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The Crimson Order

Who are we?

The Crimson Order is a collection of adult game enthusiasts that has endured for over 10 years, through multiple games. We are influenced heavily by our many active and prior service members, and as such, have created a very structured and cohesive guild that allows for maximum opportunity for members to advance through their own merits. "Guild Drama" is put down with extreme prejudice, as all of us are adults who do this in spite of our jobs, not as our jobs, as is the case in some other guilds. These reasons, along with a strict spiritual adherence to our core principles, have given CO lasting power that transcends pixels on the screen, and truly has become a collection of friends.

The Crimson Order focuses primarily on military operations (such as open world PvP, alliance vs alliance content, and territorial control). While our focus is on our military operations, we do pursue other content. We have traditionally had a strong supportive crafter base, and do go after high end PvE content.

Why join the Crimson Order

- Military friendly - many of our leaders and members are active or prior military.
- Proven history and staying power - the Crimson Order is not a fly by night guild and has continuously existed for more than ten years in various games while other guilds folded and closed up shop.
- Highly structured - we have a structured top-down military organization. When you join, you won't just be in an amorphous blob of members who are left to their own devices.
- Awesome environment - when you join the Crimson Order, you are joining a community of fellow gamers. Our members say they keep coming back to the CO for our community.
- 18+ community - we only accept adult members.
- Anti-drama - we don't tolerate drama or power plays.

Our core values

Our values define who we are, what we strive for, and where we go in the future. All members of the CO are expected to live, breathe, and act in accordance to these values.

Duty. Honor. Respect. Dignity. Courage. Innovation. Adaptability. Maturity. Distinction.

Our vision

The CO’s vision today builds upon on our past strengths with a focus on providing the best possible experience for our members in the present and into the future.

Our vision is to provide Member Focused Leadership, Strong Organization, Open Two-Way Communication, Service to our Online Community, and a Fun and Supportive Environment. The Crimson Order will strive for excellence in all that it does, and will aim to become the premier Ebonheart military organization in the game.

Our history

If we don’t know where we came from, how do we know where we are going?

The concept of the Crimson Order began in 2003 when several individuals came together with a common vision and direction for a new organization in Star Wars Galaxies. The ideals of member focused leadership, a clear cut and strong military style structure, open flow of communication, and our core values.

These leaders formed the Crimson Order, which also became known as the 1st Battalion of the 209th Stormtrooper Regiment. The Crimson Order quickly grew to prominence on its server, leading several major military campaigns and bringing together one of the largest alliances seen in the game. The SWG branch of the CO closed up shop in 2011 along with the final server shutdowns.

In 2010, the Crimson Order opened a branch in Star Wars The Old Republic. The CO again focused on community building and partnering with other guilds in game. The TOR branch of the CO also became known for its activities in open world PvP.

Other branches of the CO have seen service in the Matrix Online (beta testing), World of Warcraft, EvE Online, Tabula Rasa (beta testing), Age of Conan, and Star Trek Online.

Our organization

Our focus is to have a fully functioning, and independent army. We will cover all aspects of combat, command, training, information, crafting, supply, and dominance of the entire globe.

The CO is organized based on a slightly modified military structure but in line with the lore of the Elder Scrolls. We have a clear chain of command led by the Grand Master of the Crimson Order. We use the tried and true structure of Company/Platoon/Squad to make up the backbone of our organization. We also have other specialist detachments that will focus on various tasks. The entire structure is constantly reviewed to maximize efficiency.

Promotions in the CO are earned through hard work, talent, and determination. Corruption and nepotism have no place in the CO.

Our leadership

The leadership of the CO has over twenty two years of combined experience leading guilds and organizations for a large variety of games and in real life as well. Our command staff is focused on serving the needs of their members first, not on expanding their personal power or fame.

At the top of the structure are the Grand Master and the Chapter Masters who provide the strategic level leadership, advice, and counsel for the Crimson Order’s operations. The Chapter Masters are supported by Company Commands and Platoon leadership which provide more of the tactical leadership and driving the day-to-day affairs of the Order.

