“From the Ashes”
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, Druidsfire, sometimes known as Phoenix. 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.
Oh hai! My name is Jean,
known to either the WSRP folks as Phoenix or generally on most other
media as Druidsfire (cos Phoenix is always taken). The only major
exception to this is DeviantArt, where I'm Jayekitty cos shockingly,
Druidsfire was already taken. I'm a 40-year-old gamer with 20 years
of experience with online text-based adventures (MUSHes). I've been
playing MMOs since 2006.
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?
WildStar is an MMO that has decided that it might innovate some of the genre conventions, but it appeals to me mostly because of the cheerfully belligerent
attitudes within the lore and for the voice-overs.
Question 2: What is one
thing in the game your most hoping to be perfectly done, whether
because it's needed or just something for your experience
specifically?
Well, even though I play
MMOs, which by its very name implies lots and lots of group content,
my schedule ensures I don't often get to find groups for many
activities in other MMOs, with Star Wars: the Old Republic
being a rare exception due to which guild I'm in. Therefore, I'd
like to see enough soloable content that those of us who can't find
groups readily will still be able to enjoy a majority of the game.
I'm not advocating that everything can be soloed, cos that's quite
foolish. However, something the Lord of the Rings Online folks
did was edit their Epic Story questlines so that a solo player could
play through it and enjoy the story. For me, story will always trump
mechanics (no offense to the Carbine folks whose job it is to create
those mechanics).
Question 3: I recently did
a blog post discussing maybe why someone might pick one race over
another in WildStar. If you can (given a couple are still missing)
what race do you think you identify with and why, even if it won't
necessarily be your main?
I can see myself playing
any of them. None of them inherently turn me off as a race.
Now, in terms of attitudes of the faction, I'm totally leaning toward
the scrappy Exiles more than the snotty Dominion. I tend to root for
the underdogs rather than the guys and girls in charge.
Interestingly enough, even though I tend to see the Dominion as the
'evil' faction and the Exiles as the 'good' one, much like the Empire
and Rebels in Star Wars, I'm also often taken aback by the
simple fact soooooo many people bend over backwards to justify or
rationalize their participation in the 'evil' faction in a game or in
a genre. It's a concept that fascinates me because of the parallels
to real life in many aspects.
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.
That moment when Kit
Brinny punched out her camera operator. I mean, I liked the spunky
Exile, and that LOL moment clinched it. The whole cheerful
belligerent 'buckle up, cupcake' attitude in a lot of the videos
appeals to me, but that singular moment... POW. :D
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?
There's still a lot of new
car smell to WildStar, but the bits of game that always appeal
to me most is the notion of exploring new areas and seeing what the
story has for us. I'll admit that Star Wars: the Old Republic
has seriously spoiled me in terms of epic storyline in an MMO, and it
will be hard for Carbine to top that, but I'd like to see what they
do. I expect I'll be spending most of my time questing and exploring
and crafting.
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?
Sooooo many excellent
choices here, but despite the fact that Aether is my sister's former
boss during their days on Pirates of the Burning Sea, and I've
made Scooter play messenger boy for me during his days at BioWare
Austin, I have to say since I've started interacting with Carbine
folks, I'd have to vote for composer Jeff Kurtenacker. Not only does
he share some of his compositions on his Soundcloud page, he
sometimes shows up in Turntable and DJs for us. And he has a very
bad habit of making cute little Vine recordings for fans who have had
bad days or as sneaky little presents. He's a good egg. :)
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?
Granted, I'm not in beta,
so I can't speak too much in terms of what may or may not be in-game,
as my single exposure was at the PAX East party where they had a
playable demo. However, I would always add story and lore. Every.
Single. Time. For me, an MMO is an MMO is an MMO. I've played both
EverQuests, SWG,
LotRO, WoW,
Aion, SWTOR, poked
my nose into a couple of other games for a few minutes. In the
broadest of strokes, each of these games more or less play the same.
The fine details are different in mechanics, the UI, whatever.
However, what appeals to me the most is the lore. SWG, SWTOR,
and LotRO have the benefits of being known IPs, so certain
expectations were there to begin with, certain checklists that need
to be completed. With the others, the sky is literally the limit,
but they still play like an MMO. I didn't perceive WildStar
to be that vastly different and game changing (pun entirely
intended). However, the story in some of these MMOs has to be oh so
serious (SWTOR and LotRO, I'm looking at you, even
though I love you for what you are), but dammit, I like some
wackiness in my games. Even WoW, with its inundation of
in-jokes and puns and pop culture references, takes itself too
seriously at the heart of its lore. One thing I seriously appreciate
about WildStar and adore Pappylicious for is the fact that its
lore doesn't take itself too seriously.
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 have enjoyed the very
simple fact that not only are they intending to make a game and take
their time doing it (and doing it right), but also that they are
innovating the one thing that most companies only tend to pay lip
service to: actual honest interactions with their community. I'm not
talking about the fact that when I'm writing this, a dev is in
Turntable DJing with us. I'm talking about things like the Pay It
Forward campaign to showcase the fan community and its creativity and
devotion to one another. I'm talking about opening the game from day
one with add-on creation tools to allow the players to help make the
game better. There's also the Arkship events where oft-neglected
segments of the fan communities (such as the roleplayers) are
actively courted by Carbine, whereas most other MMO companies give
them one or two tools to work with but don't really interact with
them as long as they're not breaking the game in any appreciable way.
