Guild Name: Dead Halfling Society
Server: The Combine (The Sleeper)
Guild Leader's Name: Gremin, Sindria, Hoprok
How did your guild name get chosen? A bunch of friends were sitting around together in-game, trying to come up with guild names on Kane Bayle server. Sindria has always played Dark Elves, and killed Halflings for fun in Rivervale. So, Sindria just said the name "Dead Halfling Society" and it stuck over numerous servers since.
Are you the original leader of the guild? Sindria and I are, Shogrok was added due to his diligence, love of the guild and his ability to relate well to others.
When did your guild come into existence? I decided to start up a guild when I heard about the Progression servers. Had a friend, who no longer plays, who made the website. I met numerous people along the way willing to help make the website what it is today.
Do you have a website dedicated for your guild? www.deadhalflingsociety.com
How many members do you have in your guild? 84, which seems a lot but honestly we have a good core of players on all the time and then the rest are part timers.
What kind of ranking system do you have? Is there much opportunity for advancement within the guild? We have a basic leadership setup. Three Leaders, and numerous officers who handle different roles in the guild. If we feel another position is required or if one becomes vacant, we post up under our private news section for our members to view. They can apply for the position, answering numerous questions we ask via PM.
What are your current recruiting goals? We may only raid 4 nights out of 7, but we keep our membership roster tight and trim. We strive to maintain a guild membership that is class-balanced, sized appropriately for the content we are raiding (currently Planes of Power), and full of active players. Right now, we're doing very well with tanks, have a great team of pullers, slowers and debuffers. We're looking to increase ranks in our healing team (clerics are always loved and adored!), as well as DPS. But like all guilds, we're always interested in recruiting new members who fit our style of play and social temperament -- no matter what their class.
Our current / uptodate recruiting goals can always be found at our website, or by clicking here: http://www.deadhalflingsociety.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2662
Does your guild have a 'charter' and other rules that you abide by to help hold the team together? We use a guild FAQ, which is listed on the front page of our website. It is a comprehensive list that covers most every instance of an issue we have come by or think can come up.
What are some benefits that your guild offers that other guilds don't? In relation to Progression servers, we go at our own pace. We are not rushing, we are not looking to be first, and we do not let others dictate our pace. We have a nice, leisurely pace, we determined based on feedback of our members. What's more, the members of DHS have been able to do many things other guilds have had some difficulty in participating in. Once Velious opened we still keyed for Veeshan's Peak, and raided that zone. Likewise for Sleeper's Tomb, and Vex Thal. DHS has allowed many people to see encounters and content from the past without the pressure of being in the bleeding edge guild unlocking the expansions.
Does your guild exist in other games? There are a few offshoots of our guild. We had a guild named Dead Gnome Society in WoW, and most recently an old member of DHS made Dead Paladin Society in Vanguard.
What type of guild do you have, i.e.: family, casual raiders, hardcore raider, etc.? We really don't fit the normal molds. We raid 4 times a week, mandatory if online, but like previously mentioned we aren't interested in being the cutting edge number 1 progression guild. We are far more interested in having fun this time around, but still challenging ourselves, and staying current.
What content are you currently working on in the game? We just broke into Elementals, and already downed Fennin Ro.
Is role playing an important aspect for your guild? No, and our name sometimes confuses people on the issue. We just like to have fun, and play the game.
Can you go through some of your great battles and quests you've conquered as a guild? I think our greatest conquest has been the fact that we have completed every single aspect of Progression server up to our current spot. We do not skip content. Period. If it is on the list for Progression we do it. In fact, we plan on completing every single LDON raid. We are also one of the few guilds on Sleeper not to have folded after all this time. We are here for the long haul, and have existed since day one.
How often does your guild participate in these events on a weekly basis? We help one another as often as possible in regards to quests. Our current quest of choice is of course the Aid Grimel. We have numerous folks already waiting on Air drops to complete the Fletching portion of this quest line.
Who would you say is the toughest battle you have encountered? So far it was the Emperor in SSRA. We tried him our first time out, and had tanking issues. So we adjusted the strat, and 2nd time out we had a numbers issue in general. So we posted up what we thought needed to be done and on our 3rd try after we reviewed our changes, and the guild understood the changes, we killed him. It was a great moment in our history, because it showed the guild even in the face of defeat we can come out ahead if we just buckle down and make some minor adjustments. We have never let anything beat us more then twice in the game so far.
What is the most exciting event you can recall with your guild? Something that makes you think back and say to yourself, "This is why I play this game..." Rallos Zek the Warlord -- the gatekeeper into elementals. We had been doing extremely well in progressing through content up to this point, and really thought we had a great chance of beating him on our first attempt -- something probably unthinkable on any other server. We plowed through the triggers to him, doing really well, and as the final battle began, the butterflies were fluttering in our stomachs. RZTW got to 10%, then 5%, then 1%, then 0%, then 0%, then 0%, and we wiped. Talk about bitter sweet -- being unbelievably close to winning, but just not there. That fight, more than anything, really showcased adaptability, quickness in learning, and member talent.
What has been the best expansion for the guild? That is an interesting question for a progression server guild. The answer would probably be "the latest expansion" -- new (old) content to learn, new (old) strategies to develop, and new (old) loots to win.
What advice might you give to people just starting out with a new guild or planning to start one? Don't start on the Progression Server. Seriously!! It's been wonderful, and I would definitely do it again if given the second chance -- but only if the entire server was reset at Old World content.
The Progression Server is an extremely challenging play environment, and it requires a great deal of patience and commitment from your guild mates.
Have a solid leadership team, establish and enforce firm guild rules and be careful in your screening of new applicants. Settle only for excellence! Find a groove that works for you, and make it stick. Ka-chow!!
What makes your guild unique? The fact that every member bar none has previously played EverQuest on a different server, in a different guild, and very often, with a different class as a main. We're a "melting pot" of sorts, yet we've managed to succeed and progress. Dead Halfling Society is especially unique in that despite the rapid pace of the progression server, we aim to move linearly through all content -- yet we still have managed to stay very close to the bleeding edge, at least as far as the progression servers go, and we've done so without wearing ourselves out or beating our heads against a wall; thus proving that you don't have to raid each and every day to stay current. All it takes is dedication, and resolve, which we have in spades.
