Guild Spotlight: the Durmanhoth Clan

Name: The Durmanhoth Clan <DC>
Play Orientation: FFA or PvP
Role Playing: Not in the traditional sense (see below)
Guild Size: See below
Time Zone: likely US, but we have EU members
Communication: our Forums and Ventrilo
Guild Hall Thread: http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=9491
Web Site: http://www.durmanhoth-clan.com/AoC/

I’m speaking to Hardware who gave super answers. read on and enjoy.
here we go:

What is unique about your guild?
As stated above, the culture of the clan is what makes DC unique. I have put hours as well as others in the clan at various stages of our growth into creating websites full of gaming knowledge as well as information on the theme we have chosen to follow in that game. Some games (SWG) allow a lot more of a culture style of playing because of cities, merchant vendors and bases to defend while games that do not have those features (WoW) lack greatly in the ability to really develop that side. All in all though, we try and choose a theme in a game we can stick with and that fits so we can be more a part of the game instead of just a clan IN a game. Also, we always have some form of AWARDS and HONORS that people can achieve and display with pride. Then the biggest thing we have had since 1993 when DC started is a very special small team o the best of the best. It has been called “The Dreads”, “Royal Guard”, “Praetorians” and a few others, it always means the same thing, THE BEST. While I never like keeping some people out of opportunities, this group have to be fighters and have to have extreme skill in combat to get in.

Who are the people of your guild?
The people in our clan are my brothers and sisters. Every walk of life and life style have come through our doors. Those that have chosen to get involved on the clan VENTRILO server, use the forums and or post under the OOC (out of char) section of the forums seem to get a lot closer with each other because you learn about the “guy behind the toon” more than just some guy with a name above his head. Since DC went to a voice chat server, gaming has changed dramatically in my opinion.

What is your take on Role Playing?
DC has always been a PvP type of guild stemming back to the old MUD days to current MMO’s out there now. The one thing I believe that sets DC apart is that while we have hardcore PvPers, we also have a variety of people that choose to get involved in the actual theme and content of the clan and then into the theme and content of the game being played. People log into the guildcomm people usually say “Hail” and if it is a council type of member, sometimes people will say “Hail Warlord” or whoever it might be. We as a clan strive to build a culture and a society within our clans walls to give each member that much more in the game to do and enjoy than being a number. And as the old saying goes “You get what you put into it”.

What is your current guild size?
Depends on where you are looking. We had approximately 500 in SWG after all the mergers, we have around 200 in WoW, probably about 100 in T2T and some here and there playing BF series, console games etc.. It just really depends.

What is your main time zone?
DC has always taken people from all over the globe. I personally live in the CENTRAL time zone. But we have had EURO players, to Canadian players as well as coast to coast players. It helps to have a variety of time zones in the clan so there is always SOMETHING going on somewhere for people to do.

What servers are you gunning for?
Actual servers are of course unknown right now. We are looking to decide between a FFA type of server or a regular PvP server. The choice right now being the ability to protect the merchant classes of the guild and the ability to run businesses in our city without being griefed or the customers being griefed. Exactly what cities will offer and players are able to do with them is uncertain. But if they do have open cities like SWG had to allow commerce back and forth, protecting the business division of the clan is a major consideration.

How do you look at interacting with other guilds?
We are good to our allies and ruthless to our enemies. Unless people become personal on the enemy side, we try and have a mutual respect for those we fight against. I mean at the very least, without them we would have no one to kill! On the flip side, time and time again DC has come to the rescue of other guilds out there. But, that is not to say we were able to accomplish everything we did with out the help of friends and allies not directly in the clan.

How are you structured socially?
DC has always been set up in a more military type of structure. Depending on the game of course would depend on the rank structure. But an example of a rather large working structure put together in SWG we had: The Dark Council (GM, AGM and Division heads). Military (land/naval) which has military ranks and promotions based on fighting abilities. The military side has the most ranks because it is the most commonly used Division in a PvP clan. Government which has mayors, recruiting, ambassadors, citizens and event coordinators. The Merchants (or Black Market) who run the businesses and make sure we are not undercutting our own members as well as keeping current with “world” pricing. Obviously again, games like SWG, AoC (hopefully) allow for this much organization where as games like WoW it would be much more basic.

What is your take on player cities?
Player cities are a must and the ability to create, customize and revamp. If you do not have a city to call “home”, then you really never feel like you belong anywhere and your soul is not a part of something “real”. Hundreds of people going back to the very early days when DC settled on Tattooine to the days when Corriban’s fortress was built on Naboo. These people and our allies can say they helped make that city what it was. Games like WoW and Guild Wars lack that kind of feeling. The city features are still somewhat of a mystery. But from what I understand so far, the most compelling feature to me is the ability to set up real defenses for your city. One of SWG’s horrible mistakes when developing their cities was the lack of actual Galactic Civil War customization abilities. Dropping a base and a turret on THAT base only holds its luster for so lo ng. The ability to actually set up a defense network using defensive tools (not dropping houses next to each other to simulate walls) is what will make AoC great.

What is your take on in-game taxes and loot distribution?
While any new game start is difficult, we have never really had a dues or taxation system. I mean heck, the SWG tax system didn’t even work anyway…lol. We rely on the belief that I will give you these materials I find (because I am not a crafter) and later when I need a gun or armor, you will hook me up. There i always some form of abuse or taking advantage of and that is dealt with on a case by case basis or just by the member himself. But overall, the “sharing” technique works perfectly well.

What excites you most about Age of Conan?
Wow, like my answers haven’t been long enough already! lol If I had to make a short list it would be this: Siege Warfare, Cities, Mounted Combat and a more mature look on “gore” to add realism. ( /does a Homer Simpson drooling noise)

How are you planning on communicating in-game?
VENTRILO is our voice chat server of choice. Once you are a member, you are encouraged (or harassed by my wife Laheira) to get into Ventrilo and communicate with everyone. Helps to prevent a ton of guildcomm spam too.

What are you looking for in a potential member?
Team Player, Honorable and someone that is willing to give 100% in whatever he wants to do (crafter, fighter, etc..). As I stated above, those that wear the <DC> tag are brothers and sisters. We are looking for people that will fit into the family. Oh, being a sick twisted individual helps a lot too. Vent and guild communications can get into a wide variety of mature topics. We are not for the easily offended that is for sure. We have a screening process and will never just mass recruit to get numbers like some clans do. It is not quantity that wins, but quality.

How to apply?
www.durmanhoth-clan.com is our main site.
www.durmanhoth-clan.com/AoC is our Age of Conan site which has an application link on the left hand side. Obviously right now people will not be able to ACCURATELY fill it out because they have not chosen a class or archetype yet. What we are trying to do now is see what we have going into beta and out of beta as far as hardcore crafters and fighters.

Final words from Hardware:
DC has been around since 1993 and has been in many different on-line games from then to present and will be in many more in the future. While we have had those who have temper tantrums (take their ball and go home), we have always been around and always have a very close knit group. A a guild leader, you see names and faces come and go. But there is no cooler feeling to see some of those faces around years later and following from game to game.
/salute to DC and see you all in Hyboria!
http://www.durmanhoth-clan.com
http://www.durmanhoth-clan.com/AoC
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=9491

—
Hardware, Overlord of The Durmanhoth Clan

If you want to bug me with suggestions, questions or you want your Guild to be featured.. Tough tootsy! 😀
Just kidding! I’m always happy to hear from you. I’m at: [email protected]