Faction Interviews! This should be some fun!

**Mindsweep**

Ingame Handle: MindsweepX
Server: Syntax
Faction: The Black Code

**MatrixRefugee**

BienTan wrote:

In-game Handle: Austrian
Server: Recursion
Faction: The Connection

Ooh, count me in as well

--Sieges/Morraeon/GuillimarTheBard, also of the same

ThHidden01

Okay I will do in order as people post on this thread so watch out yall when TH comes a knocking.

TH

**Therinwhitten**

Handle: TherinWhitten

Server: Vector-Hostile

Faction: Troopers Revolutions

**Fen**

Name: Fenshire
Server: Recursion
Faction: The Trust

ThHidden01

Okay well as he was the first one with details, I will work with Austrian first, so as soon as I see him ingame and we got some time, I will do the interview SMILEY

I will then work my way down the list, and hopefully meet some great people SMILEY

TH

Havocide · 09/10/2007 09:47:16

ThHidden01 wrote:

Okay well as he was the first one with details, I will work with Austrian first, so as soon as I see him ingame and we got some time, I will do the interview " /> I will then work my way down the list, and hopefully meet some great people " />

TH

You make it sound like your not expecting to meet great people lmao. =P

Heh, what harm can this be.

Ingame Handle: Havocide
Server: Syntax/Recursion
Faction: Unus Somnium - EPN

ThHidden01

My first interview was to be with Austrian, of The Connection. Being my first interview, I did wonder what I would find, but Austrian was a cool and calm guy, and was a great guy to start the interviewing with! This is the interview.

TheHidden01: So lets start from the best point, the beginning, how long you been playing?

Austrian: Just over two years. My anniversary was last month, actually.

TheHidden01: Oh congratulations

Austrian: Thanks!

TheHidden01: So as you came flying out the hardline, was what the explosive thing that happened to you?

Austrian: I came out in Mara Central back then and the entire hardline was swarmed by PvP. And, of course, the Red Eye Agents were in the vogue back then so a few were pitched in with the fight, chasing some people doing missions. It was a bit shocking because the tutorial seemed so laid-back. And then I jack-in and it's this massive war zone.

TheHidden01: I can imagine, did the fighting inspire you?

Austrian: To a degree. Although, my main inspiration came from the movies and I tried to stick to them more than what went on in the game. For example, I mistakenly thought for a few days that those Red Eyes were actual Agents. I was a bit sceptical of the idea of mid-level players taking down Agents so I insisted on focusing my RP around the "canon" as opposed to what Chadwick would sometimes bring in.

TheHidden01: I understand, so I take it choosing the organization you were to work for was a huge choice, or rather important.

Austrian: It was important but I had, more or less, decided prior to picking up the game that The Merovingian's Organization would be the choice for me. The aesthetics of the Le Vrai and Chateau scenes were simply awesome. And the dialogue of the Le Vrai scene in particular was just... amazing. I've never heard so many references to Arthur Schoppenhauer in a movie before, let alone one scene. So, considering that, The Merv was the place to be for me. Zion and the Machines- I couldn't say there being that much opportunity for thought-provoking dialogue with them. See there being, rather.

TheHidden01: Well that's a very well thought reason Did you hop into a faction immediately?

Austrian: No. I helped establish one when I was about lvl 20 and had been playing for a month or two. The story goes that all the founding members met while running the Orchid Public Baths in Kaede. We decided a mission team wouldn't hold all of us, so we set up a faction instead. A little spur of the moment but it grew and fleshed out.

TheHidden01: What was the name of the faction?

Austrian: Chaos Theory

TheHidden01: Ahh Were you one of the leaders? Or were you a council?

Austrian: It was pretty informal. Re1gn and I tended to swap leadership every now and then.

TheHidden01: Did that make things difficult in anyway? I can understand some desire absolute power, and some followers an absolute leader.

