Lor
e in
t
erview with g
ame designer:
Je
ff Grubb
Tender W
olf’
s
Winter Fa
shion
On The Tube
with
Daelin Dwin (
Wi
nters
day)
Win
t
e
r
sda
y
Dea
th and Ice
By the commu
nity, for the commu
nity
Decembe
r - Iss
ue #5
© 2003-2010 Ar
enaNet, Inc. All righ
ts r
eserv
ed. NCsoft, the in
t
erlocking NC log
o
, Ar
enaNet, Ar
ena.net, Guild W
ar
s, Guild W
ar
s 2, and all associa
t
ed log
os and designs ar
e tr
ademarks or r
egis
t
er
ed tr
ademark
s of NCsoft Corpor
a
tion. All other tr
ademark
s ar
e the pr
operty of their r
espectiv
e owner
s.
T
h
is issue’s theme:
In this issue:
The Dw
arv
es - Childr
en of the Gr
eat Dw
arf
Title Hunt
er
s | Surviv
or
s of Leg
end
The Mystery Behind the Bak
er
s
To Be A Mas
t
er
...A Guild Mas
t
er
, Tha
t Is
Win
t
er
sda
y W
ork
sh
op
And mo
And mo
r
e..
..
→ Meet the team
A small introduction to the team be
hind GuildMag.
→ Shiverpe
aks
These wintry times render much of the landscap
e
frigid, cold,
and i
cy.
→ On the tube with Daelin Dwin
(Win
ter
sd
ay spec
ial)
Jeff answers some interesting lore questions her
e.
→ Jingle all the way
Special Wintersday pets for your ranger
, but where
to get them?
→ To be a Master, a Guild Master th
at is
.
A look into the
minds of Tyria's Guild Leade
rs.
→ Wi
ntersd
ay
What exactly is Wintersday, and where does
it come from?
→ Winter Fas
hion
What are players wearing this winter - or what
should the
y be wearing?
→
Holiday
Contest resu
lts
The winne
rs and their entries.
GuildWars Fan Artist 'Kiya Koreena'
An interview with a wel
l-know
crafty ar
tist.
Wintersday Worksh
op
Watch people’s creatio
ns b
lo
om.
Spirit
ual
Affinities
→ Poems
Community submited poe
try
→ End of the Line
The last tidbits.
Dutch's T
alk with....
Daniel Froz
enwi
nd
Shiverin
g Pea
ks
Sp
iri
tua
l Affinit
y
Enter GuildMag
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
Magazine | Page
1/50
I know, I know, it's hard coming up with a name I li
ke
for
this outlet. As a not native Project-lead it would
not
make
much sense for me to have this one
called 'E
ditor's Word'
but really, I think 'Enter GuildMag' one suits the
purpose
for n
ow.
Wintersday is coming, a time to be with your fami
ly,
pr
e
Wintersday is coming, a time to be with your fami
ly,
pr
e-
pare for the new year and make sure yo
u get
that o
ne
thing you want from Sant... ehh,
Dwayna of course. One
of those things you do in these few days will maybe
also
involve looking ahead to next year
, be it because you'
re
turning older a year or for any other reason you can think
of.
That's pretty much what we of GuildMag will be
doing as
That's pretty much what we of GuildMag will be
doing as
well. Next year we'll be celebrating our first aniv
e
rse
rry
and of course we're hoping it won't be ou
r last.
To ensu
re
that even more we're reviewing the usefullness of our
site. Over the past few months we've found ourselves in
the luxurious position to be
read, heard and even viewed
by over a couple of thousands of people
. What started
out as just a magazine by the community for the commu
out as just a magazine
by the community for the commu-
nity has now grown into a full-fledge
d news and enter-
tainment source for everyone that is interested in either
the original Guild Wars or Guild Wars 2. But we
're not
there yet,
we know that, we want to bring you more, not
more of the same, but more of a different kind. Over the
next few weeks we'll be unleashing GuildMag Visi
ons,
GuildMag Features and we'll be rebrandi
ng our vide
os to
GuildMag Vide
os (original eh?),
more on that will soon be
posted in a blogpost on our also-soon-to-be-new site
.
