Guild Name: Seofon
Server: Druzzil Ro (formerly of Xev)
Guild Leader's Name: Frackus Everburning

How did your guild name get chosen? "Seofon" means "seven". (It's an old spelling.) "Seven" represents three things for us:

First, it represents the seven virtues that must be upheld: hope, charity, fortitude, justice, prudence, temperance, and faith. These virtues outline our code of personal conduct.

Secondly, seven represents the aspects of life that must be maintained in order for "the living guild" to thrive: organization, consumption, growth, reproduction, maintenance, evolution, and reaction. The guild itself is to be regarded as a living entity: a sort of "shared child" for which must all care.

Finally, seven is a reference to "more that those present". Groups in Everquest are restricted to six members, so seven is a reference to "think about others, not just those here, now, but of the larger picture, of the guild itself." To borrow from Gestalt, "the whole is more than the sum of its parts", and the combination of these three ideas is meant to guide the members in both their behaviour and attitude to a single purpose: the notion that the living guild, our child, is more important than any of us, and only by putting its needs first can our own be fulfilled.

Are you the original leader of the guild? I am the original guildmaster of Seofon.

When did your guild come into existence? Seofon was founded in North Karana on the 4th of March, 2001.

Do you have a website dedicated for your guild? www.guildseofon.com has been our home since the very beginning.

How many members do you have in your guild? Currently, Seofon houses 99 mains. We typically fluctuate between 90 and 100 mains. I believe our highest peak ever was about 110.

What kind of ranking system do you have? Is there much opportunity for advancement within the guild? When new members join, they are "Probates" for a 1-2 month evalutaiton period, during which they are ineligible for loot. At the end of that month, if they are approved, they become a Full Member and are afforded all the same loot rights and priviledges of other Full Members. For an executive structure, the guild has one Guildmaster (myself) and a dozen Officers (at different times, this has ranged from 8-13, it is currently 12). Officers are hand-picked by the uildmaster, though members are encouraged to make their interest in such responsibility known, and current Officers are often asked for their opinions when the selection of a new Officer is upcoming. Anyone interested could become an Officer, provided they demonstrate the kind of qualities necessary to fill the role. Some Officers have very pecific tasks (e.g. Recruiting Officer, Administration Officer), while most fill the job of "Advocate". An Advocate" is an Officer assigned to care for the well-being of about a dozen Full Members, maintaining good communication in both directions between the administration and the membership.

What are your current recruiting goals? Seofon has always held that "good player > good character". For us, finding a mature player that fits in well with the culture we've established is always taken as far more important than finding someone of a particular level or class. That said, obviously when we can find someone who meets both criteria, we're pleased as punch. Right now, more bards, mages and shaman would be a big boon.

Does your guild have a 'charter' and other rules that you abide by to help hold the team together? We do, and it can be found at http://www.guildseofon.com/charter.html. Here's the meat of it:

Seofon endeavours to:
  • Create an atmosphere where its members are treated with respect, both by one another and by people outside the guild.
  • Construct an environment in which all members feel able to contribute to the success of the guild.
  • Encourage curious but cautious exploration of new zones, new challenges, and new tactics.
    • What are some benefits that your guild offers that other guilds don't? We straddle the middleground between raiding and family guild, allowing even casual players an opportunity to experience endgame content, without the pressure of point-based loot systems or mandatory raid requirements.

    Does your guild exist in other games? No. We're exclusively an Everquest guild.

    What type of guild do you have, ie: family, casual raiders, hardcore raider,etc.? A little bit of everything. While we raid about 3 to 5 times a week, we have no madatory raiding requirements or minimum attendance. We have a number of more casual players, and also a number of avid tradeskillers. We describe ourselves as "the hardest raiding family guild on Druzzil Ro".

    What content are you currently working on in the game? At present, Seofon is farming Tacvi and Anguish for equipment and for the required orbs to complete Epic 2.0 quests for its members. We make it a practice to try to do each expansion in order, so our next moves will be into Dragons of Norrath (where we've already bested all but ishimtar) and Depths of Darkhollows (where we've kill Shyra many times, and only recently started experimenting with the other Curse raids).

