[perfect]

OMG, GW2, wru?

So bored. That fricking compilation post kindled my interest in GW2 all over again.

Also, I got a plush Charr. Haven't decided if it's going on my shelf of 'things my daughter can not ever touch' or if I'm giving it to her. Other things on the shelf: Luke's Lightsaber and Mal's Pistol.

[Fozzik]

Originally Posted by perfect

OMG, GW2, wru?

So bored. That fricking compilation post kindled my interest in GW2 all over again.

Also, I got a plush Charr. Haven't decided if it's going on my shelf of 'things my daughter can not ever touch' or if I'm giving it to her. Other things on the shelf: Luke's Lightsaber and Mal's Pistol.

Part of me wants it to be a perfect beta test so that it releases in a month or two...part of me wants them to find some big issues and end up making the game even better and polished to a fine shine.

That's impressive company on that shelf.

[AsheMan]

You have Luke's Lightsaber and it just sits on a shelf?

1. Take it off the shelf
2. Make a Youtube video of you flailing around with the lightsaber
4. ?????
5. Profit!

[Fozzik]

Number four is key. Just ask Brad Mcquaid... Asheman's post was Sigil's business plan, verbatim.

What happened to three?

[mmorpeegee]

I need this game.

[AsheMan]

Originally Posted by Fozzik

Number four is key. Just ask Brad Mcquaid... Asheman's post was Sigil's business plan, verbatim.

What happened to three?

3 is even more secret than 4.

[Fozzik]

So I've been thinking for a while about starting a guild in GW2 when it launches. Forestwhitakereye (buddy of mine from our days battling evil on the Rift forums) is keen on the idea and has a few people who may be interested...I have my wife and a few old EQ friends, plus we'd certainly love to have anyone around SV...and I'll probably try and grab some of the old folks from the various 38 studios forums.

I'm not sure what the guild will be called yet...maybe Silky Venom, but that name has kind of completely lost meaning since nobody gets the inside joke any more.

Anyway...it would be a totally casual guild, meant to be a place for old friends to find each other, make new friends, and hang out / form groups when we feel like it. I've never run a guild before...but I've never really found exactly the right guild of which to be a member. I think it might be because I should be starting my own.

I'll probably make a section here somewhere at some point so people can discuss sooper sekrit guild business.

[perfect]

Originally Posted by AsheMan

3 is even more secret than 4.

Is like when hotels label floors 11, 12, 14, 15 so that no one has a room on the 13th floor? Also, read King's 1408.

Originally Posted by Fozzik

So I've been thinking for a while about starting a guild in GW2 when it launches....

We all think about it. Do yourself a favor, though, and don't get a website started and recruitment rolling until there is at least a release date (03/26/12).

...Forestwhitakereye (buddy of mine from our days battling evil on the Rift forums)....

I was trying to think of something smartassed to say about being Fozzik's friend and/or playing Rift but nothing came to mind. By 'battling evil' you must mean you played Defiant.

...nobody gets the inside joke any more....

What inside joke?

[Fozzik]

The name Silky Venom comes from a quote from Brad McQuaid, I believe...he was saying something about how some people were being very passive aggressive with demands and criticism.

Even I don't remember exactly what the circumstances were...and I was there. It's been too long.

Neither Forest nor I ever bought Rift, as far as I know. I meant "battling evil" as in arguing for a better game on the forums pre-launch. We were totally unsuccessful, obviously.

[ForestWhitakerEye]

Originally Posted by Fozzik

The name Silky Venom comes from a quote from Brad McQuaid, I believe...he was saying something about how some people were being very passive aggressive with demands and criticism.

Even I don't remember exactly what the circumstances were...and I was there. It's been too long.

Neither Forest nor I ever bought Rift, as far as I know. I meant "battling evil" as in arguing for a better game on the forums pre-launch. We were totally unsuccessful, obviously.

Nope, never bought it. I played in Alpha until level 45-46 or so and then just couldn't bring myself to log in anymore.

[Fozzik]

I actually got a character to max level in alpha/beta... hung around for a bit longer...but I had already made up my mind well before launch. I actually knew it was crap even before testing started, just based on the available info and developer comments, but I was holding out a small hope that I'd be wrong. I wasn't.

[Fozzik]

I just did a little searching and reading to refresh my memory about the good old days.

