Q. Have you ever had a memorable real-life meeting with other gamers? (Answer!)
A. Yes. Many years ago, after several years of RPing in a MUSH, I ended up crossing the country over a year or two and meeting up with some of the real players behind the characters. Glad I did it. But I don't make a habit of it.
Q. What do your characters and avatars usually look like? (Answer!)
A. Lately, old men. It's how I best relate OOCly to many of the younger players and I find it easier playing a male human than a female human or anything else. There's still infinite variety in how you can play such a fellow so it's hardly limiting. That said - the older a character the longer the bio! Beware.
Q. What are your thoughts on player-made mods/addons for games? (Answer!)
A. I love them for singleplayer games. I couldn't play the Bethsoft/Akella singleplayer Pirates of The Caribbean without a sweet little mod, the Build Mod, I stumbled across a while back. I tend to be more gunshy when meddling with mods for MMOs though. Too much of a chance something can go very wrong.
Q. If you made your own game, what would it be like? (Answer!)
A. It would be a warped mirror of reality driven by player factions, politics and intrigue more than, but not to the exclusion of, brute mindless violence. Ask me again after we see what CCP's World of Darkness turns out to be. They might just have done the job for me - if they get it right.
Q. Beside GamerDNA, what are your favorite websites? (Answer!)
A. quartertothree.com
metacritic.com
salon.com
And whatever game or guild sites I'm currently engaged with.
Q. What music do you like to play games to? (Answer!)
A. I usually play the music that comes with the game. If it's well done it adds to the experience. If it's not, I turn it off. And if I don't need to hear what's going on at all I just turn the sound off and watch the TV out of the corner of my eye.
Q. What sort of players annoy you the most? (Answer!)
A. Aggressive players with no sense of perspective. Some folks say PvPers or kids but I know some of both that are decent people. PvP does tend to attract some really questionable types, though, and the most annoying are often grown adults seeking to compensate for lousy real lives by making other people miserable in a game.
Q. When do you play, including timezone? (Answer!)
A. 8 PM EST to 11 or 12 PM EST on Weeknights. Weekends vary.
Q. If you could meet any game developer, who would it be? (Answer!)
A. Raph Koster. I'd give him a nice fruitbasket and thank him for all his fine work. Then I'd pester him to death with ideas to fix everything that went wrong with SWG. Not that he's there anymore. It's the principle of the thing. Maybe I can lure him into an ingenious trap on metaplace...?
Q. How do you feel about playing characters of the opposite sex? (Answer!)
A. Not comfortable with it myself but I try not to judge others.
Q. Why do you join guilds or clans? (Answer!)
A. Roleplayers need to talk - it's how we most often express characterizations. At least, so far, there hasn't been an MMO about playing inanimate objects or mutes. So for roleplaying, general companionship/cameraderie and the occasional help with overcoming challenges and content.
Q. What question would you add to the Attitudes system? (Answer!)
A. Shouldn't you save this question for last?
A. Yes, but only when absolutely needed
Q. What are your favorite tabletop (RPG, board, miniatures, etc.) games? (Answer!)
A. RPGS
Amber Diceless Roleplaying
Old World of Darkness (Especially Sorcerer's Crusade)
Ars Magica
Fading Suns
Castle Falkenstein
Conan: The Roleplaying Game
Harn, Harnworld and Harnmaster
Empire of The Petal Throne (Tekumel in general)
Kult
Star Wars Roleplaying (West End Games)
Star Wars Roleplaying (Saga Edition - WoTC)
Paranoia
----
Boardgames
Kingmaker (Avalon Hill)
Car Wars ( Metagaming/Steve Jackson Games)
Q. Other than your console or PC, what is the piece of hardware you can't live without? (Answer!)
A. My brain. Does anyone know where I left it?
Q. How do you feel about selling virtual items for real money? (Do NOT advertise RMT services!) (Answer!)
A. Depends on how it's handled but I'm wary of the practice.
Q. What are your most memorable achievements in a game? (Answer!)
A. Helped build a player city in SWG with a thousand registered citizens - all of whom were played by roleplayers. Nothing that big could last, at least not in the casual manner this was constructed, but it was amazing while it did and it awoke in me a new appreciation of what the possibilities really can be in MMOs.
Q. What is your first computer or video gaming memory? (Answer!)
A. I remember Pong! I also remember games on cassette tapes, yes regular cassette tapes, that worked on an early console we had back in the day. Even could do some Basic coding while we were at it.
