The How and Why of Annarchy

What follows is a post I wrote nearly a year ago on why I started my guild and the special connection it has to the greater community on my server. I'm reposting it here to give a little background to my readers who may not know the story yet.

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It has been a little over two years since I started the guild "Annarchy" on the Dark Iron server in World of Warcraft. Back then, I had no idea it would last this long, or grow as much as it has. I certainly wasn't expecting it to be this much fun, or work. My reasons for starting the guild are probably similar to most people's, I wanted a place that was a little different than what was currently being offered, and rather than wait, I decided to create it myself. I could only hope that others would want the same thing, and would join me.

The difference in the starting of Annarchy, vs most new guilds is in the events leading up to it's creation, and in the connection to the larger community on the server that it still maintains.

It all began with a news post from Gabe of Penny Arcade announcing that he was going to start a guild on the Dark Iron server in World of Warcraft. Now, I had already been playing the game since beta, about a year. I'd tried different servers, and was in a guild at the time. The class I was playing wasn't very popular in groups (Old school hunter) so I wasn't having a lot of luck getting into the post 60 scene. I figured this was a chance for a fresh start, I'd roll on the new server, pick a class that was actually needed in end-game, and level up with the rest of the guild and community (since the server itself was also new) and have a chance to see content I hadn't been able to get into before. I also was a fan of the comic, so getting a chance to play with the guys themselves was an opportunity I didn't want to pass up.

Fast forward through the 300 person queue that was my first login to Dark Iron...

I got an invite into Knights of Arcadia, with Feathermyst, my druid. Guild chat was a zoo. The invites were still coming in, the hastily appointed officers were trying to maintain some sort of order, and the requests for membership were showing no signs of letting up.

I quickly realized I was probably going to get lost in a sea of new names. I was pretty shy, and there were literally hundreds of people, some already knew each other from forums and other servers, so how was a level 1 druid going to make friends and get to know people? I also knew I had a lot of time on my hands. We had just moved to a new state, and I was at home with a small child all day. They were looking for more officers, maybe that would be something I could do.

Within a few hours of my joining KoA, Fancy Lads was formed. Now, we weren't just one guild, there were two. How was that going to work? The second guild was quickly filling, and we were pushing the limits with over a thousand people...and still the invite requests came. Gabe and Tycho announced that the two guilds would be considered one, it would be an alliance, we would function as one big community.

Ok, this was interesting. There were still many people looking for invites, this whole alliance thing had been introduced, and I was still looking for a way to be useful, and get to know people. Add all that to the fact that the cursing, crude jokes and general behavior that one should expect in a community that is based around fans of a comic like penny arcade...were starting to wear on me. I mean, the comic is funny, and in a small enough dose not to be overpowering...but the dozens of people in guild chat were not nearly as "funny" as they imagined themselves to be. I didn't dare tell anyone that I was a girl...we'd already seen what happened in guild chat when someone revealed that information.

So, an idea was born. If we had enough people for two guilds, with more joining daily, why not three? Why not one for those like me who liked the comic, but didn't necessarily want to be bombarded with crude humor all day long? What if there was a place where it was not acceptable to torment the female players? How about a guild with rules.

In reference to the comic, I picked the name Annarchy, after a female character that I felt was a pretty awesome example of a girl gamer. She was tough, and she wanted to play! I also hoped that it would deter the most obnoxious and perhaps also serve as a "come here, it's safe" sign to other girls.

Still in KoA, I worked up the nerve, and went and talked to Gabe. I told him that I wanted to start a guild named after his comic character, that I wanted it to have rules and be girl friendly, and that I wanted it to be a part of his alliance. I told him we would adhere to his rules, and that I wasn't asking him to do any more work, simply for permission so I could do the work myself. I tried to make my case, so he'd see I appreciated what he was doing and offering, while at the same time showing that I was trying to bring something unique and - I felt - needed to the mix. He said yes.

Perhaps as a symbol of the courage and strength I felt I needed to embark on this project, I rolled as warrior, Featherwisp, and created the guild. I advertised in the public alliance channel, begged Winter to sign the charter (he wasn't sure he wanted to be in a girl guild) and soon had enough signatures - Annarchy was born.