I love these nostalgia threads.
Partly, because I didn't have the foresight to hold on to the thousands of screenshots I took during my 'career.' but I wish I had kept in contact with more of the people I played with. So, I'm left with just a fading memory and all of your posts bring back so much of how I spent a significant chunk of my late teens/early 20s.
I honestly don't remember how I broke in to the uber-guild scene, but I do remember the brutal 12-16 hour days that were required to be competitive at the end-game. There's not a chance in hell I could tolerate (or want) that kind of experience today.
While in Township Rebellion, I fondly remember racing FoH pull for pull for the world-first kill of Fennin Ro in Plane of Fire. We narrowly squeaked it out, but no one wanted to give us credit for anything we did because we were on the premium server and "we had GMs in our pockets." It was bullshit, but it always irked me.
Also, having had the opportunity to go to the first EQ uber-guild Summit was an experience that I will always treasure. Seeing the studio (specifically while the first set of Epic weapons were being realized), meeting the developers and so many of the top-tier players from all the bleeding-edge guilds was magical. Though, to be fair, some of you mofos are weird as fuck.
Attending the summit gave me a gift I could never have dreamed of; the role of Rogue Class Correspondent. I know some of you roll your eyes at the whole correspondent thing, but it was a MASSIVE honor for me to be chosen as the representative for my class and I'm legitimately proud that there were actually some meaningful improvements made to the rogue class as a result.
After TR, I went on to spend some time in Hoss and Afterlife (when they were in steep decline) before I quit entirely to play EQ2. Disappointed with EQ2, I started my own 'uber-guild' in WoW and we did very well (several server firsts) for a couple years before the load of leading a guild became too much for me. Neat little factoid - Araxen was in my WoW guild as one of my main tanks. Arguably, the best one we had, but I didn't realize until years later, after we had both moved on, that he was a member of FoH. I don't think he knew I was a member either.