TheForgiven has seen much rapid growth over the past few months that it was felt that it was time to revisit who we are, what we are and why are we here. TheForgiven is one of the oldest guilds on Terenas, forming January of 2005. We currently sit with over 184 accounts and well over 477 characters. We are listed in the top 5 largest guilds (by number of 70s) on our server and yet none of that defines who we are, what we are and why are we here. I wanted to take this opportunity to address each of those questions in an open way that I hope to bring closure to some confusion that has recently surfaced and reaffirm exactly who, what and why we are here.
In order to answer the question “who are we?”, I would like to explain how I got started and my motivation for getting into online gaming. I have been online gaming since 93, when ipx was the primary protocol and many of us who started gaming online used tunneling tools like Kali to play LAN-based games over the Internet. Even in the earliest days, what I liked most about on-line gaming was the sense of community that was formed over time and the relationships that formed.
Eventually, a group of my closest friends and I started up TRiBForCe which started as Rainbox Six group which quickly formed into Counter Strike clan. Why the urge to create our own community? I found the online gaming world to be hostile and unfriendly. I wanted to change all that and the only way I knew how to do that was to build an environment where those in charge, through their own actions and words, would mold the behaviour of its visitors or at the very least, set a bar of acceptable behaviour with the goal to create relationships and that through these relationships, our belief and faith in Christ would be evident in what we said and did.
As Counter Strike was ending it's very long reign as the most popular online game, I began to look for a new game with would reinforce all the positives I liked about Counter Strike. I began testing WoW during its public beta and knew instantly this game could be used to create a healthy and positive virtual community which could be influenced by our collective faith in Christ. Who we are is best answered by saying we are a fellowship of believers. Emphasis is on fellowship and believers. While we have allowed others who do not necessarily have a belief in Jesus Christ into the guild, it should only be in cases where there is a strong relationship which one of our believers wishes to extend to their friend or family member.
What are we can best be defined as a mixed group of people - single, married, professional and/or retired, with a strong sense of building a family atmosphere. We have attempted to provide a mentorship program to many unsupervised / unparented youth with mixed results. At the end of the day, it is felt best that our guild can not serve as surrogate parents. We are a poor substitute for a child who's parents are not actively involved in what their child is doing online, especially in a highly social environment such as WoW. There are exceptions but they should only exist in cases where there is a strong relationship and active presence by an adult who will act as a mentor in the guild. Many of us are parents and we wish to have our children interacting with other guildies who have kids as well. Outside children with no direct connection to a parent in the guild are only included after careful consideration of all parties involved.
Why are we here? I believe largely we are here for other believers. We are a fellowship first. Evangelism comes from our various outreaches in PuGs and more organized groups such as Small Guild Alliance, but even in those cases, we demonstrate our faith by our actions through relationships we have formed. Our conduct in both speech and action is expected to exceed the average Internet chat and we should be able to demonstrate the love of Christ by how we conduct ourselves in a game ridden with greed and strife. We are a lighthouse, the question each of us should ask ourselves is, but is our light on?
Signed,
Adam aka Allanon, Esua, Zenoir and Rueage, the Guild Master of TheForgiven
Edited: Updated the guild account number.
In order to answer the question “who are we?”, I would like to explain how I got started and my motivation for getting into online gaming. I have been online gaming since 93, when ipx was the primary protocol and many of us who started gaming online used tunneling tools like Kali to play LAN-based games over the Internet. Even in the earliest days, what I liked most about on-line gaming was the sense of community that was formed over time and the relationships that formed.
Eventually, a group of my closest friends and I started up TRiBForCe which started as Rainbox Six group which quickly formed into Counter Strike clan. Why the urge to create our own community? I found the online gaming world to be hostile and unfriendly. I wanted to change all that and the only way I knew how to do that was to build an environment where those in charge, through their own actions and words, would mold the behaviour of its visitors or at the very least, set a bar of acceptable behaviour with the goal to create relationships and that through these relationships, our belief and faith in Christ would be evident in what we said and did.
As Counter Strike was ending it's very long reign as the most popular online game, I began to look for a new game with would reinforce all the positives I liked about Counter Strike. I began testing WoW during its public beta and knew instantly this game could be used to create a healthy and positive virtual community which could be influenced by our collective faith in Christ. Who we are is best answered by saying we are a fellowship of believers. Emphasis is on fellowship and believers. While we have allowed others who do not necessarily have a belief in Jesus Christ into the guild, it should only be in cases where there is a strong relationship which one of our believers wishes to extend to their friend or family member.
What are we can best be defined as a mixed group of people - single, married, professional and/or retired, with a strong sense of building a family atmosphere. We have attempted to provide a mentorship program to many unsupervised / unparented youth with mixed results. At the end of the day, it is felt best that our guild can not serve as surrogate parents. We are a poor substitute for a child who's parents are not actively involved in what their child is doing online, especially in a highly social environment such as WoW. There are exceptions but they should only exist in cases where there is a strong relationship and active presence by an adult who will act as a mentor in the guild. Many of us are parents and we wish to have our children interacting with other guildies who have kids as well. Outside children with no direct connection to a parent in the guild are only included after careful consideration of all parties involved.
Why are we here? I believe largely we are here for other believers. We are a fellowship first. Evangelism comes from our various outreaches in PuGs and more organized groups such as Small Guild Alliance, but even in those cases, we demonstrate our faith by our actions through relationships we have formed. Our conduct in both speech and action is expected to exceed the average Internet chat and we should be able to demonstrate the love of Christ by how we conduct ourselves in a game ridden with greed and strife. We are a lighthouse, the question each of us should ask ourselves is, but is our light on?
Signed,
Adam aka Allanon, Esua, Zenoir and Rueage, the Guild Master of TheForgiven
Edited: Updated the guild account number.
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