Highlighted Guild
- Divided Allegiance – Sith Empire Guild
This week’s Guild Checkpoint is here, and we get to talk to Recon and Nytran, from Divided Allegiance, about their guild. Let’s check out their recruitment video before we get into our guild Q&A.
More about Divided Allegiance after the Jump…
- Guild Q&A
From some of the information about your guild, you started around 1998 can you elaborate brought the guild together and some of the other games Divided Allegiance has played or is playing?
Recon: We made the guild as we got tired of the elitist type guilds that we came across in Asheron’s Call and the lack of leadership we saw, I have always been the leadership type not so much a follower, I enjoy helping people and teaching others anything I can, whether it’s in game or RL. We started in Asheron’s Call, then Star Wars Galaxies, and then to World of Warcraft, later on we had different games we played, some we stayed for a bit some lasted longer than others, from City of Heroes, to Xsyon, Fallen Earth, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, Earthrise…
We do play some Xbox games together like Call of Duty and such as well.
Who are your guild leaders? Do they change depending on the game? Is there a ranking system, for members to level up or move up the ladder towards some guild leadership?
Recon: I’m the leader of DA, also known as Darkcrystal, Battleheart is the co-leader and has been for 7years. We had a few others but they are retired from gaming. We do have different leaders for different games, like Shaggy, for example, is the leader for our Xsyon Division, I always lead at least one game, I also stay active in every game we play in case the leader of that Division needs my help, Battleheart has lead some Divisions as well, for many years though we mainly played one game at a time, we moved on to become a gaming community since more games were coming out and many caught our interest.
Nytran: As for the ranking system, usually when we open a division for a new game we gather as much info as we can, many of our members often participate in various stages of beta testing, then we decide what kind of ranking system we need for said game and allow people the opportunity to apply into various positions, usually we pick the people with the most experience for that position and/or members that show a lot of initiative and interest in helping the guild.
How did the guild come up with the name Divided Allegiance? Is that for all games or was it created for Star Wars: The Old Republic?
Recon: Well mostly we used to use different names for each game we played, and never really had a set name; we did that so the guild name would fit the game’s theme.
In Asheron’s Call we were Dark’s avengers, star wars galaxies we were Dark’s Avengers, Age of Conan we were the Knights of the Black Rose, World of Warcraft we were Blood Rage, fallen earth Blood Rage, Earthrise and Xsyon, Divided allegiance, so we decided to stay with the latter instead of changing it to fit the game, we wanted one name that would fit every game more or less, without changing, so people would remember the guild and say, “HEY! I know them!”
What type of server does Divided Allegiance plan to be located on, PVE or PVP?
Nytran: We plan to play on a PVP Server. We are an international guild, we have people in both North America and Europe, and so if there is a choice in physical location we will pick an East Coast server. It’s the location for both NA and EU to get the best connection they can on the same server.
Since DA is an International Guild, how are the “Red Zone” areas impacting guild mates living in those areas? How do you plan to handle the issue within Divided Allegiance?
Nytran: Currently none of our members is having a problem pre-ordering the game, but I was talking with Recon about this just a couple days ago, he mentioned that if any member had issues pre-ordering he could do it for them in the US and then eventually ship the box to their address with the added shipping fees.
Pretty sure that no matter which server, DA plans to be involved in PVP. You clearly state rules about helping players in need and also about staying away from taking out the new/low level players. How does the guild handle this or enforce this? Now on the fun side of PVP, what area or type of PVP is Divided Allegiance most excited about in SWTOR?
Nytran: From what was said by the developers the Origin worlds will be out of reach for the opposing faction so that limits the usual lowbie ganking, good move by Bioware in my opinion. Usually our guild doesn’t attract that type of players but if we do find out one of our members is ganking lowbies he will be asked to stop or leave the guild, we enjoy PVP but there is no challenge in ganking low level players, it hurts the image of the guild and often leads to new players leaving the server and starting somewhere else.
In previous games our guild has been very active in all types of PVP, were looking forward to doing the same in TOR, personally I’m very curious to experience the Open World PVP system, it’s a great place where we can work together with our allied guilds, which is definitely something everyone in DA is looking forward to.
In the information I gathered, I found a reference to the guild being considered “Chaotic Good.” Can you please let us all know what “Chaotic Good” is and how DA plans to use it in SWTOR?
Nytran: “Chaotic” because we’re going to be aiding the Empire and the Dark Side of the Force but at the same time “Good” because our guild’s core values remain intact, we enjoy helping new players and working together with other guilds, we will remain the same laid-back group of people that enjoy having a great time while playing and sharing that with others. We will not condone lowbie ganking, scamming or any type of dishonorable acts.
In the guild’s information posted and located on your website, DA is called a laid back guild and a community environment, but what are a few rules or practices you do not tolerate?
Nytran: It’s really simple, we expect our members to respect each other and really anyone in general, we have always shown ourselves as a respectful guild and people know us as such, we will not tolerate any member who does not follow that standard.
