The beginning of Tribe dates back well beyond the start of Diablo II as this origin began back with Starcraft. Corga, Mulkin, and many others were original Tribe members from Starcraft who
found they playing Diablo more than any other Blizzard title. Many months
had passed and the Diablo playing Tribe members developed a strong group of individuals that never
associated themselves as being in a clan, which Tribe was never meant to be.
They found themselves being accompanied by many different gamers who
would ask to join their group. A simple
reply was, “we are just a group of friends, family members, and allies who hang
out together; like minded individuals, not a clan.” Soon, that statement began to ring louder and more frequently that
we ever realized. Till one day, a
former Tribe member known as Ink suggested we turn
this group into an official band of gamers.
Emphasis was placed on this group not being a clan, as clans seem to
have too many rules, dishonest people, and many other negative factors
associated with clans. Since I and so
many of the original Diablo Tribe members were already in Tribe from Starcraft, it
was only logical to expand this solid gamers group to Diablo as it was once done to Warcraft from Starcraft.
It was agreed upon that “Tribe” would
be the group and that our recruiting would be based on strict criteria unlike
other groups/clans. Tribe will simply be an extension of the Tribe family from Starcraft without
any direct mixture with Starcraft. The responsibility of leadership fell on
Mulkin, who at the time played a minimum of 5 hours a day, every day and even
at that point built 6 accounts of main characters. Some would often say, “ah, I got off the game and he was still
on, I got back on the next day and there he’s still playing.” It was often thought that he actually lived
on Diablo and may be a blizzard rep. We all know better than that now. So it began. Slowly the Diablo Tribe
grew. The group grew slowly because one
of the criteria for recruitment was extensive observation and interaction with
individual to find the quality of gamer that would epitomize what a Tribe member should be.
Only upon invitation are members recruited and not simply by someone
asking to join. Potential members are
watched carefully for qualities beginning with honor, pride of accomplishment,
respect for others to the point of even respecting the game itself, love of
games, commitment, integrity, and many other qualities that make the
difference. The ability to work as a
team, consideration of others, honesty, truthfulness, and not to mention
morals. At some point the criteria of
recruitment was abandoned as a suggestion was given to Mulkin regarding
recruitment. This suggestion was, “It’s
not fair to limit ourselves with recruitment and be prejudice to others because
they lack these qualities. We should
widen our doors and expand recruitment to those who lack some of these
qualities to increase numbers and expand our gaming mentality throughout the
various servers.” At that point Mulkin
and his right hand man were the only individuals who could recruit. Mulkin agreed to allow key individuals to
recruit because he trusted their judgment.
Some time had passed and this proved to be a mistake as those recruited
begun to recruit as well without understanding what Tribe is, without any real criteria for recruitment, and without
any accountability. A halt was given on
recruitment and Tribe training begun. However, key individuals were away from the game
for several weeks and turmoil began.
Upon return of these key individuals, several issues were addressed but
never truly resolved. Mulkin was forced
away from the game and Tribe to the point that he felt it would be
best that someone else lead in his absence.
This responsibility fell on one of his most trusted members, Aptos. Aptos too however was almost as busy as
Mulkin but maintain things at the best of his abilities and time. Once Mulkin had a bit more time to dedicate
to the Tribe and gaming he had return to several
conflicts and issues. Attempting to
resolve everyone’s problems and concerns prove to be a challenge beyond the
limits of time Mulkin had. Seeing a need
to reevaluate the group and Tribe as a
whole, Mulkin left Mud in charge of operations allowing him time to work on
rebuilding Tribe.
Tonski was appointed acting Leader till Mulkin’s return to assist Mud in
the challenge of maintaining Tribe. During this time, Mud and Tonski developed
rules and issued ultimatums for all members. “Get with the program, become what Tribe members are meant to be, or get out.” This would prove fatal but necessary as only those who truly
wanted to be Tribe and build what was initially started as
the ultimate gamer group stayed. Tribe has been rebuilt, and a new beginning starts with you.