I have kept you reading for too long,
as our writers did
their best to bring you our last issue for 2010,
packed
with interesting lore in the
theme of 'Frigid Times' and
the returning articles. Be sure to welcome the ne
w wri
t-
ers, editors and de
signers over at our site and while
you're there, leave some feedback behind! Don't forge
t
to attend our own Wintersday event: Rudi's Quest on
which you can find additional info in this very magazine
.
which you can find additional info in this very magazine
.
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
Magazine | Page
2/50
A short intr
oduction to t
he t
eam of
GuildMag
MEET THE TEAM
Name: Ver
ene
IGN: F
ar
ai Sa
vitri
Task: Desi
gner
Wha
t's up: R
eality is a
killer
.
Name: BarGamer
IGN: S
o
y Oil
Task: Elit
e Pr
o
ofr
eader
Wha
t's up: W
ork, ea
t,
g
ame. Not enough sleep.
Name: Art
ax
erx
es
IGN: Art
ax
erx
es K
aede
Task: Writ
er
Wha
t's up: La
t
e-nigh
t
s
tudying and sleep depri-
v
a
:on.
Name: Nox
IGN: Nox E
ther
eal
Task:
Designer
Wha
t's up: Ps
yched f
o
r
the ne
w f
orum/f
ansit
e I'm
cr
ea
:ng at quagg
an.com
Name: Time
w
arp
IGN: Ver
a M
aldr
oma
Task: Desi
gner
Wha
t's up: Gar
den
gnomes
Nickname: D
ut
ch S
un
shine
IGN: D
ut
ch
Sun
shine
Task:
Pr
oject
-Lead
Wha
t's Up?: 'As a child I gr
e
w
up in these lands.....'
Nickname: Asur
an
IGN: T
he W
or
s
t Mon
k
Task: Designer/Writ
er
Wha
t's Up?: Disman
tle the
man
tle.
Nickname: Jon
n
y10
IGN: Nigh
tshade Special
Task: Designer/W
ebmas
t
er
Wha
t's Up?: Pink :u:y
unic
orns dancing on r
ain-
bo
w
s.
Nickname: Malchior
De
v
enholm
IGN: Malchior De
v
enholm
Task: Head
-
Edit
or/P
odc
as
t
er
Wha
t's Up?: Hide y
o' kids,
hide y
o' wif
e!
Nickname: F
r
ee
Run
ner
IGN: Fr
ee
Run
ner
Task: Writ
er
Wha
t's Up?: WTB Ne
w
Sylv
ari Imag
e
Name: Valian
t
IGN: The Valian
t Hun
t
er
Task: Edit
or
Wha
t's up: 'St
a
y a while
and lis
t
en..
.'
Nickname: Daelin Dwi
n
IGN: Daelin Dwi
n
Task: Writ
er
Wha
t's Up?: Win
t
er
sda
y
.
Name: This
tle Xand
r
a
IGN: This
tle Xand
r
a
Task: Edit
or
Wha
t's up: Mildly wiy
c
ommen
t with subtle
hu
mor
.
Name: Velen
:ne
IGN: Velen
:ne Ha
th
Task:
Writer
Wha
t's up: Enjo
ying some
Thank
sgiving pie.
Name: K
onig
IGN:
Konig Des T
odes
Task: Writ
er
Wha
t's up: R
es
:ng m
y
:r
ed mind a
er 2 mon
ths
of bus
ybu
s
yb
us
y
.
Nickname: Izzie
IGN: Izari A
ljen
Task: Writ
er/P
odc
as
t
er
Wha
t's Up?: Summer
, I
miss y
o
u.
Nickname: Ar
ghor
e
IGN: *some
thin
g* Ar
ghor
e
Task: Bar jok
er/Writ
er
Wha
t's Up?: Ge
:ng r
eady
f
or 2011.
Nickname: Dr
axynnic
IGN: Man
fr
ed Dr
axynnu
s
Task: Writ
er
Wha
t's Up? Clo
ud
s. W
e
t
ones.
We
lc
ome to t
he ift
h edition of ‘On t
h
e Tu
be wit
h Dae
l
in Dwin’, wher
e I search high and low
for t
he be
st
Guild
W
ars YouT
ube videos and ch
anne
l
s.
On The Tube with Daelin D
win: W
int
e
rsday
edi
ti
on
A cold chill has swept acr
oss Tyria as Grenth and Dw
a
yna prepare to do battle.
