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Death and Taxes was formed in the closed beta of World of Warcraft in early 2004, and since that time they’ve become famous for their well-documented, video-captured world-first victories over some of the most advanced raid bosses in the game. Their own website has become an active community of over 15,000 members where players from around the world hope to learn from their adventures.

Unlike most guilds, DnT has no Guild Master—they are run by a council of five officers. We met with Blackened, one of their officers, to talk about his thoughts on the future of MMORPGs and the challenges of running one of the most intense raiding environments in WoW.

PlayerVox: Is raiding enough to hold a guild together long term?

Blackened: I think that raiding can be enough to hold a guild together so long as the game that the guild is playing isn’t broken/tedious to the point where people quit or stop showing up. We’ve had some people quit in the past because the game just wasn’t fun for them anymore. And I can understand why, I think for the most part the only reason why we’ve withstood the test of time is because of the people that glue this guild together. It just wouldn’t be the same with out the kaleidoscope of personalities clashing with each other.

The atmosphere of our guild? Abrasive. One big happy family? Haha!

PlayerVox: What’s it like to be in a Death & Taxes raid?

Blackened: Being in a Death and Taxes raid can be a lot of things to a lot of people. All that I can say for sure is that you can expect a lot of laughs, a lot of yelling, and a lot of profanity or otherwise vulgar language

PlayerVox: How would you describe the atmosphere of the guild, and what would make someone an ideal recruit?

Blackened: The atmosphere of our guild? Abrasive. One big happy family? Haha! It can be a lot of things like I mentioned before, it’s hard to pin any one thing on it. To be an ideal recruit in DnT you have to be an exceptional player and be able to put up with all the crap that will get slung at you if you aren’t the exceptional player we thought you were

PlayerVox: What are the challenges of running a guild without a Guild Master, and would you recommend your leadership style to someone starting a guild today?

Blackened: In the past we’ve had some issues where officers have been indecisive, meaning that we kind of stagnated on an issue. If we had a traditional GM they could act as a means to tip the balance in one direction or the other. Other then that we’ve never really had any issues stemming from the fact that we have an irregular guild structure. As for advice to people looking to incorporate this type of guild structure into their guild: don’t. Don’t do it unless it’s done with a lot of people you trust. That’s one of the key reasons why we’ve been able to use this structure. Trust. We’ve all been playing together for over 2 years for the most part, some of us closer to 3.

PlayerVox: What are some of your most memorable achievements or experiences as a guild?

Blackened: For the most memorable moments are any of our numerous world-firsts or being wrecked by bugs in Naxxramas. We have a chip on our shoulders but we don’t mind where everyone else seems to. Being in the public eye for so long that there’s always someone waiting to take a shot at us but it’s alright. We like being the underdog

PlayerVox: Blizzard introduced a reduction in endgame raid headcount from 40 to 10-25 in Burning Crusade. How has this impacted D&T?

Blackened: When we first heard about this change we toyed with the idea of running 2 raid groups but that’s simply not feasible for anything remotely difficult. On the whole I’d say that the change had no real effect on the guild. The only thing that really had an effect on the guild would be the encounters themselves, we had 7-8 active raiding rogues at the end of Naxxramas, we have 2 now. I think that says something about the direction of the game at the moment.

PlayerVox: What do you wish MMORPGs did differently, and what are your hopes for the future of online gaming?

Blackened: I wish MMO’s we’re a little more complex, and had a little more depth character-wise. A lot of people in DnT are really looking forward to Warhammer: Age of Reckoning. The single thing that most people in DnT are looking forward to in WAR is the PvP. Dark Age of Camelot had incredible RvR and a lot of us would like to experience that again as it’s not present in WoW.

PlayerVox: What advice do you have for finding best players, and what do you do if you get people that start drama?

Try and do a little background on them and their old guild. Ask around, it can be very difficult to trace players history now though because of the shorter time it takes to transfer servers again though. You can also talk to them on Ventrilo, Teamspeak, AIM, or MSN. Just try to get to know them a little bit so you can get a feel for their attitude. If they transfer over and start drama you can do 1 of two things. The first being kicking them from your guild and the second being just not inviting them to raids. I prefer to kick people personally.

PlayerVox: What wisdom can you share with someone starting a guild today?

Blackened: To anyone trying to create a guild now, the best advice I can give you is to surround yourself with the best players possible that don’t cause any serious issues/drama. Be 100% committed to whatever it is that you do and always try to get better as a player.

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