GoTM July 09: Hands of Darkness
You feel the power of the Dark Side pumping through your veines? If so, you should definitely take a look at our Guild of the Month for July since everyone is supposed to tremble with fear when you see the Hands of Darkness.We got curious as we visited their website and noticed its astonishing quality. As we read on we were impressed by their concept and the interesting possibilities to receive titles and ranks as a member. We sat down with Darth Derriphan, Darth Thantos and Darth Viscus to discuss everything one needs to know about their community:
DarthDerriphan: Hello there! I've managed to get a couple of others along, too.
Amonbell: Awesome, hey everyone
DarthDerriphan: I like the site by the way, though navigating it - not known any German - is interesting
Darth Thantos: You can change the language, top right
DarthDerriphan: Think the height of my German is Guten Tag.
DarthDerriphan: Which is appalling as I spent a lot of my childhood living there
Amonbell: Oh really? Cool
Darth Thantos: The site is fantastic, very well done.
Amonbell: Thanks, you make us blush
Amrac: Ok, so if you're ready to start, please give us first of all a short introduction of yourselves. Who are you and what are you doing (in RL and online)?
DarthDerriphan: My real name is Tom, I’m currently 26 years of age, and when I’m not parading around as Darth Derriphan, Co-leader of the hands of Darkness, and a Dark Lord of the Sith in Star Wars RP I work as a Civil Servant for her majesties government. I’ve been a huge fan of Star Wars now from as long as I can remember, some of my earliest moments being playing with Star Wars figures in a neighbors garden where I would always choose to be a officer of the Imperial Navy (Who can resist piloting a At-At!). So Star Wars is something I’ve grown up with and continue to love (much to the chagrin of my Girlfriend) having read the vast majority of the books, and Comics.
DarthDerriphan: I’m an avid Star Wars RPer, having taken my first steps into it back in SWG, it was here I found myself leading various guilds, all known for their high quality of Rp and dedication to the Canon of Star Wars.
Darth Viscus: Dark Greetings! I'm Viscus, one of the 'Council' in the Hands of Darkness. When I am not playing my sadistic evil Sith Lord character I work in QA and travel around a lot! I'm actually going off to India in just over a week! Joining the SW:TOR community was a definite thing I had to do because I am such a fan of the KOTOR games, and the Guild had to be Sith based. Gotta love the eccentric bad guys! Hands of Darkness showed such promise so I joined, helped shape it and eventually became one of the leaders helping out Derriphan and Mynock!
Darth Thantos: Dark Evening. I'm Daniel, the man behind Darth Thantos also known as the 'Lord of Shadows'. My rank with the guild is Grand Master and I occupy 1 of 6 positions on our guilds 'Shadow Council'. Originally I am from New York, but moved just prior to the announcement of The Old Republic to Sweden. I have been with the Hands of Darkness for most of its existence and have seen it grow... rather quickly to what it is today. My main areas of focus besides daily guild management are maintaining the guild website, forums, and my current guild wiki project.
Amonbell: Have a good time in India, Viscus. Sounds really interesting!
Amonbell: Ok, off to the next question. Would you please describe your guild in about two or three sentences?
DarthDerriphan: In Character we are a Secret Cabal of Sith Dedicated to the Dark Side of the force, Out of Character the Hands of Darkness are a friendly mature European role-play guild that takes itself seriously but are also looking to have fun in the Star Wars universe created by George Lucas.
Amrac: Alright, so why have you chosen to create a guild on the side of the Sith?
DarthDerriphan: The Sith have always been a Side of Star Wars that has fascinated me, from the early days when all we knew of them was that Darth Vader was their Dark Lord up till the Phantom Menace novel where we learn of Darth Bane. So I’ve always been drawn to the Dark Side of the force. I'm a big lover of ancient horrors and forbidden secrets and who best represents that in Star Wars than the ancient Sith lords? This love coupled with my previous love of the Empire made choosing the Sith Empire faction the obvious.
Darth Viscus: Plus we are just so good at playing the bad guys
Amrac: But your guild is open to all imperial players, right? Or do you only accept Siths in your ranks?
Darth Viscus: We are indeed open to all Empire sided classes! We would never want to limit players’ choice by restricting them to force sensitive characters only. You may or may not have seen that we have quite a diverse and organized ranking system implemented, this is so both Force Sensitive and Non Force Sensitive characters can benefit from being a member of the Hands of Darkness. What would an evil organization be without an Army of troops, Ships and some Bounty Hunters to secretly do their bidding?
