Now with more ninja!
Today's Average Joe took up the Bungie.net Banhammer not too long ago, but we already had his Average Joe interview in the can. Instead of asking him what the early going has been like and redrafting all of the words below into a Know Your Ninja offering, we figured we'd just slap this out their and let you get familiar sooner rather than later. It's always better to know the guy who's crushing your soul with one swing of the hammer. Makes it sting a little bit less. Read on to get acquainted.
Q. Who are you and what do you do?
A. My name is Mitch and I’m currently a sophomore in college going for my undergrad degree in economics. When college isn’t taking up all my time, I can be seen playing bass, video games, or just lounging around on campus with my friends. Oh and I tend to head to this website called “b.net.” You might have heard of it.
Q. Hell yeah, I have. I hear it's awesome too. Speaking of awesome, where'd you get your username?
A. My tag, “x Lord Revan x” originates from Bioware’s KOTOR which came out all the way back in 2003. I happened to make my account in 2005 shortly after the sequel shipped from Obsidian. I just loved the character’s name and decided it had to be my tag. “Lord Revan” was already taken so I added the X’s. I kinda regret that seeing as how prevalent they have become on Xbox LIVE but I wouldn’t change my tag for anything. It’s who I’ve been for four years.
Q. The x's just mean that you're pro. When you're not practicing your four-shot, what forums do you fire into to get up to speed?
A. Well, when I first came to the site I was interested in monitoring the leaderboards (back in the beginning days of Halo 2), my stats, and seeing the updates to matchmaking. I eventually found myself checking out theories and the Flood.
Now however, I mainly stick to private groups. Shortly after joining I created the group KOTOR with four other awesome members and we still have it kicking. It might be considered 14 years underage but I can’t believe how old that group is. It reminds me of just how long I’ve been on bnet.
I also want to mention how much I love the community forum and the level of interactivity between members it brings. You guys/gals all kick ass.
Q. What compels you to kick ass in games?
A. Truthfully, I think the sole reason I am a gamer would be due to my friends. In high school it was a pretty popular thing for my friends and I to have Halo LAN matches fairly often. Once Halo 2 shipped we all made the jump to playing on Xbox LIVE. I probably spent more time on that than I did studying (not that I advocate that). Now that I’m in college I game to keep in touch with friends at other schools. It’s actually pretty rare when a console isn’t on in my suite. It seems like we all use it as a procrastination tool.
I also love meeting up with some of the guys I have met through bnet. Between private groups and the community forum, I’ve gotten to have a pretty stacked friends list full of Bungie.net members. Its great meeting up with them on LIVE and getting some games going.
Q. What was the first Bungie title you got some games going in?
A. Like everyone else, or so it seems, Halo CE was the first Bungie title I was introduced to. I honestly wish I had known about Marathon back in my youth. Thankfully I’ve made up for it and played through the original Marathon. I gotta start the sequels one of these days…
Although Halo CE might have been my first, it certainly hasn’t been my last Bungie title. Halo CE just sucked me in. I’ve always loved FPS games but I was really attracted by Halo’s story and characters. I must have played through the campaign at least 100 times and no, I am not exaggerating. As I mentioned, LAN matches were also quite frequent in my high school years. Hell, they still are. Recently my suitemates and I, along with our neighbors, got a Halo CE CTF match going on Sidewinder. It brought back some awesome memories.
Q. Looking back on those memories, are you surprised at all that you've become so involved?
A. Honestly, I am a bit surprised by my community involvement. I originally made my account on Bungie.net in order to check out my stats and now I love checking out the community forum and furthering the plan for domination. Privates groups are also amazingly entertaining and have provided me with a ton of memories.
Oh, and the weekly updates are also a big influence on why I venture onto Bungie. Urk, you best keep droppin’ blogs.
Q. I will. I have to. Otherwise they'll fire me. What about you - ever fire off into any other online communities besides Bungie.net?
A. Eh, not really. I really only interact with Bungie. Halo has brought me together with a bunch of my friends and the site itself has rendered me a Live player with a stacked friends list.
Q. Wanna make some shout-outs?
A. I really want to express my love of Marty and Salvatori’s music. You guys are amazing and I envy your musical talents. Having been a musician for years, I really appreciate all the work and effort you put into each and every piece. ODST’s OST was a masterpiece. I must obtain it ASAP.
As far as shout-outs go, I really want to say that Noge, Muno, Stupidi T and Imfrikinbad are kick ass. Without you guys I probably wouldn’t be on the site as often as I am. Also, Hammy, ASS, Molo, Moose, and Dark, you guys have also kept me on the site and contributed to why I am on live so often (even if you do blame me for everything) and for that you all rock. Now, I can’t mention everyone, but to those who I’ve omitted, you guys are awesome too. You jerks know who you are.
I also want to say thanks, to Bungie, for all of the great work you guys have done over the years. Bungie is a big part of my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
We wouldn't either. Now get ta werk. Something tells me there's some folks online right now in desperate need of a banning. :)
If you want to talk back to x Lord Revan x, or congratulate him on his new gig, jump into the discussion thread attached.