Interview With A Gulid Sith Lord

We are finally able to pin down the elusive Lord Circinus of Korriban’s Lancers for an interview.  Korriban’s Lancers is an Empire side SWTOR pre-launch guild.  They’re mostly based in Texas with a few members sprinkled throughout the US, and are either the largest or one of the largest regionally based guilds.  They currently are listed as a PvP guild, and are planning to be on an Eastern Time Zone server at launch.  Thanks for being with us, Lord Circinus.

Who are you in ‘real life’?

I’m 36, and I run a family business in Houston, Texas.  The primary difference between guild leadership and family business leadership is minimal.  You balance between being authoritarian and democratic.  You juggle different projects simultaneously.  You break up childish squabbles.  Most importantly, you apologize for mistakes you make and learn from them.  Same set of skills.  I guess in a SWTOR guild, you can at least hunt Jedi in between.

There are so many Rea Life business applications to a gaming organization.  A board of directors (“officers”), mission statement, managing people, “corporate culture” etc.  Fortunately, I’ve been able to apply some of those concepts to Korriban’s Lancers.

Korriban’s Lancers?  There are no lancers in Star Wars.  Where did you come up with that name?

Historically, “lancers” are a traditional mounted cavalry unit, wielding lances.  They charged into battle, wrecking havoc within opposing unmounted infantry ranks.  Besides, we could not secure the sponsorship rights that came with naming us “Joe’s Crab Shack Brigade.”

As evidenced by the previous charity raffle, you’re interested in helping the community.  Why aren’t you a Republic guild?

Funny thing is, I originally wanted to start a Republic guild.  But like many unforeseen circumstances you face, you either “go with the flow” or swim against the tides of fate.  I chose the former.  (LOL, less cryptically, my first recruits wanted to play Sith, so I was open to going dark side.)

Are you sure you’re not Light Side?

There are actually Christian Sith guilds in game, and probably guilds of Jedi A-holes.  Like those seeming contradictions, Korriban’s Lancers believe that real life philanthropy need not run parallel to character alignment.  Evil characters are always fun to play, but we are real people behind those characters.  This fuels our respect for other gamers, regardless of faction.

What’s Korriban’s Lancers all about?

KL was founded upon two simple premises. (1) Adult players, (2) who play locally in Texas.  While we’ve gotten fancy and extended our group beyond Texas, we still are who we started out to be, being majority Texan.  Most of us love our food even more than we love our guns, so we frequently get together at many of our in-state meet ups (KorriBBQ’s).  One of our officers proposed that we begin to engage in charity work, and we thought it was a great idea.  Being supportive of our local communities is now one of our guild mandates.  Like businesses, I do not believe in gaming guilds as monolithic entities.  They evolve with its membership and the ideas generated therein.

We were told that regionally-centric guilds couldn’t be formed.  We were questioned why a gaming group should get involved in non-gaming activities, like charities.  Mostly what KL is about is proving naysayers wrong.  And being Texan, we’re used to the odds stacked against us.

What’s the deal with Child’s Play?

As far as I know, Korriban’s Lancers is the first SWTOR guild to embark on a charity project of this magnitude.  FOUR collector’s editions to be raffled off for the benefit of Child’s Play.

How about this new charity drive?  Why did you call it Order 67?

Well, “Order 66” (also known as “Day of Joyous Celebration of Vermin Extermination” in KL circles) is already historically well-known.  And we intended “Order 68” to be five large pepperoni’s with bell peppers and sausage.  So that left “67” available to assign.

In all seriousness, our members in the area reported the recent east Texas fires before it was even picked up by the media, and in classic manner, wanted to do something to help.  Our members were posting in Facebook about the blazes literally miles away.  So we hurriedly put together a campaign to donate to the Red Cross, as first responders to the aftermath of the wildfires in East Texas and Oklahoma.  Is it a mostly symbolic gesture? Sure, it is.  But getting to know people in Texas is irrelevant, if you don’t care about them.

I understand you guys are coming up with some great ideas regarding Star Wars: The Old Republic.  Anything you’d like to share?

We are always coming up with new ideas to strengthen our community, pre-launch.  Nothing we can preview so far, but we will definitely release more information as our projects come to maturity.  One of the many reasons I can’t wait for the game: to stem the flow of creative ideas from our members.

OK, maybe one morsel.  We’re planning a BBQ cook off between a few of our members.  We’ll probably turn it into a massive meet up/fundraiser, winner takes home a “Sith BBQ Master” trophy and bragging rights, until the next competition.  As with all of our meet ups, we’ll open this to the public, regardless of faction/guild affiliation.

Only in Texas, right?  Only in Korriban’s Lancers.

What’s the most engaging thing about your guild?

Our members.  We have a tremendously talented pool of helpful members.  I guess it comes with the territory of “adult gamers.”  Time and time again, our members have expressed their energetic drive to play an MMO “with friends again.”  Guild energy is infectious.

You’ve really grown the guild, any tips on how to get a great, engaged guild together pre-launch and keep them together?

Korriban’s Lancers has grown and will thrive based on our unique, local niche. We are mostly local to Texas and we’re adult gamers.  While we didn’t invent the “local guild,” we strive to do it the best.  As guild leader, I intend to meet over 90% of my members in person.  How many other gaming organization leaders can boast that?

So I have no tips other than to find the guilds that operate smoothly and learn from them.  Although Korriban’s Lancers has been fortunate enough to chart its own course, my officers and I frequently look at other guilds and see what is/is not working for them.

Your guild has really grown very quickly.  Have you had any growing pains?  How did you get through them?

Yes, we have.  Pants tightening was inevitable.  In our first month, we reached 100 members.  By launch, we will be somewhere past 200.  That’s a lot of personalities to balance out.  Being mostly from Texas doesn’t make a guild immune to misunderstandings and disagreements.  Once again, being adult gamers who’ve mostly met one another at meet ups does help tremendously.  Because we aren’t dealing with one another like faceless, ventrilo participants, we give each other a bit more respect, and perhaps, leeway.

Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

Stop by our forums at www.korribanslancers.com to check out our community.  There is more to gaming with each other, than just games.  (Maybe I should patent that as our motto.)

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