The original post where Brad mentioned the term "Silky Venom" was actually in regards to the EQII community, probably on the EQII forums. Oloh was the one who caught on the term and decided to set up his own personal site with that name in 2003-2004.

Around the beginning of 2005, the whole massive fiasco with illegal RMT companies buying out the whole Vanguard community hit us. Sigil was taking a hard stance on RMT from very early on, and the RMT companies decided to throw their weight around to punish Sigil. They made buyout offers to almost every Vanguard fansite / wiki / whatever...and many of them sold.

Many of us in the community at the time were extremely pissed off about the whole thing. Some of the oldest members of various fansites quit the communities they had been putting time and effort into for months when those site owners decided to sell.

In February 2005, Oloh took a stand, and decided to turn Silky Venom into an actual fansite / news site...and also decided to decline the offer that was made to buy the site. He wanted Silky Venom to be a new, better, number one fansite that was above all the petty selling out stuff. He brought in Raya, who was awesome, as the first person to be in charge of news and writing/editing. I was brought in at about the same time...I had won Sigil's short story writing contest, and had been plenty long-winded on the Sigil forums up to that point, so she knew where I stood on RMT and I guess thought I was a reasonably good writer. There were several other folks brought on right in the beginning, too...before the site even went up (it was just some black and red graphics and maybe a basic forum before that time which Oloh had put up).

So...we designed the original Silky Venom fansite, we started reporting news...and set ourselves up as the premier unofficial community for Vanguard. Silky Venom was the cool place (you could use swearwords! Oh boy!)...and the place owned and operated by folks that would NEVER sell out (I believe Oloh was offered 85k for the site by an RMT company...and refused).

Then a bit later I suggested that I might be even more useful if we could create a section for computer hardware...and the rest is history.

[mmorpeegee]

I never knew all that. Does Oloh still play games? Also what was your name on the official vanguard forum? Not that I can remember many names... I remember DC Punk because I used to talk to him about punk music, and Atoyota because his name was memorable I guess. I also remember somebody called Fox something, she was a girl gamer who was really in to animals, and once she found out that the cat models would not have tails, she basically quit the game for good and was never seen again!! I always found that kind of interesting. And I remember Glip heh. Also some kid who used to talk a lot and call everything Alsome! and I think it took people a while to realise what he was saying :P Ahh the good ole days

[Fozzik]

I was Fozzik back then, too. I had over 1000 posts on those boards, I believe. Not quite as many as the nuts like Atoyota, but I was definitely just as...wordy...as I am now.

I actually got together with DCPunk and several other Vanguard fans a few times in real life...we had the east coast fanguards. Good times.

Oloh is currently looking at GW2.

[AsheMan]

Originally Posted by mmorpeegee

Atoyota

I totally forgot about him. He was an interesting fella.

[Fozzik]

Ah...the good old days.

There's actually some pictures of the first east coast fanguard under miscellaneous in the gallery if anyone feels like a treasure hunt. Oh, also my short-lived Vanguard web comic.

[mmorpeegee]

Originally Posted by Fozzik

I actually got together with DCPunk and several other Vanguard fans a few times in real life...we had the east coast fanguards. Good times.

Oloh is currently looking at GW2.

Cool!

Originally Posted by AsheMan

I totally forgot about him. He was an interesting fella.

I can't really remember anything he said, I just remember he had a LOT of posts hehe.

Originally Posted by Fozzik

I remember you now that I think about it. I remember you were a big help on hardware to a lot of people.

[Fozzik]

I wish the old Sigil forums were still around...I tilted at many windmills in that community...and made some of my most epic posts ever.

I remember the feedback posts I made once I got into beta... novels.

[mmorpeegee]

Yeah there was a LOT of good stuff in that place. I was pretty proud of my own posts too, but only up to a certain point. Once I got in beta my opinion got a bit negative, and then when they announced that it would be released I went a bit ape. Can't remember if they banned me or not but it wasn't pretty. But I was just so disappointed.

When they announced release it was such a shock. I actually was having an 'OK' time in the game at that point, but I think most people expected there would be another 6 months or so of beta, and a lot of the crap would be fixed. But they basically announced, "We are releasing it next month... sorry." And I think the entire community together, went

[Dragon-RD]

Olah sounds like a pretty cool guy. Though realistically he'd be kicking himself for not taking that 85k now I'd wager :P!

A great story though Fozz!