Leadership in Albion Online is a world which is wide, wild, wily, and wise. Often the interactions and perspectives of leaders and diplomats happen outside of the view of the common line member and gatherer. This interview is an attempt to bring some of that hidden perspective to light.

As part of my interview process with the significant leadership, diplomats, and shot callers of Albion online, I used a standard set of questions for each person that is being interviewed. These views and expressed opinions are their own and, except where the interviewee is the alliance leader, are not reflective of the views or official position of their organization at large.

The following interviewee is none other than King Mojo.

VOLTEL: For those who are unfamiliar with you, who are you and what do you do?

KINGMOJO: I am the SQUAD Leader and Blue Army’s Raid Leader.

VOLTEL: What can you tell me about yourself and what you do; i.e. your role in your Alliance?

KINGMOJO: my role here is very simple. I started this alliance with our core. We share similar values and mentality. I make sure these values stay in place in this alliance, and make sure everything is drama free and a relaxed environment. Also, I provide our people content… that is what I am best at.

VOLTEL: How’d you get your start in Albion? Did you start with planning to help run an alliance?

KINGMOJO: I started this game on the release of Beta 1. I played console games… Jumping into a game like this was a whole different world to me. I was in a semi casual guild named Retribution. I saw how most guilds in this game were being managed, and quickly found out non-English-speaking guilds were much more organized. It’s not until Emiashiro came to me with an offer to start an English-speaking division for his guild at the time (GLAFICOM) that I began to lead. That English-speaking squad was a huge contributing factor on the strength of Red Army and was also the core that started Money Guild with me on Launch.

VOLTEL: What, for you, was the hardest part of growing (into) your alliance? What do you struggle most with now?

KINGMOJO: I didn’t want the responsibility… I wanted to enjoy the game (And we were). Most can remember when SQUAD was just Blue Army and Savage. We used to regularly jump into other alliances temporarily for the content. Its not until we received interest from heavyweight PvP guilds like KFC that we saw the potential to establish SQUAD as a proper alliance.

VOLTEL: How did you broach diplomacy when you were first growing your alliance; what were the early growing pains?

KINGMOJO: We never had REAL problems building SQUAD up. We just played with good mentality. If I had to point out one issue, I would say time. It took time for certain guild leaders to realize they don’t need territories to be established guilds. It took time for guilds to let go of that attachment to territories and town plots. Eventually they saw the light. The resources, the energy is all there for the taking. You don’t need to have a GvG team to have an impact in this game. I’m just happy people are seeing that now.

VOLTEL: How does diplo currently – or continue to – shape your day-to-day and the experience of your members?

KINGMOJO: it doesn’t. SQUAD is a content alliance. We try to keep this at a minimum to maximize content for our people. Temporary deals are fine, but they always have a price. You could decide to not fight that zerg that one day for whatever reason, but it will bore your people. I’ve made this mistake before, so I try to keep this at a minimum.

VOLTEL: From the high-level, what’s the unspoken or unsung role of diplos and leaders that most people don’t get to see?

KINGMOJO: Leadership in this type of game is difficult. Essentially, you are working full time for others to have fun with their time. I think it’s especially more straining on leaders of open world guilds. The reason I say that is because if you lead a GvG guild you have the ability to hang out in a channel for extended periods of time with your GvG team or some friends. However, in a ZVZ guild you will find yourself in channels with 20+ people on a consistent basis. When you are leading these activities, you are dictating the energy in the room. If you are anxious, the zerg will become anxious. If you are tired the zerg will feel that energy. So it’s extremely important as a leader to always leave negativity and stress outside of the game and try to bring positive energy when you are in game.

VOLTEL: Do you ever feel leaders are sometimes in the position of creating more problems than they solve?

KINGMOJO: of course. The worst thing a leader can do in this game is make decisions based off of emotion. I have still yet to see a non-emotional leader in Albion. If you are looking for a guild to join, do some research on the leadership in guilds first, the less emotional the better.

VOLTEL: Let’s talk regional – A lot of recent attention has been paid to Mercia and their residents. What are your thoughts on the region and the diplomatic and political situation?

KINGMOJO: at the moment we are seeing a weakened POE. They have no full control over any continent. This is refreshing for most of us who are fans of the game, as they previously had control over all the continents.

VOLTEL: Does the situation in Mercia differ greatly from Cumbria and Anglia?

KINGMOJO: POE used the same strategy every Reset Day; takeover one continent with their zerg and GvG for the other. This became tricky when they had all 3 continents taken from them. It became a big mess they are still having trouble cleaning up.

VOLTEL: By your assessment, are their problems that leaders and Diplomats are incapable of solving?

KINGMOJO: it’s up to individual members to avoid getting out of line. The more drama they instigate within or outside the guild, the harder it will be for the leadership to resolve. Fortunately, there is nothing two men can’t resolve by talking one on one like men.

VOLTEL: Do you feel that building alliances and coalitions in Albion through diplomacy is largely misunderstood?

KINGMOJO: Albion politics are boring for the most part. I want to see, hear about, and participate in REAL beef in this game. Nothing is more intense and enjoyable in a War game, than actual War. There was a time in the Beta Tests when power house guilds went to war for years (I.e. Red Army vs. Niilfgard) or Echo of silence vs Money Guild. This was interesting to follow in terms of politics in this game. Now there is no real enemies… leaders are enemies one day and best friends the next day (I.e. cryon and derrick). I think the majority of leaders in this game are simply burnt out and want to be as comfortable as possible while profiting all at the same time.

Editors Note: If you know anyone that you think that we should interview please join us in our discord and let us know! https://discord.gg/6rPPdJA