Keeping up with the Guildies

I started this post with the intent of ranting about how hard it is to be in a small guild when you are NOT at the same level as the most active group of mains. In the time before mentoring and all-access zones I would dread the next expansion. Most often I was too low-level to complete the required access quests, ensuring I would be solo while everyone else was exploring and exploiting the opportunities of the new zones.
While I was looking through my screenshots to find an "angy" deltazed I came across this picture from MajDul. It used to be one of my least-favorite places. It was the center of the you-cant-go-there expansion universe. It brought back memories of showing up on an empty EQ server so I could use the cross-server chat to keep in touch with my departed-to-EQ2 friends. I thought I'd found my PNG.

But that's not what is in this picture. When I look closer I see the armor from the quest that Ahren dragged me through because he knew all the places the silly pole would spawn. I see the tower we learned to storm up so we could put those daggers to use. I see the flag from the Court of Blades and remember the frantic hours while we pondered the implications of our guild decision to align with an unknown faction. I know the arena is just up the stairs, and I'm certain I could get Barrhopper to play a couple games if I asked nice. MajDul is now the center of the universe where I remember orchestrated efforts to get everyone a flying carpet. Yes, I HATED MajDul when I couldn't get there. No, I was not alone. There were others who shared my frustration. Some of them changed guilds, some spoke up and refused to leave. One of the things I enjoy about Shades of Destiny is that some of the people who were frustrated were folks who were NOT locked out. They form a core group of guild officers and members who pursue chances to help guild-mates advance.

Mahalo & /hug