@CasDha,
Thanks for sharing your insightful anecdotes about being "shanghaied", as it were, by the ESO Closed Beta, and subsequently the Psijiic Order and the even smaller group of PO Closed Beta Testers. Awesome -- almost unbelievably true story.
My introduction to ESO -- and the Closed Beta -- has many similarities. My interest in Role Playing games goes back to pencil and paper with Gary Gygax's Second Edition Manuals for Advanced Dungeons and Dragons (AD&D). Given a vivid imagination, fun role-playing in one form or another since elementary school days, I was hooked on RPGs and even became an AD&D Dungeon Master.
I continued RPG gaming moving to text based Adventure and dungeon crawl games on the Apple II Plus, then CP/M 8088 microcomputers, and finally the PC. I favored solo play, avoiding even early MUDs and MMORPGs, except for a few turn-based group games on CompuServe and BBS's. These were like post-card Chess games, waiting for the next text message for the countermove.
Because of this interest in RPGs I bought The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion when it first came out. Oblivion was addicting, with outstanding graphics for the time, a great story line (IMO), open world exploration, and enough of a "Rule Book" to keep it organized and playable, without being overly complicated. The Quests were believable, and the immersive environment invested me in my character.
My Oblivion collection expanded. I eventually purchased all of the DLC, creating the equivalent what became the Gold Edition. I was delighted when Oblivion won Game of the Year. I played Oblivion for two years, until my Windows XP PC died. Oblivion was not happy with the Windows Vista that came on my new PC.
I had to play other games until shortly after 11-11-11 when The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was released. Here I found a worthy successor to Oblivion. If Skyrim had a fault it was only that it was more "addictive" than Oblivion. Most of my spare gaming time was spent in Skyrim's Tamriel. Eventually I purchased all the DLC for Skyrim when the bundle became available on a Steam sale. It was my Santa present to myself.
This brings me to last year's E-3 and various hints that had emerged earlier about a forthcoming Elder Scrolls title. I eagerly pounced on any tidbits gleaned from the web. One part of me was extremely excited -- the Elder Scrolls aficionado. Another part of me was cautious -- the limited budget, can I afford this, will it be worth it? pragmatist. The third part of me was dismayed when the MMORPG/MMO features were revealed.
My limited experience with newer multi-player games were disappointing. There seemed to be too many hard core, immature "gamers" and self-proclaimed "L33ts" waiting to pounce on n00bs to decimate them. MMOs seemed to stress assigned roles (Tanks? DPS? etc.), and reeked of elitism, generally seeming unfriendly or at the least unwelcoming, at least to me.
I knew some who folks loved the MMO genre, but solo play, especially Elder Scrolls, was a much more comfortable fit for me.
When I saw a chance to apply for the Elder Scrolls Online Closed Beta, I did not hesitate. I'd had great experiences as a Beta Tester, whether for operating systems, business applications, utilities, or games. I admit I spent probably three days going over the "application" for the ESO Closed Beta.
This was late June or early July, 2013. My app stressed my experience as a beta tester, IT Pro, long-time gamer, RPG enthusiast, aversion to MMO elitism, and to being an aficionado of the Elder Scrolls. It was difficult to tell from the structure of the application what the developers were looking for in Beta Test candidates.
Clicking Submit on the Application, the ESO Closed Beta moved to the back of my mind. To my surprise, in a couple of weeks I got a secondary questionnaire. To this day I don't recall what additional information they asked for, but do remember there was no reference to my responses in my initial application. I sent off the supplement and waited.
Most of July not a word from ZOS. Late July an e-mail came with the Non-Disclosure Agreement, which I digitally signed. Early August came the e-mail with my Closed Beta Key, and a link to download the ESO Beta Client. I was told to watch for an Invitation to a Beta Test Event.
My first test Invite and in-game Event was mid-August, followed by several brief Stress Tests, some for a few hours, one for an entire weekend. Whenever the ESO Beta Forums were open, I spent time there, reading Patch Notes, getting tips, and participating in my Aedra Test Group Forum.
In one of the general discussion topics on the ESO Beta Forums I found a group of like-minded people in a discussion thread later deemed the Greybeards. The folks active in these discussions were mainly other mature-minded gamers who also appreciated the social aspects of Guilds. (ESO had mentioned a Guilds feature was forthcoming, but they were not yet implemented except for the NPC Guilds.) Several Guilds were later formed by various folks from the Greybeards discussion.
Even in early Closed Beta, ESO was even more rewarding and "addictive" than either Oblivion or Skyrim. Much time was spent keeping an eagle-eye on the Inbox for the next Beta Test Invite from ZOS. Late August several "on-site" Guilds were formed that had permission to be on-line when the ESO Beta Forums were closed, under the strict proviso that the NDA covered all content and discussion posted in a "private" Guild.
It was at this point, late August, 2013, that The Elder Sages Guild was created on our original Guild Portal web site. I don't recall exactly who I contacted for an Invitation when I first heard of TESG. Suffice it to say my Membership Application was submitted and accepted. I became a Sage and Champion of Zenithar in TESG.
TESG had familiar names and friends from the ESO Beta Forums, was open to any style of game play, warm and welcoming, and like-minded. I especially liked the emerging Motto: 'Play how you want, whenever you want, any time you want'.
A great bonus was the GP TESG site was open 24/7, a great place to hang out. We could freely discuss the ESO Beta under the protection of our mutual agreement to the ZOS NDA. Furthermore, TESG participation was not limited to Beta Test Sessions only. The Guild minimized and ameliorated ESO withdrawal during Beta.
My free time was often spent on the TESG Forums when not busy with "real life", family, or ESO Closed Beta sessions. This led to a promotion to Elder Sage. Eventually an expansion of the Leadership roles for The Elder Sages Guild came with an invitation to become a co-Master Sage, which I humbly accepted.
TL:dr version: Vivid imagination led to creating childhood role-playing with friends. As a young adult, AD&D filled the role-playing recreation as a casual Dungeon Master. With the introduction of personal computing, my RPG fun moved with the technology: Apple II Plus, CP/M, DOS, and various version of Windows. Discovered Oblivion, then Skyrim, then the ESO Closed Beta which led to joining TESG. Now: Casual play in ESO on the NA, EU, and PTS servers and as much time as I have available invested here in TESG.
This was supposed to be an anecdote, but turned into my RPG gaming saga. Hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy ESO and The Elder Sages Guild!
See you here and in Tamriel. Remember, Have Fun!!