Iron Edge: 20 Years in and out Azeroth

[Xormn]

The year was 2005. George W. Bush was president, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith dominated the box office, League of Legends was a mod for Warcraft 3, and a new online world called World of Warcraft was taking its first steps. On Dunemaul, a group of players, hungry for adventure (and purple items), forged Iron Edge. The guild quickly became known because of its hardcore raiders, as well as cameos in TALES OF THE PAST (one of the most known WoW Machinima movies of all time).

It was a simpler time, a time when our GM and founder, Kaos, was legendary. Not just for the fact that he was the guild leader of the reputable Iron Edge, but also because rumours circulated about him allegedly being a game master as well. He tried to balance this act for a while but eventually some fellow guild members ran their mouths on the server, forcing him to step down and leave the leadership to someone else.

We've weathered storms and adapted to change. Somehow, through it all, we've kept being one of the last guilds that have lasted since the inception of WoW. In MoP, the guild had to move from the deserted Dunemaul to Kazzak to find new members.
We've also moved from TeamSpeak to Discord in 2016. Switching to a service that wasn’t just voice chat, but also a chat platform meant that logging onto WoW to chat with your guild members was no longer necessary. Going along with broader trends in gaming while continuing to keep our community growing and thriving on a game that kept getting older, proved that we were here to stay. 

Leadership in the guild has been a story of evolution. From the legendary A-Team, on Dunemaul, morphing from 40 to 25 to 10 as the game evolved, to Grax and Yoica and eventually Rash's stalwart B-Team, we've consistently fielded capable raiding groups.
In 2014, I established the Weekend Raid, a team for those that couldn't raid during the week. Rasgaas has been taking the reins since 2022! And for those of us whose reflexes and, let’s say “dependable fortitude”, aren't what they used to be, Grax and Abyss created the "Too Old to Raid" (ToT) team, proving you can still have fun smashing content, even if it's at a more leisurely pace. Kodin has been running this team since the end of 2016! And just like that, we have grown into a community that welcomes every type of gamer.

So much so, that Narco started his tabletop group as well. Some have also started playing a variety of other games such as Helldivers, Stellaris, Civ - and much more.So we can say that we've evolved into a multi-game community.

Over the many years, members have traded Red Bull fueled all-nighters for diaper changes.  Raiding 4-nights a week was traded for full time jobs. Life happened. We grew up. Families were started. But the spirit of Iron Edge lives on.

Of course, no guild history would be complete without mentioning a few of the colorful characters who have graced our ranks. We've survived attempted coups to break our ranks and poach our key players. On occasion, we've also seen members depart prematurely, right before the team achieved Cutting Edge. Funny enough, one individual found difficulty joining another guild, since we kept our logs public and it was easy to see the shameful way in which he departed. Though, not everyone takes the separation as well. Let's not forget the old members that attempt to recreate a "real" Iron Edge on Classic servers. It was a weird way of dealing with their feelings after we moved on without them.
Then there are Moon's exes, whom we shall not name for fear of triggering a guild-wide restraining order. And of course, we have to mention the last dedicated Boomkin main we had, who left in a blaze of what can only be described as a complete emotional meltdown.

But despite all the drama, the trials, and the tribulations, Iron Edge has remained a force to be reckoned with. Looking ahead, we're still pushing content and having a blast. Our main raid is consistently earning Cutting Edge achievements, the Weekend Raid is carving a path through at least half of the raid (on mythic) each tier, and the ToT raid is conquering Heroic difficulty content. Our community is stronger than ever! We're not just about raiding, we're about creating a community that extends beyond the game.

This week marks our long-awaited meetup! We're bummed that some of you (looking at you, Tyssar!) couldn't make it, but rest assured, we'll be flooding Discord with pictures and videos so you can feel like you're right there with us.

And speaking of looking ahead: The new raid opens next week. It's looking like a good one and Iron Edge is once again ready to meet the challenge!

[Palmar]

Happy Birthday folks.