For no
w though, I bring you four f
esti
ve videos for your enjoyment.
Well that is all f
or now, f
or this year in fact. Will 2011 bring mor
e ine works of video/audio art?
Probably. See y
ou then, and merry Christmas/Wintersday/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/Other-festival-in-the-month-of-December.
Let the staff at t
he
Gaming W
orld Ent
er-
tainment
Network,
along with
a load of
other people, bring you
a carol of
great joy and
delight in t
h
is music
al
p
present
ation.
12 Days of Win
tersday
by GamerGurlAngelika
A
relaxing recap of last
year's Wint
ersday
celeb
ration.
Guild Wars - Wintersday 2009 (Happy Holida
ys!)
by Mithandai
lLotus
Br
anshew returns to
provide us with a g
rea
t
piano arrangement,
combining the
ive race
themes from
Guild
Wars 2 with Carol of
the Bells.
Guild Wars: "Wintersd
ay 2010"
by BranShew7
Some f
estive fes
tive-
n
ess in t
his f
estive-full
fest
ive-fest.
12 Days of Guild W
ars C
hri
stmas / I'm Get
tin
Nutt
in
For Ch
ri
stmas
by oggycheese
By Daelin Dwi
n
On The Tube | Page 5
/50
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
Lore | Page 6/50
By Thalador Do
omspeak
er
A Dwarven shepherd tending a
dolyak.
The bann
er of
Deldri
mor
The dwarves are remarkably resilient and endurable. Despite
thei
r
short appearance, underesrmarng a dwarf – especially a Sto
ne
Summit one, who are infamous for the
ir aggressive nature - could be
the very last mistake you make, as they are also known for thei
r
excepronal strength. Their reputaron is also great because of the
ir
outstanding abilires as craftsmen and blacksmiths. If you,
dear traveler,
wanted to equip yourself for dangerous adventures and expedirons,
you
should really visit one of the gre
at Dwarven industrial centers. Trust me,
should really visit one of the gre
at Dwarven industrial centers. Trus
t me
,
you won’t rnd better armor or weapons in Tyria other than th
e o
nes
crafted by Dwarven smiths.
Despite their unexcepronal tale
nts and skills,
the rme of the dwarves is
about to end. To understand the the imminent fate of this once proud
race, one must delve deep into the structure and history of the
dwarven
race
.
Since its foundaron, the naron of Deldrimor has stood rrm in th
e
harsh mou
ntains of the
Shiverpeaks, spanning the length of the enrre Northern and Sou
thern
Shiverpeak regions during its golde
n age. The kingdom of De
ldrimor was
likely to be
founded by Droknar, who unite
d the various Dwarven clans.
To outsiders, it’s unknown whether all the Dwarven kings descended from
Droknar, or whether the leader of one of
the strongest clans assu
med
leadership through e
lecrons after the death of the previous king.
However, the fact that the naron survived for hu
nd
reds, if no
t tho
usand
s
However, the fact that the naron survived for hu
nd
reds, if no
t tho
usand
s
of years, and srll retained its form as a kingdom,
impli
e
s that the syste
m
of heredity or elecron works rather well. Even then, elecron se
ems l
ike
the most probable form of succession,
since parleys and discussions
between Dwarven clan leaders were held at A
nvi
l Rock befor
e the civ
il
Deldrimor traded a lot with the humans (e
specially the Ascalonians). The products that
the naron needed were probably wheat and other things that we
re not available in the
mountainous areas. These trade contracts were possibly among the reasons for the St
one
Summit to start the civil war. For example,
before the actual war, a Stone Summit war
lord
called Brag raided Orto Copperhammer’s mines when he learned that his cousin was
trading with the human se
ttlements in the foothills.
GuildMag, the unofficial Gui
ld Wars magazi
ne
Lore | Page 7
/50
By Thalador Do
omspeak
er
A Deldrimor ballista standing re
ady for a sudden Stone Summit assault.
The underground S
ton
e Basilica.