Austrian: It wasn't too difficult. There were occasions where there were miscommunications that led to tensions, but they tended to be sorted out right away. The only lasting difficulty was when Re1gn wanted to merge the faction into Sidus Noctis and I insisted that we continue on as we were. We had become a big faction by that time with our own distinct identity and reputation. Sidus looked like a group that wasn't quite of the same mind-set as we were.

TheHidden01: What was the common faction belief on the matter?

Austrian: In the end, some of the faction went to Sidus Noctis with Re1gn. Some went with me to Triluminary, which I eventually led as well. And some left the game.

TheHidden01: That must have been a testing time, I too have experienced a split like that. Was it hard leaving Re1gn?

Austrian: It's unfortunate but it happens. It was hard, yes. But some things are necessary. Sidus would have hurt the enjoyment of the game for the members and, really, the main responsibility of a faction leader should be to ensure that his or her members are enjoying the game as fully as possible. In my opinion, anyway.

TheHidden01: I agree with that. So how come you went to another faction?

Austrian: Chaos Theory didn't have anywhere near the number of members it had prior to Re1gn's departure. The consensus I got from speaking with everyone still in was that we had to merge to survive now but it had to be with a group similar to our playing style, RP, etc. Triluminary had been the closest match and we wound up fitting together perfectly.

TheHidden01: So as you slotted together was their any leadership problems? Alien rules and so forth

Austrian: Not so much. It was decided that Triad would lead, while GwailouSaang and I would take up sort of co-leader positions. Eventually Triad had little time for the game so I was entrusted with leading the faction in his stead.

TheHidden01: Was this absolute power of co-leading?

Austrian: Not to the Brewko extent, if you get my meaning What a co-leader said carried with it authority, but if it was obviously a bad request or ruling on a dispute, it could be questioned. But Saang and I were chosen because we demonstrated fair judgement, Fair judgement and level heads. So our decisions tended not to be questioned but our power wasn't absolute.

TheHidden01: That's a nice way to run it, as two seperate people, did you ever argue over decisions or rules?

Austrian: No, Saang and I got along surprisingly well. He was a great guy and it was a huge loss to the game and to the community when he had to leave due to time constraints. We tended to be of the same mind-set. Really miss discussing linguistics and philosophy with that fellow.

TheHidden01: It is always a shame, one thing I find is that even though its a game, you get to meet some fantastic people.

Austrian: That's for sure. Never know where you might find an interesting person with similar passions.

TheHidden01: Yes totally, so as I can see, your no longer in that faction, what eventually happned?

Austrian: A lot of people started having time constraint problems and had to leave the game to tend to RL matters. Some also were disappointed with lack of content, the Brewko incidents, and the direction of the Anome plot. So most of the membership left.

TheHidden01: I understand.

Austrian: But we have members trickling back in, which is awesome. Just had one brought back into the faction's fold yesterday.

TheHidden01: The factions gone, people leaving, must have been a hard time, and must have tested your own allegiance in this game, what drove you on? Oh that's great to here!

Austrian: It might sound selfish, but what drove me on was that I still had a story to tell with my character and I wanted to finish telling it before finally departing. An invitation to join in a merger with The Devil's Advocates helped with things too, I have to say.

TheHidden01: Oh! So what happened to make you go there?

Austrian: I'd known The Da's for a long while and knew that there's was a faction dedicated to telling good and interesting stories- stories that belonged in The Matrix universe and had the same atmosphere as the movies. Sallo and Anubis were looking into a merger of their two factions and it was offered that my own group join with them. The merger had some tough times as some were more suspicious of each others' intensions than they should have been. But it went through and I was soon a co-leader of that faction as well.

TheHidden01: That must have taken alot of respect, DA are high profile. How many groups were involved in this merger?

Austrian: Just three. Sallo's, though I can't recall the name of her faction at the time, the DA's and my own.

TheHidden01: How did DA diffur from the other factions, was the rp as good as you hoped?

Austrian: It was a good group. The RP differed from player-to-player. But the most important thing, as it turned out, was the cohesiveness of the community spirit. I know Anubis used to say it a lot but the DA's really are like one big family. That's probably how the faction has stayed together so well in its transition to EvE.

