Q. What experience do you have beta-testing games? (Answer!)
A. I have always participated in organised beta events, most of my early experience of MMOs was through beta testing rather than trials. I believe that beta testing is an important way of putting something back into the game I enjoy so much.
Q. In real life, are you male or female? (Answer!)
A. Why isn't there a multiclass option?
A. Yes, and I have a microphone
Q. How many hours a week do you play? (Answer!)
Q. How do you feel about playing characters of the opposite sex? (Answer!)
A. In "game" virtual worlds which are gender neutral it dosn't matter, "social" virtual worlds ask people to role play characters, being of the opposite sex to your character could get you in hot water - something I find a little disconcerting.
If you are playing in an environment where gender doesn't matter then there is no real reason to be concerned, for example many characters in both EVE and PlanetSide were Female - you wouldn't know unless you looked at them.
On the other hand games such as Second Life where it is more reasonable to expect people to role play the character they have created - particularly when it comes down to social interaction - I find it a little disconcerting.
Q. What are your favorite tabletop (RPG, board, miniatures, etc.) games? (Answer!)
Q. Do you feel relationships within games are meaningful? (Answer!)
A. They can be, virtual worlds like any other world (chat rooms, forums, telephones, speed dating events) give people tools and opportunities to communicate, what you make of these is up to you.
Q. When you are not playing games, what do you do for fun? (Answer!)
Q. Have you ever had a romantic encounter with someone you met in a game? (Answer!)
Q. Other than your console or PC, what is the piece of hardware you can't live without? (Answer!)
A. PDA - it tells me what I need to do next, what I need to know and who I need to contact.
Q. If you made your own game, what would it be like? (Answer!)
A. Would probably be similar to EVE Online, kind of wish I had designed EVE Online actually.
Q. Are you interested in working within the game industry? (Answer!)
A. Yes, I have applied for a couple of jobs in the past, however I didn't make the cut. That said I really enjoy my job at the moment, I don't think I would actually want to move away from it at this point in my life.
Q. If you could bring any book, movie or comic to life in a game, which would you choose? (Answer!)
A. Seeing as the Firefly/Serenity universe is being implemented I would have to say new Battlestar Galactica universe - I am not sure how you would retain the desperate "rag-tag" fleet feeling of the TV series without making the game hostile to new players, but surely it would be a cool universe to see.
Q. When do you play, including timezone? (Answer!)
Q. Where did you get your gaming names from? (Answer!)
A. I got "Vortecs" from watching F1 and someone said Vortices just at the time I was registering my PlanetSide account. Name of other EVE Characters are taken by taking two words that sound good together then translating them into Icelandic.
Q. If you could cancel any online game, which would it be? (Answer!)
A. Any game that clones another, so many companies are trying to emulate the success of WoW or EQ by emulating the game play - innovate something, do something totally different even if it failed it would be better than a clone.
Q. How do you feel about selling virtual items for real money? (Do NOT advertise RMT services!) (Answer!)
A. Why should real world wealth define in-game success or wealth RMT can only be bad for any serious game because it breaks immersion.
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. I am more than happy to play along, sometimes it is taken too far and becomes a farce, can be very amusing though.
Q. What do your characters and avatars usually look like? (Answer!)
A. Me, well some of them do anyway I generally don't have a plan, I just make them look friendly, mean, angry, dangerous, scared or whatever - depending on how I expect to play this character.
Q. Beside GamerDNA, what are your favorite websites? (Answer!)
Q. What are the specs on your gaming rig? (Answer!)
A. Intel Quad Core Q6600 G0
4GB DDR2
8800 GTS
Vista x64
Q. What music do you like to play games to? (Answer!)
A. Sigur Rós or EVE's in-game music.
Q. What sort of players annoy you the most? (Answer!)
A. The ones that ask questions, go away for a few hours/days/weeks come back and ask exactly the same question again without giving any indication of why they were unable to comprehend, understand or carry out the response to the questions.
Q. What is the most overlooked or misunderstood game? (Answer!)
A. PlanetSide - overlooked by SOE rather than the players, it could have been so good!
Q. Have you ever had a memorable real-life meeting with other gamers? (Answer!)
A. Yes, twice at home and once up in London - twas great!
Q. What are your most memorable achievements in a game? (Answer!)
A. Reaching the 1bn, 2bn and 5bn marks in EVE Online. It is kind of sad that i measure my success in EVE with ISK but it is a good indication that I am doing the right thing.
Q. What question would you add to the Attitudes system? (Answer!)
A. If you could change one thing about your favourite game what would it be?
Q. Why do you join guilds or clans? (Answer!)
A. To socialise and take over the world!
Q. What are your thoughts on player-made mods/addons for games? (Answer!)
A. Assuming they are within the EULA/Licence there is no issue with them.
Q. If you could meet any game developer, who would it be? (Answer!)
Q. What is the most memorable flamewar you can remember? (Answer!)
A. I don't think I have ever have one, at least not one that was memorable.
Q. What do you love or hate about PVP? (Answer!)
A. I love the adrenaline rush, the risk of putting your ship or self at risk to get a reward, be that loot, bounty or XP.
Q. What is a feature you would like added to GamerDNA? (Answer!)
A. A game suggestion feature based upon the results of your GamerDNA.
Q. What sort of tools (calculators, builders, spreadsheets, etc.) do you use to plan your characters? (Answer!)
A. EVEMon for managing characters in EVE, custom spreadsheet for managing the activities.
Q. What is your first computer or video gaming memory? (Answer!)
Q. What are the proper uses of tank guns and bubblegum? (Answer!)
