WG vs Pink Patrons of Pain

Wilderness Guardians vs Pink Patrons of Pain
WG and PPoP in the heat of battle.
Date	9-10 April 2011
Type	F2P Knock-Out
Location	Annakarl
Clans Involved
Wilderness Guardians ~40 members	Pink Patrons of Pain >100 members
Terms of War
F2P Knock-Out Annakarl
Result
WG victory with all members remaining PPoP cleared

The Wilderness Guardians vs Pink Patrons of Pain (WG vs PPoP) was a war which took place on 9-10 April 2011. It was one of the first examples of a war between a player-made PvP clan and a Jagex-run community clan, and is a notable example of WG's prominent relationship with the producers of RuneScape. Despite WG being outnumbered more than 2 to 1, WG secured the victory without a single death.

Background

PPoP was a clan founded by Jagex moderator Mod Poppy on 9 March 2011, and all members of the RuneScape community were allowed to join simply by signing up on the clan's forum thread. At this point, WG was considerably well-known by Jagex, and were consistently being featured in various media on the studio's platforms. It was decided that for PPoP's first event, the two clans should war - though this was considered more of a promotional event for both sides rather than a serious battle for power.

On 5 April, a declaration of war in the form of a video was produced by His Lordship and released via the official RuneScape YouTube channel. It begins with a Flash-style alternate history of the RuneScape Wilderness, in which Mod Poppy is responsible for the land's destruction (rather than the God Wars, as depicted in official RuneScape lore). A real-life video of His Lordship follows, in which he outlines all of the details for the battle in a manner similar to his previous war preparation videos. The video has received over 55,000 views, and intentionally serves as a call-to-arms for players to join the PPoP, as well as promotional material for WG. Several other players made videos in response, accepting the challenge.

On 7 April, Jagex released additional propaganda in the form of a series of photograps via their Facebook page, in which General Scorpion of the PPoP angrily destroys a WG Pen.

The Battle

The war took place at midnight GMT between 9 and 10 April 2011, at Annakarl on world 20. WG massed around 40 members, while PPoP had over 100. Despite the difference in numbers, WG players were high-levelled, equipped with voice communication software, and highly experienced in multi PvP combat. In comparison, the enemy community clan had a vast range of levels, minimal PvP experience, and were limited to coordination via the in-game clan chat. The battle lasted well over half an hour, but in that time PPoP did not appear to kill a single WG member, while WG rapidly racked up kills until almost all of the PPoP had been cleared from the battlefield.

Aftermath

Both clans were extremely respectful, and following the fight WG met with PPoP in the Falador Party Room where a large drop party was hosted for all players involved. On 16 April, a final Facebook post was made by Mod Poppy with a tongue-in-cheek congratulations to WG on their victory. At least two videos of the event was produced by WG members, but they have since been removed from YouTube and appear to have been lost to history, though brief excerpts have since been used in historical and promotional videos for the clan.

Trivia

• The short clips in the declaration video which depict Mod Poppy forming the PPoP were recorded at an in-game clan leader meeting, at which both His Lordship and Vio were present.
• At the end of the declaration video, His Lordship suggests that Mod Poppy will be spending a lot of time in Lumbridge, and concludes with "...while you're there, don't get any ideas. I've already warned the unicorns." as a reference to his depiction of her killing all of the white unicorns in the Wilderness. However, in the game there are no unicorns in Lumbridge, and subsequently referencing unicorns during fights became somewhat of an in-joke for WG members.