Club Leader Spotlight - Shankara_Rhuddlan, leader of Varros on PC

What can you tell us about yourself and your club?

I have been playing Trove for about 5+ years now, I am a laid-back player that likes to contribute to the community and helps players achieve their in-game goals.

My club is a great club for anyone, from beginning players to the end game masters, its about having fun, being respectful and sharing game strategy/knowledge. We also like to promote building and creativity as it is one of the main reasons our club exists.

Where do your character and club names come from?

My character name Shankara_Rhuddlan was created many years ago when I was 13, I was playing a text-based RPG game called Legends of Future Past, it was known as a MUDD, I created this name with my brother, the first names were unique that we came up with, the last name Rhuddlan comes from the name of a Welsh Castle.

The name Varros was created by its founder, Voxul. I do not know the exact origin of its name, but I know it has significant meaning to him and he poured a lot of countless hours into its creation.

What's your favourite part of Trove? What keeps you coming back?

The players, the Trove family. From the creativeness of each player to the drama that comes from running a club, it is the Trove family and its players that bring me back. There are a ton of games out there to play, but I find myself coming back to trove to hang out with my friends and to make new ones.

How did your club start out? And when did you start being responsible for it?

Voxul created Varros towards the start of Trove, I believe back in 2015, I joined more regularly back towards the middle or end of 2015. Over time he and I became friends, he didn’t trust a lot of people with his club world simply because of the previous ones being grieved.

He decided to take a break from Trove and made me VP over the Club, when he returned months later, I was demoted back to Member rank. I took this personally as I had spent quite a bit of time and flux maintaining and protecting the club. I left Varros the next day. After a few days he apologized after the club explained why I was so upset and how much work I had spent on everything, he asked me to come back and I was reinstated as an officer of Varros.  

When Voxul left, he posted on Youtube (he was a well-known YouTuber by this time) that he was leaving Trove, said goodbye to everyone, and that he was leaving the club in my care, it was at this time that he resigned as president and made me president of Varros.  Voxul has made a few appearances over the years, checking in on things and we keep in touch. He is doing well and currently has another YouTube channel.

Have you managed clubs/guilds in other games?

I have managed many groups over the years, ranging from Dark Age of Camelot, Eve Online, World of Warcraft, GuildWars, and too many others to count. 

Etaew's note: <3 Dark Age of Camelot

What motivates you to continue to manage a community in Trove?

The players and friends I have formed as well as the bond and commitment to the club itself. Varros is one of the most beautiful clubs I have ever seen in Trove, I want to keep its legacy and memory of Voxul alive as long as I can, I hope there are players out there who feel the same way and want to help keep Varros alive and strong!

Which other clubs would you light to highlight and why?

• All in Four, Lefty your amazing and one of the best friends a guy could have in Trove!
• Black Lodge, an amazing goth-like club and the building is absolutely detailed!
• GAOTU, aka LordFafy’s Club, check it out, great people, wonderful YouTuber, Fafy, you are the best, your videos and content are always appreciated!
• TeamPixel, Scyushi is one of the most dedicated players in the game as well as one of the most dedicated YouTubers when it comes to Trove, not only that, myself, regardless of his status he can hang out with anyone in-game such as myself and he was even nice enough to feature Varros in a few of his videos! He cares about the game, cares about where it's going and wants to make sure each player gets the most out of their gaming experience! Thank you Scyushi!
• Shangri La, Steeds you have been a great in-game friend, thank you for all you do for the Trove community! This project that I am currently responding to as well as many others you have tried to help others through, and your efforts are greatly appreciated! Thank you!
• The North, Surge! Thank you, you have helped so many and your club is stunning to explore and admire!
• Alpha Legacy! Nina, I have to mention you, you have helped me personally so many times with questions as well as countless others with your Trove Club Quests discord (if you don’t know what I am talking about reader, time to go look it up, you will thank me later!) Thank you so much for all the work and dedication to the game, you are appreciated!

What is the most challenging thing about running a community in Trove? 

Finding players that agree with your ideals and want to help maintain a club they can be proud of, not just something they can get some free stuff once in a while, but actually talk, group, hang out and do things with. Building a group of club mates with the same mentality and drive for a fun non-toxic place to hang out and make friends in.

Are there any members or builds in your club you would like to highlight and why?

Have you seen Varros? If not please come check it out, the entire club is a “build” that I would like to highlight! Why? BECAUSE IT'S ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

When you visit Varros, it's not like walking into a club and you're like, um ok there's a hub here and there's some stuff there, Voxul managed to create what I consider our own WORLD! Each terrain has been handcrafted by a single player over the course of years its spread out and I still find things I didn’t notice before.

Please, if you're bored and want to look at some awesomeness, visit our club! Lefty from All in Four helped me with a Club Quest, that starts in our main hub and will walk you through the history of Varros!

How do you like the current club building and management tools and what would you like to change?

I would like a bit more flexibility as far as options go, but the current system is a lot better then what we had before.

I wish we could have more club spots, I also would like to be able to do giveaways more easily with Club Events, something along the lines of a club mailbox where items can be mailed to winners?

I would love to be able to also use my club member list to be exported to a mod of some sort where names can be drawn randomly, or even in-game would be awesome! Just things to help with events and keep things flowing easier in-game!

As a Leader, what are your thoughts on the Club Adventures and Fixtures System?

I like the adventure system, wish we had a way to hold onto certain quest givers, the sleep feature was nice, I'd like to have some specific ones stay, and with proper Clubits be able to awake them and keep them around longer. Like say, wake them throughout the week, but not actually lose them till the week restarts?

Fixtures, I think they are great, I want to place more of them, can we expand the club levels more, make it as hard as you want but give people something to work towards so that, when they can, that extra fixture slot REALLY sets clubs apart!

What advice would you give to people looking for a club or thinking about starting a new club?

Decide what your core values are, make sure you know exactly what you want from the people you let into your club. Make sure they want to be a part of your vision, find good people who agree and want to hang out and help. In the end, you don’t make a club awesome, its players do.

Any final words?

Thank you to all the players of Trove. It is a game, and just like a club does not make itself awesome, its players do! The same can be said for Trove, you all have made this game awesome; it’s been something I have enjoyed for many years and I hope we all can enjoy it for many more. I love you all, please stay safe during these times and see you all in-game! PEACE!