MEAD: RIFT Gaiscioch


MEAD: RIFT Gaiscioch

By Shannon Doyle (Leliah), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

With roots stretching back to 2001 in Dark Age of Camelot, the guild called Gaiscioch is so much more than just your average guild. This gaming community has had large numbers in several large MMOs through the years and will be expanding to Guild Wars 2 when it opens. They have a long, rich history and are an important part of life if you play on Faeblight, the shard they’re on in RIFT.

 

 

They formed in November of 2001 in Dark Age of Camelot as a roleplay group bringing classic Irish fairytales to life. By the time they left DAoC in 2006 they had 500 members and had an alliance with 32 guilds. It was at this time the group fell apart. Financial issues meant players had to focus on real life or even free games. But in 2008 they came back with 8 of the original members to form a more casual group in Warhammer Online. By the end of their first year in Warhammer they had 1,200 members and at their peak they were up to 1,700. It was then they began searching for a new game to make their home so they wouldn’t see the loss they did when they left DAoC. That was when they found RIFT.

 

 

The group has had a close relationship not only with the community but also with the development team. Often working with Trion to test out patches and working with staff to identify issues. And now they are gearing up to play Guild Wars 2, though they have no intention of leaving RIFT to do so. They plan to open 6 branches of Gaiscioch in Guild Wars 2 each with its own focus. In the lead up to Guild Wars 2 they have started their own weekly webcast called “The Legend of Guild Wars” which airs on Youtube every Monday. There is also an unexpected branch of Gaiscioch. An athletic branch that plays football. The team started in San Jose, California where founder Benjamin Foley lived at the time until he moved to Eugene, Oregon. In 2010 the football program moved to Portland, Oregon where it is currently located.

 

 

Gaiscioch has a huge involvement in charity events. In March of 2012 they ran their very first charity event. The charity event gave over 400 stuffed animals to 5 charities in the Portland, Oregon area. During last year’s Extra Life charity event benefiting children’s hospitals they were the 11th highest in raising money with more than $8,000. And during the 24 hour gaming marathon they had a huge presence in RIFT.

 

 

If you’re on Faeblight or in its pvp group then you know every other person is a member of either the main group Guardian side or the smaller group Defiant side. In the early months of RIFT they were so big I considered petitioning to rename the shard to Gaiscioch. This success came from being a large community from the start and hosting amazingly successful events early on. They host raids, crafting RIFT raids and many other events every day of the week. I’ve joined them several times while doing crafting RIFTs. With the hype of Guild Wars 2 and the desire to join more hardcore raiding groups the Defiant group has seen a small decline in recent months. As a result there will be less focus on that group and more on their Guardian side and other projects which are upcoming.

 

 

Anyone is welcome to join this extremely friendly group. They have an extensive website that joins all the branches of their extended family together. The average age of members is 35 with the oldest being 69. Most of the members live in California but they are spread all through the world including two who live in Ireland. Where the myth they’re based on comes from. They have leadership boards within their own group, badges, sweatshirts, forums and a massive family tree that has all 3,400 members on it.

 

 

This group has done amazing things for RIFT with community events, taking part in charity and sending the devs cookies. Who doesn’t love cookies? They provide awesome services to players and the community on a whole. RIFT wouldn’t be the same without them.

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