And so the chapter ends...
Vagabonds is officially leaving EQ2. Vagabonds was created back in December of 2004 by a handful of players with dreams of being the best guild in EQ2. "The Best" of course means different things to different players and Vagabonds wanted to conquer them all. Originally we focused on guild levels, back when guild levels were incredibly difficult to get. The guild patrons did seemingly endless writ quests and heritages to keep us on the top. In the end I think we were 3rd WW to 30, but we were 2nd for months before a mysterious bug with the eyepatch heritage quest appeared and some guilds exploited millions of guild xp:
We also wanted to raid, that is obvious. Our initial raid leader, Desiderius, was one of the main reasons I joined the guild. He was one of the nicest and most respectable players I ever met in an MMO. Between Desiderius, Nithel (the original guild leader), and Nithel's brother (Adivan), they formulated the original guild polices and invited the initial core of players that got Vagabonds up and running and off to what would eventually be a very successful and competative guild.
Initially, we were not the best raiding guild on the server, but then again, guilds werent raiding yet either. Ebonlore and Exiled were the first guilds to have multiple level 50 toons, and each had their own dreams of owning the server. Ebonlore, with all of its drama, decided to leave its guild leader and Unrest early on, and start fresh on Grobb under the guild name Malice. Exiled, while a great guild with great players, did not last long, and Vagabonds quickly achieved server domination. Other guilds in T5, like Drow, Paradigm, and Core, were always hot on our heals trying to get the better of us. When Paradigm got the serverfirst completion of Spirits of the Lost is when we really kicked it into high gear and since way back then Vagabonds established itself as way ahead of the competition, at least on Unrest. This is strictly from a raiding perspective and I mean no disrespect to the other exceptional guilds on Unrest who do not focus their efforts on raiding.
Some T5 memories:
Here is an unusual bug that happened one day while we were forming up for King Zalak the Ancient.
And here is a pic of us wiping on the way to the Underworld Summoner. Whose bright idea was it anyway to train all the way down?
Defeating Faroth Mal and the Brutal Acts of War, for I believe a Worldwide 4th. During the time of Tremblar the Behemoth, K'Dal, and the Brutal Acts of War is when Vagabonds started entering the EQ2 scene on a more worldwide scale. It was during this time when guilds and players from other servers started recognizing our accomplishments. It was definitely good times.
A T6 memory:
Vagabonds first guild worldwide to enter the Fountain of Life. Any guild who has ever camped all 9 eyes when DOF was originally released knows the horror stories of obtaining all 9 eyes. Some eyes took us over 40 hours of raiding to obtain. Even though we did it first, I think camping these eyes was personally my least favorite time ever raiding in EQ2. It is no wonder a lot of guilds had trouble keeping members during this time.
A T7 memory:
Worldwide first to kill Harla Dar. Probably our most famous accomplishment.
Anyway, I just wanted to go through some of our history out of respect for every member that ever held the Vagabonds tag. If you could give a rats ass about Vagabonds or its history, that is fine, to each his own. This post wasnt for you
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To all our friends on Unrest, and the rest of the EQ2 community:
I speak for all of us when I say that you will all be sorely missed. EQ2 was a great run, even with all of its bugs, and all the nerfs it was still the most memorable and enjoyable MMO of my life (yes, even probably more than EQ1). The Unrest server was a great choice. It was always interesting and full of life even from day 1. I will be playing Vanguard with many Vagabonds members, but not all of them. The ones who move on will be sorely missed, but still remembered always. The ones who stick around EQ2 I wish you the very best. To everyone who stays in EQ2 I wish you the very best. To all the raiding guilds on Unrest, keep up the name of our server and continue to dominate and most importantly, have fun and play fair.
I leave with a heavy heart but many many fond memories I will never forget. I am sure I speak for everyone in Vagabonds when I say that.
So long, good luck, and take care!
Vagabonds bids EQ2 and especially the Unrest community a fond fairwell...
