Highlighted Guild
Penumbral – Sith Empire
It is time to look at another guild among the SWTOR Community. This week I was contacted by the guild leader of Penumbral, Luniara. She was quite convincing, her lightsaber and Force powers also added to the “benefit” of listening to her guild’s story. Upon hearing the story behind their group of followers, it truly was a remarkable story. Could it be that both the Lightside and Darkside are corrupt, along with the Republic and Empire? That possibly this group called Penumbral, which according Encarta North American Dictionary means “the area between complete darkness and complete light,” might be the answer for the galaxy?
Learn how they got started, why fun is so important & more after the Jump…
Guild Q&A
How did the guild come into being? How long have you been with the guild and what brought you to be a part of Penumbral?
Penumbral’s beginning started on April 30, 2013 by a small group of close friends that had met in a previous guild and formed close bonds. We thought of one another as a ‘family’ and wanted to spread that aspect towards others on our server. Starting out with a handful that had followed us, we worked together with funding the guild, recruiting, creating the lore and forming rules. Spreading the word that we aimed our guild towards the players and their needs, soon enough, we were gaining members and have been growing ever since.
In the guild’s lore your guild/organization believes both Sith and Jedi are corrupt and so you embrace both the Light and Dark sides of the Force correct? Does this also mean the guild has a presence on both factions or is this merely part of the guild’s RP aspect?
We do, in fact, embrace both sides of the Force, opting for a more balanced outlook. Player characters have the choice to follow their own path, whether they believe in the Darkside, Lightside or choose balance and neutrality. While we do have a guild on both factions that is named similar to show our guild’s presence on the server, our main focus is on the Empire guild.
Just as you embrace both sides of the Force, you also embrace all aspects of gameplay in SWTOR correct? Is it hard to organize PVP, PVE, Operations, and RP goals/events? How has the guild maintained balance in these varied styles of gameplay?
It is a little bit of a balancing act when it comes to all of the aspects, but due to the size of the guild, we are able to manage rather well. We have scheduled two structured nights each week, for each aspect, leaving one free night during the week. Outside of that, all of our members engage in whatever aspect they prefer. So, for instance, on our scheduled operations nights, we also have people who do not participate, either RPing somewhere in the game, or grouping up to PvP with one another. We try to always have something going on for our members so our guild is active.
RP 101 Class
In each of the aspects of gameplay there is one word that always pops up and that is fun. Do you feel sometimes the problem with folks getting burned out on games is the lack of fun they have? Has fun helped maintain a happy and thriving guild?
The lack of fun and activity can certainly cause players to get burned out of games. Why else do we play games, right? For us, games are about having fun and enjoying ourselves. Keeping things fun and interesting in Penumbral helps us maintain a thriving and happy guild where members feel they have something to do and show up for. Once you stop having fun, really there is no point left in playing, so yes, fun helps maintain the guild.
Nothing says fun, like a guild party!
How did you personally get into gaming? How did you learn about SWTOR and how long have you been playing? What is your main advance class, and what is your favorite class to play?
Goodness, this is tough to remember…but I will try my best! To keep this short, I’ll stick to when I first started getting into MMO gaming. That began with Ragnarok Online. I was 17 and my Husband (or boyfriend at the time) and I used it to spend time together and “relate” to one another since he was always so hardcore into playing video games. I played it for 3 years on a private server. Later down the road, I had moved away from my family and I chose to play World of Warcraft to spend time with my brother. I’d go to a local gaming cafe to try it out and…it all went down from there. I was addicted! MMOs became a strong part of my life and the more friends I made, the more I loved playing. I learned about SWTOR through one of my friends, who went by the moniker of Darth Maleficent, was a part of one of the first pre-launch guilds. I had been retired from World of Warcraft for about 2 years at that point and thought…”I love Star Wars and loved the Old Republic games…why not give it a try?”. Being an artist, I started out by promptly joining the FanArt community on the SWTOR.com forums and then joined the same prelaunch guild my friend had. From there I began to research what I could about the game with my fellow guildmembers. I’ve been playing the game since I had been invited into the guild beta with no breaks. My main advanced class is the Sith Marauder, which is my first DPS class that I have ever played. I’d like to say that it is my favorite but I find myself leveling Sorcerer healer and…I love it! It is probably my favorite mechanic wise.
Who wrote the Penumbral’s story lore? Does the guild encourage other members to share their stories, artwork or ideas for guild events?
The story lore was a collaborative effort, initially, by our founding members – Luniara, Aeetos, Icelus, Rydlie and Sranishor. From there, we have continued to build it through RP with our members. We love the stories that players come up with and try to incorporate their ideas as often as possible. We have a lot of talented artists and writers in the guild and we encourage them to share anything and ALL the things they want to bring to us.
