The Rakatan Infinite Empire has chosen site. You guys are all fucked! But It seems like they are nice guys. Read on below.
Where did your guilds name come from?
The name ‘The Rakatan” comes from an exploration of Star Wars lore that pre-dates the age of KOTOR, SWTOR, and the classic Star Wars galaxy at large, yet the themes presented by the Rakatan legacy are inexorably intertwined with the fate of the galaxy as a whole. The Rakatan Infinite Empire, for those who aren’t particularly familiar with the lore, was the Galactic Empire that constructed the star forge that figures prominently in the first KOTOR game, is at the crux of the Jedi Civil War and is ever present in the Star Wars backstory. The Rakata themselves were a sort of “master race” that became affiliated with the dark side of the force, founded the first truly galactic empire, and existed as physical examples of the virulent potential of the Dark Side’s power. The Rakatan represents the first true synthesis of the dark side and thus correlated highly with our Sith Empire aligned guild. Our guild, however, is less affiliated with the RP elements of SWTOR, so in an attempt to incorporate some lore aspects we chose this name. It should also be noted that the Rakatan feature prominently in one of my favorite Star Wars novel series regarding the infamous Darth Bane!
Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentence description of your guild?
In short: The Rakatan is a family reunion of sorts, its members are made up of a scattered Worldof Warcraft guild and those scattered member’s friends. The guild was founded in an attempt to build a new legacy, in a new game with, with new members and an old base of players. We plan to start small and build ourselves up into a top tier raiding guild of experienced, intelligent and fun players as we had successfully done in World of Warcraft.
How did your guild come about?
The guild came about after a series of conversations regarding a mutual interest in SWTOR coupled with a mutual interest that had been steadily growing in reestablishing a long deceased World of Warcraft raiding guild. The guild was thus formed recently in preparation of a hopeful imminent release.
What kind of play style do you focus on? PvE, PvP, RP:
We will be focusing most intensely on PvE, but will of course be dabbling in PvP (we will be rolling on a PvP server) – we find that RP is generally a more personal thing and we are not particularly involved with it; however, it will not be discouraged!
What is your guild set up? How do you run your guild?
The guild setup is rather generic, that being said, however, there’s an emphasis on centrality and subsequent ease of communication. There is of course a guild master, myself (Hadrax), with three supporting officers (we’re actually presently recruiting our third officer as two officers represent old friends and we would like the third to be representative of new applicants). As the guild expands we will be developing a recruitment and “PR” officer as a fourth pseudo-officer position, but as of right now that is one of the many hats of the management team. In addition to the guild executive management there will be standard guild members and trial members in an effort to keep things simple. Standard members make up those who the management team
have played with before and are proven “skilled” and mature players, trials will be composed of new recruits who must prove themselves prior to obtaining standard guild membership status. The ranking system and structure is of course subject to change as we learn how to effectively incorporate it into SWTOR, however, this simplified structure has served our group well in the past.
How serious do you play and/or run the guild?
There is no real answer to this question for The Rakatan. What I can say, however, is that the present plan is to approach the game casually, to learn it and enjoy it and then hopefully evolve that mindset into the more serious raiding mindset. It is the unwritten agreement among the guilds resent members that this is the inevitable course of events given our past experiences in MMOs!
Do you have ranks or a certain hierarchy in your guild?
(Keep in mind this is a very basic outline)
- Guild Master
- Officer A
- Officer B
- Officer C*
- Recruitment Officer**
- Standard Members
- Trial Members*
Guild hierarchy, as previously mentioned, is rather linear with ease of communication at the centrality of The Rakatan’s philosophy. Guild management is very experienced in both in game and real world management situations, thus allowing for a well-oiled machine to exist without a complicated structure. More information of course will be revealed to those interested in applying.
*Position(s) available to new recruits!
** Recruitment Officer position currently not needed, and will be filled later.
Why did you choose the Sith Empire?
This was actually the subject of much debate, as a particular officer and I are rather decadent Star Wars nerds and wanted to find something in Star Wars lore that we could relate to, and translate into a correlation with a SWTOR faction. Our readings on the Rakatan civilization led us to an Imperial allegiance coupled with a more potent interest in the Empire’s classes’ background stories.
Why do you run a guild?
