History
From SFWiki
SF has a long and proud history, much of it shrouded in mystery. Such is the current nature of the guild that none can say they have been there since the start. Great mystery surrounds the formation of SF. It is thought that it was born out of the remains of another guild, Soul Callers (SC) - by a former member of that guild, Sam, back in 1998. The early SF was plagued by constant inactivity from both the members and its leadership. Sam and his Queen, Acyd, led SF through till around February 1999, at which time Acyd parted company. Very few records exist of SF's history from that time. The game at the time of course, was Magestorm - designed by Mythic Entertainment, and run by Engage Games Online (which were owned by Interplay)
It was at around May 1999, in Magestorm, that some people took notice of SF and began to help to get it back on its feet. RomBurns, Phaedria and Evilkiller came to the guild under the new joint leadership of Sam and Adonis, to bring the guild back from the brink of collapse. However, this new leadership also proved to be inadequate, to the point where there was no leadership to speak of. RomBurns therefore took it upon himself to "take over" the guild himself, this was done with 100% of the remainder of the guilds approval. Sam did not approve, but by which time he had already lost control. SF was now in the hands of someone who would build it as a guild of success, but ensuring that it didn't take itself too seriously.
Upon taking control, a provisional council and constitution were constructed. The guild now, as then, follows these principles in its running and structure. While the constitution would set about in writing, the various regulations, the council would be in charge of day to day operations and following the princples that the constitution laid out.
Much of the core of SF is the same now as it was in those early days. We have grown together as comrades, but more importantly as friends. We've won together, and we've lost together. In tracing back some of our milestones as a guild, it takes in a great variety of different events, and opponents. While Magestorm was on AOL - we took part in the Magestorm Guild League, finishing joint 1st in the level 1 league, and reaching the playoffs of the 5-15 league. People started to take notice of us.
Magestorm left AOL in 2000, but was taken up by Mythics Game Service in 2001. A lot of us had been spending time in Ultima Online, keeping the guild name alive, and formed a small village on the Chesapeake server, simply named "New Folenn". When Magestorm returned, so did Strike Force, and we set out to do business from the start. We placed joint 3rd in the first MGL run in 2001.
2002 proved tougher for us as activity declined, but picked up again as the community geared up for the territorial based "Battle for Folenn". The most controversial, heated and ultimately community destroying event that could possibly be conceived. The event will be remembered as much for the controversial decisions from the Ops regarding game results, than it will be for the games themselves. Nevertheless, SF acquitted itself well during that event - finishing runners-up as the only other guild undefeated. The alliance we formed with Healers of Faith, led to their merger with us as they were defeated in the event.
It was during the BFF, that RomBurns finally stood down after 4 years of leadership. Xeeron stepped into the job as fearless overseer. Under his leadership SF were runners up in the 2003 10-30 Christmas Event (to FA), and third in the 2004 NSW League. SF played Magestorm until its final shutdown in January 2006, with a severely scaled back roster. We took part in the informal ladder until Guild Wars release, taking the top spot from LoH in early 2005. Only our relative retirement from Magestorm in April 2005 allowed others to compete for it.
In around April 2004, we began to become aware of a new game on the horizon called Guild Wars. We're a guild, and we've been warring for quite a while, so naturally many of us were curious, from its name alone. What we found during that E3FA event was a game that was very compatible with our style of gameplay, tactical combat is something we relish. It has been unsurprising therefore that a good turnout of people representing SF made its presence felt in the BWE's. We continue to follow the ideals set up from the start. Have fun, but remain competitive. We don't take ourselves too seriously, but hell, we love winning.
2005 was a mixed bag overall for SF. Our success in Guild Wars was very rapid. By the time of the final BWE, we were an established and successful top 20 guild. For a time into release, this success continued. Our successful play culminated in May with our participation in Arenanet's "Beat the Devs" contest - where we managed to "go the distance" against a team of developers playing on the floor at E3. It was unfortunate that we weren't given the time to get our win, as we were undoubtedly at the verge of doing so before the Dev Guild pulled out for time.
RomBurns resumed leadership of SF in July 2005.
It has been sad that our success has been limited since, as we quickly fell out of the top 100, and descended into obscurity. Various reasons contributed to it, none of which are really important to what we wish to do in the future. To get back to where we were. Many of us are determined and spurred on by our historical success. We will be back. Indeed, we have recently taken on many new members, and our drive to return to the ladder remains as spirited as it always has.
Outside of the game, we all maintain a great friendship. In April 2006 a total of 11 members were involved in our first ever true guild meet up, in Orlando Florida. Two weeks of insane madness that i'm sure most of us will never forget as a truly great experience.
