Riot has a long but fragile history. Born in 2003 as a Linkshell in Final Fantasy XI on the Asura server, it was meant to provide both a resource for experienced players in search of party members to level up with and a safe-haven for new players seeking to learn the ropes. For over a year the Linkshell facilitated a friendly environment for casual players and also saw considerable success in Ballista as it was introduced to the game.

When World of Warcraft was released, a new chapter of Riot was founded on the Gorgonnash server. This hurt the Linkshell tremendously, as much of its leadership was lost. Quickly, Riot began to lose prominence in Asura, and the guild on WoW was off to a rocky start. Some of the core members of Riot lost interest in the guild's casual and newbie-friendly play style, and left in search of hardcore raiding guilds. The remaining members of Riot maintained its traditional values over the course of the next 3 years, seeing various levels of emphasis on raiding, socializing, or PVP, while varying drastically in both size and influence. In its last days on World of Warcraft, Riot had become a small but respectable PVP guild, seeing great success in both Battlegrounds and Arena.

Since then, Riot has been a fleeting presence in many games, including Guild Wars, City of Heroes, Lord of the Rings: Online, and Hellgate: London. Riot has been trying to discover and enjoy the next great game, and these games just weren't it. But Age of Conan is, and Riot's excitement and determination to succeed will bring it to the forefront of the founding members of the game. Maintained by a small group of close friends who bring years of experience to the table while holding on to the values they've championed since the guild's founding, Riot will be both a great environment for new players and a force to be reckoned with.