Interview with : 

Thyell

Name, level, server, message board name :

A: My last character, among the many that I've played in my AC career, was a level 53 Battlemage on Wintersebb named Thyell.

Favorite message board:

A: CoD! of course I may have a soft spot after working for them for nearly a year. I h34rt the Darktide board ^_^

How long have you been playing AC?

A: I first picked up AC about a week and a half after it was released into retail. It was an interesting acquisition, because at the time I had absolutely no interest in MMORPG's, and I was really bored at my apartment one Thursday night. I zipped out to Fry's Electronics to see what new games had been shipped out, and saw several (as in not very many. *sigh*) copies of Asheron's Call on the shelves. There certainly wasn't much else of interest around it (unless you count Deer Hunter 2) except for Everquest and Ultima Online, and so I decided that maybe I'd try an MMP out.  I probably stood in the aisle for a good fifteen minutes comparing the three boxes before I figured to myself that if it was a Microsoft product, it must be the bomb. When I got home, my two roommates gathered round my computer, and I proceed to make myself a Blademaster with specialized Run. I stayed up till probably around 4 am playing, and within two days my roommates had their own copies. We probably talked to each other in-game more than in-person over the next six months...

How much do/did you play every week?

A: I developed this interesting habit of playing about 10-12 hours a day for three months and then not playing at all for another three months or so. This led to a very strange cycle of having strained relations and then great relations with my girlfriend.

What template of mage do you currently Play?

A: Battlemage all the way, baby. Arcane Lore luv is for pansies.

Is AC your first MMORPG? in not what others have you played and did you play a mage?

A: As detailed above, AC was my first MMO. I tried to get into Everquest, but simply couldn't get past my issues with it being D&D oriented, having a clunky interface, and terrible camera management. I lasted till about level 3. I've also tried AO and DaoC. Fun games, but not right for me.

What was your first mage character? Do you still play it?

A: Thyell was my first mage, actually. I'd been playing melees for nearly two years, and I figured that if I was going to switch over, I might as well do it in style. Ahh yeah, baby. Levels 35-50 were the most painful of my AC career... *shudder* I finally cancelled my AC subscriptions a few weeks ago after I moved over to working on AC2 from my job as the webmaster of Turbine's ACDM site. After getting my hands on AC2 and fooling with it, I just couldn't bring myself to load AC1 back up!

How do you play AC? Are you in it to power-level, Dungeon Dwelling, adventuring, friends, etc.

I like to think of myself as a lazy powerleveller. I'd log in, go do nothing but hunt Tuskers, Golems and Undead for about 10 hours, and rake in ohhh, about 4 million xp. Terribly sad, especially since I sit right next to Mr. powerleveller himself, Jesse Kurlancheek. He probably accrued about 80 times as much xp as me in his AC career.

What gear do you normally hunt in?

I had three specific setups I used, depending on how hard my targets for the day hit. Setup number one was the purple faran robe and plate gaunts, good for Bandies and Tuskers. Setup 2 was the hollow suit (not named very well, because I always ran from hollows like a little girl). This was mostly for using against Vapors and other assorted golems. Setup 3 was the Exarch Plate (My executor hunting suit ^_^). Exarch Plate is really nice for squeezing out those extra few points of War skill when you really need them and don't have to worry about melee damage.

What do you feel was the best thing to happen to mages in the game?

Spell tabs! Component burden reduction! Peas! Mages get all the luv.

What do you think is the worst thing that affects mages?

Hollows. Bar none. That, and the damnable /6 divisor on Mana Conversion that just *kills* your stam2man routine until you finally get it over 260 buffed.

Are mages overpowered?

Not for long with the melee luv being pumped out of ACLive these days = )

What are your thoughts on Drain Health I?

Well, owing to the fact that my only mage was a Battlemage, I like Drain 1 quite a bit. It was the only way I was able to stay alive for a very long time. However, the fact that it can be used without LoS makes it disgustingly overpowered. LoS = close to balanced, in my not-so humble opinon (but then, I'm not a designer).

What template do you advocate for a starting mages?

Four school trained mage. The only reason I played a Battlemage was because I've been playing the game and hanging out on the boards for so long, and pretty much knew what mages were about. Most people won't wait two years before starting a mage, and so should probably hop in on the shallow side before doing the real plunge.

What do you feel turbine needs to do with mages, if anything?

I honestly feel that mages are pretty good where they are right now. Almost all of the love I can think of would apply equally well to all players. Perhaps one thing that might be cool would be making Endurance somewhat valuable to mages other than as an under level 50 stamina battery.

omg how can I forget though??? Defender on wands!!! argh.

After the primary skills have been obtained what skill do you think a mage should take?  Arcane, Healing, Lockpicking, or MeleeD?

Arcane. Arcane Arcane Arcane.

Care to reminisce?  What has been the best patch or moment or epiphany that you have had in AC.

AC is really an incredible game. I've never played another game that had as much staying power. Diablo only lasted me about a year before I couldn't stand to make another click. AC lasted over two. That's pretty incredidble for a video game, and a lot of people have been playing even longer.

My favorite event in AC was by far the Defense of the Shard on Thistledown. I've never played on Thistledown before, but during that month, I felt more involved in the game, the community, and the storyline than at any other time in any gaming experience. It was unheard of. I'd say that the second most enjoyable experience I had in AC was when my roommates and I got our level 7 butts kicked by a Female Tusker near the Empyrean Power Station in Northern Osteth a couple days after we bought the game. We were running around like chickens with our heads cut off getting two shotted by the beast. It was a blast.

Comments? Shot outs?

Thank you for taking the time to do this. 
Dizzarian