His Lordship
| His Lordship | |
|---|---|
 His Lordship's forum profile picture | |
| Founder | |
| 2017 | |
| WG | |
| Joined | 6 December 2003 |
| Status | Active |
| Ranks Held | Leader (6 Dec 2003 - 2017) |
| RuneScape | |
| Started playing | July 2003 |
| Status | Active (Old School RuneScape) |
| Display name(s) | His Lordship |
| Other clans | None |
| Real Life | |
| Real Name | Eugene (Gene) Marshall |
| Born | 14 January 1988 |
| Nationality | Australian |
His Lordship is a RuneScape player and Founder of the Wilderness Guardians, in which he served as Leader from 2003 to 2017 - making him the longest-serving clan leader in RuneScape. He is also well-known in the wider RuneScape community, in particular for being vocal about PvP-related issues to Jagex. He had produced several popular RuneScape-related videos, has around 7,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, and was a RuneFest Golden Gnome finalist. His Lordship fell into inactivity around 2014 and had retired from RuneScape completely by 2017, but has made occasional reappearances in later years. He was succeeded as the Leader of WG by Brent147, and later Mojo.
Contents
History
RuneScape Classic (2003)
His Lordship was introduced to RuneScape by his brother Lord Xin around July of 2003. When creating his account, he wanted the display name "My Lord" so that other players would address him as such - but this name was taken, and Lord Xin suggested "His Lordship" as an alternative. His Lordship has since expressed regret for the choice - he was not expecting to become a clan leader at the time. Nonetheless, for the vast majority of his RuneScape career he served as the leader of WG.
In December 2003, His Lordship was PKed while collecting runes at the Dark Warriors' Fortress, resulting him developing an anti-PKing stance. He posted an anti-PKing topic titled "Read This If You Hate PKers" on the Rune Village fansite, and founded the Wilderness Guardians (originally known as the "PK PKs") as an anti-PKing clan on 6 December 2003. The clan was an instant success - with around 30 members joining within the first two days, and receiving support from other established clans such as The Sabres.[1]
RuneScape 2 (2004 - 2007)
WG grew steadily under His Lordship's leadership throughout 2004 and 2005, mainly due to their unique and innovative approach to PvP. WG was the first clan to make use of the Ancient Magicks spellbook in a war in July of 2005, which His Lordship considered to be one of the most enjoyable fights of his career. His Lordship also produced a large amount of media for the clan, including several war preparation videos, short animated movies, and a Flash website which received widespread acclaim within the wider clan community. By 2006 WG had become one of the top 5 P2P PvP clans in RuneScape.
Despite their success, His Lordship and the clan had their fair share of issues during the early years. The clan saw several exodi (breakaway clans) - such as The Synergy in 2004 and The Revolution in 2005 - both of which were founded by members who were unhappy with WG and the leadership. A backstabbing incident in August of 2005 led to His Lordship recording an aggressive rant over TeamSpeak to be played to the members responsible - the recording was made public and became one of WG's most infamous pieces of media. His Lordship also stepped down from leadership for several months in 2006, and the replacement leadership took the clan in a vastly different direction to what His Lordship had originally envisioned for WG. The resulting tension between the leadership culminated in His Lordship closing the clan for a few hours in December of 2006 (D-Day) - the only time WG has ceased operations in its history, and subsequently resulting in a loss of over 100 members.
His Lordship returned to leadership and attempted to rebuild the clan throughout 2007 in the aftermath of D-Day. Though WG would never reach the same level of in-game success, they gradually returned to stability through new media such as recruitment videos presented by His Lordship using chroma key compositing, and his third and most popular animated Flash movie in 2007. However, progress was stunted by the updates to PvP and free trade in December 2007 - His Lordship strongly opposed the changes and was instrumental in the protests against them.
RuneScape HD (2008 - 2012)
In 2008 WG took a more community-based approach and began hosting real life meetings, the first of which (London 2008) was centred around His Lordship's holiday to Europe in January. More than ten subsequent real life meetings have been held around the world since, including several at the Jagex-organised RuneFest events. His Lordship also began manufacturing real-world merchandise, including WG-branded T-shirts in 2008 and pens in 2010. WG and His Lordship also established a positive relationship with Jagex around 2010 - the leader and the clan were featured in multiple news posts, interviews and galleries over the next few years.
From 2010 onward His Lordship also produced several animations and an original RSMV as entries for various RuneScape media competitions, one of which came runner up in the 2010 Golden Gnome Awards. In 2012, in an attempt to revive the diminishing PvP aspect of the game, His Lordship collaborated with Vio to produce his first documentary, The Wilderness - An Unauthorised Biography. The video received critical acclaim from the wider RuneScape community, and is considered one of the most influential works related to the game.
Old School RuneScape (2013 - 2017)
His Lordship continued to lead the clan with the release of RuneScape 3 and Old-School RuneScape in 2013, though both he and the clan maintained a balance of activity in both games. He also attended several subsequent RuneFests up until 2016 - in 2013, he put together a Rune armour cosplay with Vio and came runner up for a Golden Gnome for the second time. His Lordship continued to produce in-depth videos and documentaries critical of or suggesting changes to RuneScape 3 and Old-School RuneScape, primarily focusing on the PvP aspect of the games. His views received considerable support, and his YouTube channel continued to grow as a result from 2013 to 2016.
Despite WG's success, His Lordship's activity and interest in the game began to decrease over the years, and on 4 May 2014 he stepped down from leadership of WG and was succeeded by Brent147. At the time, he had led the clan actively for around ten years and is considered the longest-serving leader of any RuneScape clan. His activity in regards to RuneScape came to a definitive end in late 2017.
Later Years
His Lordship continues to hold the rank of Founder in WG, and has made brief appearances since. In 2019, His Lordship provided narration for a video made by Vio for WG's fifteenth birthday, which covered most of the clan's history. In 2020, largely as a result of the Corona virus pandemic, His Lordship returned to activity - resuming production of RuneScape-related videos such as his RuneScape Recipes series, as well as Across the Ditch - a series of podcasts with Vio about various aspects of WG's history. In 2023, he made a video wishing the clan a happy 20th birthday.
Real Life
In real life, His Lordship's name is Eugene (Gene) Marshall, and he is an Australian of Asian ancestry. He was born on 14 January 1988 in Malaysia, and grew up in Perth, Australia. He is a graduate of the Royal College of Music, and as of 2025 he resides in Perth. Professionally he is a musician and teacher, and his interests include adventure travel, working out, live-action roleplay (LARP), gaming, and politics.
Trivia
- His Lordship's RuneScape account has recieved four permanent bans throughout history - all of which were successfully appealed.
- His Lordship was ranked in the top 10 players for the Construction skill for around a week following its release in 2006, as a result of building the Clan House.
- His Lordship briefly resigned from WG on 25 June 2008 following an issue with a trial member, and applied for membership with the clan The British Elites. TBE officials stated that he did not complete their trial stage, and he returned to WG shortly after.
- His Lordship briefly changed his real name to "Elias Sinclair Marshall" in 2008, but reverted to Eugene after backlash from his family.
- His Lordship has a tattoo of WG's initials on his back, which he aquired at a 2013 real life meeting while drunk.
- His Lordship was invited to visit Jagex's office on two occasions in April and May of 2014.
References
- ↑ Wildguard History, Wilderness Guardians. Archived from the original on 11 October 2004, retrieved 17 March 2025.