TheHidden01: Some are talking of its return to MxO, what will you do if they return back to the strength they once were?

Austrian: I don't think they will. Unfortunately, times have changed since the DA's were here with a strong presence. The game is not the same. The community is not the same. I don't want to say it but I see it as being a short-term thing that won't live as long as many, incuding myself, would hope. I wish those trying the best but I'm afraid those of us who moved on to The Connection aren't willing to make such a gamble.

TheHidden01: So how did the connection come to form, your current faction.

Austrian: It formed when I returned from a few month break from the game after the DA's transition to EvE. I basically saw that the game still had little new content and that Recursion seemed to have the least Player Events of all the servers. I thought this was a terrible state of affairs but an opportunity. The Connection's purpose is to change all that with player content. Events of various sorts to pick things up a bit.

TheHidden01: That's very interesting, what's planned, or can't I know yet

Austrian: Let's just say there's a very complex, maybe too complex, storyline in mind. And that the Events will differ in style enough so that every kind of player will have something to enjoy.

TheHidden01: That will take alot of work, is the support and interest there?

Austrian: Very much so. I think a lot of people remember what it was like, back in the day, when RP and interesting Events were literally everywhere. So they're nostalgic and want just a little bit of the atmosphere of excitement back. So there's definitely something to work with. The trick is bringing it altogether for the final product.

TheHidden01: If that can be done it will benefit the community alot, I know people do desire 'that feel' what else does your faction also partake in?

Austrian: Aside from the Events, there's always some random RP going on with some of our members somewhere. We're working on bringing in our PvP players just returning to the game. And, of course, there's always the typical power lvl'ing newer players to the game, The power lvl'ing, farming, coding, etc. Nothing in this game is wasted.

TheHidden01: So your nothing really specific, which I believe is a good thing, how does leadership work in your faction?

Austrian: It's generally consenus amongst the "Associates", Captains. But final say tends to rest with the "Partners", Captains of Rank 1 crews. At the moment, that means critical decisions are made by Sieges and myself. As we bring in our other crews, leadership will likely be shared across more members. I find consensus is important. Perhaps a cultural thing, perhaps something else.

TheHidden01: That's interesting and I respect that point of view. Looking outside of the game, how has say your views on the game changed? Do you think this game is heading to it's death?

Austrian: I think it's not prospering as much as it could. There's a saying I'm sure everyone has heard. "It takes money to make money." But SOE doesn't seem to quite understand this proverb. You have to invest something in this game to make something. Invest more, make more. I don't think MxO will die spontaneously. But I think it's already started down that long road.

TheHidden01: heh, so do you think its just money that is limiting the game?

Austrian: There's other things limiting it. But if you have the money, you can buy these other things. You can pay for an animator. You can pay for an LET.

TheHidden01: Seems that's what everyone thinks these days heh. So now, today, what keeps you here?

Austrian: The personnel and tha talent is certainly there. It's just that no one works for free. What keeps me here today? Probably a sense of community and camaraderie with other players. It's that I still need to tell many stories, and the list of them keeps on growing. And, of course, it's a sense of responsibility and duty. Call me odd, but I feel I owe something to the community of players and that's what drives me to create Events, stories, etc.

TheHidden01: This community is exceptional to me, and it really is like a second family. Ever taken steps to meet some people in the real?

Austrian: I would but the meet-up's are always in the southern US! Where's the love for players in Canada? Joking, but it's unfortunate that the RL events are always quite a commute from Calgary, where I live now. I might try for something in Canada for our players but it'll have to be soon. I'm set to vanish to East Europe for a mission with the OSCE next summer.

TheHidden01: Wow, will you still be able to play MxO?

Austrian: I'm hoping so. I'm planning to get a laptop by then so it'll be a must on my list of downloads. My hours will, of course, be distorted. I'll get a sample of how our Australian and East Asian players feel like!

