Mursaat Rally

Many promotional posters and flyers were made in anticipation of the event, which received widespread attention.

The Rally for Mursaat Rights in Eye of the North, more commonly known as the Mursaat Rally was an in-game event that took place in the Maguuma Stade International Districts, starting on April 14th 2007 at 5PM GMT. It was organised by Quintus Antonius, then-leader of [BaR] and GWOnline Lore Forum moderator. Its purpose was to persuade ArenaNet to give the Mursaat a role in the upcoming expansion, Guild Wars Eye of the North. As it happens, ArenaNet did notice the event and their community relations manager, Gaile Gray, made an appearance with fireworks and a horde of Mursaat spellcasters in tow.

Promotion

Quintus Antonius (far left) talks with the attendees of the event.

Mursaat invaded the outpost's international districts.

The idea was originally presented to the community in GWO's Lore Forum, in a thread started by Quintus Antonius which has unfortunately since been lost in a forum rollback. In the thread, members discussed the then-upcoming event and jokingly submitted many Asura-bashing flyers with taglines such as "You cannot fight what you cannot see". Another thread was then posted in the Community Lounge displaying some of the posters and a basic outline of the event, where it received even more attention. The event ultimately proved to be a success, filling a total of four districts.

Activities

Quintus Antonius made two speeches throughout the event, as well as participating in rallying such as cries of support and cheering. The (loose) dress code was white and gold, and food and alcohol was given out, along with Litanies of the Unseen, Mursaat Tokens and White Mantle Badges.

At approximately quarter past six GMT, midway through Quintus' second speech, the Mursaat made their first ever appearance in the Maguuma Jungle. Although they have always been rumoured to have a city on the banks of the Ullen River (it was this fact, coupled with the proximity of Maguuma Stade to the Tarnished Coast that caused the rally to be held in this area), they had never been physically seen in the Jungle until that day. It is not known whether their appearance in the Maguuma Stade is to be considered canon.

The Mursaat then proceeded to kill everyone in the district, after which Gaile activated fireworks with her developer commands.

Impact

The event was successful in its objective, with many mentions of the Mursaat throughout Eye of the North, and one even shows up in a quest chain relating to them. It was also stated by Linsey Murdock that ArenaNet have some "really cool plans" for the Mursaat in Guild Wars 2. Eventually, the Mursaat indeed ended up playing a role in Guild Wars 2.

It is currently unknown whether the team at ANet had any intention of including the Mursaat in GW:EN or GW2 before the event.

Estimated schedule

• April 14th 2007, 5:00PM GMT Event officially begins.
• April 14th 2007, 5:07PM GMT Quintus' first speech
• April 14th 2007, 6:00PM GMT Gaile appears
• April 14th 2007, 6:10PM GMT Quintus' second speech
• April 14th 2007, 6:15PM GMT Mursaat invade
• April 14th 2007, 6:30PM GMT Fireworks activated

Gallery

• 

  Promotional poster, referencing the 15th century proverb "Children should be seen and not heard."

• 

  Fireworks

• 

  The Mursaat attacking the partygoers.

See also

• Mursaat Rally 2
• MantleCon 1079 AE
• MantleCon 1080 AE
• MantleCon 1081 AE
• Gaile Gray Talk Saturday April 14, 2007

External links

• Forum Rollback Causes Data Loss In Lore Forum - Archived thread from Guild Wars Unofficial Forums