This week I am very proud to present one of our community’s long time hard hitters: Jen’jidai.

Jen’jidai is one of those guild names that keep cropping up every where you go on the Star Wars: The Old Republic forums, if you attend conventions, in the Twitter SWTOR community an seemingly behind almost any door marked with The Old Republic. Here today I have the leader of Jen’jidai Chapter, Xenith, whom you may remember for his stunning  forum signature art featured here at TORWars a few weeks ago.

Trying my hand at a little image cutting here.

Quick Stats:

PvP

English, US East (EST)

Hardcore (20+ hrs/week), endgame content, heavy roleplaying, scheduled play sessions, voice chat requirement, forum and website usage required, chatty/talkative

Founded in January 2009, led by Xenith

93 members

What prompted the formation of your guild?

My gaming community: Legend Gaming™

A little background on Legend Gaming: Jen’jidai is a chapter of the multi-gaming network; Legend Gaming which was first established in 2007 by leaders of the Age of Conan guild, Hand of Set. Since then, they have expanded into other games like Warhammer Online and Darkfall. Currently, Legend Gaming is now focusing on the SWTOR chapter, Jen’jidai however.

Jen'jidai front page header on their awesome site

How did you pick the name?

We knew we were going to be aligned with the Sith Empire and at the time, the Guild Leader(s) Drahl and I knew we were going to be force sensitive so, in following the Sith, we found the term “Jen’jidai” in Sithanese means “Dark Jedi”. And there you have it.

How many members are you strong? How many are active?

We currently have a roster of 100 members who are all active. This is due to our Activity Requirements that we have within community. Anyone who’s going to be gone for an extensive amount of time, by request, can be placed on our Immunity List which can last anywhere from one month to two. If the member is military, special exceptions can be made.

The Jen'jidai Official Logo

What is unique about your guild? What, in your opinion, makes it stand out from the crowd?

We cater to the hardcore and casual as well as the PvP, RP and PvE players. There’s a place for everyone. Unlike most guilds who focus 40% on one aspect, 40% on another and the remaining 20% on the last aspect of an MMORPG, we focus 100% on all of it. Period.

Jen'jidai Poster by Xenith

As a guild leader, what is the most important piece of advice you would give to a new guild starting up?

Prepare to put in time and effort. Personally, (and this is just my opinion) if you don’t treat it like your second job, you won’t keep it going like one. If your standards are low, you can get away with being lazy. However, if they’re high, then you have to treat it like you make a living off of it. Many of my members are in contact with me 24/7 should my guild/community need me. Whether I’m at work or out and about—my guild/community is my second home/job and because I treat it as such, we’re successful in everything we do.

Are you looking for more members?

Currently, we’ve just hit our soft cap again for the 3rd time. That being said, while we leave our application section open, we are a lot stricter on who makes it beyond applying, onward to the next step in the recruitment process. So if anyone’s considering it, bring your “A Game” because you’ll need it.

Header from their Dogma page - Click to visit

How do you guys pass the time and keep the excitement and guild commitment up while waiting for the game to release?

Currently, we have Activity Nights once or twice a week along with movie nights. Sometimes it’s like we all get together and go to a kick ass flick at the cinema. It’s epic. Also, a lot of us are playing other MMORPG’s to pass the time.

What is your guild looking forward to doing in SWTOR in particular?

Everything—you name it. We’re prepping to hit server firsts and hopefully world firsts as well. We’ve done it in every single chapter we’ve had in the past and we don’t plan on stopping.

Jen'jidai members at PAX Prime 2011 with Daniel Erickson and David Bass

What is creating the biggest buzz in your guild right now?

SWTOR in general and the 20+ members of our guild that are going to be stormed PAX Prime.

Jan'Jidai at PAX Prime 2011 with Jennifer (FemShep/Satele Shan) Hale

I was lucky enough to grab Admiral (and Recruitment Officer!) Jaro and in my usual nosy fashion I bombarded him with a few last minute questions as well as extorted the fun photos here from JenJidai’s trip to PAX. Here is what he said when I asked him what it was like meeting up with his guildies last week:

I will let you know that it was very familiar and comfortable meeting my guildies. I’ve been talking and gaming with some of them for over a year without ever meeting them and as soon as I met them it was like bam, instant connection.

We all just had a sense of protectiveness for each other that is even rare to find in friends that I have physically interacted with for years

We also got along well with other opposite faction guilds like Rebuc from Eternal Vigilance and a few other guilds.

- Jaro, Jen’jidai Recruitment Officer

Guild amenities. What does your guild have to offer its members?

Our community offers each chapter and its members a personalized website to fit the theme of the game they play (custom graphic included), custom forums, a forum chat box, Ventrilo and yes, the occasional belly dancing. We like to keep things exciting as well and every once in a while, a member will come in intoxicated.

Header from the Jen'jidai 'Faithful' page - click to see their roster

What was the toughest hurdle for you and your guild to get over in the time you’ve spent together?