TheHidden01: You never know there could be a whole community that you have never seen

Austrian: That's true enough. I remember when we used to have a few Turkish players, which would be roughly the same time zone as I'll be in. Who knows?

TheHidden01: Turkish wow, I got some greeks, and know an Australian who is active, who is never on when I am.

Austrian: It's probably harsh for those players when trying to attend Events- player or otherwise.

TheHidden01: I'm UK and its hard enough but for them it must be terrible. Do you believe they should space out live events?

Austrian: In terms of time zones or relative to other Events?

TheHidden01: In terms of time zones

Austrian: I wish they could but I'm willing to bet it would be impossible. From my understanding, the LET now consists of Rarebit and any other dev's he can conscript. It'd be harsh to ask someone to stay long after hours to act like a movie character. I know I'd be ticked off if someone at my workplace asked me to stay until 2 or 3am.

TheHidden01: heh I can see your point. Well Austrian, its been great to talk to you and I have learnt alot from you

Austrian: Many thanks! It's been great speaking with you as well.

That's the entire conversation. As I said he was a great guy, and hopefully, a good start to the interviewing. Next up is Goligoth so look out!

TH

Havocide · 09/02/2007 15:59:20

You know...I could record these as skype calls for you, you know. =)

ThHidden01

Havocide wrote:

You know...I could record these as skype calls for you, you know. =)

We could but I aint skypin'

Vent is okay maybe :p

TH

**RedBindi**

Fen wrote:

Name: Fenshire
Server: Recursion
Faction: The Trust

Sign me up for the Trust as well.

Name: RedBindi
Server: Recursion
Faction: The Trust

Havocide

ThHidden01 wrote:

Havocide wrote:
You know...I could record these as skype calls for you, you know. =)
We could but I aint skypin'

Vent is okay maybe :p

TH

Skype is free SMILEY

I cant record vent. Heh up to you. Just an idea.

ThHidden01 · 09/03/2007 15:58:28

This is of the interview that happened in Murasaka NW, between me and Goligoth. I know him very well, so it was to be interesting to see what come up!

TheHidden01: So Goligoth thanks for coming " /> Can I first ask how long you been playing?

Goligoth: I didn't have that much interest in the game, and I had a horrible computer causing me not to see the game's full potential.

TheHidden01: Yeah I guess, I know alot of people have problems with PCs, what was it graphics or that old lag problem?

Goligoth: Both. =p.

TheHidden01: So I see your CYPH (reaches for gun), but what were you at first?

Goligoth: I was for some reason a Machine.

TheHidden01: Oh? How come? You don't seem very happy with that... heh

Goligoth: Can't say I'm happy or sad at that decision. Since back then I wasn't into rp'ing so I didn't care about what org I was in.

TheHidden01: What eventually get you interested in roleplay?

Goligoth: Well, one day I just decided to try it out during a live event that happened, and well I liked it so I went along with it.

TheHidden01: MxO tends to be a very roleplay game, with many gamers devoting hours to it, once you found roleplay, how did it affect your game?

Goligoth: At the time, MxO was one of many games I played, some of which that you might know are Lineage 2, and WoW. Once I found roleplay, I pretty much gave up on WoW and the other minor games and focused my time on MxO, and L2 for whenever I get bored.

TheHidden01: What was it about MxO's roleplay in particular that you enjoyed

Goligoth: This is probably the oldest reason in the book but: It's unique.

TheHidden01: How so?

Goligoth: In games where you choose a race for your character to be, you're roleplay is for the most part bound to that decision. Here it isn't.

TheHidden01: I understand, so once you got into roleplay, which organization did you choose?

Goligoth: By the time I got into roleplay I was a Merovingian, so I decided to stay that way for a while.

TheHidden01: What was it about the merovingian that inspired you?

Goligoth: Can't say he/they inspired me that much since I was part of an uprising/rebellion against him a while back. *laughs*

TheHidden01: Oh really? How did that happen!

Goligoth: Well, one person started it, I was one of the first too support it. Oh and I'll let you guess who it was that started it.

