Guild Wars gold news
The East Indian Guild [EIG]
Guild Information
The hardest part of founding the East Indian Guild was choosing the name. The Dutch practically invented the concept of "guild," so the founders, Merenwen and Nicky, turned to their history for naming inspiration. The guild leader lives in an old building that once belonged to the United Dutch East Asia Company (a famous 17th century multinational Dutch trading guild). Consequently, a name was born. Originally intended to be an international guild, they decided to have an English name. But the first few members who joined did not speak fluent English, so the leader switched the guild to Dutch-only but left the name in place for posterity.
As the guild grew, the leader decided to host a PHP forum. With the forum came the Orders-sub-groups of the EIG led by officers who specialize in certain areas. The Orders are named in true RPG-style, and members can gain a rank depending on which Order they join. The Voices of Air recruit new members/guilds, the Warriors of Fire host PvP battles, and the Guardians of Earth provide cheap materials, weapons, and other items for all members of the alliance. EIG plans to continue the Orders into Guild Wars 2.
The East Indian Guild has one guiding principle above all others: have fun! When they say "have fun" in-game, they mean it. With this in mind, just about anyone may join. New members gain access to the forum, with all kinds of goodies ranging from build generators to free items, and a player-hosted festival about once every month. However, players are not obligated to do anything other than be online once every two months. Even membership in the forum is voluntary. Members joining often find another surprise: EIG has a female leader, which is relatively rare (though one of their allies has a female leader, too).
Something that sets the East Indian Guild apart is the festivals held in its guild hall. Even ex-members come back to participate. The events held vary: 1 vs. 1 scrimmage tournaments, dance parties, dodge ball, and so on. Another example is the recently-held animal festival. It featured a miniatures fashion show and a competition in which only Ranger pets were allowed to fight (the prizes for the winners were miniatures). On December 5, Sint Nicolaas (the Dutch version of Santa Claus) and his sidekick Zwarte Piet visited the guild hall and handed out presents. With EIG's one year anniversary coming up, be sure to expect a grand festival (lasting three days) with fireworks, masks, and all kinds of items from the official festivals. Even Sint Nicolaas might show up again!
The East Indian Guild is loosely based upon the United Dutch East Asia Company, a collection of successful seafarers, explorers, and traders from the 17th century. When it came to choosing a side in Factions, the guild leader learned that the Luxons were also seafarers and traders. At that time, the only Kurzick NPCs the EIG had met were Lukas and Headmaster Amara. They were both too arrogant and thus represented the Kurzicks badly; their loss! And so the choice to become Luxon was made. The EIG cape springs from that history. The anchor symbolizes the United Dutch East Asia Company and the green resembles the jade sea.