A Dwarven sco
ut
Almost every dwarf belie
ved in the
Great Dwarf, their creator. Holy sites to the dwarves
were Anvil Rock (which they thought to be
the place where they had been "forged" by
their god) and the underground Stone Basilica,
which housed the Tome of Rubicon (the
Great Dwarf is also credited for the writing of this book). The head of the faith was th
e
High Priest and Chie
f Keeper of the Deldrimor Rubicon. The last High Priest in Dwarven
history was Alkar, who had written sanitized versions of the
Tome and discovered the
assigned destiny of the dwarves. (continued next page...)
Deldrimor’s army was one of strongest military force in the
history of
Tyria. Its scouts were rather skilled (to the point that the
Stone
Summit would've had a much harder time taking Thunde
rhead
Keep if the
y hadn't killed the
Deldrimor scouts before the sieg
e),
and the siege weapons the nation had were
very efficient and
precise. Dwarven militias held order in the
kingdom and prote
cted
the towns and villages that were further away from the populate
d
areas. The Shiverpeaks were, and still are,
home to many
aggre
ssive
areas. The Shiverpeaks were, and still are,
home to many
aggre
ssive
species, thus the army always had to be
vigilant and prepared. It
was disbanded afte
r 1078 AE.
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars m
agazi
ne
Lore | Page 8
/50
By Thalador Do
omspeak
er
Glint's shrine in Droknar'
s
Forge. A device with which t
he
Brotherhood ca
n commun
icat
e
with the Dragon Pro
phet.
The Dwarven lore spoke of a malignant, apocalyptc being whose rise,
according to the
Tome and Alkar, would’ve meant the end of the world as the then-inhabitan
ts of T
yria
knew it: it was the Great Destroyer. The exact opposite of the Great Dwarf, the
Great
Destroyer was the arch nemesis of the Dwarven god and his pe
ople. High Priest Alkar’s
descripton perfectly introduce
s it: "The Great Destroyer is reputed to be everything the
Great Dwarf is not... e
vil, malicious, and greedy to the core." The Tome of Rubicon told
the creature's tale: long ago, these two fought and at the end th
e Great Dwarf too
k t
he
Great Destroyer’
s name, thus stripping it of its power. He sealed the name within the
Great Destroyer’
s name, thus stripping it of its power. He sealed the name within the
Tome untl the tme of the
ir final battle, which eventually happened in 1078 AE.
The other group was the Brotherhood of the Dragon. The
guild revered Glint, the Dragon
The other group was the Brotherhood of the Dragon. The
guild revered Glint, the Dragon
Prophet, and benefited themselves and the
Dwarven community by learning more of
prophecies. However, some dwarves, in return, called them blasphemers because
of their
connecton to the
drago
n.
Addendum: A very interestng informaton was brought up not so lon
g
ago
. A mysterio
us
oracle said that the Great Dwarf could be the collectve consciousness of
the dwarves
themselves and that the Great Dwarf might have never been met as a real be
in
g.
par with the Deldrimor army’s numbe
rs. Before
the beginning of the
war, they occupied staging
grounds for their forces (Camp
Rankor,
Icedome, Grenth’s Footprint, Spearhead Peak
and Tasca’s Demise) and shortly afterward they
declared Sorrow’s Furnace, one of the greatest
Dwarven mines, their own, and set their guil
d’
s
headquarters there.
Economy a
nd Tra
de
The Stone Summit be
gan large mining
operatons in both the Northern and
Southern Shiverpeaks. It’s currently
unknown whether the mines in Ice Caves of
Sorrow, Iron Mines of Moladune
and Iron
Horse Mine were former De
ldrim
or
establishments or Stone Summit additons.
Because of their hatred towards oth
er
Because of their hatred towards oth
er
cultures, they did not trade with anyone
,
except maybe with Deldrimor dwarve
s (of
whom they didn’t know
to have any trade
agreements with humans) be
fore the war.
However, they were so actve in the market
of slavery, that they even bought slaves
from human slavers, like
Gale
n Trask.
from human slavers, like
Gale
n Trask.
A Stone Summit mi
ning operaton
near the Ice Caves of Sorrow.
The Summit banner during
the civi
l war
.
GuildMag, the unofficial Gui
ld Wars magazi
ne
Lore | Page 9
/50
By Thalador Do
omspeak
er
Higher-ranking Summit rode
mounts: mainly
armor-clad dolyaks, snow beasts and ice
drakes
restrained with crude chains an
d o
ther
"disciplinary" device
s. The Summit didn't bother
to tame their mounts, as they preferred
chaining
and overpowering the beasts, so those wou
ld
bend to their masters’ will i
nstead of g
etting
accustomed to th
em.
accustomed to th
em.
