The Dark Caravan

Give us a brief description of your guild and why you chose the name you did.

The Dark Caravan is essentially a guild of traditional gypsies (tons of information about gypsies and their lifestyle on our site). We chose The Dark Caravan because there are witches and vampires that dwell with us.

What is the main focus of your guild?

The main focus of our guild is to create an enjoyable and authentic atmosphere to present to other players for their amusement, and for our own enjoyment as well.

How long has your Guild been around?

The Dark Caravan is a new concept and a challenge for us as well. Some of us have known each other since UO, while others we've picked up along the way throughout various games. There is no actual timeframe in which to place the guild or its members.

How was your guild founded and who are some of the founding members?

The Dark Caravan was an idea of mine that I've wanted to try for a very long time. After a miserable bout with SWG, I decided to put my plan into action immediately. Being that I've run a few guilds in my online gaming life, it wasn't very difficult to pull it all together into a presentable package.

What kind of structure does your guild have in terms of leadership and roles they play?

Well, while I do agree that all guilds need proper leadership strategies, there are some guilds that function well when everyone is on the same page, and knows what they're doing. I don't agree with giving someone a fancy title and putting them in charge of anything just to simply have a structure. It has to be necessary. The Dark Caravan's structure is basically like a large guild formed of smaller guilds. The Kampania (guild
in itself) will house many natsias (smaller clans/nations). The head of each individual natsia will have a bandolier to run it. In the Dark Caravan, anyone can form a natsia by recruiting five members to join him.
Once five are found, they are brought before the king/queen to be recognized as a legitimate clan. Once the king/queen approves, the bandolier is appointed, and is given rights to specific guild functions such as
sponsoring and accepting members. It's a very simple structure, but effective, as the bandolier has to watch over his own natsia and see to it that they are following the rules and the law of the kampania.

What resources do you provide to enhance interaction between members of your guild?

The Dark Caravan hosts an informative website and a message board with a chat feature so that members can communicate in and out of game. But I would have to say that our finest resource is our role-playing experience.

What are some benefits to being in your guild?

One of the finest benefits from joining The Dark Caravan is the fun and the role-play. You read about so many guilds saying they are role-players, yet when you get to meet them and interact with them, it's never really that way. I don't believe in creating a guild that has people that like to role-play and then has some that don't. It defeats the purpose of naming yourself a role-playing guild because it's not really true. They should start adding the words 'half & half.

What single moment in your guilds time, have you found the most memorable?

Well, as I stated earlier, we are new .. but we do plan on creating many memorable moments!

What event has changed 'you' the most, since you have been in the guild?

I would say that my appreciation for role-playing has increased, simply because of the nature of the guild and the fading interest by many in role-playing in general. It has made me want to work harder at proving that it is one of the finest ways to really immerse yourself and enjoy the game on an entirely different level.

Does your guild have or will your guild have planned gatherings, and if so, how often? (In game and/or Real Life)

The Dark Caravan does plan on hosting lots of events in Istaria. Some for our village of Braidenlace, and most for the inhabitants of Istaria. Don't forget to come get your fortune told by a real gypsy!

In a short paragraph, tell us why someone should join your guild.

If you take your role-playing seriously and are looking to be a part of something interesting and unique, then The Dark Caravan is the place for you. I think people should only join if they plan on developing their character's character - not just their profession skills, but their interaction skills as well. This is a place for players with a great imagination.

If someone is interested in joining your guild, what application process (if any) must they go through?

Under gypsy law, if one is wishing to join the kampania, they must travel for a time with us before we vote on whether or not the person is suitable for us. If yes, the person is welcomed into the kampania, and takes part in a ceremony that changes their blood to gypsy blood.

What games has your guild been a part of to date?

None to date.

What attracted you to Horizons and where to see your guild in the world when Horizons starts?

What attracted us to Horizons was the fact that we were all medieval/fantasy fanatics at heart. Horizons hosted so many favorable perks that we couldn't resist. After coming away from a sci-fi MMORPG, it felt good to see a chicken and a cow .. something that made you feel at home. I see the Dark Caravan beginning as a humble group - in character, of course, steadily increasing in fun as we become more comfortable with our characters and begin improving our interaction skills.

Have you ever been a Leader of a Guild before? What MMO and what was the size of the Guild at peak?

I have led a few guilds, the largest being a guild of close to 150 members in UO.

Tell us a little about your gaming experience and role as 'guild master'.

