There was definitely "realm pride" on SZ, esp for neutral/good. I played there until 52 as a wizard and 59 as a cleric, I did enjoy it in that respect. On the other hand, I always missed the freedom to even just hit a fellow raider that was sitting down or horse around on breaks.
Really, having played on both, I can't say any of the guild wars and social aspects involved in them were anywhere close on SZ as they were on RZ. You knew to "stay out" of certain fights, lest you become KOS or bring shame to your guild and subsequently be removed. This of course is in b4 don't be a bluebie. The politics, backstabbings and wars that just started over single events that made news by word of mouth made the server feel alive. Hell, when wars came to the point that two "can't lose" factions started coming out with empty pockets one week or the next, it created mergers. Guilds even renamed and combined (Swarm of Fear comes to mind). Decisions like who would be an officer after a merger, who was getting picked up or dropped as kos by their new combined guild had to be discussed. All of a sudden the little guys became big or were brought along by a giant to fight side by side and get into the raid loot game. Some adjusted better than others to being brought into it. The draw to this game is the sand box elements and they were fully encompassed on a FFA PvP server. If you can handle losing your raw hide tunic or *gasp* even an FBR a friend gave you to a mage at level 8, this kind of stuff is well worth it in the end.
There's so much more to the history of RZ than a hypothetical label is going to put on it. I know a pretty good chunk of it and I'm sure would be surprised how much someone could remind me of it. I did play on and was involved in enough on both SZ/RZ, and most of the crazy moments and rushes came from Rallos. Further, as Velious drew to a close, it became obvious that maybe the truest definition of a guild war was in full swing and factions with real people were definitely in play. I asked Ozuri (king pin GM) why he came to the server and why he started making the rules he did. Shocked, I got a response, he told me something along the lines of the petition queues were full every day and it had to stop, and the server was under his martial law. Shit just wasn't fair to everyone, hence the queue explosions and why the mass market "can't have nice things". It was so brutal even (true) test of tactics kings could be blown up and lose a fungi.
Imagine Rogean coming to this PvP server and saying "no more PvP in raid zones, if it happens, I shut down the zone", the players continue fighting anyway, being sent back to their bind and then a brawl erupting everywhere players were bound. Things like that and how extremely competitive the server became, made me feel like I was a part of a real, multifaceted war. Granted, whether or not he was shutting down zones, it would have felt that way. The brawls and politics were legendary. I list the above point the illustrate how serious the guild vs guild conflict became.
Not to mention, do you really want to be stuck on a hard-coded team with some of the people here by luck of the draw? Or do you just want safer newbie zones :P?
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