The Evolution core has had a wildly successful history in numerous MMORPGs under a small variety of names. KoA, Obsidian Order, Guild [Red], Rel Por, and Holdin' it Down, were all tremendous pvp competitors in every game we played. Over the last twelve years, we were likewise renown for developer-supported server in Knights of the Alliance (KoA) and Sisters of the Ivory Maiden (SIM) events.
Our collective gaming career began in 1997 with Ultima Online. We played under the names Guild [Red] and KoA. The Obsidian Order was a pvp grouping of the latter. As leaders of each, we quickly learned a mutual respect for one another as individuals and our respective gameplay. Friendships quickly ensued and before long, we had "merged", in a way. Ramsonne, one of the better pvp-ers from KoA and co-Guild Master, joined Guild [Red] under a new identity. Several of the core Guild [Red] members, namely Discord, Darknight, Magritte, and Raven DSS, joined KoA. As much notoriety as KoA garnered for putting on spectacular pvp tournaments, Guild [Red] earned for consistently winning them. Players and Game Staff alike attended and supported these weekly events for the better part of two years. Our ingame community was "blessed" by Game Masters accolades including developer-run events such as The Lizard's Revenge in the Alliance Village, exclusive npc spawn, Game Master sponsorship of our own events, and permanent tangible additions to our Village.
Around the year 2000, Shadowbane (for which there is now only an SBEmu - lator) released and we all quickly realized it was a tremendous change in the way we would game for years to come. The two guilds above played cooperatively though their relationship was unclear to most outsiders. Guild [Red] funded the establishment of KoA's first city, allowing us to be among the first three guilds on the entire server to start within the first 72 hours. In return, Guild [Red] had the promise of cheap training and pvp gear. Guild [Red] won immediate infamy for their plundering of countless gold farming parties and being the first six of seven players on the server to max out at character level 50. Meanwhile, their partners stolidly worked their way to becoming one of the largest nations on Deception. By the time we all switched over to Mourning server where KoA reached its highest population, Guild [Red] had tired of the game's bugginess and moved onto greener pastures.
Guild [Red] played DAoC next under the guise of Rel Por and dominated the Guinevere server. We demonstrated to the masses the power of Crowd Control (CC) and how it is not always about damage, damage, damage. As much as we love ranged dps, unmitigated CC is King in pvp. We represented ourselves in World of Warcraft as both Holdin' it Down and KoA on Archimonde. The former again rose to the character level cap at the top of the class while KoA boasted one of the largest playerbases topping the charts at 250+ warm bodies.
We invested time in several other MMORPGs including Lineage 2, Eve Online, Everquest 2, LOTRO, and Vanguard. We also ventured into the genre of MMO Browser pvp and won the one round of Oil Empires we entered with a significant team.
Warhammer Online was our next big title. We earned a coveted spot amongst a handful of national Guild Beta contest winners a month prior to release. This awarded us not only an opportunity to recruit and learn the game before others, but it gave us the ears of game developers. It was one of several exceptional communities to which we were able to significantly contribute beyond the norm. At our highpoint, we had 150+ players that held the first place spot for Destruction throughout the lifespan on the Chaos Wastes server under the name KoA Obsidian Order. We conquered and logged more ownership hours on a Tier 4 Keep than any other guild of our faction. We were openly regarded as "the guild to beat" by the opposition.
Our newest and largest community effort to date is the UO Evolution emulator project. It's foundations in pvp most closely resemble a UO:R era, making use of some better elements of subsequent expansions such as customized housing. However what UOE touts as its best features are the customized ones that deal with such things as territorial guild combat and a race-based player interdependent industry/economy. There are also mechanics for a highly developed politico-economic system.
We have been acknowleged and rewarded by game developers and game masters in several major titles. We have earned national real-world gaming competitions honoring excellence and community development. We have quanitatively established our dominance in player-vs-player combat on both objective and subjective scales across RPG and browser based MMO platforms. What lies ahead for us is unknown, of course. But it is surely more greatness. The one question that yet begs to be asked is, will you be with us when we do it?
You may apply to Evolution on our forums.