a solo (kind of) journey into the guild hall system and it's challenges

So... i've been playing guild wars 2 a lot. a LOT. i've played this game religiously for several years, and have become well versed in a lot of areas, including the guild hall system. I even tried my hand at having a guild of my very own, and we made it to level 43 before my real life decided it was going to change all of that. after handing over the reigns to another experienced player, i walked away from my favorite game of all time to focus on treating my spinal cord the way it needed to be treated. but... after rehabilitation, relocation to wichita kansas, and recharging my batteries, i got back to my "home" and have been playing with a vengeance ever since. That itch... the one of having a guild, always stuck with me. Not so much the power, but the honor of having a community within a community. honestly, it felt good. however, through the years i have burned multiple bridges with other players, and well, aside from my daughter, who plays and has a guild of her own, there wasn't much of a chance i was going to be able to relive former glory. Instead, i decided to take on a challenge. I wanted a solo guild. not just a solo guild, but a guild hall of my very own.the trouble is... that is a daunting task. for starters, by definition a guild is a group of like minded individuals... like a team. and here i was, attempting something a team should be doing. nevertheless i persisted. i saved the gold, did a few solo bounties, got the explorer to run off to Tarir, and i strolled down there to see if i could pull it off. i asked my daughter to come along because of having to evict the existing tenants out of the hallow, and then asked for 3 more to come along. a 5-player team did nicely and quick work of the mission, i touched the crystal, and poof, my house was my house.okay... hard part was over, right? heheheheh NO.now comes the task of building the hall. upgrading the structures. adding a tavern, mine, arena, all of this. most of the mats are easy to obtain with just a bit of farming and crafting, but then comes the harder ones... such as the dreaded silverwastes shovel, or the celestial inscriptions and insignia, or even the ley line tools. these things are time gated, or are linked to event chains on maps, or require hours... hours and hours of playtime to obtain the smallest amount of ____. can it be frustrating to run the silverwastes for 4 hours and only yield 5 shovels? nope... because all the while i am having fun and getting loot and gold as well. and for those of you that think me foolish... it takes roughly about as much time to build a gh from scratch as it does crafting a legendary weapon and armor. and sure, it's nice to have that stuff card-farmed, but where's the fun in that?There are, however, some challenges that i will be facing along the way. these are the same challenges every guild faces, but with the addage that i'm doing it by myself for the most part.when it comes to getting favor, doing the easy missions save a few group-based ones is a cakewalk, but anything beyond that, yer going to have to rely on LFG or some nice neighbors that are willing to help. making the missions pve-based can help... but eventually you will have to venture into wvw or pvp to get the rewards that are needed for the upgrades. I will, no doubt, have to exhaust my personal inventory to fill the needs of the guild hall, but i have already anticipated that and have been prepping space on my alternates to get that handled. the scribing will in iteself take a while to max out, and it too takes a lot of gold and patience. the aetherium mine is paramount for all upgrades after the first batch, and that too takes time (and shovels) but do these things pose a challenge?seperately, no. if you take the time to focus on one area and complete it, you can change gears and go to another. but put them all together, and it will be like climbing mt. everest solo with no guide.the challenge is going to be daunting. but i know in time i can make this happen. and for anyone, anyone at all, that thinks this game isn't challenging... try this one time. i garuntee you, this will change your mind.see you in game! :)