Sunday Sit down #4 "They aren't goats!"

“They aren't goats!”

Hello Exiles and Dominion of the planet Nexus and beyond! My name is Zilvis. This is my end of the week community spotlight that I’ll be doing each and every week to delve a little more into who a certain member of the WildStar community is, learn the what and why of their choice to migrate to Nexus, and maybe some surprises along the way. The way I looked at it we're all community bound like brothers and sisters in this game of WildStar. Why not get to know someone a bit better? Once again welcome, sit back, and prepare to meet this week's community member. You've seen his petition and hopefully signed. His name has been spread all over the community connected with what I consider the wooly little mascot of WildStar. Josh, or as I call him JRW. Welcome to Sunday Sit down.

 I’ll let you write a little introduction. 
If you have other monikers some may know you by, feel free to throw them out there. Mainly just tell where people can find you online and any background you'd like to share we might not know.

Well hello there all you gorgeous Nexians, oh and hi to you too Zil! As Zilvis has told you, my name indeed is Josh and well since he forgot to mention what exactly JRW stands for, according to him, I’m “Joshie: Rowsdower Whisperer”. I’ve been given that name, amongst others, mainly in part due to my push to help save Rowsdowers from the evil hands of the Brofessional.

In regards to where people can find me, I’m usually in turntable hanging out, spinning tunes and chatting it up with all the fine folk there. Of course I keep Twitter up all day (even at work – sorry boss lady). If you haven’t guessed by now, my name is “J0shm1lls” in both places.

Question 1:As this is a WildStar themed project, we'll get those underway first. As most of us at one time or another have asked ourselves, what is WildStar?

I think the “Official Answer” to that question is, “Wildstar is an upcoming Futuristic-Sci-Fi-Western MMORPG from the lovely folk at Carbine Studios”. Now, what is WildStar to me you ask? I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it’s going to be the next big thing. There hasn’t been a game to date that has grabbed my attention like this one has.

Question 2: What is one thing in the game you’re most hoping to be perfectly done, whether because it's needed or just something for your experience specifically?

When I get in to a game, I tend to dig in and get stuck on it for a very long time. Even when it starts to get repetitive, old and tired, “Cough-cough, WoW, Cough-cough”. So one of the things that I strongly believe NEEDS to be done right, is the re-playability factor. Keeping content fresh and new is important if Carbine wants to keep people in for the long haul. I’ve stuck around in WoW this long (6 years or so) only because I play with people I have fun playing with, definitely not because I love doing dailies.

Question 3: I recently did a blog post discussing maybe why someone might pick one race over another in WildStar. What race do you think you identify with and why, even if it won't necessarily be your main?

For me, I think this one is a no brainer, I can see myself as being a Granok running around Nexus drinking beer and shooting guns. I hope my neck didn’t appear too red on that one… As far as what I will most likely end up playing, probably a Mordesh. I really like their look and it’ll be like I never left my DeathKnight behind.

Question 4: I'm sure everyone has their WildStar moment, as I call it, that quintessential thing that cinched in your decision on the game.

I’m sure a lot of people can agree with me on this one, my first experience with Wildstar was the “Meet the Exiles” video, and once I saw the character that Carbine is putting into this game I was hooked. That Kit Brinny is a scrappy lil somethin!

Question 5: What aspect of WildStar are you most excited about and feel you'll spend the most time on such as Questing-Housing-PVP?

Surprisingly I find myself drawn to housing. I didn’t think it would matter that much to me, but now that we’ve got more detail on the complexity of some of the things that can be done on your housing plot, I can easily say I’m going to be spending a lot of time on getting mine just the way I want it.

Question 6: Out of everyone from Carbine that you've interacted with, who has surprised you the most for one thing or another by what you have seen that they have said or done so far?

All the Carbinites deserve awards for what they’re doing, they truly do. But if I had to pick out one person from the team to thank, it’d have to be Gortok (Carbine Econ Designer). I was lucky enough to attend the VIP Arkship event Carbine put on after the San Diego Comic-Con, and my friends and I got the chance to sit with him (and his hilarious wife) for about two hours discussing all things Wildstar. He was genuinely interested in our thoughts about the game thus far from what we’ve seen publicly and also what we got to play at the event. It was very refreshing to see just how much the Devs appreciate feedback whether it be good bad or indifferent. I can't say all that was said, but there sure was a whole lot of [Redacted].

Question 7: If you were given the power to either alter the game in some way or add something to it that has not been mentioned or rumored, what would it be and why?

I would love to have a laundry list of ingenious ideas to add to the game, but from what I have seen so far there truly isn’t anything I can think of to change or add. The way I look at it, Wildstar is a game that’s being developed by gamers for gamers, and I’m more than happy to leave it in their VERY qualified hands.

Question 8: What is the one thing you want Carbine on a personal level or business level to know that you yourself have enjoyed from them?

This is an easy one for me… Going back to a previous answer, the VIP Arkship Event. I never had the slightest idea that I’d be able to attend but when I got a tweet from Troy inviting me, I was shocked! Being able to interact face to face with the developers that are making the game I’m going to be spending a considerable amount of time playing soon was amazing. Not to mention the entertainment from some of the more “inebriated” devs, it was definitely a night that I won’t forget.

OK, that's it for the cross section on WildStar Q's. Next is a few Q's to get to know Josh a bit better besides his amazing exploits across Nexus!