The Summit were also fond of usi
ng siege
weapons. From ballistae
to ice ships armed with
nasty catapults, they were more
than glad to put
them into acyon against the
ir foes.
A dredge slave having a short
rest before con
ynuing th
e
digging in Vlo
xen Excavayons.
the ships were e
ithe
r
stolen from the Deldrimor
docks, or a large par
t of
the Dwarven
navy joined
the Stone Summit's cause.
Beside the enslaved beasts of war, the Stone
Summit
subjugated the dredge, a mole-like
race who liv
e
d in the
Depths of Tyria. Then they started using the dredge as
expendable tools within Sorrow’
s Furnace and Vlo
xen
Excavayons. The creatures toiled away unde
r their
taskmasters, being driven to work
by the threats and
pain of the Summit's whips. In the end,
the dredge
started a rebellion (while others escaped to Cantha by
started a rebellion (while others escaped to Cantha by
unknown means) and
fou
gh
t an u
nd
ergroun
d war
against their oppressors. The revolt also pl
ayed a hand
in the later downfall of t
he Summit.
Re
ligion
While it’s not fully cle
ar what the Stone Summit’s faith was,
there were some among
them who worshipped the Great Destroyer. The leaders were the Hieroph
ants wh
o
knew quite a lot about sorcery and Dwarven lore. Stone
Summit "priests"
we
re
always
interested in nnding ancient and dark powers; a group of Summit Gnashe
rs once
summoned an icy demon (imp) from the
Underworld, while Taskmaster Bellok of Vl
o
xe
n
Excavayons tried to unleash a long-forgonen lich upon the
unsuspecyng world.
The
Great
Destroyer,
arch
enemy
to
the
dwarves.
Some
aberrated
Sto
ne
Summit s
y
ll worshippe
d it.
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
Lore | Page 10/50
By Thalador Do
omspeak
er
Unknown yme, presumably between 10,000 BE and 1796 BE: According to Dwarven
lore,
the race was forged upon Anvil Rock by the
ir mysterious god, the Great Dwarf, who later
departed to the mythical Dwarven area of aerlife, the Great Forge (or Eternal Forge). The
wriyng of the Tome of Rubicon is also said to have
happened in this yme frame.
Unknown yme: Deldrimor tribes were united under the banne
r of Droknar. Kingdom of
Deldrimor was founded. Droknar’s Forge became the seat of p
ower.
Unknown y
me:
1070
AE: Civil war erupted between
the radical Stone Summit and the
Deldrimor nayon.
Stone Summit conque
red
several
areas, including the
Frost Gate.
First siege of Thunderhe
ad Keep.
1078 AE: Skirmish to the Far Shiver
pe
aks.
The Great Destroyer cris
is.
Transformayon of the Dwarves.
Death of
the last Stone Summit Hierophant.
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
Lore | Page
11/50
By Thalador Do
omspeak
er
o
Destruccon of the Great Destroyer.
Many more dwarves underwent the Rite of
the Great Dwarf. They depart in
to th
e
Depths to hunt the disorganize
d Destroyers.
The Transformacon of
the Dwarves
The cme of the dwarves is close to its e
nd.
The cme of the dwarves is close to its e
nd.
Their place is being taken by the dredge
, who
conside
r themselves to be the true heirs to the
dwarves. While they left their k
nowl
edge,
thei
r
invencons and the
ir legacy for us, the
locacons of these
relics need to be uncovered.
There wi
ll be a cme
, when all the race
s will
miss the dwarves. And those who knew the
m
miss the dwarves. And those who knew the
m
and were their friends will alway
s m
iss the
m.
But there are two more things that do both
er
me. What about those who
did n
ot u
ndergo
the Rite? And what about the surviving S
ton
e
Summit? What does the future hold fo
r thm?
- Thalador Doomspeake
r
Day 336 of the Season of the Colossus,
1079
After the Exodus
Duncan the Black, the St
one
Summit Hierophant who plann
ed
to harness the soul of th
e Great
Destroyer.