The Crimson Order places a lot of emphasis and responsibility on its lower level leadership. As these leaders are usually in the trenches tending to the needs of their troops, they play a vital role in building the Order. Therefore, we are constantly striving to find and to help develop and train new leaders.

How to join

The Crimson Order is always keeping an eye out for new members and is currently open for new applicants. Please keep in mind that we do review all applications and may require a brief interview to make sure you will fit in with the Crimson Order. Also, new recruits are generally placed in a trial period as determined by the recruiting staff.

We are also currently looking for people with the following skill sets (this list will be updated as our needs change):

- Graphic Design Specialists
- Web Design/Coding Specialists
- Propaganda Specialists

Additionally, any former member of the Crimson Order and friends and family of members can join via an expedited process.

If you feel that you have what it takes to be a member of the Crimson Order, head over to our website at crimsonorder-teso . enjin . com (remove the spaces between the . ) and sign up (be sure to use your main character’s name when you register).

Remember:

- You must be a member of the Ebonheart Pact.

- You must also be at least 18 years or older. However, we do make limited exceptions in certain cases; please contact one of our leaders for more information.

- You must agree to abide by the Crimson Orders Rules and Regulations without exception or hesitance.

- You will need to be willing to download and use Mumble to participate in any of the Crimson Order's military operations or PvP.

If you have any questions, feel free to contact any one of our leaders or designated recruiting staff.

Sincerely,

On behalf of the Grand Master of the Crimson Order,
Caden Graka

“Get to know the Crimson Order’s Leaders: Part One – Caden Graka”

Caden Graka is currently serving as the Grand Master (guild leader) of the Crimson Order.

About Me

I originally became involved in online gaming during the summer of 2002 when I started playing America’s Army Online. I joined up with a great online gaming clan that consisted of mostly veteran US Armed Forces, called the Second Ranger Battalion (2RB). During my time with that clan, I rose to be the second in command and helped lead and train new members on how to use team tactics to survive and win in AA:O. The highlight of my time in AA:O was when my clan reached the #10 spot in the official AA:O tourney ladder. As this was my first experience with an online gaming group, it was a very formative period for me and helped establish my thoughts and theories on what makes a successful online community. Primarily – and this sounds obvious but can be hard to develop and grow – is the feeling of community, that every is a part of a larger family.

Shortly after I started in AA:O, I found out about Star Wars Galaxies. Being a big Star Wars fan/geek I was drawn to it like a bear to honey. I then began a search in the latter part of 2002 for a SWG focused clan (and soon learned that the proper vernacular was “guild” or as SOE desired, “Player Association”). I found that in The Imperial Guard (yes that TIG). At the start TIG was a great group of people, I made a number of friends that I still keep in touch with today (and many who are now with us in the Crimson Order). Again, by showing my predilection for organizing things in a better manner than when I first arrived, I eventually found myself in the number three spot in TIG as the head of their “C-Corp” (just had the Military Commander and Khade Deveron himself above me).

Then enter palace intrigue, power-hungriness, and dereliction of duty, and then you’ll find the second defining moment of my on-line career. I eventually grew tired of how things were shaping up in the upper echelons of TIG leadership (hint: I don’t like drama and think video games should be fun) and asked to go join the bad-ass peeps over in Special Ops. I took a demotion and became a member of a solid core of members. They were a very tight nit family. One night during some counter-intelligence operations, I came into contact with Corf Ferno. We defeated the spy and ousted a few moles who were trying (but failing miserably) to disrupt things in TIG, but more importantly laid the groundwork for what was to come.

Eventually, the game launched and we (TIG) started out on Starsider server in SWG. Long story short, we migrated to Naritus a month later and a few weeks after that, the entire Special Operations branch plus Corf left TIG and formed the Crimson Guard. Since that name was slightly lame and too close to our predecessors, we quickly changed it to the Crimson Order.