I know they're putting in stupid numbers of hours to get this game
right, but yet they still have time for us and to actively listen to
our feedback. In this sort of industry, that's freaking important
and epic.
OK, that's it for the
cross section on WildStar Q's. Next is a few Q's to get to know Druid
a bit better outside of just what you'll see as she tears across
Nexus.
Question 9: So Druid, I
met you informally on twitter and a chat or two, but really got to
know you on turntable. You do DJ an internet radio show on
Fridays. So, what does music do for you on a daily basis?
Well, when I'm at work at
my day job in a call center, music playing quietly in one ear has the
ability to keep me leveled and centered while I'm taking care of
business. When I'm writing, I often turn on an ambient playlist made
up of some classical music, mostly instrumental video game music,
quiet piano music, that sort of thing. I wouldn't say I tune it out
entirely, but it's a nice quiet sound in the background. I've
shamelessly put Jeff Kurtenacker's Soundcloud page on repeat and used
it for an evening of writing on more than one occasion.
Question 10: You game
quite a bit. 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 played video games
since the Atari 2600 days. Did you know that the entire Atari
2600 library is only 274K? Yep. After the Atari days, I then moved
on to the 'blow on the cartridge' days of the original Legend of
Zelda on the NES. Castlevania II is the game that forever
made me a fan of game music (although Zelda helped that too).
I've stuck mostly with Nintendo stuff because of Link and his
adventures. So, that was #1, becoming a music fan.
In 2006, after years of
mocking 'EverCrack' and 'WarCrack', my muse woke up and told me I had
to write a parody about WoW based on a very solemn Pink Floyd
song. I could have just gone googling and written something, mouthed
a bunch of the jargon, but I felt that was disrespectful to both the
game and the genre of parody. I hate parodists who write songs just
to be topical or to pay lip service to the thing they're writing
about, rather than working from any knowledge of the topic... it
comes from my days as a history major. The professors could always
tell when someone was spouting BS, so it would have felt fake and
wrong to write a song about WoW and not actually have played
the game. So I joined up and learned the lingo from the inside.
Then a month or so later, the ads started up for Burning Crusade,
and I did like me some blue space goats... and the pretty elves had a
phoenix as their symbol. Well, let's just say that I've never
stopped being a subscriber. :)
Finally, my biggest gaming
accomplishment is simply having made so many friends across the
internet because of not only my sister being in the industry and
introducing me to so many people, but also for using social media to
make connections with other folks in the industry and in fan
communities. These connections have let me become staff writer for
the largest SWTOR fansite, be witness to things such as
watching Stephen 'Rockjaw' Reid (a veteran con/show goer due to his
career in the industry) getting his mind blown by showing up at
Dragon*Con, or getting to meet Aether for the first time (and
watching Scooter's reaction to seeing him and I talking –
rocket-propelled overeager puppy), or blowing Packetdancer's mind by
informing her that I've known her longer than I've known my own
half-sister. :D
Question 11: I know you've
gone to Conventions quite often. What is it that attracted you to Conventions and to keep going back.
I started going to cons
when I was in college mumblemumble
years ago, generally with a few friends from the university's SF/F
club. In 1995, I went to my first Dragon*Con, and aside from 1996
(when I moved to Cincinnati), I've been there every year since. At
first, I'd go to the cons to see the celebrities and get my photo
taken with them (yes, I have a photo of myself, some friends, Jewel
Staite, and Nathan Fillion during the Firefly days). After
awhile, I started helping out and did a few years staffing, such as
running the music track at PenguiCon for a couple of years, running
the famous merch table at MarsCon (MN) for the comedy music track
this year. I also merch monkey for Paul and Storm when I can, and a
couple of steampunk bands have stayed at my house when they're
visiting Cincinnati. So, cons have turned into a 'hang out with my
people' sort of thing, with attending actual panels being relegated
to secondary importance.
Question 12: It's no
secret your a fan of Star Wars. Have you always liked the franchise
since a young age or was it something you grew into?
Ironically (or perhaps
sadly), I never saw the original trilogy in the theater due to my
family situation back then. However, I had a most sadistic choir
teacher when I was in middle school who insisted on us singing the
Ewok song for the big concert that year. So, yub nub, eee chop
yub nub. Ah toe meet toe peechee keene, g'noop dock fling oh aaaaah.
Yeah, that just happened,
no Google needed.
Still, I saw the original
trilogy on the plate-sized laserdiscs back in the day, and to this
day, if I watch the Millennium Falcon flying into the hangar
bay on the Death Star, I think it's time to flip the disc over. I'd
have to say that my love of the series grew over the years, however.
