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Happy Second Birthday!
When I look back at the past two years, I can’t decide if I’m amazed, perplexed, or horrified. What started out as an experiment (the merger of two little guilds full of friends to see if we could get enough online to fill an instance) has turned into something much larger than I had ever thought possible through an MMO. And I don’t mean larger in the sense that we seem to kick 15 people a day for inactivity, and yet the roster is still 4000 people long.
I mean larger in the sense that over the past two years, FP has become more than a guild in a video game. It is a group of real friends – people who drive cross country to go to concerts (see you Friday, Ben, Chris, and Erik), people who move cross country to make a change in their lives but are supported by folks they met through FP (Hi FPSLC!), and people who may not have traveled yet, but will some day, and we’ll start a whole new set of adventures when they get here. (Btw, I’m using Here as Atlanta, but Lots of FP Boston and FP SLC trips have taken place too). We’ve become a family. A real family made up of lots of families! Poor Vanin is still wondering why Lyrin gives Shad the bigger half of the sandwich when she makes their lunches. Ben’s just happy to see a sandwich. That’s FAMILY.
For my part in the whole debacle, I’m thankful. I’m thankful that Shoop trusted me enough to let me help guide the ship. I’m thankful for Ghost, Gryph, and Stangmeister for helping with that seemingly insurmountable task. I’m thankful for the members of FP who make logging in a pleasure every night. Every frustration, every long night staying up talking about some game issue and being tired as CRAP the next morning is worth it when I can log in and see some stupid-funny comment in /gchat. Some hilarious whisper during a raid. The exhilaration of downing that boss for the first time, and then ZOMG the second!!!
To me, WoW is just a way to hang out with my friends. My friends being people that I came into FP with, and those who I’ve made real relationships with through it.
Two years! That’s not a long time in the grand scheme of things. But for something like this, I think it’s an eternity.
Kudos to FP for being the most amazing guild on the server, with the most amazing family. We may have lost a few members in the guild list here or there, but truly, most of them will always be FP to me. And I hope they drop by too and say hello! It’s their birthday too, after all!
Gynis, Stang, and Ghost
