The Chapter 3 History
Two years ago, we began our third chapter adventures in RIFT. Most of us who ventured to RIFT from Warhammer Online didn't know what to expect but we jumped into this venture with high hopes and even more confidence that our family would thrive here.
On the 3rd day the game went live we made our first attempt on a guard of Meridian with nothing more than level 20's. We would return on the 17th day to finally kill the guard becoming the first in the world to defeat a Meridian Centurion.
We also launched our first public community event in RIFT known as the Telara Saga. We journeyed across the land leading us to our final assault of Meridian where we dropped an entire battlegroup by trying to shove 800 people into 1 small area. During this event guardians alone brought 12 Raid Groups and the Defiants defended their city with even more soldiers.
The Telara Saga even brought with it a large amount of media coverage, including articles from TenTonHammer, Massively.com, Magenllo, Rift Junkies, and even Trion themselves. It even landed a mention on GameBreaker.tv's The Sanctum.
While the Telara Saga brought hundreds to the server, family, and community it also brought with it a new breed of players to the family which we had never had before. A Raiding Community. Bentmer was the first to put together a raiding crew and secured the first on the server kills for many of the first raids in the game.
The Gaiscioch would return to slay the leaders of the Defiant faction through several attempts securing the first in the world to kill Sylvar Valis, Orphial Farwind, and Asha Catari. No boss was safe to our determination and perseverance. We also launched our first attempt at charity work by participating in our first Extra Life event where we placed in the top 15 communities to raise funds for the Children's Miracle Network. Based on the success we created our own charity event the Double-Up Charity Event where we sent over 400 stuffed animals to children in need.
At the start of Season 2 of the Telara Saga the Gaiscioch did something they've never done before. Started a second half of the family on the Defiant faction. The goal to bring the Gaiscioch lifestyle to both communities and build even bigger events uniting both sides under one roof.
With the addition of our Defiant half of the family certain events became even more popular such as Crifting, Expert and Raid Rifting. It also allowed us to start Sieging Sanctum. At the release of Ember Isle we managed to Slay Borrin Gammult and take down the 6 squirrels of Sanctum in a hilariously fun beatdown.
We continued to seek out adventures in both the raiding dungeons and in the open world. Our Raiding force grew and soon enough we had 3 raid groups running several times a week. Every boss in the game fell to our swords. Our family secured first on the server victories for dozens of bosses.
As time progressed and players began to migrate towards raiding groups and less desire came for large public community events we moved our events to the newfound conquest pvp. For many months we ran conquest pvp nights bringing battles of glory and hundreds of memorable moments. We may not have always won, but we always walked away with a smile of a battle fought and memories made.
By the launch of the first expansion, Storm Legion the Gaiscioch Family had merged into 1 house focusing its efforts as a united front. While RIFT grew stronger for the competitive Raider it became dormant for those who did not like raiding.
When looking back on RIFT I don't want to talk about the things that caused me to leave or the moves that hindered our families’ success. I would rather think about the 2 wonderful years we spent together making memories, friends, and sharing adventures of epic proportions.
In the time we shared in RIFT, we completed 316 master dungeons, 6,962 expert dungeons, 1,456 regular dungeons, 719 raid dungeons, 252 instant adventures, 417 zone invasions, and held 11,560 events. We closed 13,201 minor rifts, 2,875 major rifts, 1,412 expert rifts, 703 raid rifts, 154 onslaughts and 484 hunt rifts. We were victorious in 238 warfronts, captured 88 ancient footholds, 69 minor conquest reactors, 289 major conquest reactors, and 128 conquest hubs. Lastly we defeated 54,949 dungeon bosses, 289 elite creatures, 27 rare creatures, and 51 epic creatures who had more than 2 million health. In total we logged more than 97,607 victories in 2 years.
We also grew from the little 1,094 person family to a whopping 3,741 players. Our success was largely due to our laid back community friendly approach. We were one of the only casual gaming communities to successfully clear most of the raids in the game, and certainly one of the only bold enough to plan attacks on the capital cities.
Chapter 3 will forever be a fond memory in our minds. I thank you all for joining me on this adventure and I am ever so proud of all of you.
The Road Ahead for RIFT
For those of you who are staying behind in RIFT, the family has been renamed "Saighdear". The eldership team who you know and love will be continuing the family under it's new name until we either find a new home for the family or the eldership believes it's time to call it a day. You will be able to continue claiming participation, scheduling events, using the marketplace, and using our RaidCall. The only thing that is changing is the name of the family, and the people in charge of running it day to day.
Foghladha will continue to peek in from time to time to check on everyone but will be devoting his efforts to finding a suitable home for our Raiders, Casual Gamers, PvPers, Crafters, and Roleplayers. A home that interests all 5 of our player preferences and allows us to be united under 1 roof once again.
I know for some, the end of a chapter is not easy. The Gaiscioch Family is designed to transcend a single game and continue it's story from title to title. We will continue to grow, and share adventures. I know Guild Wars 2 is not for everyone and it is my hope that I can use what I learned with RIFT and Guild Wars 2 to find us an adequate home that enthralls and excites both halves of our family. Please continue playing RIFT over the coming months and know that I will be searching for a place we can unite our family once again. This is not "The End", it's merely the start of a new chapter in the tale of the Gaiscioch family.
Thank you all for 11 years of fun, friendship, and memories.
Benjamin "Foghladha" Foley
» Edited on: 2013-03-01 10:03:15
