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The History of Organization Drow

Who We Are:

Before you read any further, consider for a moment the history of online competitive gaming. In 1994, it was a relatively new concept. Games such as DOOM were just beginning to scratch the surface. Today, it is entirely possible to be a professional competitive gamer and earn a good living doing it.

Now consider how far we've come in the past few years. Also, consider where online gaming is headed. Virtual Reality is no longer a cheesy buzzword monopolized by Hollywood. The direction of the gaming industry is BIGGER and BETTER.

Countless millions of dollars are being poured into the development of "Massively Multiplayer" and "Persistent Universe" game engines. EverQuest II, World of Warcraft, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes are just a few examples of many that have been made.

With such technology being rapidly developed, the ability for an individual to compete alone is a thing of the past. Soon, even the 4 person clan will be a minority, if not extinct.

We are an organization who believes there is indeed strength in numbers.

Simply put, we are an organized group of people who enjoy online competitive gaming. Much more than an average Quake clan, we are over 400 members world wide and support teams in multiple popular gaming genres.

As a Drow member, there's no need to spend time finding another clan to join when you change games. Chances are, your Drow brothers will have already established a strong presence in that game, allowing you to hit the ground running.

Our Mission:

Our mission is to be the most well known, respected, and feared group of competitive gamers on the planet. We will accomplish this goal by sponsoring many teams in the most popular and competitive online gaming formats. We will retain members who not only have world-class talent, but will practice honor, loyalty, and commitment.

Above all else, we will do it for fun... And to build a brotherhood that will last forever.

Our History:

Drow started out life as just a Quake clan. In 1996, Kalorin and Hammer decided to start a Quake clan. This was just after the first commercial launch of Quake 1. (Now known as NetQuake)

Kalorin and Hammer then recruited Doc, the third member. At the time the name for the clan had not been decided. Kalorin, being a D&Der, suggested Drow because in the D&D world, they are known as a very feared race. Neither Hammer nor Doc could come up with something better, so Drow it was.

Shortly after, mIstabone from clan DAWG started frequenting servers that the 3 Drows played on. During one FFA game, mIstabone came out on top. Afterwards, Doc challenged mIstabone to a 1 on 1 deathmatch. Doc won, but it was a close fight. Impressed with mIsta's skill, Doc managed to convince him to become the fourth member of Drow.

Soon after, the Drow ranks began to grow. Members such as TicK, Kayan, and Trystan would be the first of several to join.

Drow went on to experience some success in the NQCTF scene. With TicK, Kalorin, Doc, and Mistabone as the starting 4, Drow's reputation began to grow.

However, during the QuakeWorld years, Drow focused on team death match. CrockMe (previously of Dark Requiem) and Thorn (of the Professional Gamers League) were recruited. And thus one of the best 4x4 squads in the history of QWDM was created: Mistabone (RA), Doc (box), CrockMe (Quad), Thorn (Bridge).

Unfortunately, by this time, many people had moved on to Quake 2 so Drow didn't get much of a chance to participate in the QWDM scene. CrockMe decided to organize QLS (Quake's Last Stand) which was a Chicago Quake-1 LAN tournament in April 1999.

Representatives from several of the most popular Q1 clans showed up, including the full starting squad of arguably the best QWDM team at the time, Negative Burn. Drow and nB pretty much breezed through the 4x4 tournament bracket only to meet each other in the final where Drow won 4 out of 5 games.

Since then, Drow has gone on to sponsor teams in Ultima Online, Everquest, Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot, PlanetSide, City of Heroes, City of Villians, Final Fantasy XI, Star Wars Galaxies, Everquest 2, World of Warcraft, EVE Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Vanguard:Saga of Heroes.

As of October 2008, teams are being looked at for Warhammer Online.

Our Structure:

Drow is structured unlike any single Quake clan or gaming club you'll likely find on the Internet. We're setup so that we can support teams in multiple gaming environments.

There are three major components to our structure: Core Member, Team Leader, and Team Member.

  1. Core Member - A full member enjoying all rights and priviledges. Expected to take an active role in accomplishing Drow's mission, such as lead a team.
  2. Team Leader - A leader of a Drow team. Person must be a Core member.
  3. Team Member - A member of a Drow sponsored team.

Drow is a leaderless organization. Instead, we are diplomatic. Issues are decided by popular vote, however, only Core Members have voting rights.

Team Leaders are a very important part of our organization. They are responsible for screening, recruiting, structuring, and maintaining their respective teams. A Team Leader will make sure that their team gets into appropriate tournaments, schedule scrimmages and matches, etc.

Team Members are the backbone of our organization and make up the majority of the team rosters. They are welcome (and encouraged) to apply for Core membership at any time.

Core Members of Drow enjoy certain priviledges such as:

  1. An email address using @ drow.org
  2. Voting rights
  3. Implicit invite to any Drow LAN event
  4. Access to private Drow IRC channels
  5. The ability to join a full game server

Becoming a Team Member:

Membership is something that we take very seriously. If you are considering becoming a member of Drow, please read the following thoroughly:

There are two ways to join Drow. First, you may apply to be a Team Member. To do this, all you need to do is make a post on the recruiting forum for the team you want to join. Team Members only need to meet the requirements for the team they want to join, which each Team Leader will have defined on their recruiting board.

Most Team Leaders want you to include a bit about yourself in your post, such as your real name, how old you are, what part of the world you live in (and timezone), what you do for a living, how many hours per week you can play, and general info about your characters or skills that are relevant to the team you're applying to.

As a very important step, you should make it a habit to start 'hanging out' with the team on our IRC chat channel. This will help people get to know you before they vote on your membership. It is recommended that you hang out here even if you're idle.

Due to the number of applications we receive, if you fail to include the basic information listed above or you word your post like you're Timmah's brother, your application will likely be ignored.

Becoming a Core Member:

To become a Core Member of Organization Drow, you must first be accepted to a current Drow team using the process documented above. After your evaluation period is over, you may petition your Team Leader to sponsor you for a Core membership vote.

However, there is one exception. If you are a person who wants to create a new team for a game that we currently do not participate in, we would like to consider your application. We assume that you understand what is involved in creating a team from scratch and recruiting members.

Core Members are also required to meet the following criteria:

  1. You will be 100% Drow or 0% Drow. This means that we absolutely require that you are not involved with other CLANs or clubs. If you're currently a member of a clan, you would have to leave before being considered.
  2. Hide tanners are generally not considered, especially for Team Leader positions. However, we do make exceptions for those who are incredibly skilled and uncommonly mature.
  3. We require loyalty. We do not consider people who become known as 'GUILD/CLAN HOPPERS' or people who may not be ready to buy into our philosphy of a brotherhood.
  4. If you're an asshole, we don't want ya. We don't care how good you are. If people consider you a jerk, you need not apply. Drow must provide teammates who enjoy each others company, otherwise an organization on our scale would not work.

So, do you have what it takes to become a Core Member of Drow?

If you think so, here's what you need to do. Post your application on the New Team Proposal forum. Your post must include the following:

  1. A bit about yourself as required for a Team Member (listed above)
  2. Your proposal for creating a new Drow team. This must include details about the game, how you plan to recruit members for your team, how you plan to structure your team in terms of officers, etc.
  3. Any other relevant details you'd like to include
  4. And most importantly, why you believe in the Drow mission and how you think your new team will help us accomplish it.

Good luck, and thank you for your interest in our Organization.

Last updated 8/8/2008