Today I had the chance to speak with Valkir. The guild leader of the Sith Guild Parabellum. Turned out to be an interesting speak as these guys are really crazy. Check it out:
Where did your guilds name come from?
Our Guild name came about from a discussion with friends when we decided to setup a progressive raiding guild for SWTOR, we had the usual run of the mill silly names proposed, We Eat Baby Ewoks, I Crit My Pants, Boba Fett!, Boba Fett Where? and so on, when the discussion got serious we decided we wanted something simple but with a military twist on it. That’s when Koulmia a close friend and member of our Guild suggested Parabellum. The word Parabellum was coined by German arms maker Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken and is derived from the Latin saying ‘si vis pacem, para bellum’, meaning ‘If you want peace, prepare for war. This also gave us our Motto. PARABELLUM ‘Prepare for War’
Can you give me a quick 2-3 sentance description of your guild?
Parabellum is going to be a Progressive End-Game Content Guild. We have members from a number of MMO’s all with a serious Raider background and in Raids we will be pushing as far as the game allows. We aim to be one of the top EU Guilds for Raid progression. Our Members will fall into two catagories, Raider Elites who will form the backbone of Parabellum and our Social Members who will form the body of what we hope is going to be one of the more renown Guilds of SWTOR
How did your guild come about?
Myself and a number of friends play a certain MMO we wont name here, after the launch of its latest patch and the consequent clearing of 6/7 bosses in the first day or two the satisfaction of raiding just wasnt there anymore. Ive been following SWTOR since mid 2009 and made the decision there and then that it was the end of the road for me for that MMO, i approached a few friends and the idea of Parabellum was formed. Soon after I created the Guild on SWTOR forums and the legend that will be Parabellum began.
What kind of play style do you focus on? PvE, PvP, RP:
We will be a PvE Guild focused on raid progression, i know a few members have had some reasonable success at PvP in the downtime between raids and expect this to continue in some form or another through SWTOR.
What is your guild set up? How do you run your guild?
In Parabellum the final responsibility is mine, saying that our officer’s are very experienced MMO players so they have alot of freedom and are expected to use their initiative when im unavailable, On our officer forums and website we have a fairly comprehensive set of Guild Rules and Code of Conduct and its our hope the Guild will run smoothly… (its all about the preparation).
How serious do you play and/or run the guild?
The Guild is run very seriously tbh, but not in a Draconian manner, its not ‘my guild’ its ‘our guild’ and if we are to be as successful as we hope we need that certain element of Elitism and seriousness in our Raids Setup. Ultimately we are recruiting adult members who desire the same as us. Success, fun and progression. What we don’t and i certainly will not tolerate is childish drama.
Do you have ranks or a certain hierarchy in your guild?
Our Rank structure is posted at our site but the simple Breakdown is this.
Me, Guild Master, then the Guild Hand who speaks for me when I’m unavailable. then our Officers and Raid Leaders followed by our Raider Elites.
Why did you choose the Sith Empire?
We chose the Sith….*cough* OK, Koulmia, ‘I’ chose the Sith because i always wanted to be Darth Vader lol. But seriously we chose the Sith because in recent MMO’s we played the ‘Goodies’ and this time wanted to be the ‘Baddies””””’. Like our Forum says We are Sith! We are the Empire! We crush the Jedi and their weakling Republic! We will be prepared!
Why do you run a guild?
I decided that it was time for me to retake The Purple again after a few years outside Guild Leadership and forge all the great ideas and experiences I’d had in previous guilds into the kind of SWTOR guild i’d die to be a member of. And tbh the prestige of being a GM with the people we have in Parabellum was too good an opportunity to miss out on.
How do you approach Raid Planning?
In a word, Meticulously. I have always found the key to a successful Raid is planning and knowledge. As more information becomes available myself and my officers will be planning our strategies and tactics before we even see the Eternity Vault. Already we have begun postin Tactic Guides on our forums from what information we have available.
Are you always open for new recruits or do you want to keep a certain guild size?
Class recruiting is limited especially for Raider Elites, we are more relaxed for Social applicants but only marginally so, we dont want the guild to be unmanagable in any sense. We will always consider exceptional applications to closed classes but they really must be exceptional.
Age Requirement?
The minimum age requirement for Parabellum members is 18 years old.
Guild size?
Currently Parabellum numbers 20 members, we hope to increase this number by 10-15 more people but our selection process is… to a degree… strict, we arent accepting anyone just for the numbers and if we hit SWTOR with no more than those 20 people thats fine by us.
What makes your guild stand out from everyone else? What makes your guild unique?
You’ve never met Koulmia have you???? Lol. Seriously though. Parabellum is aiming high, we may not become the best Guild Worldwide but we are aiming to be one of the best in the EU. Our experienced MMO gamers have a number of realm/server first kills to their names in other MMO’s and we intened to continue this tradition in Parabellum. We are approaching SWTOR in a serious manner even though the game isnt out yet and when the game is launched we will hit the floor running. Watch this space…..
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 are still playing MMO’s together and others are forum trolls, we have Ventrilo active for Parabellum and the officers are working hard to foster the community spirit that will take us into SWTOR as a team of established friends.
What Other Games are you currently playing as a guild?
World of Warcraft (under a different name).
If somebody is interested now how and where can they apply for membership?
Applications should be made at www.parabellumtor.com and also on the official SWTOR website, http://www.swtor.com/guilds/156108/parabellum
One last question, if there was one thing you could ask the Dev’s to include, what would it be?
Black Lightsabres.