Darkfall: Clan Interview with Crossbones

Clan Profile: http://df.warcry.com/compendium/guilds/detail_guilds.php?guilds=241

Could you tell us a little bit about the background of your guild and how you got started? Has your guild been established for a while in other games or will Darkfall be your first?

Crossbones was born in August 2001 when a visionary by the name of Zey Akii created a friendly guild full of rich lore and exciting back-story for Star Wars Galaxies. At our absolute pinnacle we enjoyed a large, close-knit player base of some 300 members, brimming with mature gamers from all walks of life. Since that time our numbers have dwindled, yet our members' steadfast loyalty to this community has never wavered. A few of the other games we have played over the years include City of Heroes, Everquest II and World of Warcraft.

Does the guild fit into a profile such as rp, pk, anti-pk, rpk etc?

We could probably best be described as a role-playing guild that enjoys PvP. A great deal of effort has gone into creating our lore, which (in our humble opinions of course ;) ) is the best around. Check it out for yourself at www.crossboneslegacy.com/lore.html to see what I mean! We have a thriving story-telling forum, with new character stories frequently being written. Despite our love for lore however, nothing quite beats the thrill of running your blade through another player.

Yet at its heart, Crossbones cannot be pigeon-holed into any one profile. We pride ourselves on being an open community for people who wish to participate in a fun society as a part of their MMO gaming experience.

Do you encourage crafting and or roleplaying?

Crafting will be absolutely essential in a game such as Darkfall, where open PVP and looting will leave soldiers without weapons or armor more often than not. As such, Crossbones will always be looking for persons dedicated to crafting, and encourages all its members to at least dabble somewhat in creating items or gathering materials.

Our guild does not require role-playing, but we certainly encourage it. There will be situations and circumstances in any game where it can be difficult, or inappropriate to role-play. In addition, some people just seem to lack the creative ability that role-playing requires. Regardless, having a well-developed character and role-playing to the best of your ability certainly adds whole new dimensions to MMO's!

If someone wishes to make a crafter, they're certainly welcome to though.

What race will Crossbones be, or will it be an ARAC clan?

At the moment Crossbones is a human and mirdain only guild. Why not dwarves? The reason is more pet peeves than anything game related. In World of Warcraft, we spent 6 months playing as an all-dwarf guild on Kalecgos named the "Royal Ironforge Brigade". Now we're simply sick of looking at the little buggers (too much hair!).

There are rumors however, that Dwarves will have a crafting bonus attribute in Darkfall. If this ends up being the case, you will find Dwarves being recruited into our community faster than you can say "Ymir"!

What kind of organization and structure do you use? How can your new members expect to interact with their leaders?

To our knowledge the organization of Crossbones is unique. Over the years it has changed many times, becoming better with each fine-tuning. For time's sake, I will explain our structure in the simplest possible way. For a much more detailed explanation of how Crossbones works, please visit www.crossboneslegacy.com/charter.html.

Crossbones is divided, for purposes of organization, into three companies or "Houses":

Romilda - Our military
Oriana - Our crafters
Savio - Our diplomats

Upon joining the guild, members generally choose to join a House based on the play style they will focus MOST on. This allows for us to "focus" our groups to achieve great things for the guild as a whole. Those who want to go out hunting will have a group waiting to do just that, while those who wish to stick around the city and craft will have a marketplace waiting to sell their wares.

Crossbones is led by the Caretakers of Iria. In common terms, this means that there are two persons who have the title of Guild Leader. At this time the two Caretakers are Prieste Dalarac, known as the Steward of Crossbones, and Vincent Zale, called the Grand Thane. These two are old friends who have been with the community since the beginning. This system allows for a much larger window when a leader will be on, providing leadership and direction for the guild.

Officers in Crossbones are known by the title of Thane. Thanes more or less manage the House to which they are assigned, helping out members, organizing groups and taking care of problems as they arise. There are no pre-defined limits as to the amount of officers, as will be explained later.

The Protectors of Iria are a special pre-officer rank designed both to weed out members who aren't serious and to give members not looking for great responsibility something to achieve in game. Their purpose is more recruitment-related than anything else, as they are allowed to sponsor new members.

This sets up a "chain system" of sorts with the idea being that any member has a person to go to with suggestions or concerns. Regular members can go to their Protector, or even their Thane. The Thanes in turn address what issues they can and send the rest to the Caretakers.

How large is your clan now? What size of member-base do you see yourself targeting? How large will your guild become?

Currently Crossbones is about 50 active members strong. Being relative newcomers to the game however, we seem to be flooded with new members almost daily.

Do you have any special requirements in joining or being a guild member? (amount of time playing/age/etc.)

Outside of the general rule of "play nice", we ask that our members post at least once a week on our forums, just to let us know that they are still alive. Our guild always has been and always will be about having a good time playing a game, not being "leet" in TheMercs or FPDoMS sense (i.e. 12 year old kids playing 18 hours a day and "owningz ur s0ulz")

Could you tell us about what your definition of a good leader is and what your leadership style is like?

A good leader is someone who can set a goal and get it accomplished. His confidence is unwavering and people can trust him to make the right decisions.

This is another area where having two leaders can really benefit the guild. Different people have different skills that when used in coordination can produce great things. Our current leaders' skills mesh quite well into a combination of vision and organization.

What type of player are you looking for, and what makes joining your clan different from a benefits perspective than joining any other clan?

We are open to almost anyone. In particular we look for honest people who strive to become friends with other members of our guild.

Upon joining, recruits of Crossbones can expect the following:

-A close knit group of friends with a great sense of community
-A mature, experienced group of gamers who are more than willing to help their fellow members
-Some great RP-driven lore that makes the game even more fun

In addition to the above, Crossbones features its unique Trial system, a well-thought-out process that gives every member an equal chance to work his or her way up to Thane. More information regarding this can be found on our Charter page.

How would one apply to your guild?

We make it pretty easy. In order to apply, simply go to our website at www.crossboneslegacy.com and visit the Skullboard. Click on the Application for Membership forum and follow the instructions given. (Direct link: http://crossboneslegacy.com/skullboard/viewforum.php?f=4&sid=d4148c573b0b08718af71b790f46c8e4)

Once you have posted your application, you will need to be /sponsored by a Protector or Thane, and then confirmed by a Caretaker. That's about as simple as it gets, folks :) )

Please make any additional comments you would like now:

There is one thing I would like to make clear before finishing up. While we certainly have a swashbuckling name, our community is not dedicated to piracy or privateering, although some members may engage in those activities.

When Zey Akii created Crossbones, he created a rich back-story of a fallen kingdom in the Star Wars universe. The remaining citizens of this once great sovereignty resorted to piracy to strike back at the Empire. And so we began, a neutral/rebel-based Player Association in Star Wars Galaxies. Since that time we have broadened our horizons, so that while we still keep a "naval" theme, we by no means require our members to be seafarers, or even be able to swim!

For more information on these and other common questions regarding our guild, please visit www.crossboneslegacy.com/FAQ.html.

I'd like to finish by giving a big thanks to our friends at Warcry for making this interview possible. We appreciate all that they do for the Darkfall community and hope that this interview only further strengthens it.

Thanks again for everyone's time, and long live Crossbones!