Join the Gaiscioch Family on Faeblight in a guided tour through Rift's lore. Learn all about the second season of the 22-week Telara Saga in our exclusive interview!

Today ZAM was fortunate to interview Benjamin "Foghladha" Foley, event host and leader of the Gaiscioch Family, about the upcoming season of the Telara Saga, a live-action introduction to the lore of Telara.

Foghladha told ZAM, "The Telara Saga is a community event where we tell a story through action; by living rather than reading. What we do is tell a story, and then put people into that story. There is no roleplay required, although it's completely welcome. This is more an event where people can learn about Telara and build lasting memories, as well as bringing the community together."

"What I want to do is show people there is a lot more to the game than raiding," Foghladha said. "If you're out there chasing gear, it's going to come to an end sometime.  There will always be that max each tier of best-in-slot.  And then there's nowhere to go. When you're out there chasing memories, the game never stops.”

Those who participated in Season 1 were introduced to the ascension of the Guardians, connecting why the Guardians were ascended to why the Defiants were sent back in time, and the war between Asha and Cyril. Players were escorted to various landmarks, and trekked the corners of Telara to seek why the Defiants and Guardians are really at war, and in whom their foe truly lies.

"You have the various factions, like the Abyssal and Aelfwar, who are actually battling each other. And you have the Endless Court who is actually calling the shots, making key assassinations to keep each other at war. Throughout season two, which we call 'Fall of the Dragon Cults,' we will be building up to this," Foghladha explained. "By studying each faction at a time, players will, through action, discover the history of these factions.  They will also learn why the Defiant and Guardian shouldn't be at war with each other but rather with the Dragon Cults as a whole, who have pitted brother against brother in their quest for domination."

Foghladha also answered some concerns that the Telara Saga was a Guardian-only, PvP-driven event: "Many people believe that this was only about roflstomping the Defiant.  And while there was certainly some of that, this was more about bringing people personally into the story of why the Guardians and Defiants are at war in the first place. To have them follow the breadcrumbs of what the Dragon Cults were leading them to do in a buildup to this season where we tell the story of why the Guardians and Defiant should band together against these common foe. The end goal is to bring both factions together and fighting side-by-side."

The second season, which starts September 6, is planned as a 22-week event taking place every Tuesday at 6 p.m. Pacific on Faeblight (PvE-RP shard). People need not be concerned about being left out because they don't have a leveled character on Faeblight. According to Foghladha, there is no minimum level requirement to participate, but characters should be fully out of the starting area of either faction. Those who enjoy a more personal interaction will also be able to participate through Ventrilo, a voice chat client.

Foghladha showed ZAM a progress meter for each cult which you can see at the Telara Saga site, which he calls a "health bar." Once each bar is full that cult is considered vanquished, and the event moves forward to the next chapter. Each chapter is planned to be three weeks long, and tells the complete story of a particular faction and its role in the battles of Telara. There are plans in the works to bring this event to live stream and to podcast.

Due to the success of the Telara Saga in Rift, which has had as many as 500 people active at the same time, Foghladha told ZAM that this concept will be brought to Guild Wars 2 upon its release while continuing the Saga in Rift as a perpetual event.

In closing we asked Foghladha, who has led community events across several games, his motivation behind starting the Telara Saga. "I enjoy community events," he said, "as much as some people like raiding, or like PvP, or like questing. I enjoy leading large community events, and showing people that it's more about community, and how communities change the game beyond what the developers envisioned. This is about having fun and making friends. If you're on my server, you're my friend and I'm going to take you with me."

Interview by Phil "Nepabrite" Grigalanz