I’ll be kind with my words here and say, “individuals with non-intelligent statements”. I know that sounds bad, however every guild will have that one or two individuals who are just “bleh”. When this happens, they’re quickly removed.

Tell us about You. What draws you to SWTOR? What made you decide to run a guild?

What draws me to SWTOR is the Star Wars universe itself. It has the richest and robust storylines imaginable and the possibilities are limitless. As for what made me decide to run Jen’jidai, a couple of years ago, the leadership of the community (Legend Gaming™) were in a “rut” with our chapters at that time due to the disappointment of other MMORPG’s we were officially playing. With that being said, I decided to grab the bull by the horns and start a chapter up for SWTOR once it was approved my our communities leadership council.

Jen'jidai forum header - click to visit

What is it like to run a guild a year or more in advance of the game the guild is formed to play in?

Running a guild pre-release is A LOT of work. Like I mentioned previously it’s like having a second job for me. In the real world, if you want to be successful, you have to prepare and put in the time and effort to ensure success; this is what we are doing.

Jen'jidai Twitter Background - Click to view their Twitter page

To finish things off here is a taste of Jen’jidai RP:

Admiral Finn grumbled tiredly as he seated himself at an empty bar table; all he wanted was to relax at The Cantina and have a nice strong drink. Finn was weary from his travels; going planet to planet to recruit the best fighters in the galaxy. The Jen’jidai needed more strong men and women if they were going to fight in the coming war. But now it was time to finally relax and sit down for that drink. He was not wearing his Mandalorian armor today; in fact he was dressed in something akin to a rather ornate, perhaps even royal, Asian garb; a silk mask covering his face. It was obvious this man was old by the look in his eyes and the wear in his hair. He saw his assistant, Neithen sitting at the bar and nodded to him in acknowledgement.

“Bar keep,” he called in a soft but terrifying voice. “Bring me your strongest drink, and send one to my assistant, over there.” He glanced at Neithen and nodded again. Finn turned and looked back at the bar. The barkeep waited for something, something to tell him to begin making the drinks, that it was ok to turn his back, but Finn would never look a person beneath him in the eyes.

“Right away s-.” the bartender began to respond, but Finn interrupted him by grabbing abruptly at his sleeve and speaking in a harsh tone. “Don’t speak to me, boyo, just do as I say.

As he sat there, drinking and toying with his datapad, a man came up behind him and grabbed his shoulder. “Heysh thur good fella, whats say you buys mesh a drink, huh? Thens we can goes to see who’s a better shot? Hahaha..” The mood of the place began to drop, but the music continued to play. “What say you and I head outside boyo, we’ll see who’s the better shot now instead of later.” Finn returned without looking up at the man.

“Sure!” the drunkard replied.

“I’ll be right out, once I finish this drink.” Finn waited for only a moment, then downed what was left in his cup as the drunkard walked unsteadily towards the door. With a draw and a squeeze Finn shot the man in the back of the head before his body had reached the full freshness of the air. He fell limp to the floor as the door shut behind him. “Barkeep, I’ll need another.”

Finn smirked. This is probably why he doesn’t get out much. The barkeep hastily brought Finn another drink. Just as he was about to take a sip, someone walked up besides him yet again. “Er..excuse me..”

Finn’s grip tightened, knuckles turning white as he spoke aloud, “Oh..this has better be good…” Slowly he half-turned to face in the direction of the newcomer. “What is it boyo?!” The man was young; wearing some light armor and holding a blaster slung around his shoulder, another man behind him with a Saber and cloak. Their eyes widened. They looked like he had some skill, maybe even some potential; but didn’t look like they’d seen a whole lot of action yet.

“Well I..” The hunter cleared his throat and spoke up more confidently, as if he had to force the strength into his own voice. His eyes flickered towards the door where the drunkard had just fallen for the last time. “We… hear tell that you are the man to see about joining the ..the ah… Jen’jidai.”

Finn’s eyes narrowed as he examined the boy. “What’s the matter? Speak up. Don’t you even know our name..or have you come just to waste my time?” The newcomers started to take a step back but managed to stand firm. He shook his head. “No..no sir; I’m not wasting your time. I want to join..to hunt down and kill the Republic scum wherever they hide.”

Finn glared at him for a moment as he thought, “Hm..doesn’t scare too easy, good. Might survive for a little while.” He then raised high his drink and drank half of it. “Alright…you want to join up? Heh, that’s alright by me boyo.” He reached into his pack and pulled out a small datapad. “Take this application. If you want to join us, you’ll have to prove that you’re good enough. If we decide that you’re worth the effort, then we’ll let you join the academy, get you some real experience.”

Finn let out an irritable breath and downed the rest of his drink. “Now go and let me drink….and try not to soil the floor in excitement.”

Jen'jidai Website design piece

Thank you so much, Xenith and Jaro, for giving us a look behind the scenes of Jen’jidai. I wish you all good luck in game and out and many, many adventures together in the future.

If you are interested in joining Jen’jidai be sure to read their application guide lines thoroughly!