I find it hilarious to see posts like this. The continued fascination by outsiders in a guild I've called home for 11 years is, frankly, remarkable.
Remarkable in how a group of players can have such an effect clearly demonstrates our ability to get into so many people's heads, simply because of our insistence to play games by our own rules. Hell, the fact that we can be so up front about what we intend to do (engage in light RP while having fun) and still be successful despite being the target of so many player's best efforts to ruin our experience or drive us from a game is a testament to the tenacity of every member of Wessex. Even those no longer active still enjoy receiving our newsletters and loving every minute of us playing games on our own terms.
As for Manus's participation - I would argue that Manus was 99.9999% absent from MO1. He simply didn't have time and had no desire to play the game. Who in their right mind would expect someone to play a game they were not interested in?
It's absurd. Other members in Wessex leadership positions did want to play the first iteration of MO and fly the Wessex banner while doing so. So he set expectations accordingly, they would have to do so without him. Funny how their leadership failure was his fault. How they were '
forced' to engage in a '
coup-d'etat' that included the theft of all the guild content; how US copyright law thwarted their plans for a '
Kingdom of Wessex'; how the majority of the active guild members at that time refused to support them; and ultimately how at that time they pretty much had full reign on running the guild as they saw fit and still '
screwed the pooch'. I guess the mantra for the internet age is: if at first you don't succeed, run to a forum somewhere and whine about how you were done wrong. At least the majority of the folks involved in that escapade took ownership of their actions and moved on with their lives.
As for Manus's participation in other online games:
- He was active in Elder Scrolls Online when that game launched.
- He was active in Life is Feudal, especially the meta and RP events we held in the first version of the world.
- He was very, very active for the pre-meta going on for Chronicles of Elyria and creating a lot of the background information the new Kingdom was going to use.
For this round of MO2 he will again be 99.9999% absent, because again, he doesn't enjoy this game. Which is fine because Wessex has a solid leadership team. Once the game launches and we are actively playing, our Chancellor Zanth Firebrand will be overseeing the day to day activities alongside our Chamberlain McMatty Timberfall. We also have other Ducal Court appointees with specific tasks of responsibilities. My role in the guild is to ensure we hold to traditions and to engage in diplomacy with other guilds in MO2.
And as always, Manus is a discord message away for members.
I'll also jump in here and add something about Rhodri, as it seems he comes up in conversations in game almost as much as Manus.
Rhodri was not kicked out of Wessex. He did not betray us. He did not act in any manner that warranted his expulsion from the guild. Rhodri left Wessex because he disagreed with the actions and decisions of leadership (primarily Manus, Kaylem and myself) and there is nothing wrong with leaving on those terms. In fact, being up front about it and leaving in that manner is honorable and should always be respected. I personally like Rhodri (except in brief moments of outrage after he'd snipe me in Planetside 2) and I always respected his directness when sharing his viewpoint, whether I agreed with him or not.
Seriously, hope you are doing well Rhodri!