User:Draug Swart

= Profile =

About me and Guild Wars
originally written March 10 2007 18:37:40 CET

Within the game my identity is nowadays labeled as Draug. Actually this is the name of my second character. Although I chose this character to be my main, all my other characters have their own names that are untied to my label. Since childhood I have always shown interest in role playing. In all the games I have pursued I tried to add a role playing aspect.

Since 1997 I have experience with online gaming and this started with the Quake series by id Software. Despite Quake being a First Person Shooter game, the initial creation of my clan back then was based on role playing. In my clan we were proud warriors who went to war against other clans. Unfortunately after half a year the market for organized electronic competition unfolded. We role players were soon made ridiculous. Clans transformed to teams. And wars became matches. The spirit of Quake was reduced to a very successful e-sport.

To keep feeding my role playing needs I turned to more direct role playing games. One of the games I played online was Diablo II by Blizzard. In this game you also create characters and over time I have played a dual weapon wielding Barbarian, a Minion Master, a Beastmaster and an Ice specialized Elementalist. But as with Quake something in the role playing experience changed. People turned away from real role playing as I would call it now and turned to something else.

What I became aware of was an approach called meta-game thinking. This is the ability as a player to reflect your choices within the game. But where you as a true role player keep your accumulating knowledge-bank separated from your characters. The new approach followed by many is about combining all their knowledge and creating a god-like character. This group of people became known as power players.

These days power play has the upper hand in the gaming community. The people have chosen for pure competition and commercial companies have greedily answered their call by entering the market to claim their share of profit. This has lead to statements that many so called role playing games are no longer worth the title.

You might get the idea that I am misplaced here. Know this, before I came to Guild Wars I did a lot of research. Of all the modern massive multi player online games none supported true role playing. Whatever my choice would be, at some point I would come in contact with power play. The determination of Arena.net to create a CORPG instead of a MMORPG was a direct sign of power play. But of all these games, Guild Wars had fare most the best setup and I have no regrets about my choice. As I have free willingly chosen for this game, I can genuinely say that I am enjoying Guild Wars a lot. While playing my first character I have tried to remain as naive as long as possible. The experience was wonderful and I encourage everyone to play the game this way, unbiased by meta-game thinking. A Guild Wars power player now myself, in heart I will always stay a role player.

About Draug
originally written Aug 18 2008, 12:20 AM CET

It is my pleasure to welcome you to these couple of sentences. Draug is the name, hopefully when you're done reading I have succeeded in you getting to know me. To be honest I have been deeply thinking about a way how to explain to you who I am, since I have some experience in writing an introduction thread, I believe this will do, I decided to write something I have never written before. Isn't that exciting!? It is for me, give me a few seconds....I will explain to you the origin of my name.... what do you think about that? Recently I read this book called Earthsea, the story goes that if you know somebody's true name, you wield its power. That's right, I am giving myself to you, TIG. After this point, do what you wish, I am your servant.

The next situation is not hard to imagine for anyone, you're logged on to Guild Wars and you see this character, he of she has completed the campaign(s) and you have become bored. Then you decide to create a new character! You pick a profession, a hard task on itself, but then what about the name?

My second character is a male warrior, I can tell you honestly, he was spawned for just one reason...money. The simple fact of life is this, if you want to see anything to happen in our world, you need hard coin. But hey, isn't money the root of all evil? Yes it is, or this my character believes so. The background of my character unfolds slowly in my mind. I make up the story that this warrior will need to kill monsters, a lot of them, because these creatures drop pieces of .. gold. So forth a great story in my humble opinion. To become a little more technical, in order to kill these minotaurs as I would name them, I need healing to stay alive, and to acquire the complete loot, I must kill by myself. Hence I took monk as secondary profession.

I summarize a warrior that can fight, self-heal and smite evil, such a warrior is goody good, and called a Paladin. In heavens name, there is no way I can bring a warrior/monk to PvP combat. What I need is something different and unanticipated. While completing the original campaign I had to fight my way to the desert. There the paladin had to fall and I would make the the ultimate turn. Changing secondary profession monk to necromancer, my warrior was to become an anti-paladin, in role playing settings also known as the Black Guard. The traditional blackguard epitomizes evil and carries a fully deserved reputation of the foulest sort. Consorting with demons and devils serving dark deities, his black heart revel only in darkness. This seemed to me the perfect solution for a character background.

Now rested the name. Best is to keep it simple, this warrior's name, Draug Swart, is the purest turn from paladin to black guard, by all means it's all in his name! So, now you know.

Tradition requires me to close with a quote. This next one appeals to the role playing in my opinion.

''Lt. James Gordon: Because he's the hero Gotham deserves, but not the one it needs right now...and so we'll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he's not a hero. He's a silent guardian, a watchful protector...a dark knight.''