Hmm .. well I guess you could say that I'm among the few of a dying breed that takes gaming to heart. I began in UO and stayed for a few years before moving on to EQ. UO was one of the best MMORPGs going, even after many other games came out. No game has ever come close to matching the role-playing fun we had on the Catskills shard. It was the best. EQ was fun at first, but after coming from an
environment steeped in role-play to one where maybe 1 in 50 actually role-played, the blaze soon died to a flicker, then went out completely not long after. So I left, heading over to Anarchy Online. From Anarchy Online, I went to DAoC which did, in fact, have a role-playing server. The only problem with that was that there was very little of it to be found so my interest faded fast as an avid role-player in a land of ubers. Star Wars Galaxies was a horror show for me .. role-playing actually non-existent, and those of us that did find each other slowly began to leave one by one until there were practically no more left that I cared to associate with. Being a guild master has always been a tough job, though an enjoyable one. Keeping everyone on the same page and tending to their difficulties as well as dealing with a multitude of different personalities is a welcome challenge for me. I tend to lean towards setting up the environment, then moving people into it so that they can begin to explore it and learn how to function in it. As a guild master, it is my job to set the mood and to be a good example, so I can seriously say that I doubt anyone in any of my guilds has ever seen me out of character while in a game environment. If I ever have anything to say, it is said in /tell or icq. It's just how I like to do things. Some would call me a fanatic, but when trying to portray a lifestyle that others will see, members and non-members alike, it simply makes no sense to be victorious after defeating a horde of creatures to have one of them turn to you and say: "brb, gotta go eat." I usually do not seek the sorts that do that, but it does happen at times, no matter how carefully you try to screen potentials. The gypsy law of the Dark Caravan helps us to further screen and build a stronger kampania by letting in those that truly wish to be a part of something interesting.

As a 'guild master', tell what is the hardest set back you've had to deal with and how you handled the situation. (Which MMO was it and what was the out come?)

I guess the hardest set back was putting someone else in charge of the guild I held in UO, then watching it slowly transform from a tight-knit, functional, role-playing group to a band of ubers. I had to take back the guild, release a lot of members, then start all over again to build back what was lost. It tool a while, but we turned out to be better than before, and I've since then learned that everyone's idea of leading a guild are very different. Some do not wish to take charge, but want to in name only. As difficult as it is to discipline someone, friend or not, it has to be done for the good of the guild as a whole, and not on a 'friend to friend' basis. Rules should apply to everyone .. friends included.

What would you like your guild's role in Horizons to be?

I would like for the Dark Caravan to be recognized wherever we go, and we will, just by the way we speak and the way we do things. In my opinion, we are not only a guild, but sort of a small production company that puts on a show wherever we go by being ourselves and indulging in our every day customs. People will know who we are, and will begin to know our language as we interact with them. To me, that is the ultimate challenge ... creating a unique presence in the world and then making it come to life.

Where you do see your guild a year into the game?

A year from now, I see the Dark Caravan as being more diverse than we are now. At the moment, we are only recruiting humans for specific reasons. Think of it as bringing a world of your own to Horizons, and then recreating it as it would actually be in our world. While Istaria has a history of its own, many guilds will follow their own dreams - for example, The Roman Empire. There was no Rome in the history of Istaria, but the beauty of MMORPGs is that you can create a guild that makes you happy and then bring it to life using such the extensive environment provided by the game itself. Think how odd it would be to see an elf, dwarf or sslik among them. You would say to yourself: now if they really want to be the Roman Empire, the wouldn't have any elves, dwarves or ssliks with them, because there weren't any. This is what the Dark Caravan is about. Much like the Roman Empire, we are a persona that originated in our time, and that we are trying to re-create here. The guild master's own ideas about Rome may include any race he so wishes,
but the Dark Caravan will thrive on authenticity... and the only way to achieve this is to stick to the 'script' that history has already written. We will have our alternates, naturally, but none of them will have anything
to do with the Caravan.

Any other details about your guild that you would like people to know?

I would like to say that The Dark Caravan will be a fun place to be. Braidenlace, the village we plan to set up, will be a base camp for us while we are not traveling, but members are welcome to stay close to home if they wish to. We're a fun group, and take our enjoyment, and the enjoyment of those we come on contact with, very seriously. If you can make each moment of interaction with a fellow gypsy and non-gypsy a memorable one, then it will be all in a day's work and another job well done. Most of us are seasoned role-players and have no problem teaching those that are willing to learn. So if you have a desire to join the Caravan and to explore the art or role-playing, then it will be a good place to begin.