gamerDNA Spotlight – Elite Assassin’s Legion

Finally! We’ve got another gamerDNA group spotlight. Last time we had an interview with Elilane, leader of the Fyredraek guild in World of Warcraft. This week, we’ve got a spotlight on a Call of Duty 4 clan on the Xbox 360 – Elite Assassin’s Legion. We’ve got the leader, Danpipster, here to talk about his clan.

gamerDNA: So why don’t you introduce yourself and your group – who are you, what is your group, what game does your group play?

Danpipster: Right, well, my gaming name is Danpipster, co leader of the EAL, which stands for Elite Assassin’s Legion. We are a CoD4 Clan on the Xbox 360.

 

 

gamerDNA: What motivated you to create your clan?

Danpipster: Well, having played on my own in ordinary ranked matches (online), it frustrated me to see how unorganised teams were. I thought, if only teamwork was used and everyone worked together we could really win games! Especially if we had a talented squad of players,which is something I am trying to build up, as the name suggests (Elite).

Communication is another factor. I noticed how in games I found that if I found a useful piece of information, such as enemy locations or something similar, if we were a team, we could share this information and really gain the edge over the enemy.

More after the jump….

 

gamerDNA: So, what do you guys look for in new recruits? Skill or communication ability?

Danpipster: First and foremost, skill, but for me communication and teamwork are also key. We have made a trial system for our clan, in which every recruit is marked on their ability not just in certain aspects of gameplay ability, but also on how they respond in different situations, how they work together, etc. I find communication is so important, sharing information and working together rather than alone really does get the job done. It is not good having a really good player if they don’t communicate or work with others. Respect is also something I look for: again, it is not good having a top player if they disrespect others and don’t try to get along.

gamerDNA: So, if I were a new member, what would I typically be doing my first few weeks in the clan?

Danpipster: Ahh, now that would depend upon how good we thought you were! If you were a top player and we thought you were good enough, you would participate in our games together, particularly in our private matches.

We train a lot as a clan, in private games, working on tactics, ideal weapons to use in certain situations, and generally how to go about playing each game mode an each map. Preparation is vital to success in GameBattles [a matchmaking website for clans] matches and any game, so that’s what we try to do. If we thought you were good enough, you would take part in our training and eventually play in Gamebattles matches when you were up to speed with our tactics and strategies. If we thought you still needed a bit of work, you would be placed in our academy, trained up under the watchful eye of our top players, and then moved up into the main sector of the clan ready to represent the clan in Gamebattles matches.

gamerDNA: So you mentioned training, how often do you guys train a week?

Danpipster: Normally at least once a day but it depends upon who is online; and, obviously, people can’t come on all the time due to different circumstances outside of the game. We have two squadrons in our clan, one for Team Deathmatches [one team versus another in a battle for the most kills], and one for Search & Destroy [a game mode where one team has a bomb that they need to plant while killing and avoiding the other team]. Normally as long as a squadron leader is online, we will take whichever members are online at the time into training. This usually happens every day.

gamerDNA: How long is each training session?

Danpipster: Again, that will depend upon what we feel we need to train on. I will make mental notes during Gamebattles matches of what players do and don’t do well and I will try to then bring these issues up in training. We will then have a chat as a clan, every member has his say, and will from there try to come up with the best solution to do better in the next match. We then practice that in training. Depending upon what we are practicing, the time will vary. Anything from 15 minutes to an hour.

 

 

gamerDNA: So you mentioned that you have a squadron leader, can you go a bit deeper into the chain of command in your clan (what responsibilities each level has, etc.)?

Danpipster: As we are new, we are still assessing each players possibility for promotions to a higher rank, and at the moment have a limited rank structure. What we do have however, is two squadron leaders, myself and the other squadron leader. I lead the Team Deathmatch squad and my co leader takes the Search and Destroy team. Not only are we the leaders of the squads, we are also the overall clan leaders, so we have all the responsibilities of keeping the clan going, organising gamebattles matches, recruiting, training etc.

I am currently constructing a deeper rank system of 3-4 ranks to be added along with simply just us as leaders and normal members, named after the military ranks, so private, corporal, sergeant etc. Each will have slightly more responsibility and power. These ranks will be introduced once we feel that we can share our responsibilities, for now we are just making sure that everyone focuses on the game.

We don’t want to give people too much power too soon, before they have really established themselves in the game and in the clan. The most hard working, most loyal, most frequent players and those who contribute more on our forums will be rewarded with promotions.

gamerDNA: Do you guys ever see yourselves branching out to other games?

Danpipster: I’m not sure to be honest. I guess that, as Call of Duty 5 comes out, naturally we will make the transition from CoD4 to CoD5 as a clan, and will continue to work and play in the same way. As far as other games go, that would depend if we felt as a clan we had a strong enough team to compete at the highest level of other games too. For now we are concentrating on CoD 4 as we strive to be the best. I wouldn’t rule out the EAL branching out to other games in the future but only if we felt it didn’t take away our concentration on the CoD series. We’d rather be the best on cod than middle-of-the-road in several games.

 

 

gamerDNA: So, what type of character do you use in CoD (e.g. what perks/weapons are your favorite)?

Danpipster: Personally, I am an assault gunner. I don’t think I have quite enough patience to stay hidden as a sniper or a camper [someone who defends a certain area from the same position] for any length of time, so I enjoy moving around, running and gunning. Using the assault weapons is my best skill in CoD so it makes it all the better. I am fair with sniper rifles and other weapons but I consistently get high scores with the assault rifles. My favourites are the M4, M16 and AK47 (Golden!). my teammates would differ though, as in our squadrons we try to have mixed and balanced teams, so that we are equipped to face any opponent which plays any style.

As a team of 6, we have 3 assault gunners, 2 snipers and a stealth player for surprise and flanking if it is required. As a team we resent grenade launchers so do not use them

Perks [perks are player specific bonuses] wise, for normal games my setout would be: perk 1: frag [grenades] x3, perk 2: stopping power [more powerful bullets], perk 3: deep impact [bullets penetrate deeper]. and for hardcore [a game mode with no heads up display and more realistic damage] games I would play with p1: claymores, p2: uav jammer [makes you invisible on radar] and perk 3: dead silence [makes you quiet].

 

 

gamerDNA: What do you think about the clan hosting on gamerDNA, what do you like and what do you dislike?

Danpipster: Well, it is easy to set up a professional looking web site quickly and easily, which is great. Several people have said to me that it looks great, and it does, thanks to the ease of use of gamerDNA.

My only problem is that I don’t think the recruiting system is as clear as it could be; it may just be me, but it doesn’t seem particularly easy or straightforward to get into the recruiting bit of the web site. But like I said, it may just be me!

gamerDNA: One last question – do you have any parting words to offer everyone on gamerDNA?

Danpipster: I would say that if anyone is looking to join an elite clan of skilled players looking to win whilst having fun at the same time, and if they think they are skilled enough to join us, to contact Danpipster on Xbox Live for trials or more info.

Awesome! Thanks again to Danpipster for the interview, and if you think you have what it takes to join a great gamerDNA clan, visit their site and apply!

Do you have a guild, clan, or group that you’d like to have featured on the gamerDNA blog? Feel free to drop us a line and stay tuned for more spotlights!

Tags: call of duty 4, cod4, EAL, gamerdna spotlights, Spotlights