Question 9: Josh, naturally I have to ask this first. Your possibly best known for the petition of a Rowsdower plushie being made. What made you go that route for your ideas?

That whole thing started when @Atreyah88 on Twitter asked if she were the only one that hoped for a Rowsdower plushie one day and @CRB_Aether (Troy-Community Director for Wildstar) said that someone should start up a petition and he’d sign it. So I took it upon myself to get the ball rolling. From there on out it just kind of blew up (no pun intended) beyond what I thought it would, @Team_wildstar re-tweeted the petition link, they linked to it at the end of that horrible display of Rowsdower explosions in a Dev-Speak and now it has almost 3,000 signatures!

Question 10: How long have you been gaming and what are your top 3 moments you'd say you remember in your own personal gaming history?

If you go back in time to when I got my first Gaming system (the original NES) in 1989 at 7 years old and snap back to now, that makes 24 years of gaming! Wow, thanks for inadvertently making me feel old… Throughout my long history of playing, I can really only say two moments stand out to me. The first was when Matrix Online was coming to an end, and everyone was standing around Mara Central, dueling, dancing, saying their final goodbyes and enjoying the last minutes in game before the servers were unplugged for good. In the last few seconds, all the toons started collapsing in on themselves and basically turning into meatwads and all we could do was watch as the code of the Matrix fell for the last time, then **server disconnect**. My other memorable moment would definitely have to be when my WoW guild finally downed the Lich King after many many weeks of banging our head against a brick wall. Finally instead of wipe after wipe, the perfect run, everything happened as it would in an orchestra, every note played perfectly at that exact moment it was meant, to make a beautiful symphony.

Question 11: Besides Gaming and Rowsdower do you have any other interests or hobbies you find fun?

Occasionally I like to head out to the desert with a few buddies and partake in a little Off-Road extravaganza. Getting my truck dirty, getting it off the ground here and there and getting a little sideways. That definitely gets the blood flowing!

Question 12: If there was one place in the world you could live where would it be and why?

I thought about this question for a while, and keep coming back to the same conclusion. I grew up in Southern California, lived in Texas for a few years, spent a little while in Tennessee and Arizona, and through my previous Job I Traveled across the US quite a bit. From all the places I’ve been and seen, there’s no place that I know of that you are no further than a few hours from a beach, the mountains, the desert and the city other than where I grew up and live now. Despite the traffic on the freeways and the occasional angry driver, Southern California has been my home and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. Queue “California Love”, thanks Tupac.

Question 13: Josh, is there any hidden talents or trade skills you'd like to share? Is there something new you'd like to learn?

I don’t know if I’d call them talents or skills but I’ve dabbled in a few musical instruments and managed to learn a few songs here and there on the piano and guitar but never truly stuck with either long enough to get “good”. I find myself going through phases quite a bit, yet I always come back to things later. I would definitely like to commit to learning to read sheet music and be able to play the piano.

Question 14: Simple one now I promise. Do you have any pets? If you could have any real or made up pet, what would it be?

Yeah, I think your right… So far this has to be the easiest question. Yes, I do in fact have pets! I have two dogs, both Lhasa Apso, my boy’s name is Oso and he’s 7 years young and my girl is Sandy and she’s 6. They’re more my kids than dogs though. I’m sure you already know what my choice would be if I could have any other real or made up pet would be… A Mini-Rowsdower! Maybe 20 lbs or so, small enough to keep in the house, yet hilarious enough to keep me entertained for hours on end.

Question 15: Finally, If there were one person living or dead, real or fake that you could sit down and have a long discussion with, who would it be and why?

Appealing to the geek or nerd in me, I’d have to say Albert Einstein. I would be very happy to get his thoughts on how some of the Eldan Technology works and why our Earth Scientists haven’t been able to meet or exceed what they’ve accomplished on Nexus yet. Remember kiddos, E=mc².

OK, Josh, I hope that wasn't too painful for you. I appreciate you being the first guest for the Sunday Sit down. Now, I’ll let you have free reign. If there's anything else not asked here that you'd like to get out there that you think would be interesting for us to know, feel free to share. Things like plugs for your twitter or anything, and of course feel free to give shout outs of any kind!

Painful? Pfft, not at all *wipes the tears away*. Thanks for thinking I’m interesting enough to have me on your blog Zil, I hope I don’t disappoint. As far as what else hasn’t been said yet or enough, I do need to take a moment to point out that the Wildstar community is the most pleasant one I’ve been lucky enough to ever be a part of. From the Devs hanging out in Turntable, posting threads and comments on community forums, tweeting to their hearts content all while making a game that I’m extremely anxious to play; to the amazing public community that has flocked to this game and managed to remain civil and positive (for the most part). *Starts a slow clap and builds to a roar* Here’s to you Carbine, keep up the fantastic work! There is no way possible I could shout out all the people I’d like to in this blog, but you all know who you are! If you’d like to come hang out with us in Turntable, I’ll most likely be there or hit me up on twitter @J0shm1lls, and make sure if you haven’t already to sign the Rowsdower Plushie for All petition here http://chn.ge/1bFLVef because c’mon, who doesn’t want a Rowsdower plushie?

That's it Folks. Everything you'd want to know about Josh and hopefully more! I thank him again for putting up with me as well as you the reader. Each and every week we will have a new and fascinating community member to learn about and see what really does make the WildStar community tick inside and out. Feel free to contact me anytime on twitter @zilvis78, comment below, or if you bump into me on the interwebs say hi!