Damn I'm old.
Q. Do your quiz results on GamerDNA reflect your personality, and if not, what did it get wrong? (Answer!)
Q. What are your thoughts on roleplaying in games? (Answer!)
A. That's why I'm here. As for what unique thoughts I have, well, that's a long one. Let's just say I'm a big believer in the fusion of game design and immersion. The ideal MMORPG is one in which the coded reality matches the one actual characters in that setting will experience. The game code itself, and the results of it, are what players talk about.
Infuse those natural laws, which is what code is in an MMO from the player's perspective, with versimilitude and an understanding of the local reality and everyone's a roleplayer with very little effort.
AThere roleplayers can become rolemodels rather than marginalized coffee klatches disconnected from the game world because the game world fails to deliver a plausible place for their characters to exist.
That's the short version. Still glad you asked?
Q. How many hours a week do you play? (Answer!)
Q. What are the specs on your gaming rig? (Answer!)
A. Umm. Dell XPS gaming laptop. It's, uh, smokin' and stuff? Who knows?! As long as the radio works man.
Q. What is the most overlooked or misunderstood game? (Answer!)
A. MMOwise? I'll go with SWG. It's just such a huge elephant and there are far too many blind men sorting it out by touch from different angles. I'm not saying it's a great game but there's more to it than meets the eye and many of the oft discussed shortcomings are, I think, more superficial diagnoses than the real issues that were present from the game's inception.
But what it does right...nobody else does. It builds communities that even FEMA couldn't dig out regardless of how bad things got there for a while. Networked economy that didn't assume players are idiots, player cities, customizable characters, decoratable player homes and even entire starships that groups of players can crew. There's just nowhere else to go for this stuff for all of SWG's other failings.
Q. What do you love or hate about PVP? (Answer!)
A. The players. Not all of them. But enough of them.
Q. If you could bring any book, movie or comic to life in a game, which would you choose? (Answer!)
A. Firefly comes to mind right off but something a little more stylish and fanciful could work too. Since we've already got CCP working on World of Darkness maybe someone could create a Victorian steampunk setting where manners count, everyone dresses for the opera and mysteries are solved with sharp wits not just pointy sticks. Maybe base it off of Castle Falkenstein?
Sure, it'd be no WoW but...to some of us that's a selling point!
Q. What experience do you have beta-testing games? (Answer!)
A. SWG, very late in the process, and a handful of singleplayer games.
Q. Are you interested in working within the game industry? (Answer!)
A. Maybe. I've got a decent job IRL right now that's not industry related. In some ways I think being outside the industry gives me a different perspective than insiders have. Not better. Not always right. Often clueless. But that's how folks are out here sitting on the other side of the process.
But, maybe. It'd depend on what the project was and what I was being asked to do. If it's something I believe in or think could progress the state of the art I'd volunteer.
Q. What is the most memorable flamewar you can remember? (Answer!)
A. Ever heard of Derek Smart?
Q. What sort of tools (calculators, builders, spreadsheets, etc.) do you use to plan your characters? (Answer!)
A. My amazing brain! Has anyone seen it? Must be around here somewhere.
Q. If you could cancel any online game, which would it be? (Answer!)
A. Why would I cancel someone's game? If they're having fun let 'em have it.
Q. When you are not playing games, what do you do for fun? (Answer!)
A. Talking about playing games? I'm really a mess. *laughs*
Ah, I enjoy politics, music and Comedy Central.
Q. Where did you get your gaming names from? (Answer!)
A. I've got several books with names and there are online baby naming guides. Sometimes I just remember a name I liked from another MMO or MUSH somewhere and jigger around with it to come up with something original. Really depends on what the setting is what I end up going for.
Q. What is a feature you would like added to GamerDNA? (Answer!)
Q. Do you feel relationships within games are meaningful? (Answer!)
A. As meaningful as any relationships built around shared interests are. Maybe not much. Maybe the basis for a serious friendship over time. Never can tell and there's no way to tell until a few years have gone by...
Q. What are the proper uses of tank guns and bubblegum? (Answer!)
Q. In real life, are you male or female? (Answer!)
Q. Have you ever had a romantic encounter with someone you met in a game? (Answer!)
AmberMUSH
Eve Online (PC)
Lord of the Rings Online (PC)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PC)