    Is role playing an important aspect for your guild? No. It's neither encouraged nor discouraged. We have a few players who do.

    Can you go through some of your great battles and quests you've conquered as a guild? Rallos Zek the Warlord was a big challenge for us, stalling us for several weeks. Our victory there was very sweet. The Rathe Council also held us back for a while, but with each attempt we got closer, until our inevitable victory there. Uqua was probably our biggest stumbling block in Gates of Discord. All told though, we don't tend to measure our success in those terms. More dear to us, perhaps, is the fact that Everquest II, World of Warcraft, and the merging of Xev into ruzzil Ro all saw such a minimal impact to our guild, while many others suffered majors losses: we're a guild where the social ties are more important than the mechanics of the game.

    How often does your guild participate in these events on a weekly basis? We typically raid about 3 to 5 times a week, though the frequency depends a little on the season. While many guilds with a younger average age experience increased raiding in the summer (when students are out of school or university), we tend to experience a slow down as couples get out to the park with their children, and so on).

    Who would you say is the toughest battle you have encountered? There have been a number of encounters that held us back for a short time, but in spite of their difficulty, they never broke our will to press on. Rallos Zek the Warlord took 11 tries over about 6 or 7 trips there. Rathe Council took about 5 or 6 tries, and raiding 3 hours to walk away with nothing can certainly be disheartening. But with every loss came progress. Each time we got a little closer, learned a little more, discussed and tweaked our strategy. Winning was regarded as inevitable, with enough time, practice, and effort.

    what your most exciting event you can recall with your guild. Something that makes you think back and say to ourself, "This is why I play this game..." Back on Xev, there was a rotation agreement for Vex Thal, and to be welcomed into the rotation required two Emperor victories. Because guilds in the rotation didn't want the number of eligible guilds to increase (meaning longer between their turn coming around), some, on hearing of a guild getting its first victory, would race to Emperor on the spawns that followed, to keep you from that second required win. While they would "play fair" in respecting the server-accepted rules about "first in force", it did still mean that your second win was going to happen under time-pressure, rushing there, buffing, and prepping as one or more other guilds raced there doing likewise.

    We clicked our rings to enter the Emperor's secret area just as another guild came bursting through the doors from the tube room into the insignia-farming hall. (With one of my Officers stopping to wave to them as he did.) Within a minute of Emperor's death, I had received tells from multiple other guildmasters congratulating me. We had firmly established ourselves as a known and talked-about guild.

    what has been the best expansion for the guild? Many had mixed feelings about the shard gathering in Luclin. The flagging process of Planes of Power was also frustrating. Gates of Discord was often downright hated by many. Omens of War was met with a much more positive reception overall, and what we've experienced with Dragons of Norrath and Depths of Darkhollow has likewise been a popular experience. The move away from random number generation (i.e. shards, signets) toward garuantee'd rewards for time invested was a good one. It's not so much a question of how much time is spent as how it's spent. It feels better knowing "do these 4 quests, at about 1 1/2 hours each, and you're keyed", than to realize "camping these 4 parts might take 30 minutes each, or they might take up to 12 hours each". Also, as the expansions have gone forward, the requirement for a well-coordinated raid force rather than a large one has definitely improved, and we very much enjoy the element of stepping back and strategizing, both in the game and out on our message board.

    What advice might you give to people just starting out with a new guild or planning to start one? Understand your goal. Killing things and taking their loot is NOT your goal. Farming tradeskill items is not your goal. Even raiding is not your goal. All these are simply by-products of a correctly functioning guild. Your goal is the establishment of a guild with the kind of atmosphere you want, filled with the kind of people you want. Determine what rules and procedures can best lead to that, and then be consistent in their application. Choose your Officers wisely: they're the navigators for the ship you're building, so make sure they plan to take it in the same direction you do. And most importantly: believe.

    What makes your guild unique? Our culture. A good atmosphere doesn't come quickly, but as the result of a lot of hard work and dedication on the part of myself, Officers past and present, and the members themselves. At the end of the day, to log on and group, raid, or even solo while chatting, and to feel that you are among mature, responsible, like-minded friends - is not just what keeps you playing, it's what keeps you having fun doing it.