For those of you who have entered our tournament, the first set of matches are now posted on our forums. You can find the direct link below:
http://s1.zetaboards.com/The_Old_Guard/topic/2024540/1/
Good luck to everyone who signed up!
Calling all clans! Calling all clans! The Old Guard is having their first ever tournament! We want to bring back some fun to the game by organizing a tournament for those interested! This is by no means exclusive to The Old Guard, we actually want other clans to join in, as a type of inter-clan relationship building (and just some great fun for anyone playing LoZ).
Herein lie the rules for said tournament!
This is the first time something like this has been attempted, so please be patient! If there are questions, please let me know. If you are not a member of The Old Guard but you want to sign up, we have opened up a new forum on our official clan forums that you can post to! Just head over to http://forums.the-old-guard.net/ and click on the Tournament forum for all the details. Hope to see you there soon!
The Old Guard redefines generosity and true selflessness!
Every day over 30 or so items go out of the Old Guard armory and into the hands of adventurers. Some days it can be as much as 100 items. In addition to this, new items are donated almost as soon as we begin to make a dent in the huge stock pile.
We are truly blessed. When the gifting system was introduced I immediately began considering how to prevent “item greed” and theft from the clan. But you have all proven what a kind and honorable people make up the Old Guard. Not only have we not had to even deal with any of these issues, but your generosity makes it almost a moot point!
I am thrilled to know that we have so much wealth and the ability to share that wealth with all members.
For those of you under level 40, please request items you need! It is better to have these in the hands of players than rotting in our armory.
July is a month of CELEBRATION for the Old Guard! (So says the Empress, so say we all.)
In honor of this celebration and as a way of showing our great pride and joy for all Old Guard members we are having a drawing to win coconuts!
We will select 10 people in the clan who are Member rank or below to receive 6 coconuts each!
We will select 10 people in the clan who are Veteran rank or higher to receive 10 coconuts each! (High Councilors and the Empress are disqualified to prevent any suspicion of cheating.)
These coconuts can be used any way you wish (though you will note they are the exact amount required for an Aimfiz Amulet for the “lower” level members, this should help.)
Now I have been informed some people don’t want coconuts (silly people who deserve to have to babysit Wren’s Nabiz) so I am forcing an opt in for this. (I also don’t want non-actives getting them).
Reply to the in-game email or on the forum thread in Announcements t enter!
Let the bells of peace ring out.
After further review and discussion we, your ever vigilant council, have determined that peace is truly the only good option available to us at this time. This is not the first time, nor is it likely the last, that a battle has broken out over a misunderstanding due to lack of comprehension of cultural aspects of a language. When speaking to a real life friend he kindly pointed out that Babel Fish makes everyone sound like a jerk, so when translating anything, regardless of how you do it, it more often than not comes out harsher than you originally intend.
Suffice to say, both sides were reading the same thing, but walking away with very different meanings and interpretations. We believe we have it cleared up now, and perhaps this knowledge will prevent further misunderstandings.
In light of this, we can only chose Peace between us and Cult of Grue. I must take a moment to applaud those Old Guard members who took to the arena with a ferocity and valor that speaks highly of their loyalty and dedication to our clan. Thank you all. I am also thrilled that we have such a way of venting our frustrations in such a way within a game that has such a small consequence. Even in games like WoW to find such a release requires the ruining of someone else’s day. For us in LoZ, we merely flood a mailbox. 
Now, many people voiced that while they believed peace was the only correct and honorable decision, they would miss the clarity and sheer fun that came from having a focused target. Many many players mentioned that this made the game more fun for them. They once again came to LoZ with excitement and joy. This feeling is one I would like to foster. Games should be fun. If the game does not have this built in, sometimes the players must create it themselves. To this end, Gilroy suggested a Tournament of sorts. To quote “ a friendly’ competition between our clans where those of us who are interested would participate (at the various levels) and just have a fun time striking at each other in the arena. Since there is little to lose, we can have quite a bit of fun with this. Let’s say that each participant gets 3 strikes per opponent, i.e. a 3 day tournament, to rule out luck strikes, etc. Continue this for a few weeks and see who comes out on top. That way we get to keep the fun of the ‘war’, but keep it to only those parties who are interested.” To this I say, onward with your plan sir! Once we hammer out a few details I would like to see this happen, it sounds like a great time.