Your guild has a unique ranking structure. What are the various ranks? How do the various other groups within your guild function, like the Directorate of Intelligence etc.? Do these departments serve a purpose beyond RP?
Our ranking system was devised as a way to show which players have been with the guild for however long a period of time and to give them something to work for in the guild. Each rank actually has its own rolling score for when members engage in RP. The more they participate in the guild and stay active, the higher rank they will achieve. All new members start out as a Recruit. After roughly 30 days of activity, they are promoted to Legionnaire/Specialist (Force User and Non-Force User respectively). Those that have been with the guild for over 3 months can attain the rank of Centurion/Enforcer, or less than 3 months if the leadership decides the promotion is warranted. The most senior, non-officer member is the Praetorian/Sergeant. Anyone that has attained this rank has been dedicated and with the guild from the beginning. After that, we get into the Vice Officer and Officer ranks, Archon/Captain for the Vice Officers and Lord/Director for the Full Officers. Those members that have shown they go above and beyond what is required are promoted to our group of officers, gain the rank of Magister/Warden. The Guild leader’s title has been dubbed as the Overlord.
Penumbral promotion ceremony
As for the different groups within the guild, we call them Lore Departments. They really serve no purpose outside of RP. These Lore Departments allow members to place their characters within an area that is specific to their personal strengths, goals or even something they’d like to be trained in. There are a variety of departments catered to Force users, Mandalorians, Healers, Agents, etc. It opens up more diversity and also allows for more immersion for our players.
Is the Penumbral guild currently recruiting? If so are there specific advance classes or steps the guild requires for potential applicants?
Yes, we are currently recruiting! We don’t necessarily seek out any particular class or level and players are welcome to place an alt if their main guild allows it. The steps we take to find potential applicants is to continuously keep our name out there in the community. Whether it is sending a recruitment post to the General Chat every so often, posting frequently on our server forums or RPing out in the open, keeping active and getting the guild out there so people SEE you, is the prime step in gaining new members. If we see an amazing player or someone who simply wants a guild to call “home”, we will reach out to them as well.
How is the best way for players seeking more information about your guild or those looking to submit an application? Are there any officers that players/guilds should try to contact if wanting to plan an RP or other type of guild event with the Penumbral guild?
The best way to learn more about us is at our website, www.penumbralguild.com . There anyone can learn about our guild lore, our policies, schedule, ect. For those interested in applying to the guild, they need to fill out an application, located at http://www.penumbralguild.com/recruitment . The application takes a short amount of time to complete, and is designed to give the guild officers a feel for their play style and character This way we can help direct them to lore departments, and give them a heads up on what nights might interest them the most, such as PvP nights, raid nights, or RP nights.
For setting up roleplays with us, we ask that players contact our RP department, either in-game or through our forums. This department consists of RP officer Icelus, and vice-officers Pi’ke and Qadarie. They would be more than happy to help develop storylines for roleplays both large and small. Or any other matters, you can contact Luniara, who would be more than happy to work together with other guilds or players for an event.
I’d like to thank Corellian Run Radio for taking this opportunity to spotlight Penumbral. This is not the first time you guys have come through for us (having broadcasted our very first World PvP event) and we really appreciate it.
A video from Penumbral’s server event August 10th
I’d also like to take a moment to let others know that JungMA, while small compared to all the other servers, is truly a great server to be on! Our community is fairly close and most of the guild leaders all work together to keep trolls and griefers from getting into our midsts. There are many talented and kind individuals so I hope if you ever transfer…that you’ll come to JungMA! We’ll be happy to have you.
That’s it for this week’s Community Checkpoint! I want to thank all the members in Penumbral for allowing us this opportunity to learn more about your guild and philosophy of having fun in any aspect of gameplay. Special thanks to Luniara, for one not stabbing me with her lightsaber, like that poor Smuggler and two, all the extra effort in email replies and gathering information to answer my questions. If you are on the Jung Ma server looking for a guild that remembers to keep the fun in the game and that has a thriving RP community dedicated to both guild and individual content. Penumbral has several RP branches within the guild to help you find that RP niche in SWTOR.
What kind of guild is yours? Is it a Hardcore or Casual, PVP or PVE or RP, whatever your playstyle let us all hear about your guild! So if you are in a guild or a leader in a guild, why not contact me and see if we can tell the community about what you folks are doing. Just submit your guild’s website and some basic information in an email to me at, jason@corellianrun.com. Look forward to highlighting more guilds here at Corellian Run Radio. Thanks and see you next week!