Sunday Sit down "Howl at the moon" with Arawulf

“Howl at the Moon!”

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. He's seen around all over, Runs the site WildStar Fans, Host of The Planet Nexus Podcast and leader of the guild Extra Kick, Arawulf!. 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.

Sure, my name is Mike Joseph, but most people online call me Arawulf. Most people know me from my website and podcast, but I'm pretty active on Twitter as well. Most people chat with me either at @Arawulf or @WildStar_Fans. As far as my background, I've been married to my wife since 1995, we have three boys. I work full time and create/share WildStar content as a hobby.

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?

To me, WildStar has almost become more than a game – it's an attitude of “We're an MMO and we're not ashamed of it.” WildStar has one hand firmly grasped on the tradition of great MMO experiences and has the other reaching toward new and innovative ideas. Carbine is making some gutsy moves and are proving over and over again that they believe in their product.

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?

They have to get the combat and movement right. This is a non-negotiable for me. Everything I do in game must feel like an extension of myself. If I have to wrestle with clunky controls or ability delay, I will not be able to invest the kind of hours I plan to.

Question 3: I 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?

The Granok appeal to me for a number of reasons. The Exile Granok were expelled by the very kin that they saved on Gnox and are roaming to carve their own existence in the world as mercenaries. This resonates with me because when I turned 18 my dad re-married and I felt that there was no more room in the house for me so I moved out on my own to get a job and build my life, taking whatever job would pay my bills. That's how my adulthood started, and I see a similarity in how the Exile Granoks had to start their lives apart from their home.

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 actually covered this on my first episode of the Planet Nexus Podcast. It was a moment when I just woke up and realized that WildStar was not only building on foundations that I had loved about MMO's they did it with a respect for the MMO genre. Carbine wasn't trying to sell their game as the “savior” of a broken genre but an evolution in the spirit of what made MMO's great in the first place.

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?

While I plan on dabbling in most areas of content, I will likely be doing a ton of raiding. So it's likely that I will be doing whatever I need to do in order to prepare for raids.

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?

The whole team has been outstanding, but I have to give a shout-out to Chad “Pappy” Moore. This guy blows me away with how pumped up about WildStar he is. He drops “Lore Bombs” on Twitter like they're going out of style. I love how active he is with the community. There are very few games where devs are that involved with the fans.

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 do whatever it takes to put in a Guild Fortress or Guild House. As a guild leader, having a central location to have meetings, raid planning – a place where we can hoist our trophies that we earned together. I like the fact that our individual housing plots can have guild friendly features, but a Guild Fortress or house would be amazing.

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?

I've enjoyed their constant interaction with fans. They've done an outstanding job communicating and showing respect to the most faithful fans. I really don't have anything to let them know except that I appreciate what they do and to keep up the good work!

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

Question 9: What was your decision in making a fan site, a podcast, and a guild. All things some might view as extra work.

Surprisingly, most of this is stuff that I normally do. I've always had a desire to search for gaming news. I also love to talk about my favorite games. I've also typically run guilds in a game that had raiding to ensure the kind of people I like to play with are there when I'm available to raid. Because of these facts, the transition to fansite, podcast and guild were very natural. I never expected the website and podcast to garner the audience that they have, to be honest. It's been an incredible experience and I get more out of it than anyone else.

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?

I've been gaming since I was 5 years old in 1979 or so when my dad brought home a Coleco Telstar gaming system and I discovered that I could control what was happening on the television. Atari 2600 to my Commodore 64, I did a ton of gaming growing up. As an adult, I thought I was done gaming until 2005 when my brother introduced me to World of Warcraft.

My top three gaming experinces: My first world PvP win, my first level 60 in WoW, and an insanely well orchestrated ambush in Warhammer Online (you had to be there – our entire guild hid in a tiny building and all ransacked an entire enemy group from out of nowhere. Again, you had to be there.)

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

As I mentioned, I enjoy writing music and singing. I'm also an avid Detroit Tigers fan.

Question 12: Obviously a devout Exile(and that's OK)would you or do you plan to ever see how the “other half” lives?

I'll have characters on both sides, for sure. My heart will always be Exile.

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

If arenas end up getting spectator mode, I'd love to try my hand at shoutcasting. I think it would be fun.

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?

We have too many pets in our house. I have a Dog (black lab) and we also have 5, yes, 5 cats. We have a frog too, but he's pretty quiet and cheap compared to the rest.

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?

Great question. Tough to pin down one person since there have been so many great people that I would love to sit down with. If I had to name one, I'd choose Jesus of Nazareth, for reasons that I don't talk about much on social media and such.

OK, Arawulf, I hope that wasn't too painful for you. I appreciate you being a 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!

I appreciate the chance to chat with you. The WildStar community is such a great group of people! Feel free to add me on Twitter @Arawulf – I love interacting with the community. Thanks again for the chat!

That's it Folks. Everything you'd want to know about Arawulf 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!