To the Members of the Cult of Grue – I and all the Council Members of the Old Guard would like to extend our apologies for our part in this misunderstanding. In addition, I want to congratulate you all on achieving such a high population. I would like you to fully understand we do not begrudge you this achievement at all, and wish you all the best of luck in caring for your many members. We, of all clans, understand the logistical issues with assisting and coordinating so many members. The Old Guard was not formed to be the biggest clan, it merely began that way due to coordination among so many friends. The Old Guard was formed to be a collection of like minded friends who work together to assist and progress lower level players who share a common love for the game and history of Zork.
I would also like to personally apologize for the mis-communication within the Old Guard that lead to some inappropriate battle taunts. They should be gone now, and those who used them were unaware as to the connotation they had. It was unintentional and should not happen again. Above all things, LoZ should always be a place where proper conduct and friendly assistance always wins out. We should strive to be true Ladies and Gentlemen here.
To be clear, this is not to say that Old Guard members will not battle Cult of Grue members in the arena, or even that they shouldn’t. Merely that all Old Guard members should return to their regular modes of play in the arena, as per their individual play styles.
Happy Adventuring,
Ember
Guardians!
First and foremost, excellent and wonderful job rising to the occasion of war! You have truly done us all proud and shown to be a formidable bunch! As I continued discussions with Cult of Grue and Solaris, a bit of information came to light that changes matters drastically. It is entirely possible that many of the things said in the past week or so were misunderstood by both me and Solaris. (It is very difficult to have discussions when it turns out the two parties do not have the same native tongue!)
As such the Council would like time to consider the possibility of a truce and thus Peace, despite all the fun we have been having beating CoGs in the arena. So for this moment, until further notice, you may cease your CoG hunting (unless of course you have reason to battle them regardless of Clan relations, we don’t want to cut into anyone’s arena activities).
Second, you will notice, we have QUITE the stock pile of weapons and armor. PLEASE avail yourselves of requesting items. The forums are the best place to do so, as there are several council members who check it regularly. We will be doing periodic mass gifting as we have done in the past, so if you want to be sure to get the item you want, ask for it now!
Happy adventuring!
-Ember
It has come time for me to make something very plain. The Old Guard is at War.
Over the course of the game many friendships have been formed. And this is in fact the reason for the creation of the Old Guard to begin with. But so too have enemies been made. For the most part, we choose to ignore our enemies, and pretend they do not exist.
On the formation of the Old Guard a certain individual was invited to join and he responded with malice and rudeness. His hate and bile marred the creation of the Old Guard. At this point he said he would create a clan bigger than the Old Guard, to which we said, Go Right Ahead. During this time he also attempted to have our clan disbanded by the Game Moderators by claiming we had used our “Modly” powers to cheat. (For the record, Dardor, Frito and I are forums mods, not game mods and have no ability to affect the game any more than any other player.) After several weeks of failure he finally began blindly inviting people to join his clan to succeed at his goal. In addition to this he continued to repeatedly attack Old Guard members in the Arena to such a point that his name was mentioned on the Forums.
At this point the Cult of Grue surpassed the Old Guard in numbers. While many of our Clan members were understandably upset, the leadership was unconcerned. We have an excellent group of people with kind hearts and generous personalities. Quality over Quantity and all that. Then I received a message from the leader of the Cult of Grue asking for Peace between our clans. What a shock to discover we had apparently been at war and didn’t even know it. When I responded that I was unaware of any war and I was sure it was just my pvpers doing what they do best he responded again with rudeness towards me and my clan. I must admit, once again, I lost my cool with this person. My response being, If it is war you want, it is WAR you will get!
So at this point I came to the forums, informed the Clan that we were at War and that the members of Cult of Grue should be considered arena targets. It took all of 1 day for me to receive another message from the Cult of Grue. Let me pause to applaud my dedicated and accomplished pvpers. You are exceptional and do your Clan proud.
This new message was, for once, respectful and politely worded asking once again for peace. However at this point I felt very disinclined to agree with him. The treatment of me and my clan members, in addition to the constant pvp barrage he unleashes each day seemed false to me. His actions do not match his words. In addition to this my clan’s own enjoyment and excitement suddenly spiked. Let’s be honest, for the most part, the game has stagnated for many of us. But this War gave us purpose and enjoyment. I also believe that if you are going to start a war, you cannot ask the enemy to peace because they suddenly begin to fight back.
Is it better to accept peace for the sake of peace, or to go to war to defend the honor of your clan and people? Solaris has asked for peace from a war he started with his malice towards me and my many friends. I cannot believe that he truly wishes for peace when he continues to target my clan in the arena.