TheHidden01: Umm Zippy? Wild guess :p

Goligoth: No it wasn't a squirrel..

TheHidden01: Gothique

Goligoth: Bingo.

TheHidden01: (Hides special information on operative) I hear you had a relationship, well friendly one with her, how were you two really?

Goligoth: ...*Pretends to have a blonde moment* I don't understand the question.

TheHidden01: I know you two were good friends, how did this come about, and what were the implications of this?

Goligoth: Well, I was in all of her factions: <Machines> The Original Megacity PoliceDept, And Ookami Batsu. And well back then I was(and some people say I still am) a kissup.

TheHidden01: How come you followed her so?

Goligoth: After the end of the Monolith era, I really had no intention of coming back to MxO, she kept asking me to come back and I did. Since then i never have left/quit so it was her fault that I'm you can say deticated too this game. So i just thought I owed her that.

TheHidden01: I see your not in the faction anymore with her what happened to make you leave her?

Goligoth: Simple, she left so what was the point of continuing that rebellion? From there I got a few followers and went to join the Dark Mavericks.

TheHidden01: Ooo quite a high profile faction how did that work for you?

Goligoth: It was pretty fun, they're a great group of people(<--Not a shameless ad for all Mervs to go join them.) After a while lngus made me head of RP/PR.

TheHidden01: That's quite a position, working with the liasons must have done wonders for your roleplay!

Goligoth: That it did. Those were some great times.(Dark Mavericks - If you want to have a good time, join them -_0...Not a shameless recruitment tactic!)

TheHidden01: I see your still fond of them, what happened?

Goligoth: As you should probably know, I've always been a pro-cyph Merovingian. I left to try to help the Cypherite movement. I left on (for the most part) good

TheHidden01: For the most part? What happened?

Goligoth: Just that not that many people wanted me too leave, that's all.

TheHidden01: Must have been hard... did you lose friends over it?

Goligoth: Most of us still talk so no not really. (Although I think Toluca was mad =P, since when she saw me with a CYPH tag i got /vomit'd)

TheHidden01: Oh my, so going CYPH must have been a big shift, what changes have you been through?

Goligoth: Well let's see, coming from an organization that has dozens of operatives to an organization that barely has one dozen. So yes it was a big shift. *laughs

TheHidden01: What about the faction I hear your a vice president now!

Goligoth: *Hands TheHidden01 an Application*...Yes, that's right.

TheHidden01: Oh ummm *puts application into briefcase, or rather secretely throws in bin* Thats very nice eheh. So how is this faction working for you?

Goligoth: It's going well, it's easier to manage..certain things you don't need to know, when you have some authority.

TheHidden01: Oh?

Goligoth: Yup...

TheHidden01: So looking outside the game, do you think this game is set to die soon?

Goligoth: I doubt it'll be anytime soon but you can't rule it out as a possibility.

TheHidden01: What do you think the game needs to perk it up?

Goligoth: Red shoes and Gloves.. No, I'm just kidding but I do wish they would give us that. But seriously I'd love for SOE to hire another LET. And some more devs and an animator.

TheHidden01: Have you applied for LET in the past? :p

Goligoth: Of course...not.

TheHidden01: How come?

Goligoth: Much too much work for someone as lazy as me hehe..

TheHidden01: Okay Goligoth well its been a great pleasure talking to you

Goligoth: Likewise, Of course I do wish you would put on some pants.

TheHidden01: I thank you for your time as for the pants, it got hot here.

TheHidden01: What's your faction website by the way?

Goligoth: http://HypnosAgency.guildportal.com feel free to register.

We spent alot of time talking over xfire :p It was a good chat and hopefully more to come!

TH

**Yasamuu** · 09/04/2007 20:57:09

Name: Yasamuu
Server: Vector-Hostile
Faction: Systematic Chaos

Jax

Jaxii
Syntax
Insomnia Diversion-Cyph

Dont interview any other ID members they are all full of crap.