The 'X'anos Files

Every era has an end and few could look to a better example than our own Xanos, known also has Darth Vexatus and Goat he has been one of the defining members of the Dark Brotherhood. He has served with honor, integrity and raw steel, a true anchor to the turmoil that often ingulfs this organisation. I finally caught up with him as he began setting up in his old home, with Clan Naga Sadow.

I begun by asking about some of the projects he had undergone.

I guess there were quite a few things I did. I generally like to include other people in things and work with people rather than just steamroll over everything with what I want to do though so admittedly its always hard for me to say “I did that” as I rarely do something solo or like giving myself sole credit like that.

There are many members who are very vocal about their contributions, true to form Xanos often played down his efforts. However, approach him and speak to him and he would often give a very considered and detailed responce.

The first thing I pushed for when I got the job were the Clan Feuds, those were fun and a nice warm up to the GJW, although the credit there is largely to Korras and Duga for organising them and running them, I just bugged people to make sure they got done on schedule, as when I got the job all the January Vendettas were starting to get pretty overdue- given that it was already April at the time. Back then I also plotted out all the Vendettas for the next year or so with Jac, we were essentially going to go with something like a conquest based wargame in early spring followed with a Vong invasion of said conquered planets in the summers GJW.

I would have liked to have seen that to fruition, especially as we already had begun to start fleshing out details for filtering the story into the Dark Voice over the next six months to build up to things (a major problem with the last GJW where events were sprung on people out of the blue). I believe Sarin is carrying on with the basic Vong premise though I don’t know how much of the overall plot arc will actually survive. I had been planning- as most people already will know- to host a GJW plot discussion with regular members during November followed by opening it up to the whole club in December to try and get some real input from the people who were actually going to be taking part.

That has been another big issue with previous wars, as usually there has been this huge desire to keep the plot secret (a waste of time really, as it always leaks to a few people, giving those few an unfair advantage). My plan was to include the membership from the start to try and formulate something people enjoyed and would be able to help build themselves, whether that kind of approach to the next GJW development will continue I can’t say, though I would naturally hope so, as “the DC knows best” attitude in GJW5 and 6 has proven to only cater for the tastes of the few actually writing it. A lot will really depend I suppose on whether the next GJW now ends up being small scale like the previous ones or wider and more all inclusive like I had been planning, with several tangents and plot arcs to cater for everyone’s interests. “Oh no the Vong are here!” is obviously rather boring, even if you do like the Vong, I’ve always believed a GJW should be a lot more detailed and involved than just “Us good, you bad, we fight”.

Looking down the full list of projects there have been things like finally placing everything on the map, motioning to flesh out what already exists, a project Sarin has been working on and is going to be releasing the results of soon, i.e. the full Antei system description, another big one was the rewrite of the Force Powers- which are complete pending the release of the new Codex, at which point they should be coming into use for the ACC and things. The new Force Powers I’m particularly pleased about, as they put an end to the god mode powers that plague the current set and change the overall angle from casual fan level descriptions to making things actually sound like Star Wars- there’s a subtle difference between talking about conjuring physical illusions and talking about messing with someone’s head to scare them, same end result, fundamentally different execution.

Mentioning the Codex that was one of the big projects the GM team and I worked on for most of the latter half of the GJW and well into the following months. Like most things it was finished and is waiting simply for the layout to be completed in order to finally be released. Its another on the list of things I would have liked to have actually seen released before I stepped down but I still look forward to when its actually released, as it will be a huge improvement on the current Codex, which is a messy hash that’s had bits tacked onto it year after year but hasn’t had a decent rewrite for over half a decade.

Even someone of Xanos calibre has regrets, like many members we often set out goals we want completed, perhaps to leave our mark or better the Brotherhood as a whole. Reflecting on his projects Xanos continued to outline the problems with the Codex.

Sadly the Codex is an example of several other projects as well… one that is code dependant. Not being a coder it means a lot of my ideas ended up going to waste and being put on the waiting list as while I came up with a lot of proposals and projects I don’t actually have the web design skills to see them to completion myself.

With the Council having been busy throughout the GJW and Rax disappearing after it most things have been carried over to Sildrin and it remains to be seen when she’ll get down the pile of backdated stuff and get around to coding some of the things I worked on. The gaming website is something I really do wish to see in the near future as it was one of my main goals when I got the job and remains one of the things I feel the club needs to focus on.

Having spent several months serving in such a key position you'd think regrets would start creeping in but when pressed on the matter Xanos gave some surprising answers.

I can’t say there are many. I would rather not have gotten so involved with the GJW now as that is what really burned me out prematurely, the juvenility and petty squabbling of people during that whole competition just destroyed any enthusiasm I may have once had.

Had I been able to do it again I would have rather simply kept a distance, although, that said, I hate it when people keep a distance and don’t have the balls to do something. So to an extent I probably wouldn’t change anything, as despite that it may have killed my own enthusiasm I still believe helping to try and make the most of things was a better choice for the Brotherhood as a whole than to just leave it to rot for the purpose of humiliating its host like some people wanted of me.