Everywhere around, you can nd clues that something that we know as [Santa] is actu-
ally around in Tyria. Rudi once
knew [Santa], but when he traveled from the artic seas in
the north to Tyria one day, [Santa] disappe
ared. Many say [Santa] has be
en sighted in
the Northern Shiverpeaks; others speak of shady gures hanging arou
nd in
Kryta. Is
there something bigger at stake?
It's Rudi's Quest to nd Santa back and prevent whatever is about to happ
en
in
Tyria!
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
Category | Page 12/50
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
Interview
| Page 14/5
0
By Dut
ch Sunsh
in
e
It’
s true that there has been some sort of a drought as one of new writers stated
in
the ar-
ticle before, but that does not hold us back from asking new que
stions! So we send an
e-mail to ArenaNet in the hope
that they could answe
r them. Because gameplay-wise there
is no concrete topic to ask questions for without resulting in
a ‘We
cann
ot tal
k abou
t that
just yet.’ we decided to ask them a few lore-related questions which will sure
ly give the
Guild Wars 2 community something to talk about until the
next stream of information wil
be released somewhere next ye
ar. For now though, enjoy the read!
GuildMag: On the Ghosts of Ascalon map, the Maguuma Jun
gle se
ems to
be c
alled
t
he
Maguuma Wastes. Is it no longer called the Maguuma Jungle or is it just th
e t
op, d
ry p
or-
tions seen in GW1 that are now called Maguuma
Wa
stes
?
Jeff Grubb: The northern parts of the Maguuma Jungle have dried out, creating the wastes
(the southern regions, where the asura and sylvari have
set up their nations, ar
e consi
dered
part of the Tarnished Coast). This change
has been attributed to the rise
of the Elde
r Drag-
ons, but that has not been confirmed, and there may be oth
er nefarious agents at
wo
rk.
GuildMag: What can you tell us of the Mists that is not already explained in the Pro
phe-
cies and Nightfall Manuscript
s? Is it best to comp
are it to ou
ter
spa
ce in real
life,
or is it
something vastly different, that you wil
l continue to s
ubtly deve
lop in
side quests wit
h
races like th
e asu
ra?
GuildMag: What happened to King Jadon of Kryta? He aban
doned
his th
rone
, but where
did he go? Is he still alive during Guild Wars Beyond, in exi
le somewhere? Might he try to
reclaim the throne, or might some later child of his -- born in exile -- assert some claim
to
it? This could tie in to the various conflicts that Salma has
to face over th
e n
ex
t few yea
rs.
Je
ff
Grubb: The
ti
des of history have
closed over King Jadon and the rest of the royal family
.
While
it
is
possible
that
his
family
may
have
survived,
no
word
of
it
has
come
down
into
the
present
ti
me.
Similarly, the humans would say that asura have
no gods, or that they worship some con-
cept. The asura would say that the
Eternal Alchemy is obviously a true
way of looking at the
universe, and that that human gods were merely functions in that equation (really BIG func-
tions, but functions
nonetheless).
And while the Charr recognize the humans gods as powe
rful patrons, they reject those pa-
trons as being all-powe
rful or worthy of ve
neration. Inde
ed, such worship makes the wor-
shippers weak.
GuildMag, the unofficial Gui
ld Wars magazi
ne
Interview
| Page 15/5
0
By Dut
ch Su
nsh
in
e
GuildMag: In a previous interview that we did with Colin Johanson he mentio
ned that
you were able to tell us more about the Dominion of Winds as seen on the map that went
with Ghosts of Ascalon. Even though it will not be accessible from the start, can yo
u tell
us wha
t’s so
specia
l about t
his l
andm
ark?
Jeff Grubb: Two words – Tengu City.
GuildMag: There were many unexplained features of the landsc
ape of Tyri
a tha
t le
d to
the formation of a subgroup of fans interested in lore. We kno
w this is par
tly being tack-
led with translatable signs, but will we see more examples of places wit
hou
t mu
ch de-
scription or with lots of mystery
, like Wizard'
s Tower
in Kessex Pe
ak, the T
alm
ark Pil
lar
s
in the Wilderness, and so
fo
rth, in GW2?
GuildMag: In the Ghosts of Asca
lon
book, an u
nnam
ed
imp
er
ato
r of the Flame Legion is
mentioned to have had the Claw of the Khan-Ur. Where did he find the Claw and
wh
at
was the imperat
or’s nam
e?