Solaris began the war, cowardly fighting it without informing us of his intent, and now wants to end it. But I believe we can and should fight this war against the Cult of Grue. If for nothing more than to show that their numbers are nothing and our superior strength and power truly makes us the best clan in Legends of Zork. For those members of Cult of Grue who do not wish to be at war, I am sorry. Our doors are open to you should you wish to leave. But I cannot at this time forgive the insults directed at me and my people. To all members of the Old Guard, if you are not protected against arena attacks, please request the largest upgrades and assistance of your Councilors. We will show you the way to safety.
Guardians of the Coconut of Quendor! Protectors of the Underground Realm of Zork! In the name of Implementer One and the Old Guard I call you to battle! I call you to defend your honor and friends against those who would insult and malign us. If you fight in the arena, direct your battles towards members of the Cult of Grue.
-Ember and the Council of the Old Guard
In light of all the great fun we are having sharing gear and adventures, I wanted to share one of my favorite memories.
As a kid, we owned an Apple 2e computer, and this is where I played Zork 1. I was young, far too young to be playing such a game, but my brother played it and that meant I wanted to. One treasure I knew how to get and get quickly was the jeweled egg from the tree just north of the White House. So of course I would immediately go get the egg then bring it back to my trophy case.
Many years later, in a fit of nostalgia I decided to play the game again. Of course being older, and a bit more sure of myself, I ended up carrying the egg about with me. Much to my dismay the Thief showed up, snatched the egg, and ran off. I sighed, but continued as I knew I would encounter the Thief later and could retrieve the egg then. Imagine my surprise when I finally recovered the egg and OMG the Thief had OPENED IT! All these years had gone by and I never knew the egg could be opened. At this point I reloaded the game, gathered up all my treasures and one by one GAVE them to the Thief as I encountered him in the game. There was some funny comment it would make when you gave him an item as opposed to him stealing it. Then I returned to see what other things he had changed.
Turns out, it was only the egg. But still. This game was more than 15 years old for me, and it had surprised me. And suddenly I was back playing all the old games, Kings Quest, Zork 2 and 3, and many others just to see if there was anything my childish mind had missed.
Do you have any exceptional memories of Zork?
-Ember
We now have handed out approx 700 items… Three cheers for the Old Guard!
The even COOLER thing is that we have over 700 items in the armory. I know some of our Council will be pressing items on people over the next few days too.
This is a wonderful thing we can do, if you need something, just ask!
-Ember
As I sit here looking at how this wonderful clan has come together over these past few weeks, it has crossed my mind more than once at how large we’ve become and how reasonable a group we can hope to be. Most of us who have introduced ourselves in the welcome threads (either on our own forums or in the thread on Jolt’s forums) are older individuals who have lifes outside of LoZ. This brings with it a good sense of maturity and respect for one another which makes our clan especially wonderful to be a part of.
So I have noticed that The Old Guard is no longer the largest clan in LoZ. Meh. I would like to express my congradulations to Cult of Grue for their newfound membership and their newfound standings in the clans! I wish you all the best and may your clan reap all the rewards of such a large group.
There was a time when The Old Guard was still a young twinkle in the Jolt forums when some of us decided we needed to expand a bit (not a lot, just a bit) to make sure that we stayed sane. icefall5 did a superb job of setting up the forums and I donated this blog and a domain name for our happy little family. Ember has done so much in terms of organization, mentorship and thread derailment that I’d wear out my keyboard if I wrote it all down. Bottom line is she is a special lady who has a passion for this group, yet asks for very little in return!
We have nearly 500 members in our clan and we have over 100 members in our forums. Given that there are a number of alts registered in our clan, I’d have to say that’s a pretty good turnout. Our forums are hopping and we’re having a great time helping each other out even if that means we blow off some steam in our Shouting Room thread. If you haven’t stopped in yet, I highly encourage you to!
So what does this all mean? Well, to me having a smaller clan is better if that clan is active rather than a super large clan where the majority are silent. Quantity is fine, but what does it offer you? Look at it another way, you can buy an expensive quality item once, or you can buy a lot of cheap knock-offs a whole bunch of times. Which one saves you more in the end?
Is Ember special? You bet she is. Is she the heart of this clan? Not entirely, although she is a major valve. :-) The Old Guard is a living clan, one that is actively helping out its members. Now with the Council setup, we can definitely start moving things into high gear and give Ember some much needed time off. All hail The Old Guard! All hail comrodary, compassion and good ‘ol fashioned fun!
- Gilroy