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Guides of the Month (July)

Melenkurion – EQ

Why did you become a Guide?
I became a Guide because I really enjoy playing EverQuest, and I want to give something back to the game and community – the Guide Programme is the perfect vehicle to achieve that.
What games do you guide in? For how long?
As an Elder Guide I have a responsibility to every game where we have a presence – EverQuest, EvereQuest II, EverQuest Mac, EverQuest Online Adventures and of course Vanguard, so in that regard I guide in every game. In reality however, most of the support that I give the games nowadays is administrative and as I don't have a Mac or a PS2 logging in, doing quests and talking to players and Guides is limited to EQ, EQII and Vanguard.
What is your guide race and class?
My race is slightly different in each game, but as EQ is my spiritual home that makes me a Woodelf Druid.
What is your favorite color?
Red, err blue, no yell…. ARRRGGGHHHHhhhhhhhh…..
What is your favorite land (zone)? Why?
My favourite zone (for this week) is Kelethin in EQII. It reminds me of the great design features in the original EQ zone (treetop platforms with no handrails – try and get that past a health and safety advisor in the real world!), but with eye dazzling graphics and some very interesting new twists on the old EQ zone; Butcherblock also rates highly for exactly the same reason.
What has been your best or favorite moment as a Guide?
Some of my most memorable moments have been sitting down in the very early days EQ in the tunnel in the East Commonlands where the Shady Swashbuckler lives with a whole load of newbies to the game and telling stories. Most of them had no idea who or what a Guide was, but they were enthralled that in this huge MMORPG someone was taking the time to add some dynamic character to game beyond simply hacking and slashing their way past a few orcs and fire beetles.
What is your favorite quest, event, or knowledge circle? What do you do the most of?
My favourite quest is Halden's Dwarven Drinking Contest, not because it is particularly creative or anything like that, but simply because it was the first quest we could run in EQII and the way that it foreshadowed the 'summoning' of quest items in EQII. Well plus I've always been partial to a pint or two of dwarven ale…
What has been your worst of least favorite moment as being a Guide?
To have good moments you need to have bad moments and as a Guide I've had a few. Some are related to insensitive players abusing Guides because they are unable to help them or ruining a quest just to spite the other people around who might have wanted to have with the quest, but the ingame incidents aren't that worrying – when all is said and done it is just a game. The worst moments I have had are when I find that someone I have known through the Guide Programme has been injured or even worse, died. These are times when everything is put into perspective and you see through the game and realize that EverQuest at its core is an opportunity to communicate, meet new people and develop real friendships – it is when these ties are broken that you really have your worst moments.
As a player have you every run into any Guides and events?
I must be one of the unluckiest Guides on the planet – I've been involved with the Guide Programme for over nine years now and only once have I run into a Guide Event as a player, and I play for at least a couple of hours each night. Go figure!
What is your favorite thing about this Game?
I enjoy the variety of play styles you can have – I do enjoy the fact that if I am feeling social I can go out and have fun with a group of friends or 'friends to be', or if I just want have a bit of wander around the game at my own pace then I can happily go around alone and each style of play is viable within the game – I'm not limited to just hacking and slashing to have fun (although I do enjoy that).
What do you plan to do in the future as a Guide? Any goals?
I've been in the Guide Programme for a very long time now and been an Elder Guide for the last five or six years, at this point my value to the Guide Programme is to ensure it remains as valid and useful to the players now as it was when it first appeared during the Beta Test of EverQuest back in late 1999. While the role that we fill has morphed from providing back-up customer support to now being an integral part of providing dynamic content to the players, the fact that we continue to assist the players of EQ hasn't changed. My goal now has shifted from focusing on individual servers to making sure that everyone in the Guide Programme has the knowledge and support to be able to provide the best level of service and dynamic content to each of the players of the game that they can, and in turn ensuring that when the members of the Guide Programme are playing EQ they get every possible opportunity to enjoy the dynamic content provided by the Guide Programme.
My other goal is much simpler – to make sure that the EverQuest Guide Programme is, and remains, the very best volunteer support team associated with any commercial MMORPG. I'm probably a bit biased, but I certainly think that the EQ Guide Programme is best MMORPG volunteer group out there and I'll continue to do everything I can to make sure it continues to be the best.

Rosabel – EQII

Why did you become a Guide?
When I played EQPC almost 10 years ago now, I used to run into Guides all the time, they were always doing neat and fun things, that just made the game sparkle. But the application process really intimidated me, so I didn't apply until almost 7 years later. Then, a game called Star Wars Galaxies emerged. I was a very avid SWG player. In SWG there were a ton of player ran events, and the community was so strong and together. I used to organize large monthly player ran events, and often had the helper tag on. After EQII launched, I left SWG, and went back to Norrath. But there was something missing for me, mainly the live and player events. After a time, I saw the MOTD that broadcast world wide; it was advertising the Guide program. Thinking back to what I remembered of the EQPC Guides, I thought that this might be what is missing for me. It was really a desire to do more, and to help others have that special sparkle that I encountered in EQPC, and the experience of the Live events I had come to love in EQPC and SWG that made me fill out the application.
What games do you guide on? For how long?
EverQuest II
What is your guide race and class?
Rosabel is an Arasai Fury.
What is your favorite color?
Hunter Green
What is your favorite land (zone)?
My favorite zone is Emerald Halls.
What has been your best or favorite moment as a Guide?
My best moments as a Guide are hearing from the players. I logged in about 4 months ago, and in the level 10-19 chat on Kithicor, the players were discussing one of my Guides by name, and how much they really loved him, and couldn't wait for him to log in again. We all work really hard, and to hear that feedback, when the players did not even know I was there, was really nice. (They were really surprised when I chimed into that channel, hehe) It is nice to hear when someone really enjoyed something we did, that gives us a bit of the sparkle back.
What is your favorite quest, event, or knowledge circle? What do you do the most of?
My favourite knowledge circle usually takes place on one of the dock areas, where I am story telling. Players love hearing all of the lore for the game, and I find it fascinating. I generally try to choose something that is relative to current content that will tell some of the background. The players really enjoy it.
What has been your worst of least favorite moment as being a Guide?
My least favorite moment actually occurs every time I run a certain event. One of our events calls for the exclusion of any character race that has wings, in order to keep the event fair. Every time I hold that event, I am called racist, and a lot of other very nasty things, and the players that do the name calling sometimes get very personal with the attacks in the chat channels and in tells. If the event was not so much fun for the players that do participate, I would have to seriously consider never running it again.
As a player have you every run into any Guides and events?
Until recently, I really had never seen a Guide on my play server, but then when I am playing I am generally in a dungeon raiding where I would not see a Guide, or camping an avatar. Just the other day I ran into an Apprentice, who was really outstanding, she was running the Void Storms quest.
What is your favorite thing about this Game?
The raiding. I am a very hardcore raider, have seen all of the end game content, and just adore raiding. There is something about organizing 24 players, honing their skills, and getting them to concentrate and work together for the time needed to clear a dungeon or to take down a creature like the Avatars. Over the past few months, Guide sightings have been greatly increasing on my play server.
What do you plan to do in the future as a Guide? Any goals?
Right now, I think I am content to be SMT for 2 servers and on 2 program teams, I feel like I am making a difference with where I am right now. In the future, I would love to try Guiding in EQPC. Anything else, time would have to tell...