Jeff Grubb: The Flame Legion Impe
rator who lost the Claw has had his name struck from the
records and carved from the monuments. His story has not bee
n revealed.
GuildMag, the unofficial Gui
ld Wars magazi
ne
Game | Page 16/50
By This
tle Xand
r
a
You ?nd them in
Gwen’
s
Jingle animal fu
n fa
cts:
- There aren’t any Jingle cubs or chicks in the Zaishe
n Menage
rie
.
- Jingle creatures will not a:ack you whe
n trying to charm it, which
means you can’t death-le
v
el them.
- Jingle animals have a re
d coll
ar with bells on them that actually…
jingle
.
A Guild Master, Th
at Is
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
Interview
| Page 17/5
0
By Izari
Whatever happens, really. We tend to be more
PvE /
social,
but sometimes we get enough people
interested
in GvG or elite areas, so those intereste
d in those
things can do that. We really want to be a place
that
people feel comfortable doing what they wan
t.
Q: Did you set up any goal fo
r how you wanted to run
things or what your focu
s wa
s goin
g to be
?
Democracy and friendship. We have a long tradition of
relying on polls for important decisions,
and of
considering other's opini
ons. I wante
d to keep that going,
especially the
part about listening to diffe
rent opinions
and seeing if a compromise
was possible.
In order to shed some light and ho
pefully b
ring ab
out
a
new appreciation for what it takes to lead a strong an
d
successful guild and alliance,
I asked some of these brave
individuals to share their experie
nces over the
past few
years,
both good
and
bad
.
The role of the Guild Master, or Guild Leade
r, is as
varied and ambiguous as the types of guilds that exist
across the RPG gaming unive
rse. But regar
dle
ss of
what kind of crew you call home -- from 5-man
table
top dice-rolling to 300-m
ember cross game
clans--
there will always exist the
ne
e
d for a central
figurehead who calls the shots. The
y go by many
names: Dungeon Master, Clan Leader, Guild Master,
names: Dungeon Master, Clan Leader, Guild Master,
and, of course, Guild Le
ader.
The involvement that a leader has with his or he
r
guild can vary greatly. Some guilds run socially
,
both
in terms of member relationships and ove
rall
management, while others rule with an iron-fist
in
order to ensure top-notch perf
orman
ce and
progression. Many players wi
ll
se
e guild le
ade
rs as
almost on another level; they can be idolized as a
matriarch or fiercely resented, but their position, for
matriarch or fiercely resented, but their position,
for
better or for worse, is always recognized. The
re
is no
clear-cut way to decide what system to use or how
involved to get; it all de
pends on the goal that e
very
fearless leader makes the moment they decide
to
take up the
challenge.
But on the same token, it can be one of the most fulfillin
g
aspects of gaming. Guilds can easily become
as close
as
family and the memories will ofte
n trump the
hardshi
ps.
Many lives have been saved in one way or anothe
r because
of a supportive gaming clan,
and many lasting frie
ndships
Order of Dii
A Guild Master, Th
at Is
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars magazi
ne
Interview
| Page 18/5
0
By Izari
Be an officer for as long as you can, and re
ally try to learn
the job from that position. Some
people become guild
leaders just because they want to an
d so they s
tart their
own guild by themselves, or because they want things do
ne
their way (that's always a bad reason). But what they don
't
realize
is everything needed to make it work. By being an
active officer, you learn a lot about what makes a guild.
Your guild might be
different from the one you were officer
Your guild might be
different from the one you were officer
in, but at least you'll alre
ady have tons of e
xperience on
what to do and what to avoid... and how to be
good to
your members. The early times of a guild are
hard because
you need a critical mass so that pe
ople who join actually
stay. If in addition you lose me
mbers because you make
mistakes... it can make
leadership a frustrating expe
rience.
I've learned a lot about le
adership first as a recr
uitment
I've
learned
a
lot
about
le
adership
fi
rst
a
s
a
recrui
tme
nt
o
ffi
cer
(I
was
not
a
full
o
ffi
cer
un
ti
l
late
r),
then
as
o
ffi
cer
helping out with
diplomacy.