DarthDerriphan: Well, at the very core we are Role play guild, so our long term goals really are to become the dominant Role play guild on the server we choose. We really do pride ourselves on our Role play and very much rely on keeping the Quality high. With this in mind I like to believe the end goal for the Guild as first envisioned by Mynock and myself is to truly give our members an immersive Star Wars experience and some great Stories. Though I would like to point out just because we intend to focus on the Rp side of the game we have no intention of slacking when it comes to raiding and PVP.
Darth Viscus: From an In Character aspect, even though we portray the Hands of Darkness a secret organisation. We are sure that our reputation will build and our name will be whispered and rumored amongst Republic and Empire aligned species as a secret sect who dare to challenge even the words of the Emperor! How deliciously evil.
DarthDerriphan: We really want people IC to tremble in fear when the name Hands of Darkness is mentioned.
Amonbell: *trembles*
DarthDerriphan: Muhahaha, that’s more like it.
Amrac: *laughs* Ok, so since when does Hands of Darkness exist and how many role-players have already made it into your sect?
DarthDerriphan: In Character or Out?
Amonbell: Both preferably, but more important out of character
Darth Thantos: The guild was established on November 4th 2008, shortly after the announcement of The Old Republic. We have about 80 'Accepted' members, with a few more who enjoy associate access. Of those about 60 are active on a daily basis. On our forums we have 128 registered and have gotten about 6,500 hits on our website since its launch in mid June.
Amonbell: Awesome, sounds like you’re really expanding quickly. Do you plan to limit your amount of members or will you simply keep on accepting suitable people?
DarthDerriphan: We initially started as a small Roleplay community called the Sith Council. Though over time the initial excitement dissipated and members dropped out to do other things. It was then I believe Mynock approached me or I approached him with the option of turning our small community into a fully fledged guild. It was around this time we started to see many guilds spring up catering to role players but none that focused exclusively on European Rpers so after some brainstorming we developed a back story for our characters to meet and form a secret order that worked within the shadows.
Darth Viscus: We have definitely talked about the size of the guild and how many members we want. Ultimately we decided that at this time we do not want to put a limit on the amount of people we accept into our Guild. The reason for that is we are looking for quality RPers, and finding people who love to RP as much as we do can be difficult at times! But we feel that we have the size under control, we do have quite a strict application process which certainly does limit the amount who get in. All in all, we don't want to be huge and want to keep that family feel, but it is inevitable that we won't be small!
Amrac: You just mentioned the application process, can you tell us a bit more about that? What has one to do to get accepted at the Hands of Darkness? Darth Viscus: Well as I said it can be rather strict. We have a series of questions to judge people’s personality, mmo experience and star wars knowledge but the main thing we look at is the Character Biography. We require a history or short story if you will, of the applicants’ character. This helps us see their RP and story writing abilities and also how well they will fit into our secret Order. I am usually the main judge of applications and have to say that we do our best to help people shape/improve their applications before we accept or deny them. Ultimately we want to see that people are willing, and if they have a love for RP and want to be a part of our Guild they will usually get in!
Darth Viscus: But as I said, this has helped maintain the Quality of members we have today and I’m proud to say that they are a great group of story tellers and star wars lovers! ... with a hint of dark side
Amonbell: You have already hinted at your different obligations within the guild, but could you please go into detail and tell us a bit about your guild hierarchy?
Darth Thantos: From the top we have the 'Shadow Council' a 6 member council who shares equal power and authority. Within the council we have the Dark Lady, Dark Lord, Grand Master, Grand Inquisitor, Grand Moff, and Grand Admiral.
Darth Thantos: The next level down we have our guild officers who help with the day to day operations of the guild and who command our forces during RP. They consist of the 'Shadow Hand' on the FS side and 'Moff' on the non FS side. Along with them we have the Head Bounty hunter who has reign over all our bounty hunters.
Branching out from the officers are our FS and Non-FS ranks: Sith Master, Sith Warrior, Sith Apprentice, Sith Acolyte, Sith Adept for FS and Admiral, Captain, Lieutenant, Sergeant, Soldier
Amrac: Wow, that's a lot of ranks!
Amonbell: Indeed!
Darth Viscus: So basically quite structured but not TOO complex. Makes for great RP story lines, especially the individual Council titles. The Dark Lord and Dark Lady are constantly fighting for power, the Grand Master is in the shadows plotting, the Grand Inquisitor is manipulating and punishing, the Grand Moff and Grand Admiral are leading the army and fleet at the will of their lords who rule them with an iron fist
Amrac: Sounds like a whole network of intrigues
Darth Viscus: Indeed always have lots of stories and plot twists within our Order!
