Guild:Tao of Odin (Tanaris US)

Tao of Odin is a casual guild where members are encouraged to hang out, kill some things, take their loot and have a blast while doing so!



This guild was formed on Tanaris. It is focused on providing it's members with a well rounded World of Warcraft experience. We have an extensive raiding program, website, full vault and many spontaneous PVP events. To fill out an application goto http://tao.guildomatic.com/guild_application/apply. For more information you can contact Mariposah or Booaboy in game.

Tao History
This guild was originally formed by Drozhenbane. There are many parts to our rich history and many people involved, so hopefully we can get them all to write down what they know about our beloved guild.

I welcome additions from each Guild Leader and will record them all off site so there is a record in case anyone decides to get funny about it and delete or modify what is recorded here. Please keep things respectful as with any guild, Tao has seen her fair share of drama and nastiness and here is not the place for it.

Thanks, Droz, for coming up with so much so fast!

Founder

 * Drozhenbane

Creation Date

 * Late September 2006

Guild Leaders

 * Drozhenbane 9/2006-6/5/07
 * Efter 6/5/07-?/07
 * Urlockmac ?/07-2/08
 * Tiraehd (a.k.a. Mariposah) 2/08-present

Tao History: Droz's Story
Tanaris went live Monday August 14, 2006(Yes Tiraehd I looked it up I was right!). I created my little shaman on August 16, and was recruited into a new guild at the starter zone. Was like Hells Army or something similar to that. That's where I met most of the founding members of Tao Of Odin. The GM of that guild gquit while I was offline, and passed GM off to EfterCow. I logged on and apparently they voted me to GM, while I was offline. We rolled that guild for about 2 months, just running around killin' plain striders, and being new to horde I was learning the class. After a lengthy discussion on the rank system, we decided some of the ranks were way too damn fascist, and made too many references to the nazi regime of WWII. I wasn't comfortable with it, and neither were a lot of other members. So I decided to create a new guild from scratch, take a few people I liked, and start anew. So in late September 06, we formed up what was to become Tao Of Odin. I got alot of ?'s about the name, so I will include the history of the name here as well.

How Tao Got Her Name
What were you smokin' when you came up with the name? Well I have spent a significant amount of time researching early pagan and polytheistic religions to include wicca, druidism, Nordic, Buhdism, Pre Canon Roman and Greek mythology. My favorite by far was Odin and Freya(Freyja), as the Lord and Lady. Now playing off the whole Odin as main deity theology, he is of course the god of War, Wisdom, Poetry, and Death. Hes the one eyed wonder, that drinks all day long, and kicks royal ass. His children are infamous fighters, such as Thor. A host of other deities in the pantheon make for one hell of a story. His guards were the Valkyries, who doesn't like the idea of big breasted, winged, female angels of death, who swoop down and carry the souls of fallen soldiers to heaven aka Valhalla. A place where you get drunk, fight constant wars, and feast heavily. Sounds good to me!

Now that pesky Tao part? Yes its Chinese, or rather branches across most of Asia, its a word that is best defined as "Path or Following Of". I have always been a big fan of eastern theology for its emphasis on immortality, reincarnation, and general strict discipline. So in a game that matches 10 million members from all over the globe, and of every nationality imaginable why not use a name that is a melting pot of multiple cultures. The name just like the game is a manifestation of our joint cooperation as a whole. So in a nutshell the name literally means "Followers In The Path Of Odin".

Before Tao Was Born
Memorable early years moments. The day Efter joined the guild was a funny one. Meatybone one of early members was whispering me saying that cow wanted to bring her boyfriend into the guild. I was amused because I felt like I was back in Junior High by the tone of the conversation. Like inviting another guy into the guild was some kind of taboo. Like meatybone was almost offended that our sole female wow player might just have a partner in life LOL.....AAHHH GOOD TIMES.
 * Hells Army

The Formation
After grabbing which people I enjoyed gaming with we still didn't have enough signatures for the new guild. So I sent out trade chat messages looking for more, and found our last signature by the hands of a lovely lady you all know. Tiraehd a lvl 8 warlock in Undercity. I traveled there had her sign the charter, and tried to pay her. I sent out the trade chat spam with a sign my charter and I will pay you ploy. You don't have to stay just let us form. She refused payment, and was a perfect member.

