SOS (PA)

Name: The Servants Of The Shrub

Server: Bria

Faction: Neutral

Location: Ostium Vespres, Tatooine

Site: OftheShrub.org

About Us
So you would like to learn more about the PA of the Shrub? We are glad to say hello and welcome you to read all about us. We are the servants of the Shrub, or S.O.S. Our purpose is to honor the Shrub by reveling in it's spirit. We believe that the Shrub symbolizes all that is fun and good about SWG, and, while our members do not worship the Shrub in real life, we find it a fun way to be different in game.

We play on the Bria Server, generally on Tatooine. Our city, Ostium Vepres, is located just northeast of Anchorhead on a large mesa. We have a large number of members in game (over 50 at the current count) with many more on the way. Always striving to give our members the best experience while playing, we help each other out by training, dealing, and just plain old hunting for experience. While our city is not near the Shrub, it is strongly advised that our members take a pilgrimage to the site of the Shrub, just to witness it's original spot, and bask in it's glory. We will be dedicating a memorial there soon, once the city is established. Our members use the guild tag , so make sure you say hi if you see one of us.

The Shrub itself was first found in the beta test. After the announcement of it's finding, many of us realized that it made us smile and think of the humor that can be found in all games. After a while, the Shrub took on a mystical sort of following. Members, who were currently battling over the PVP system and the SCS decision, could come together in fun and friendship. If you had the chance to read some of the posts made about it, either at the time of its discovery or when the Dev Q-3PO mentioned it's grounding, you can probably remember some of the funny posts and talk that surrounded it.

We held on to that.

Even as the Shrub faded from the limelight, we still believed that fun is central to the SWG experience, and 'honoring' the Shrub was fun. We decided to take it a step further and dedicate a PA to it. We in no way wish to beat a dead horse or run a joke into the ground. Instead, we wish to have a guild where everyone is welcome and everyone is friendly. This is why we ask, "Do you hear the call of the Shrub?" It is all in fun, and if you can't understand that then you probably do not belong with us. We are not an 'Uber' guild, nor do we value domination, or want to be the best of the best. We are honestly like a big family here, newcomers are always warmly greeted and even those who oppose us find us friendly. We offer the hand of friendship to all who would take it. Our ranks have been growing steadily over the last few weeks, and while we still need to sort many things out, you will notice from our forums that we are well organized and making new and exciting decisions everyday. We have openings for all types... from leadership positions right down to commandos in our military.

So when we talk of the Shrub, or say "May the Shrub be with you," it is all in good fun. That's what it's all about people. We do not support spamming in the name of the Shrub, nor flaming. If you happen to see a post where the Shrub is spammed or bumped needlessly then it is highly unlikely that it came from one of our members. While in game, many of our members plan to actively role-play the part... trying to convert or 'preach' to those not within the PA. This will only be done in moderation, and in a strictly role playing sense. Those of you who feel we may break your immersion... I offer you this: What is a Jedi? A Jedi, besides being the MOST popular part of Star Wars culture, is a religion. Religion is human nature... there are those without it, but the vast majority of the world population believe in a higher power. Now, Han Solo even said himself that there is no one all powerful force controlling his destiny. This is probably not an un-popular idea within Star Wars... many people feel that the Jedi is a "Hokey Religion". The Jedi certainly do not believe this. We can compare the followers of the Shrub to the Jedi in this way. Of course, George Lucas didn't write the Shrub into Star Wars, but for you role players out there who fear we will break your immersion... ask yourself this: If you were in the middle of the desert and saw a Shrub floating in mid air... with no wires, no repulsar lifts, no force at all holding it up...  what would you believe? Add to this the fact that you were perhaps wandering for days without seeing any sign of water or food. Is it a sign? Is it a higher power? Perhaps many would not think so... perhaps they would attribute it to something else, but then... there are those who would certainly call it a sign. We role-play those people. If you wish to role-play against us and call us crazy then that is your right... and we welcome non believers because it adds another dimension to our experience. We can only serve to enrich your role-playing experience. Think of it!

You're sitting in a Cantina on Tatooine when a man dressed in what looks like a robe comes in off the street. He sidles up to the bar and orders a drink next to you. After taking a few swigs he looks at you and begins to strike up a conversation. Abruptly.. he asks you, "Have you heard the call of the Shrub my friend?"

Now, you as a player have two choices... you can either

A. Say:  "Oh brother not another one of you stupid Shrub PA freaks again.  When are you people going to learn that the Shrub was just a bug and the Devs have grounded it.  Stupid freaks... quit beating a dead horse... /ignore"

B. Say:  "The Shrub?  What are you talking about?  Oh... right, you're one of those crazy Shrub people from the desert aren't you?  Why don't you guys give it up?  There is no 'all-powerful' Shrub... and certainly not a Shrub that a good blaster or vibro-axe couldn't take care of.  Now get out of my face you Shrub loving freak."

As you can see.. the Shrub makes for a very interesting role-play opportunity... and it can be immensely fun for both sides. That's what we're all about. I hope this will give you a feel for the great-group of players we have here.

The Book Of The Shrub
The Book Of The Shrub is a Bible-like creation that holds all of the stories of the Shrub, handed down to prophets and written upon paper, which was then transfered to the internet via the wonderful machine that is the computer.

Here is an except from Chapter 1: '"In the beginning, there was only concept art. The Devs stared at a blank screen for days uncounted, with only ideas of a universe called by them that were the only, SWG. The creation began, and for more days uncounted there was only code. Finally after much patience there was a shrub. The Devs were pleased. The Shrub was the first, and the father of all that was to exist. The Shrub was the first and contained within it power to create all of existence. Taken from the side of the Shrub was material that would soon become buildings, player character models, hills and mountains.

A hill was created to support the Shrub, but the Shrub's power was great. The power surrounding the Shrub was so great that it repelled the hill for twelve feet or so. A great and vast plains were formed in place of the once supporting hill. This plains formed the ground and was spread all over the planets because it was loyal to the Shrub.

Of all of things created, the most blessed were the shrubs that resided on the ground everywhere in the galaxy. They were created in the image of the Shrub, placed so that all could remember how the Shrub was once supported by the ground. Thus was the ground blessed that all could walk on it in the stead of the Shrub and hope that someday they may be able to leave the ground and join the Shrub in the air. Thus was told the coming of the first great expansion pack when bipedal creatures may rise above the planets and join the stars in that witch is called SWG."'

You can read the entire book of the shrub here: Shruby Literature

Guild Information
The SoS is one of the few neutral roleplay PAs on the Bria server, and currently the only Shrub-oriented one. Though we are neutral, faction-oriented members are allowed, as long as they put the Shrub first.

Current Status
Though the SoS is now non-existant in SWG, the PA is regathering its members and planning to move onto a SWG Emulation server once the SWGEmu is completed.

For more information about the clan, visit us at www.OftheShrub.org Say hello on our forums at The Forums of the Shrub