If you were to speak with anyone who is presently a member of the Rakatan they would not have thought I would ever run a guild, and would probably scoff at the notion (hopefully that doesn’t discourage anyone from joining haha)! But the reality is a group of experienced MMO players and close friends needed a new game to rally around with the hopes that it would provide a genuine excuse to interact with each other on both a competitive and purely fun basis. In short I hoped to provide an environment that would foster a similar sense of camaraderie that we all used to feel as a guild with the added bonus of acquiring new members to share in our experiences, altogether paired with a game that we are all very excited for.
How do you approach Raid Planning?
Lots of Vodka errrr… When it comes to raid leading there are obviously many variables, most important of which is the game itself – it’s hard to approach SWTOR raiding without a genuine understanding of how SWTOR raiding will be presented to us – the players. Aside from that, when we begin raiding there will be a process through which the officers and I will nominate a raid leader from the guild (from any rank – not just
from guild management) for raid group A (as we hope to run multiple smaller raids initial unless membership levels allow for a larger raid group). The raid group will be centralized in a similar fashion as the guild proper. We hope that previous end game raid experience will allow for constructive and entertaining raid sessions. More details will be available on the raid planning process as we learn more about the game and as other
express interest in applying to The Rakatan.
Are you always open for new recruits or do you want to keep a certain guild size?
The reality is that we are open to recruits, however, our principal policy is quality over quantity – there is no reason for us to have 500 guild members if they’re all immature and disinterested in improving their MMO skills, while simultaneously helping the overall progress of the guild in all areas. Guild size will probably have a maximum limit that has yet to be agreed upon, but that tends to be less important than our initial efforts in
attracting fun and skilled players.
Age Requirement?
None. We don’t care how old you are as long as you’re mature and can deal with the mature themes that will undoubtedly be rampant in both guild game chat and voice chat. Acting adult when required, even for those who claim to be adults full time is indeed a necessity.
Guild size?`
Small-Moderately sized (less than 100); remember quality over quantity is highly important.
What makes your guild stand out from everyone else? What makes your guild unique?
The central community that this guild is based on is something that its members truly hold special, the experiences – both good and bad – of the past 4 plus years in and around our “World of Warcraft experience” have fostered a highly experienced, witty, intelligent(most of the time) and all around fun and close group of friends that are always seeking new comrades. We hope to offer not just a guild, but a community and a genuinely entertaining experience. In addition, one must remember that this game will be a learning experience for all those who chose to take part in it, and we are happy to share that experience with anyone who is interested in being a part of The Rakatan. Our, albeit aging and dwindling nucleus of friends, is looking forward to this game with bated breath – a last attempt, if you will, at a revitalization of a scattered raiding guild from World of Warcraft.
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?
Some of us know each other in real life or are even related (my brother has the misfortune of having a relative as a guild master – good luck buddy), we spend our time researching the game, exploring fan sites, lore, forums, podcasts, and videos –as well as constantly refreshing SWTOR.com on Fridays… Present guild activity is at a minimum do to real life obligations, but once a release date is established we will be flooding
outward to full capacity.
What Other Games are you currently playing as a guild?
All members of the guild management team used to or still play World of Warcraft on Executus (US) server; other members either play World of Warcraft on other servers, or are playing Rift, other MMO’s, or experimenting with console games in anticipation of a SWTOR release. As for myself I’m replaying both KOTOR’s and frequent our Ventrilo servers.
If somebody is interested now how and where can they apply for membership?
Applications are currently informal and one may “apply” by expressing interest via email (miked1692@gmail.com for Guild Master Hadrax –Mike- or 4tgdarkops@4tgcommunity.com for Officer Xerberus/Chromehound -Scott-). Upon contacting us we will reply by setting up an “interview” in Ventrillo, one may also email a question prior to expressing interest in applying! Presently the guild website is under
construction so email remains the most reliable mode of contact; however, we also have a closed Facebook group for those who are accepted. In addition, one may contact me (Hadrax) via text message (443 718 8923) at work so I have an excuse to not well… work haha.
One last question, if there was one thing you could ask the Dev’s to include, what would it be?
Something simple (or perhaps not!): Release the talent trees so we can spend endless hours theory crating prior to release, it would certainly silence the release date whiners for a bit.
Personal Statement:
Those without a sense of humor and a brain need not apply. We also hope that our past World of Warcraft… shall we say ‘affiliations’ don’t deter interest in the guild. The Rakatan is also an affiliate of 4tg Gaming Community; more information is available upon request.