Drew’s Farewell Address

Drew’s Farewell Address
February 7th, 2019 


As I write this to you now, I know not where to start. Thus, I have decided the only logical way to write this farewell would be to elaborate on my impromptu speech at the most recent award ceremony, in which I documented my time as Viceroy and the greatest truth I have learned about this guild. 
        My journey with the Foxes began long ago. It could be said that it truly began when my guild joined Valkyrie, all the way back in early 2016. However, as I wish not to bore you with my entire histories, I will begin where it is first relevant. It was on the 21st of November, 2016. Ari had quit Wynn and suggested that former Viceroy Misty and myself bring back the guild as King and Queen. So, we did. The guild initially flourished, but as soon as the growth stalled, the rest of the council was disheartened. They believed it was a lost cause, that there was no point in reviving the Kingdom. Even then, they thought, there was no way the revival would work in the first place. They grew disheartened and lost hope in the guild, and it was that in and of itself that caused the council to fail. They left, and all the progress that had been made went with it. They doubted its potential, and I became determined to prove them wrong. That is the thesis, if you will, of this farewell. That this guild always has a future. That there must always be those determined to make it so. 
        I begged Ari to come back to Wynn. I could say that it was some grand noble goal. I could say that I wanted to restore the glory of the Kingdom. But that would be mostly a lie. At this point in time, the only thing I desired was to prove the former council wrong. The guild had to survive and flourish, and if sacrificing the crown was the price I had to pay, then so be it. She finally agreed, and on February 7th, 2017, the Foxton bloodline was restored to the throne. Two years ago to the day. We immediately got to work rebuilding and reorganizing, and our labor was not fruitless. The guild saw an activity spike that was unlike anything in the guild community at the time. At the height of Spring 2017, we would see upwards of 13 people online during the weekends. This may seem fairly normal, but you must understand that at the time the guild community was dead. There were no truly active guilds. Even the most active would still be average or mediocre by today’s standards. I had achieved my goal. The Kingdom had been restored, the council proved wrong, the guild made successful. 
        However, the activity slowly waned off, as is normal for a community guild that cannot sustain its activity in any meaningful ways such as warring. The growth came to a complete halt. The guild had died again. We remained in this manner for months, with no meaningful progress being made at reversing this misfortune. After some controversy, though very few yet remain that witnessed it firsthand, the guild experienced its greatest misfortune. Almost the entire gentry left the guild and formed a new one. They splintered off, and the remaining members that were even remotely active were almost all in Parliament, and at this time most in Parliament, including myself, did not care enough to actively work towards fixing the problem. However, I remained determined to see the guild succeed. Again, it was not for any truly noble goals, but merely to prove those who left wrong. This guild will always have others who do not believe in it, but what you must remember is that the only way to prove them wrong is through action. Do not argue with them, act in a manner that shows they are wrong. 
        It was at this point that I began to war. Nonstop, all the time. I quit other games that I greatly enjoyed just to dedicate more time to warring. I co-founded an alliance, Coalition. I continued warring even more, and eventually, others began to take notice. Members of the guild began warring alongside me, and players began applying to the guild after noticing its territories. The Kingdom recovered. The naysayers had once again been proven wrong. But there was still one great obstacle, perhaps the greatest up until this point that I had ever encountered. A massive war alliance, which owned Gavel contrary to our Coalition’s Wynn. We built up Coalition for two months, and on December 21st, 2017, we launched our attack. Coalition took the initiative, and we swept Gavel with a fury that the server had never before seen. By Christmas Day, the war was won. We emerged Victorious, with Fox and myself as the unofficial leaders of the alliance, at the top of the guild community for the first time in history. The Kingdom carved itself out a portion of Gavel, and it is there that we first grew accustomed to the success we still experience today. This peace, however, would only last another two months. Before long, guilds grew discontent with the alliance, and five left to make their own alliance, a behemoth composed of seven of the strongest guilds in the community at the time, leaving us with only the “weak” guilds of Coalition as our allies. Once again, we found ourselves on the brink of collapse, with those around us believing us weak and unworthy. And once again I felt it my duty to prove them wrong. 
        I am ever fond of the age-old adage “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” and thus with no permission from the Crown I immediately contacted our former enemies, the alliance we had conquered months before in December. They agreed to form a new alliance, one most of you are now familiar with: The Federation. The crowning glory of my service to this guild. Within three days, we reconquered the provinces. For the third and final significant time of my own doing, our critics had been proven wrong. This final time, the message was clear: “We will not be denied the respect we deserve.” This Kingdom has accomplished great things. It deserves respect. It will always have a future, and you must always be determined to prove our opponents wrong. The minute you believe this guild is a lost cause, the very second you stop working for its future, that is when it truly dies. Do not let it die. 
        For the rest of my active time spent as Viceroy, I dealt only with Federation and foreign guilds. Once Federation was established as the only dominant power in the game, it remained that way for nine months. However, there was one major side effect of this. The Queen, who had been fairly uninvolved with Wynn beforehand, became much more active after the betrayal of the Coalition guilds. Knowing her, I decided that in order to retain my authority over external affairs, I would have to give up my authority and influence on internal affairs. In the past, I had been the “leader” of Parliament, the one who kept it moving and made sure people were getting along. I slowly stopped doing all of this and almost all other duties I had done within the guild. As a result of this shift, I became increasingly less active within the Kingdom’s community.  
        Perhaps my sincerest regret is that I became so consumed with Federation and Coalition, with enemies and allies, with wars and politics, that I lost all connection to the guild itself. Regretfully, for the last year, I came to notice many experienced and active members of the guild that had never spoken to me or knew anything about me. If I could go back and change one thing about my years as Viceroy, it would be this. Losing touch with the community itself is what pained me the most during the final months I was truly active in Wynn, and I hope you all will forgive me for doing so. 
        For 2 years and 2 months, every single person that has joined this guild has known nothing except me as King or Viceroy. Only former members of the old Kingdom remember a time when I wasn’t leading by Ari’s side. Now, the torch is officially passed on to Goden. I for one can only say that I hope he not only meets but exceeds expectations. I hope he becomes the best Viceroy this guild has ever had, and that no others can match the success the Kingdom experiences under him. I have full confidence in him, as should you. He is a strong leader, a faithful ally, and a good friend. He will not disappoint. 
        I realize I sound overbearing about this point, but it is only because of how deeply I believe it to be true. Before letting you go, I will once again remind you to heed my words. Do not doubt the Kingdom, for that is the only way it can ever fail. With that, I take my official leave as Viceroy of this guild, and can only hope that my mistakes and flaws, though they are many, are not what is remembered about my service. I pray for the success of the Kingdom, the Crown, the Viceroy, and of the people. 


Thus, I style myself for the final time as:
His Excellency, 
Drew Holderson
Viceroy of the Foxes