Amonbell: Talking about intrigues, how do you want to explain that you're taking on the Emperor without being killed by fellow Dark Side members?
Darth Viscus: Well, to keep things clear we are not exactly 'taking on' the Emperor. That would be far too unsubtle for us. We put on the front that we serve the Emperor... but in our minds we only serve him as long as he serves the will of the Dark Side. Signing a treaty with the Republic was something we frowned upon and we questioned his reasons. Therefore in secret we will launch our own assaults, whether it be through politics, theft or war. Whatever we can to ensure the will of the Dark Side is upheld, even if it means going against the Emperors word... But who will ever find us out? We are far too clever and powerful for that.
DarthDerriphan: We are very much a group who lurks in the shadows of the galaxy, manipulating from behind the scenes.
Amrac: Ok, then let's get to the next question: How do you pass the time till the release of SWTOR? I'm quite sure as a role-playing guild of your size there's a lot of activity going on at your forums?
DarthDerriphan: Well your correct in the assumption that there is a lot of activity going on at our forums, we have numerous RP threads occurring with some dedicated to just certain sections of the guild. There are quite a few that are really becoming rather epic. But as well as our own Forum Rp we also engage in playing other games set within the Star Wars universe, a popular one amongst our members is Jedi Knight Academy where we've held various RP and non Rp events in. Personally I prefer Empire at War to pass the time, nothing better than joining a game with a fellow guild member and amassing a mighty Imperial fleet. Apart from gaming though we like to encourage our members in getting activity in all sorts from writing stories to creating wonderful pieces of art.
Amonbell: Sounds like you won't be bored easily. Although I can assume the answer already: If there will be different gameplay servers for Rp, PvP, PvE, which one will your guild prefer?
DarthDerriphan: Definitely RP, as said it is the very much core purpose of the guild.
Darth Viscus: RP all the way! Though hopefully we can still get some good PvE and PvP too! We want the best of both worlds!
Amrac: Fine, that's a clear answer. We're getting closer to the end of our interview, so is there something else, that you think is special for your guild and is worth mentioning?
Darth Viscus: I would like to say to everyone who intends to Roleplay in this game, check us out. We really will try to make it a great experience. Joining pre-release is great too because you get to know all the members before hand ready for game launch! Even if you represent another Guild who has a passion for RPing, get in contact and maybe we can arrange some cross guild story lines!
Darth Thantos: We have recently rolled out a promotion system for our FS and Non-FS members that rewards for being active and gives special 'perks' along the way such as earning the Darth title or getting command of a Ship. This all revolves around the RP environment, so as you progress in the guild your character progresses with you. Similar to that we are finalizing our new Bounty Hunter 'Notoriety' system that rewords special badges and influence within the guild.
Amonbell: Awesome, so if suppose is dark side enough and wants to join your guild, how is he able to contact you? How can we reach your website or forums?
Darth Viscus: www.handsofdarkness.com check us out!
Darth Thantos: Let the movie load...... it's worth it.
Amrac: Great! Then there's only one last off-topic question left, which we ask all our Guilds of the Month: If a developer would ask you: Which guild feature you would like to see in the game? – What would you answer?
Darth Thantos: Guild Capital Ships!!
Darth Viscus: Agreed, a Ship would be awesome and suit our guild perfectly!
DarthDerriphan: Haha, yes we're hoping we'll be able to have a vessel of our own.
Amrac: That would indeed be an awesome feature!
Darth Viscus: Personalized Ranks would be good, too
Amonbell: So that's it, we've run out of questions! Thanks a lot for spending your time with us this afternoon
DarthDerriphan: It's been an absolute pleasure, thanks for taking the time. SWTOR-Station is one of my favorite fansites so this has been a personal joy.
Darth Thantos: Thank you, we welcome the chance to tell our story to the community.
Amrac: Yes, thanks a lot for your great answers!
Darth Viscus: Thank you very much and I have a parting gift for you
Darth Thantos: Ha ha here is where you get zapped with Lightning
Darth Viscus: *Zaps you both with lightning* T'is the Sith Way
Darth Viscus: Thantos knows me well
Amonbell: *takes cover* xD
DarthDerriphan: Can't take him anywhere ...
Amrac: To be a smuggler has some advantages, right Lena?
Amonbell: You name it
Darth Viscus: Hehe
Amrac: Alright, thanks again for taking the time and have a good day everybody! *waves*
Darth Viscus: Thanks for the award guys, see you!
| 30.07.2009 |
