European PVE guild Sentinels of the Light took some time to answer our questions this week
Where did your guilds name come from?
The name was originally created by myself and Myphos long before SWTOR was announced. The name was based on our love of the Sentinel class in KotOR. A guild was created on World of Warcraft for our little cohort of friends to play, mingle and socialise while tackling a few of the end game features. We eventually decided to make an addition of “of the Light” to reflect our Lightside loyalty (or good in the case of WoW). This name then followed through with the knowledge of a future Star Wars MMO.
Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentance description of your guild?
A European based, casual guild that is all about fun, maturity and taking our time, while still aiming to tackle the end-game content and PvP as a community. We put the community first, allowing them to take part in guild decisions and we accept anyone, regardless of their skill in hopes to train them and help them learn.
We aren’t elitist, but we intend to make our mark within SWTOR and become a symbol of an ever growing community full of friends.
How did your guild come about?
Originally created by myself and Myphos for a group of friends, we opened the doors later on in the same year to expand that group of friends. Although we never made an internet presence, as it was not needed back then, we now have and intend to make that flourish for our community.
What kind of play style do you focus on? PvE, PvP, RP:
Mainly PvE questing with a secondary objective to raid, but we do intend to tackle some PvP events as a guild, and set-up a few RP events for those who wish to take part. We refuse to limit what our members can do as a community.
What is your guild set up? How do you run your guild?
The guild is casual, and unlike other guilds, we know you have a life beyond the game. Many guilds enforce ventrillo/teamspeak and forum useage but we do not. When I first started out in MMO’s, I noticed a lot of guild forced you to join their forums or be kicked. I didn’t know why since most members didn’t need or want to use them. For that reason, I do not want to forced my members to do anything.
They are here to have fun and play games, not play a game that is similar to a job.
If people don’t want to use a voice chat, Raidcall for us, or join the forums then that is fine by us. They are here to socialise, play a game at their own pace and take part in events with friends. The only thing we do enforce, is that members control profanity, and temporarily, they must join the Guild HQ (for the obvious pre-launch setup from Bioware).
Helpful members will be rewarded by a system we intend to setup that awards those who show a great dedication to helping others with something such as a set amount of currency, items, etc and we are looking into a member feature section on our website to announce that to the community.
How serious do you play and/or run the guild?
I spend a lot of my time recruiting, planning events, interacting with both the guild and the swtor.com community to help form a good relationship with them. Running a guild isn’t a part-time job, or a job at all. I personally enjoy making the experience of others as amazing as I possibly can and I intend to do so in TOR. I will keep my guild active, offer what I can to the community in terms of fun and maturity, and just make sure our members have the best experience I can possibly offer.
Do you have ranks or a certain hierarchy in your guild?
Myself and Myphos are co-leaders, with me having the official mantle on the Guild HQ/in-game. From there we have a small group of officers that help manage the guild, relay messages from our newest members, and everything else that will help the guild run smoothly.
Below them are class officers. They are in-charge of a single class and will deal in the recruitment of that class. These officers are required to have a good working knowledge of their class and be able to help new recruits learn the ropes as does a Jedi Master with their Padawan.
Then, there is a 3-tier member system.
Beginning as a trialist, these new recruits are tested for their compatibility with the guild. This is not based on skill (unless they apply for the hardcore section, if and when we get it up and running) but based on their personality.
As long as a trialist is mature, and respects our community, then they will be accepted as a full member.
Each class have their own ranks, but Bioware maybe restricting in-game ranks, so these may only apply on our forum/website.
As an example, Jedi’s begin as a Padawan. These are members still learning the ropes and are still relatively new to the community. When a class officer notices that they are well progressed and have been providing an assistance to the guild (helping others, being proactive etc), they will be promoted to Jedi Knight. At this point, they are at the highest non-officer rank and will gain access to additional resources (such as additional bank tabs if an added feature to TOR).
The system is rather simple but still provides members with an incentive to help.
Why did you choose the Republic?
Myself and Myphos have always been good guys. I personally, whether in game or real life, cannot do even the slightest evil gesture. I just find it hard to upset or hurt someone, and my choice of allegiance reflects that but we are going to create a spin-off empire guild for our members to divulge in their inner devil.
Why do you run a guild?
I am a former Sergeant of the Army Cadet Force. By the age of 16, I was teaching people how to handle anything from a compass to a live rifle. This didn’t only require knowledge, but trust. My students had to trust that during this training, I would keep them safe, and provide them with a knowledge to work without supervision and later to teach others, themselves. I loved that feeling of trust, of helping people to learn, to expand their skills and confidence.
That is why I want to run a guild. In other MMO’s, even in PuG’s, I would help random players perform better with hints and tips, and they performed better due to that. I want to do the same in TOR. Help my members learn and expand their skill set while giving them the confidence and skills to go out and do the same with others. If you know what Pay-it-forward is, then you’ll know what I mean.
This may be a game, but giving people the knowledge and confidence to help others, can also instil real life confidence and help better themselves.
How do you approach Raid Planning?
We are a casual guild, and as such plan to go slow. We are in no rush to destroy end game content. We will, however, tackle that content providing enough of our members wish to do so. We will plan these as an official event, and get everyone that we can raiding. Although we are mainly casual, we hope to form a hardcore section with its own leader, for those who want to devour all that the end game has to offer, providing enough hardcore raiders step-up to the plate.
Are you always open for new recruits or do you want to keep a certain guild size?
The hardcore section will be limited due the forming of raid groups but the casual section has no set limit yet. We are currently considering a cap of 150-200 but this figure could change at any given time.
Age Requirement?
No requirement but do we expect our members to be mature and respectful of others. Elitism and childishness are not welcome.
Guild size?
Currently over 30 with a steady number of applications. Our Guild HQ does not reflect our forum figures but this will change following the current EU vacation time.
What makes your guild stand out from everyone else? What makes your guild unique?
When we say casual, we mean it. No forum/chat requirements, no event requirements. You’re free to play as you will. A unique feature would be the joining of casual and hardcore. Many guilds who have tried this have fallen due to numerous conflicting interests but we are treating them as sections, not cramming them into the same set of rules and requirements. Hardcores will have their own forum section for planning etc, their own leader and much more.
Many guild features have been done for years, so no guild is truly unique, but my members know they will have a say within our walls, and will be treated with respect.
How do you spend your time until release? Do you know each other in real life or do you spend a lot of time on forums?
Many of our members are on vacation (EU vacation time) but we do plan events for other games in the mean time. Games can be suggested at any time by any member, and given enough people are interested, we will plan that event.
The latest event created was Combat Arms EU. A Free to Play FPS game where we hold our own clan. This has just been created and will be announcing this to the guild shortly. We hope to create a large selection of games for all of our members to participate in.
We currently use Steam to track each others game play and join in on multiplayer games. I personally played Fable 2 and 3, plus Gears of War 2 with a guild member quite recently.
What Other Games are you currently playing as a guild?
Currently, World of Warcraft and a few of our members have moved over to the forums in anticipation for TOR. Granted, some members are not interested but that guild will always be there for them.
Other games will soon be setup depending on the amount of interest in particular games.
If somebody is interested now how and where can they apply for membership?
Our website located at http://sotl.myphos.de contains an application form or they may send a personal message to Magnacarta on the swtor.com website. We also have a facebook page and a twitter account (@sotl_TOR) for those who wish to use either of those.
One last question, if there was one thing you could ask the Dev’s to include, what would it be?
In-gameguild space stations or guild towns. Loved them in SWG, LotRO etc but that will just be placed on the Wall of Crazy.