About TIG
The above is copied from my introduction thread on the TIG website. TIG is in fact not a guild, but an alliance or even better an one big alliance-guild consisting of 10 guilds. The Imperial Guards Alliance website can be reached through http://www.theimperialguards.com

TIG History
 joined TIGE in August 2006 promoted to TIGO Guild Officer in August 2006 member of the month in October 2006 promoted to TIGG Guild Leader in November 2006 stepped down as leader in December 2006 stepped down as officer in September 2008 

To rid ourselves of our shadows--who we are--we must step into either total light or total darkness.--Jeremy Preston Johnson

= Characters =

History of Darkan Half Face
Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 1:30 pm Source

Darkan Half Face is named after his great-grandfather Darkan, who summoned the mighty skeletons for the Great Alliance to battle Diablo. In his youth the people gave him the nick Half Face for the huge scar that marks the right part of face. This part is now covered with hair to conceal his dark desires.

Ziona was the name of Darkan's great-grandmother. She was an assassin specialized in dual claws. Later in life she studied the arts of trapping. Unlucky, she died in combat without ever mastering the way of the trap.

Darkan inherited the skills and talents from his predecessor to animate a minion from a corpse. But the ability frightened him and his close ones. So Darkan chose to color his hair and let it grow in order to cover his face. He took up the life of a Ranger. First he specialized in markmanship, killing his foes with a mighty Dead bow, while being accompanied by Lucian, a wolf.

But from deep in his veins emerged a desire to raise the dead. The mark on his face was living. Darkan fought his dark thoughts, he screamed and hated and cursed the scar marking his life, yet the mark commanded Darkan to accept his birthright and become a true Minion Master. The ability of markmanship was taken from him and Lucian was cast out. It looked if Darkan would only be a Necromancer, but at that point it became too much and in a rage Darkan's true and heroic spirit acted, refusing to accept any more of this and so the mark was silented. Darkan stayed a ranger. As Half A Necromancer and Half A Ranger, Darkan Half Face specialized in traps honoring his great-grandmother's passion.

Everybody is born to die, that is the true circle of life. - Darkan Half Face

Introduction to Draug Swart
When I finished the game (Prophecies Campaign) with Darkan Half Face, I needed a new project to take on. With just three slots remaining and five professions to choose from it was not an easy decision. So I asked myself what I wanted. At that point I wanted to spoil Darkan, and for that I required money. Back then the warrior profession equaled money and hence Draug Swart was born. He was about to become the engine behind my Guild Wars career.

History of Draug Swart
Posted: Sat Mar 10, 2007 06:40 pm Source

Draug was born a true Tyrian. He saw daylight in a mixed time. At age four his mother died while giving birth to a stillborn brother. Draug remained as the only son of a successful merchant named Albert Swart who in turn was deeply grieved by the death of his beloved wife. His father's merchant house offered mercanery services to the Ascalonian throne and all others who could afford them. Swart ruled the house with an iron fist. The mercaneries of House Swart were unequaled in their business and highly favored among the guilds of old. Deeply respected for his military advice, Albert Swart was often consulted by King Adelbern himself. In many of the battles which the King fought against the guilds of Orr and Kryta, he relied on the men of House Swart who protected him in the heat of battle. Many men in the Elite Royal Guard were trained by Swart or one of his captains. When the Charr first struck the Northern Gates of Ascalon the King summoned the house master to the palace. Together, the Royal Court decided of rally the bravest and couragest heroes of all the nation. Albert was proud to see his son enlist at the Royal Academy. Despite his political and financial influence Albert Swart did not openly interfere with the training of his son. He made sure Draug was in no way treated with marked preference and wanted his son to excell on his own. When Draug chose to take up the path of the Paladin, in private Albert arranged to let Menhlo - a brilliant monk who attended the famous Shing Jea Monastery - guide his son on his path to God and Power.

Then everything changed. Draug Swart's destiny revealed another part. The Charr's attack was swift and unexpected. The survivors remember the event now known as the Searing. When the Great Northern Wall was breached and the Charr raided the lands, King Adelbern gathered his forces and Albert Swart rallied his House's troops in service to the throne. The improvised army marched towards the capital city of Rin to make their stand. After a long battle the army managed to hold the Charr's attack, but in turn made many sacrifices. Rin was burning, Albert Swart and his house fall with the capital city. King Adelbern and the remnants of his army retreated to the inner walls. Here Draug's ordeal began. Together with Prince Rurik and many heroes he fought back the Charr and left Ascalon to reach the human lands of Kryta. In his veins he carried the pain of his fallen house, yet he was unable to attend his sorrows because a greater threat let its shadow spread among Kryta. Draug aswell was lured in Ascension to fight the Mursaat. Upon the defeat of the Lich King he returned to the Crystal Desert to ponder his dreams. In Draug a deep longing emerged to restore his former house to glory. In the desert and in the mountains he worked hard to gather the necessary coins to open The Stormblades mercaneries guild. But times have changed and with all the new heroes, there seemed no place any longer for his house. His spirit broken, dark entities took over his soul. And the Paladin felt. Now a Black Guard remains.

=Friends=  Diagoro Leonine</li> The Great Tomato</li> Tomo The Mighty</li> Deviant Believer</li> </ul>