Not long after, Corf was placed in charge of the Crimson Order and I became a member of the Battalion Command (or what we called the Unholy Trinity with Corf, Jaboota, and myself). I headed up operations (essentially all the administrative parts, planning, etc) and functioned as the mayor and city planner for the Crimson Keep. I served in this manner from 2003 until about 2006ish when I took my last stroll through Naritus and soon turned off my SWG account in disgust of what SOE had done with the game.

I then took turns playing through EvE for a year and some change with an old TIG acquaintance, and took turns running through the Matrix Online beta, the Tabula Rasa beta, and hoping for other games that never materialized. Finally in 2009, a former CO member (Stern, aka Sovereign) that I had teamed up with for other games contacted me about Star Wars The Old Republic and how he wanted to get the gang back together. I liked the idea very much, and fairly soon afterward we were back in the saddle along with some other great friends from CO, including Ewel and Vaylen. We settled into the standard pre-launch activities and beta testing for SWTOR and things went fairly smoothly through launch. I remained at the helm of the CO for most of the first year after launch, until Bioware merged our server onto another server, at which point I switched command over to Ewel and let him take a turn running the game while I advised and helped out where I could.

A few other things about me, I am an avid reader with three bookcases (and several boxes in the garage) full of books I’ve read. I like the Washington Capitals, am into science, political theory, computers, history, paintball, hiking, and am strongly supportive of the US military.

Questions and Answers

What was/is your best MMO experience and opportunity to date, and a particular instance in your gaming experience that you will never forget?

Well, it would have to be Star Wars Galaxies. Honestly, SWG would also hold the title for worst MMO experience. As far as a gaming experience I will never forget… I would have to say it would be a tie between one of the major Crimson Keep battles that raged for hours and the Naritus Imperial Alliance grand parade. We had designed the Crimson Keep to be essentially centered on a giant square with houses forming a wall around it with three “gates” allowing entrance (back in the day the dev’s allowed medium naboo houses to be placed right next to each other with no gaps). This allowed for some very interesting battles as our four-eight large imperial bases were always a target for the rebel scum. We would have massive fights that would rage all night as waves of rebel guilds and our imperial allies would battle for control of the city. It’s hard to forget that final moment when all would go quiet as the last rebel was incapp’d and they had lost the will to continue the fight.

Why have you been a member of this guild for so long?

Honestly, it’s the sense of family and community that has been formed here. I’ve had relationships and friendships formed within the Crimson Order that have lasted for six plus years. Plus, it is not often that you will find a group of players who are out there to have fun and to leave the drama at the door (not to say we’ve never had drama, we just have a way of shoving it off a cliff if needed). I’ve never met a CO leader who was doing it for the power or the glory. Most of our long line of guild leaders have had the job thrust upon them whether they wanted it or not. And for the most part, they all stepped up to the plate.

I hooked up with this guild recently and this guild hits all the marks: lots of nice people (dozens on during this latest beta, and more joining by the day), good organizational structure, helpful and friendly. We did a bit of PvP in the beta and I could already tell this guild is going to get stuff done in Cyrodiil. They know what they want and how to get it.

If you want an active guild with a plan, check this one out.

Close to game launch time!

If you are still on the fence about choosing a guild, consider that Crimson Order is a well disciplined, well organized guild that still stays fun. All game aspects will be covered with various divisions allowing you to get the most out of the Elder Scrolls online experience.

Join us o/

This seems to be a great guild so far. Easy to understand application process and the members are always around to answer questions.

I admire how the guild has a true, drama-free environment, and they actually take the time to screen their members.
Looking forward to fighting the war with them as my brothers-in-arms.

This is truly an awesome guild. I have been a part of other guilds on other platforms and The Crimson Order is by far the most organized and friendly one I have every had the pleasure of being a part of. Weather you are into hard core pvp or just casual questing, the guild is a great community and is always there to help its members. If you want a true MMO experience with the best people in ESO come check out The Crimson Order. You wont be sorry.

Great guild! If you really new to MMO's and/or Elder Scrolls these guys really know what they are doing. Very Very friendly and funny.