Unlike a lot of people around here, I care about what the little person thinks, I don’t play politics just to look good. The GJW hit home though just how much this club is at its centre built around a core of politics, which is what ended up totally demoralising me.

The day people actually learn to act with a bit of maturity is the day I’ll be able to truly enjoy things again, until then though I can’t help but look at the Brotherhood in a sour light. After you’ve been at the top its very hard to really enjoy things anymore, as you realise just how full of poison some parts are.

Perhaps Xanos has some advice to the membership? I asked him if there was anything that could help others.

I don’t really know… going on what I just said I could recommend not to get too involved and to keep a distance but that’s equally wrong as that way nothing gets done. I’ve spoken to Sarin about the job in private already, although admittedly I can’t remember a lot of what I said anymore.

The main thing I think everyone as a whole needs to realise is the club needs change desperately. Any leader who is honest will know there aren’t actually that many active members in the Brotherhood. Did 250 take part in the GJW? Sure. Did those 250 really want to though, or did they just do it because their CON bugged them? That isn’t a club. That isn’t enjoyment. That isn’t fun. Our members should be here because they enjoy it, not because they feel duty bound or just have nothing better to do.

The sad reality is outside 10-20 hardcore activity members in each Clan the Brotherhood is slowly shrinking. The older membership gradually are disappearing and unless we start doing things to really hook the newer membership eventually those older members will all disappear completely and we will be left with nothing- something many Clans are already facing as they run out of decent leadership material and are running short on human resources, i.e. people, to run themselves.

This happened once two years ago when all the Clans ended up closing down a House, we’re heading toward another House downgrade currently unless we really start doing something to interest people, the status quo simply isn’t going to work. It may retain the older community, but that’s aimless as the older community will eventually disappear completely, as they are all the time dwindling, even people like myself eventually retire.

Unless we start thinking about the future we’re not going to have much of a future left. For the last few years we’ve been able to be lazy as we’ve had the prequels to pull us through, last year saw a boom in recruitment levels due to Revenge of the Sith. Now though? Now we’re on our own. Even ten years ago when the club was first formed it had the Special Edition releases to build on, the era many call the “golden age” of the Brotherhood (even if that is largely nostalgia talking) was the golden age not so much because of anything the club did but because Star Wars exploded around 1999 when The Phantom Menace first came out, Darth Maul made the appeal of Dark Jedi clubs huge.

As much as I hate to be labelled the prophet of doom I do think a lot of people are failing to accept what’s happening and are trying their best to ignore it and just turn a blind eye to the way things are gradually diminishing. Battlefront was the biggest selling Star Wars game ever, as I said above, yet one of the worst ever in the Brotherhood- that should tell us something.

If we don’t change our ways we will eventually die out, so, if there is anything I hope the next Grand Master of the Brotherhood does, its to start reforming things, drastically. To think of a metaphor, Knights of the Old Republic, the game, didn’t get where it is by copying the Knights of the Old Republic comics, it was a drastic departure from the old Egyptian looking stuff the early 90s comics created. Did people whine about the change? Yes. Was the change for the better though in the long run? Most definitely. Six months of upheaval would be worth it in the long run to bring about a full revival.

Question now remains, what will become of Xanos now? Having stepped from the brink of absolute power and control in the Dark Brotherhood what do you do next? The lure of power is a strong one, perhaps he will fade into obscurity or maybe build on his previous success and popularity? I pressed him on the matter.

What will I do now? I don’t really know. I mainly seem to be tinkering around with the Wiki. I’m sure my “I don’t want to do anything” attitude will eventually grow bored and end up doing something but right now I want to let the new people have a go.

I’ve had people asking me if I’ll want to be PCON again one day but the answer is simply no. I’ve been Consul twice, it would be unfair for me to be it a third time. I can help people without needing a position next to my name. Whether I will ever do anything big again I don’t really know, I don’t feel the need to be honest, as I’ve long advocated that one shouldn’t need a position to tell them to work to help out.

For the most part I expect I’ll just be helping build up Clan Naga Sadow and, even if the Brotherhood itself doesn’t follow suit, try and press ahead with many of my desired reforms and things at least on a Clan level.

As far as Real Life goes, in that respect retiring from an active role in the Brotherhood has been a blessing, not that I have much of a life, as everyone well knows, but simply because it means I don’t have the pressure anymore of waking up every morning to 300 emails.

It’s relaxing to be able to play an RPG through and not feel guilty for not spending my time more constructively doing DB things. My next year is my final year in my Law degree, so by large not much is going to change for me RL wise until next autumn. I do look forward to being able to step away from the computer without feeling like I’m neglecting my job though, that has easily been the best feeling for the past month, for after almost six years solid in some role or another in this club its nice to finally have my free time to myself again.

Xanos has been one of the most recognised figures in not just Naga Sadow but the Dark Brotherhood. It takes a strong will to recognise whats best for not just yourself but to everyone. He will be missed in such a key position but equally he had the right reasons and more than deserves a break.