First comes guild, then comes progression. So as we learned together and quested, I used my knowledge of mods, thottbot, and experience leveling to help as many people as possible. We recruited left and right, and become a rather large guild. Having a larger player base allowed me to fuel my obsession with dungeons. Then came Wailing Caverns......... I was so obsessed with this dungeon it was borderline unhealthy. In a constant assault to get my fang armor set I logged a total of 51 runs between lvl 19 and 29. In those frantic loot runs. We added several key players, hyperchut efters brother, and urlockmac coworker of tiraehds. You all Know her as Mariposah, I will always call her Tiraehd old habits die hard. We also added another notable pain in the rear. Tietu.......To be discussed later......

the Burning Crusade. The levels flew by, and alts were created, the guild grew and grew all was good. Then the burning crusade was released, and our members flocked to embrace it. I was laggin behind a bit due to work issues. Efter and Cow did win out in the end being the 1st 60's in the guild, and later 70's. A defiant Tiraehd held out, she refused to acknowledge TBC until she accomplished her goals. As our members started hitting ramparts, shadow labs, and the likes she was still stubbornly farming furblogs. This created quite a fuss int he upper ranks, and I can quote a certain 70 rogue "Isnt that the Antithesis of advancement?" Upon a post on the forums to con her into going to outlands.

The Great Divide
Tietu advanced to officer status, and with this new found power made a royal mess of things. It all came to a head one night when he invited a few friends of his into the guild. It was obvious from early on that cow and efter did not like him, and lookin back I don't like him either. With a clash of attitudes, and a numbnut behind the wheel things spun out of control really fast. There was name calling, undeserved promotion, and blatant over use of power. Efter had to endure mockery, and as the screen shots proved it later. Thanks to a little elf watching out for me. What exactly went down. I came online after being woke up by a phone call to utter madness. 1/2 of the officers had gquit, and this little shit was still parading around making a mockery of all I had created. I was pressured from both sides, and constant whispers to try to sort things out. After 2 hours of looking over things I kicked Tietu, but the damage had already been done. I was very angry and stressed out due to non gaming issues. I decided to separate myself from the situation until I had a clear and level head. I gquit leaving Hyper as GM. He disbanded the guild moments later. Was finally settled on that he was confused and didn't know what to do.

Reformation
The next day, I tried to reform the guild after finding out what happened. We started at the beginning again with a charter. There was 1 last spot to sign and efter refused to sign unless he was GM this time. I obliged and gave it to him. We reformed gathering as many of the old members as possible. Using screen shots of raids and instances to find people. In the end we started all over, and became a power house on the server. Then came karazhan...........

Raiding Will Tear You Apart
I managed to convince 8 very good wow players who are good friends to transfer servers and join me in my non gm status to conquer Karazhan. This went well for a while until we got to the point that moroes was more than a hump. This guy was unkillable for us as a whole. We had more 70's than could do Karazhan so the pressure was on. Alot of people sitting out and getting angry they don't get to go. I recruited a lot of good talent, some of them tanks, some healers, and we continued to be battered by this god forsaken boss. The boys I had transfered were kara experienced raiders. Also carrying pre TBC raid experience as well. I noticed that tanking was an issue, so I asked for a new tank to come in, but that wasn't well received. I told them I have grouped with this guy before, and he is insane! Guild morale went to right down the crapper, and there were a lot of Epeen issues going on. So I made a crucial decision, continue to wipe on moroes when no one wants to listen or move on. Then I went on a rampage, and told everyone what I had to say, and gquit. Hind sight is 20/20 and the 2 tanks I recommended are Main tanks for the number 1 and number 2 guilds on the server. We had em once, but lost them due to bad judgment.

Thank god Tiraehd is GM now, she isn't blinded by the nonsense and has done an excellent job at keeping things together. I have in the past, and int he future always will. Regard her in the highest possible regard, and consider her an excellent raid partner! Thats my 2 cents........ Feel free to add.

Guild Progress

 * Naxxramas - farm status, weekly raids
 * Obsidian Sanctum - farm status
 * Eye of Eternity - farm status
 * Ulduar (instance) - weekly raids
 * Trial of the Crusader - Farm status
 * Icecrown Citadel (instance):
 * Lower Spire - Farm status
 * The Plagueworks - weekly raids

Raiding Schedule
We raid nightly. Please see our calendar for up to date information.

Guild rules
Don't be a jerk.

Officers

 * Mariposah, Jarl:aka Tiraehd, Guild leader, Raid Leader
 * Booaboy, Hird:High Officer, Raid Leader
 * Ragingbull, Kinsman:Officer, Vault Manager
 * Zentigix, Kinsman:Officer, Raid Leader

Raid Leaders

 * Gwinevak, Landsmenn
 * Nny, Landsmenn
 * Tatankaanana, Landsmenn
 * Anatole, Landsmenn
 * Lightembrace, Landsmenn
 * Hyllia, Landsmenn

Past High Officers

 * Arlynn, Hird:Hird, Raid Leader
 * Hyperchut, Hird:Hird
 * ChuckD, Hird:Hird
 * Alegar, Hird:Hird, Raid Leader

Honorable Mentions

 * Leohatchet, Holdas:Roster Admin