Unlike most of the fans I knew, I favored ancillary character Wedge
Antilles, a fact that is highly amusing when you consider the fact
that my sister and I 'fight' over whose boyfriend he is... and we
weren't raised together. It's quite eerie how many things Donna and
I like (the bands Rush and Information Society) with no knowledge of
the other's likes or dislikes over the years until we finally met up
in the late 90s. Here's a fact for you... when SOE still had SWG
going and they started their 'fan of the month' sort of showcase, she
was their first honoree.
Since then, I've made a
few costumes and bought a few lightsabers... okay, I have five. :)
One of the coolest things that came out of my love of Star Wars is
that I made the acquaintance of one Consetta Parker, the agent for
voice actor James Arnold Taylor (Obi-Wan in Clone Wars,
Ratchet of Ratchet and Clank, etc.). She egged me into making
my first-ever Sith costume and going to Celebration VI, and I got to
meet her and James and also meet the Rancho Obi-Wan crew. Excellent
people, all.
Question 13: Druid, I’ve
seen your art, writing, and costumes design for conventions
which are all very stylized and creative. If there was anything else
you'd wish to learn whether a trade or talent, what would it be?
Well, actually, it's not
so much that I'd like to learn more, which I do. What I'd like to do
even more than learn a wider variety of things is actually buckle
down and focus on just one particular craft and master it to what I
feel is an acceptable standard. I consider my skills to be perhaps
upper-apprentice, maybe lower-end journeyman in terms of
quality. My thoughts on how well I do versus how much I get praised
for it focus on a quote from guitar god David Gilmour of Pink Floyd a
few years ago. He denied he had mastered the guitar. I'll heartily
call him a liar to his face for that, but the artist is always going
to be less impressed with his or her own skills than the people
around them. So, I'm above 'glue some gears on it and call it
steampunk' stage of things, but I would never consider myself even
exceptional. There are so many writers and artists out there,
costumers and cosplayers with skills and talents far beyond mine...
and I recognize that much of what I perceive to be lackluster in my
work compared to their skills can be chalked up to not taking the
time to learn the skills and not taking the time to practice to fully
realize those skills. So while someone might praise my art, I want
to learn to be better than what I am now.
I will admit that I have
grown in my writing and artistic skills. A decade ago, I was happy
just to copy someone else's work, but strictly for my own personal
aggrandizement, just to learn technique. I did a lot of realistic
portrait work, but nothing I would consider very original or
artistic. However, the past few years, I'm happy to be able to do
more wholly original pieces of art, and I've made progress in
attempting a career in writing, something I need to spend more time
learning my craft as well.
The bottom line is the old
adage: Jean of All Trades, Mistress of None.
For once, I'd like to be
that master of a trade. Just one. Or maybe two. :)
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?
I have a clan of kittehs,
all black. They're awesome critters, and their names are Mew, Yowl,
Mystery, and Thief. They all earned their names. If I could have
any other pet, I think I'd like a Pernese firelizard. I don't know
why, but I've always been taken with these fictional critters from
Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series.
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?
I have had the incredible
fortune of meeting a stupid number of people whose work I admired
(such as David Tennant, David Gilmour, Patrick Stewart, and Weird
Al). There are also a number of people out there who I'd like to
meet because they have done great things and are positive influences
in our society (Bill Nye, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Brian Cox), but I
think perhaps the one person I've always been fascinated with is her
majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second. I'm not even sure why, because
she has been a figurehead for her entire life, but I think I would
like to have tea with the Queen.
OK, Druidsfire, 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 radio show, twitter, websites,
your articles you regularly write and of course feel free to give shout outs of any kind!
My weekly article on
TORWars.com is published on Fridays under the title 'SWTOR Loading
Screen'.
My radio show is on Friday
nights from 8-10pm Eastern time on http://dementiaradio.org.
It's a comedy music station that doesn't heed the FCC rules, so it's
rarely SFW. I currently hold the record for the most number of
listeners (105) on Dementia Radio whilst hosting a CD release party
for steampunk band Abney Park. I'm also the only DJ to have
broadcast a show from overseas while on holiday in the UK, and hold
the altitude record for a pirate-casted song from 32,000 feet while
flying home from PAX East in 2012. The song in question was Devo
Spice and Insane Ian's 'Flight Check'.
Hmm. I founded a mailing
list on the Penn State servers 20 years ago for the relatively
obscure vampire cop TV show Forever Knight. The list is still
going.
I also feature as lead
writer for a parody of 'Old Dun Cow' called 'When the Dairy Farm
Caught Fire' on Marc Gunn's CD Whiskers in the Jar. Marc has
two CDs of Irish drinking songs parodied into various fun feline
stories. Whiskers in the Jar was on the longlist for Grammy
nominations in the year it was eligible.
In 2005, I produced a
charity comedy CD for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, with the
proceeds going to the American Red Cross. That CD and its first
volume are available at http://funnymusicians.com
and the second volume that was my idea features artists such as Weird
Al and Barnes and Barnes. Funny story, in 2011, I had the chance to
thank Al for donating a remixed track to the effort and let him know
how much we'd raised for the Red Cross, and he thanked me
for giving him the opportunity to help out. Classy guy.
That's it Folks. Everything
you'd want to know about Druidsfire and hopefully more! I thank her
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!