My second best memory would be activities we organized
that turned out well, like our 6th Anniversary
(thanks
Lensor for all the good work on that).
It seems every guild has some
members like that, though it
might not be a bad temper but something else. I trie
d to
control his temper, but looking back, I should have be
en
more supportive instead (or at least in addition).
I think we
all recovered from that event, but the moo
d was down fo
r
a while during and afte
r that event. I admit that I could
have handled the situation better... I think some
of the
negative feelings could have bee
n avoided if I had handl
e
d
negative feelings could have bee
n avoided if I had handle
d
it bette
r.
A Guild Master, Th
at Is
GuildMag, the unofficial Gui
ld Wars magazi
ne
Interview
| Page 19/5
0
By Izari
Tasha Darke
Its a real mixed bag. On the
one hand I’ve made some life
long friends playing Guild Wars and that’
s something I
wouldn’t have got if I hadn’t gotten attached
. The flip side
is that you can get too involve
d and over analyze
things. If
someone leaves, it's very easy to blame yourself or the
way
the guild currently is, but it just may be that you are
n’t
catering to what they need - and you do
n’t need to cater
for everything. As long as you can take
a step back from
for everything. As l
ong as you can take
a step back from
the personal relationships and re
main impartial whe
n its
needed then I think only positive
things can be gaine
d.
A lot of PvE guilds are focused on a spe
cific aspect of the
game, like speed clears and that's what people
expecte
d
when they saw PvE in adverts. But that's not really what we
offered, and it made
recruitment challenging for a while.
While
a lot of us are title ori
entated, it wil
l take us a long
time to get there because we do so many o
ther things
along the route. So people joining to gain a spe
cific title
would get frustrated, because it would tak
e a lot longer
to
would get frustrated, because
it would tak
e a lot longer to
achieve than they wanted it to.
Once we changed that to emphasize
the social side
of what
we were doing we saw a much better success rate wi
th
recruitment. A side effect of this was having to limi
t the
quantity of people we invite
d to k
eep the same
atmosphere. Its also quite a challe
nge to cater to the
variety of inte
rests that a social guild covers while
k
eepi
ng
the numbers low enough to keep it friendl
y - we have
members who are RA experts,
ex-top 200 GvGers,
speed
members
who
are
RA
experts,
ex-top
200
GvGers,
speed
clear nuts, traders, experimenters as well as people
who
just like
to chill out!
Q: What was one of the hardest deci
sions you had
to
make as a leader? How did people react? Was it goo
d or
ba
d?
So so many but if I have to pick...in game I think
it has to be
one of our general knowledge quizzes be
cause
nearly
everyone got involved. It didn’t matter if they knew the
answers or were aiming for a prize or not, as those who
didn’t just shouted out random answers which made the
evening hilarious. Out of game
, probably this August when
a few of us went to Gamescom to play Guild Wars 2.
It was
the first time many of us had met in
real life but y
ou
the first time many of us had met in
real life but y
ou
couldn’t have told. Good time
s!
We knew we wanted a guild that focused on the people
behind the characters and that took the time to get to
know its members. Also I didn’t want the title of “l
e
ader” to
mean much. I contemplated setting a mule account to be
leader at the very start but decided against it as pe
ople
regard an active leader as a sign of a he
althy guild. I still
only regard myself as leader because someone has to be.
The main short term aims were just to get some more
The main short term aims were just to get some more
members and see how easy or hard recruitment woul
d be.
At the time we were very
much thinking ab
out things in a
PvE vs PvP standpoint and side
d very heavi
ly on the
P
vE.
Q: How have things changed since then? Were you
successful? Did you ever reach those first goals? Did
y
ou
have to change your game-plan
to fit your m
em
bers at
al
l?
Well we went from 2 members
t
o our current numbers of
85!
It
took
us
a
long
ti
me
to
realise
that
PvE
wasn’t
really
an accurate descrip
ti
on
o
f what we had to o
ff
er pe
ople.
A Guild Master, Th
at Is
GuildMag, the unofficial Guild Wars m
agazi
ne
Interview
| Page 20/5
0
By Izari
'Abbots can't go changing their minds
all the time. You'll find this o
ut. T
he
important thing about be
ing a leader is
not being right or wrong, but being
certain. Othe
rwise people wouldn't