We also expect every member in the guild to always act in the interest of the group, to help the guild whenever needed and to participate in guild events, whether it is raiding, PVP or any other type of event.
I like the fact DA has some really defined rules, but also the guild understands a fellow player’s real life. What are some ways, the guild makes room for casual players that happen to have other commitments that keep them from some of the guild events?
Nytran: Casual players are expected to participate in at least one guild event every week, if for some reason a player is busy all week and can’t make it we totally understand, real life comes first.
Any period longer than a week and an “away notification” will be required, so the leadership is aware of the reason and time period the member is away for, this applies to any member really.
The guild seems to foster a family attitude and even talks about long term friendships and having them enhance the online gaming experience. Is this just online or do guild members get together for offline events? What are ways outside of the game environment that DA helps enhance the friendships and experience?
Recon: Well a few members know my home phone, when I first got ill, I had members sending me flowers and such, which was very nice of them, we talk on the phone, or on Teamspeak, I have met a few members out of state and hung out with some of them, I had a few local guys that I hung out with as well. So we are always looking for people with the same interest or similar interest, as friendship in life is important and when gaming with people you spend many hours with them so why not get to know them on a personal level.
Nytran: Due to the fact that our guild has people on both sides of the Atlantic it would be very difficult to get everyone together in one place, but we hope to have a SWTOR themed BBQ in the future hehe.
Besides rules, DA has written out goals for the guild. In there you talk about, “the guild will level together, get to know members and have fun.” It is a very group and community mentality, and guild leveling together looks to be a beneficial. Can you better explain this for our readers? Does this mean the guild will wait for those who have not leveled as fast?
Recon: Well we will not wait for others, but we love to play ALTS, so basically what we do is make an ALT and level with those players who can only play part time, and/or set them up with members that may be at the same level range to keep them together, we also have other guilds were allied to, many are smaller guilds, so we help and build relationships with them. We like to help less experienced players, newbies etc. This has been something we have always done since Asheron’s Call. We like to build a good relationship with the community.
Your guild also addresses the solo player. This might seem to go against what some might think of when getting into a guild. How does DA handle solo playing members and how do are those players able to still feel welcome in the guild events?
Nytran: Solo Players in our guild are usually, family or friends of other members, sometimes they have less time to play or simply enjoy soloing while still being able to chat and interact with the people they know, they are kept at our lowest member rank and are not considered for guild events. A Solo player can chose to become a full member at anytime but he will be expected to play the game as any other member and participate in guild events.
Divided Allegiance looks to be a guild for almost any MMO gamers’ play-style. What does DA offer for the hardcore player? How does the guild find the balance with hardcore play-style and the idea of guild leveling?
Nytran: Our plan is to have a core group of hardcore players which will work closely together for all types of content. This way it allows our hardcore players to enjoy the game at their own pace, they won’t be dependent on the casual members to progress through the game, and instead casuals will work with each other at a slower pace.
We want to give both types of players the ability to play the game with other people of the same mindset and timeframe, while keeping everyone together in the same guild.
You all have a nice laid out plan for operations, and you also talk about how to help the new or casual player get ready and also in the Operation. Can you explain how your guild helps with gear, preparations and also the operation itself, when it comes to the newer/casual player?
Recon: We will craft and make sure they have better gear and help them along the way, any gear we find that would help them we always give away for free as we do not charge our members for such items, we have a strong group mindset.
Nytran: Also, we have multiple people in our higher ranks that will be helping new players closely, in regard to operations one of the Raid leaders will take the time to explain to our newer members how it all works.
For those truly interested in finding a Sith Empire guild, why should they give Divided Allegiance consideration for submitting an application? If so, what steps do those people seeking Divided Allegiance need to take to join?
Nytran: Reading this article top to bottom will give anyone interested in joining a clear idea of who we are and what we are looking for, if you reached all the way down here and enjoyed what you read then we are likely the guild for you.
To join DA, you will need to go to our forums at http://divided-allegiance.com/forums, register, and then go to the Recruitment sub-forum of the SWTOR section. There you will find a thread named “Applications” read it and create a new thread with the answers to the application form. We will then review your application.
Thanks to Recon and Nytran for their time and for introducing us to their guild, Divided Allegiance. If you are into a tight knit group and a guild that accommodates for several different styles of play from hardcore, to casual, and even the solo player, I would say check out their website; it might just be the guild for you.
That’s it for this week’s Guild Checkpoint, if you are a guild looking to be highlighted on Corellian Run Radio, drop me an email at jason@corellianrun.com, or leave a post in our forums at CRR.
Nice post the are correct in everything they said that is why I am apart of this guild and plan on for a long time.
Very nice! Thanks Jason
@beco Thanks for the kind words. Glad to hear you are planning to be with DA for a long time.
@Recon Thanks again for your time and great answers. I do hope DA stays in touch with us here. I’m sure your adventures in SWTOR with be a blast!
You all have a great guild and just my pleasure to have you all in Guild Checkpoint on Corellian Run Radio!