Guild Spotlight: DROW of Volkmar

[Charlotte]

Warhammer Alliance's second guild spotlight focuses on DROW, a well-organized and competitive Destruction guild on Volkmar. DROW is led by Kane Parkinson, who goes by Zapron in-game. To check them out, look into their recruitment for WAR or just to peek at the DROW store, go to http://www.drow.org.


What is DROW's background?

DROW is an organization of power gamers that started in 1994 in the game Quake. We are most known for fielding top-notch guilds in major MMORPGs like EverQuest 1, World of Warcraft, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes and Warhammer Online, among others.


How did the guild establish itself in WAR?

In our organization we have a group of individuals called "DROW Core." Whenever a new MMORPG (or other game) is going to be released, an individual can propose that DROW should sponsor a team in that particular game. When we started Warhammer we already had leadership in place and upwards of 30 members ready to go on day one.


DROW appears to run a very tight ship. How are you organized?

Our overall organization is comprised of DROW Core, who make decisions about what teams to sponsor and who will be allowed to lead those teams. The individual guilds are run independently of one another. In Warhammer we've gone through three different leaders since the release of the game, but our current leadership structure is comprised of the guild leader (myself), two RvR organizers and a guild banker.


How does the guild function in-game?

In-game we run scheduled events throughout the week. Currently we are in the process of farming end game content. Our schedule is at least two days of RvR per week, where we attempt to push to stage two of Altdorf (and kill the Order king if the push is successful). We also run Tomb of the Vulture Lord twice a week with two separate groups. Whenever we don't have scheduled events we generally run premade scenario groups or run things like Lost Vale for our alternate characters.


Do you have an alt guild?

Yes we do, it actually just reached guild rank 37. We have alts as well as friends of guild members who do not meet the requirements or are not as "hardcore" as the players in our main guild.


What are the requirements?

Our requirements change depending on our needs. Our only tangible requirement is that the player should be at least renown rank 65. More importantly, we look for players who are a good "fit" for the guild. We look for individual skill, teamwork, activity and whether their attitude meshes with the rest of the guild. We don't really advertise, in general people come to us to apply. We are fortunate to be in that position because we don't have to sell ourselves or try to impress anyone. We know that if someone is applying they have a reason for wanting to join us.


What is the application process like?

It starts with filling out a form which can be found on our forums at http://www.drow.org/forums, in the Warhammer Public Recruiting sub forum. After filling out the form I will contact the person and conduct an interview. The interview gives the player an opportunity to ask any questions they have about the guild. It also gives me a chance to explain our policies, expectations, etc... and to ask any questions of the applicant.

If the player still feels DROW is the guild for them after the interview, they are invited to the guild as a recruit. For the first two weeks we have a discussion thread on our private forums about that particular applicant, all full members can share their feedback. After the two weeks of discussion we have one week of voting, where all full members can vote. After that point the recruit is either accepted, rejected or the recruitment process may be extended to give more time for feedback.


Does the alt guild have a similar recruitment process?

The alt guild is named Brotherhood ofthe Spider. We don't have a recruitment process for the alt guild. It's really for alts and for people who already have some sort of relationship with our members. For example, if a player from another DROW team decides to play Warhammer, they can level up in our alt guild. On rare occasions we have had people come from different servers specifically wanting to join our guild, so we have allowed them to level up through our alt guild, so they have a chance to meet some of our members early on.


DROW has had a few "firsts" on Volkmar. Would you explain what your guild has accomplished?

Firsts are kind of a funny thing because there is no official leaderboard that tracks them. We were tied with Malice (within five minutes of each other) for the first Destruction guild to reach rank 40 on Volkmar. We were also the first guild on Volkmar to clear the Altdorf Palace and kill Emperor Karl Franz. In addition to that we were the first Destruction guild on Volkmar to clear Tomb of the Vulture Lord and the first guild on the server of either realm to kill the World Boss in Land of the Dead (with much help from the rest of Destruction).


What goals do you have besides Altdorf and Tomb of the Vulture Lord?

Well, we've completed every encounter in Warhammer Online, so there isn't really any upward progression left for us. Our goal now is to continue to clear the highest content in the game until every one of our members is completely equipped with end game loot. Tomb of the Vulture Lord is straightforward, you just scheduled it and clear the dungeon. Altdorf Palace, on the other hand, requires getting to Altdorf and pushing to stage two, which is a realm-wide effort that we don't completely control. As we move forward, we are continually evaluating our guild and alliance and looking for ways to maximize our impact on the campaign. We're always willing to work with other Destruction guilds on Volkmar.


If there was one thing you could tell players considering Volkmar, what would it be?

I guess I would tell them that Volkmar is a very stable server that will provide competition whether you are playing on Order or Destruction. We have had our back and forth from Order dominance to Destruction dominance, but it's always been a populated server with action going on. Right now is actually a great time to play on Volkmar in Tier 4 because on any given day Destro might push Altdorf (when certain alliances scheduled rvr *hint hint*) or Order might push IC.


Is there anything else you would like to add about DROW?

I guess I would add that DROW is really more than just another guild, it really is a brotherhood of players who share a common hobby. We are competitive, but ultimately we play to have fun. I first found out about DROW back when I started playing MMORPGs and they were dominating The Rathe server in EverQuest 1 which I played on. I joined DROW as a member in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. I moved on to join them again in Age of Conan as a raid officer, and now I am the guild leader of our Warhammer Online team. I look forward to playing with DROW again in whatever MMORPG I might play in the future.


Do you know of a guild that we should spotlight? What questions would you like to ask guild leaders? Let us know in the comments or by sending Charlotte a private message.

[Fulkan]

..............

May I ask what your toon name is madam staff member??

[Charlotte]

Originally Posted by Fulkan

..............

May I ask what your toon name is madam staff member??

Satsume. Now, if you're going to repeatedly kill me, I only ask that you at least /wave first. It will make me feel better.

[Fulkan]

Naw, I like to fight fair.

[GameXbar]

The guild, Organization Drow and their forums have been added to the WARXbar.

[Haymakers]

cool, DROW is gettin some recognition! Great players, always gotta be on your A game around these guys

edit: i will also have to note that i just visited the DROW store and i am now a proud owner of a new DROW baby bib!

[GameXbar]

Originally Posted by Haymakers

edit: i will also have to note that i just visited the DROW store

Ya I like the mousepads, DROW did a nice job on their store.

[Kyera]

They're all bad.

[Serin Eh]

Fulken be nice to Satume, she's a nice person..as for the /wave...well tough when she sneeks up behind you and stabs ya eh :P

[Dizbat]

I am floored to see DROW still around. I remember well what they brought to EQ. Glad to see you gits playing WAR in any capacity, it gives me some hope.

I just gotta wonder, though, don't you guys ever tire of the bleeding edge?

[STINGER]

Gratz guys.

[Dlisk]

Thanks for the spotlight war alliance folks and thanks to zap for letting nals experience the awesomeness from the ranks of BOTS!

-Nals