In whatever he chose to play, Roger Rall was a keystone member of his guild, the consummate teammate. As much as reveled in PvP in Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot or Rift, his voice was unmistakably calm, clear and authoritative above the din of the battle. He went by “Oldroar,” and, at 65, he was unquestionably a mentor of the Gaiscioch MMO community.
Last spring, when he stopped appearing online, with no notice or reason, his guildmates went looking for him. Knowing his age, they probably expected the worst. Reaching his wife, they found it. Oldroar died suddenly but peacefully in his Colorado home on September 27, 2011. The news rippled through Gaiscioch’s community, many of whom felt a profound loss at the death of a man they had never met in person.
Rall was most excited for the coming release of Guild Wars 2, and was influential in convincing Gaiscioch to open a branch within the game. “More than anything, he was looking forward to playing Guild Wars 2 and to seeing our super-diverse family grow and thrive there,” wrote Gaiscioch member Moxie, in this tribute.
Oldroar’s guildmates offered many tributes and then began a drive to memorialize him in Guild Wars 2. A letter-writing campaign on his behalf succeeded, and ArenaNet, the game’s maker, has named one of the game’s US servers “The Sanctum of Rall.”
“I admit that I cried tears of happiness over this,” Moxie said.
The game launches on August 28. Gaiscioch will be hosting a memorial to Oldroar, on the server named for him, on August 29. “We will do our best to make Sanctum of Rall an amazing home for all playstyles and all players that roll there,” Moxie wrote, “just as Oldroar would have wanted.”
My GW2 Home: Sanctum of Rall [Wild Boar Inn. With thanks to CallistoEx]
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