the games themselves, actually.
Likes: My shelties (Duncan and Daisy), technology (except for stuff like internet-connected coffee makers – that's just dumb), baseball, Twin Peaks, and video games that allow for fishing. Oh, and bacon.
Dislikes: Squirrels, polar bears, and penguins. Turkey, chicken, and ice cream. Left turns. Vampires. Junk mail. Polio. Heights. Tennis. Dark beer. Poverty. Potholes. People that insist on talking to me while I am eating at the bar even though I am acting as if I am trying to read my magazine. Every commercial that has ever aired on an FM radio station. I could go on and on.
Email Contact: dkirchhoff@guildnetwork.net
Blog: (coming soon)
Senior Technical Editor: Jason Honingford (GN_Jason)
As a gamer at heart all my life, I was raised on the Odyssey, Atari 2600, C-64, and the Amiga 2000. My claim to fame is composing a short tune for Amy the Squirrel creator, Eric Schwartz. In 1995, I paid out $2500 for a Gateway PC for use in the remainder of my treasured college years at Bowling Green State University in Ohio. My degree is actually a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, but my professional career started when I moved to Southwest Florida and began a career in web design which quickly became more scripting and programming than graphic arts. I then spent a year in silicon valley (California) which truly graduated me into software developer status. Today, I’m back in Florida where I continue a career in developing websites and applications for small and medium sized companies and organizations.
Likes: sailing, boating, jetskiing, movies, composing music, and being single.
Dislikes: Being single, writing about my dislikes, and drama.
Email Contact: jhoningford@guildnetwork.net
Blog: (coming soon)
Associate Editor: Ken Hensley (GN_Ken)
I've been passionate about video games since my old Atari days and even received Pong from my grandma when I was barely 5 years old. I stepped into the online world when I joined World War II Online (now Battlefield Europe). Since then it has been a long journey from many popular online games over the years to beta-testing the next hot title. What I find lacking in many reviews are the key features that focus on the community and the features for guilds. The majority of reports are just small slap-stick reviews on the single-player experience in online games.
Likes: Ganking carebears, being part of an organized team that dominates its rivals, pillaging a town and killing the women and children, pizza, fast food, and Dr. Pepper.
Dislikes: Loot whores, cry babies, ship-jumping players, close minded people, rock music with people screaming through the entire song (seriously sounds like a whiny kid throwing an attitude), people who beat around the bush, and childish drama.
Email Contact: khensley@guildnetwork.net
Blog: (coming soon)
Associate Editor: Monique Parker (GN_Monqiue)
As the old-timer of our clan,I got my start in video games by taking my sons to the arcades, we always had the latest console system lying around so I played casually while they were at school -Yes I am a "Pong" Master! I have seen the start of our industry and what it has grown into, from the first Atari. My first on-line experience was "Sims-Online", and quickly moved on to "Star Wars Galaxies", "Everquest 2", "World of Warcraft”, "City of Heros", “Vanguard" and now "Age of Conan". My cool head and mom-experiences have given me many insights as to what makes a group of casual players into a unified force working much like a family to accomplish things otherwise impossible. As I live in the boondocks, all of my gaming experiences have been on either dial-up or satellite, so trust me I know all about lag, it just slows you down a bit, it doesn't stop you.
Likes: Intelligent conversations, planning enormous raids, margaritas, New Orleans history, small flock poultry raising, good books, good restaurants, Delta Blues, fishing, Coffee with Chicory, casual writing, and my family
Dislikes: Whiners, criers, mopers, rudeness, hurricanes, AT&T (bastards won't put in my internet cable connection), Banana Spiders (shiver), and egg-eating snakes
Email Contact: mparker@guildnetwork.net
Blog: GN_Monique's Blog
Associate Editor: Kelly Moore (GN_Kelly)
I'd like to point out the obvious by stating that I'm a gamer. Beyond that, I'm a college educated, often clumsy, occasionally intelligent, brilliantly creative, pain-in-the-posterior persona . Ask anyone. I know I should fill this area with snippets of my life for everyone to scrutinize, but I'm afraid you are going to have to read my articles to siphon the details of my life. It should hurt... a lot.
Likes: Uncomfortable silences, smooth double entendres, graphic design, & Daniel Jackson
Dislikes: Waiting for game patches, pick up lines, anxiety, & writing a mini bio about myself
Email Contact: kmoore@guildnetwork.net
Associate Editor: Jay Pierce (GN_Jay)
My affinity for video games began in the early 1980's with ColecoVision, and quickly evolved into PC gaming with my Tandy 1000 (Double Dragon). About a decade later, I cut my online teeth with Tribes, the most under-rated online FPS of all time. But two letters changed everything in 1999 -- EQ. Since exploring Norrath with my Necro, Cleric and Shaman, I've spent the last few years immersed in all manner of MMOs including Dark Age of Camelot, World of Warcraft, Vanguard and Warhammer. Although EQ's Necro and Warhammer's Magus come close, my favorite class of all time is the DAoC Friar. Spinning staff beatdowns + group healing = good times.
Likes: Football (Go Steelers!), open PvP, Cheap Wine, Acura RSX, Writing, Baked Mac and Cheese, Mariah Carey (circa 2002 when she was bat$hit crazy), The Scar
Dislikes: Raids that last too long, gear elitists with time to kill but zero skill, cats (especially LOLcats), Terrell Owens, the word 'pants', political debates on TS/Ventrillo.
Email Contact: jpierce@guildnetwork.net