Guild Wars 2 – Oldroar

For those unaware of how MMO communities operate, it’s not unusual to see groups of gamers that play together in one title all move to set up shop together in a new one when it’s released. Roger “Oldroar” Rall was one of the leading officers of Gaiscioch, a Celtic-themed guild originally founded during Dark Age of Camelot, though since making its presence known in titles such as Warhammer Online, Rift and The Elder Scrolls Online.

The run-up to Guild Wars 2 was accompanied by a massive storm of hype, with more than a few sites and guilds expecting it to be a genre-revolutionising title that would usher in a new Golden Age for MMOs. Rall was no exception, making plans for what challenges he’d help lead his fellow guildmembers through once the gates to Tyria officially opened.

Tragically, such a thing was not meant to be. Roger passed away suddenly before Guild Wars 2 launched, never getting the chance to explore ArenaNet’s MMO. Not content to let such a travesty pass unmourned, Oldroar’s guildmates wrote to the developer in their droves, begging the studio to acknowledge what had happened. One such tactic even saw Gaiscioch send wave after wave of cookies to ArenaNet’s offices in a bid to alert the studio.

Whether it was the baked goods that sealed the deal or the power of Oldroar’s story was enough on its own we may never know, but ArenaNet agreed that Roger should be commemorated. And so, it established a new Guild Wars 2 server called Sanctum of Rall, and it’s here the members of Gaiscioch can be found to this day.

Explaining why this option was taken, game director Colin Johanson reveals, “We talked about a lot of ideas, at the time we were right in the middle of naming a lot of the worlds for the game and so we felt one of the best things we could do was to name a world after him, especially because one of the areas he really felt he could help make a difference for the community was in World vs World. So we moved quickly, named it, and ever since it’s been one of the most popular worlds in GW2. For a long time it was one of the top worlds in WvW and I love we have a world with that history and hopefully we’re doing him proud.”

Additionally, ArenaNet added an NPC in the Charr capital of the Black Citadel called Historian Goshkia (which is a pronounced the same way as Gaiscioch and pictured above), who tells the story of an ancient Charr tribune known for his leadership. He was never defeated in battle, winning countless campaigns before retiring to teach others, and eventually passing away peacefully. His name? Rall Oldroar.