Avian Gamers Network

By way of reference, I gave a pretty complete application through the SWTOR site, so if you have need of anything I may leave out here, you should find it there.

General Character Information
•What games do you currently enjoy playing the most?
I had been playing WoW rather extensively until I dropped it about a month ago. Portal 2 (both singleplayer and multiplayer) has also been enjoyable. Every once in a while, I have to get Freelancer out and play it through.

•What style of gameplay do generally prefer? PvP, PvE, Crafting, etc...?
I love crafting, PvE (especially grouping with friends), and did I say I liked crafting (including gathering and running quests/missions to just get the materials and/or sell them)? I have been split between crafting and PvE type play in MMOs for years. I believe I may have done mining and collecting for Cyrus Rex in SWG once upon a time when I had come back to the game briefly.

•What game genres do you find most enjoyable?
MMOs, space combat simulators, some FPS, some puzzle games, some RTS. I have a generally broad interest, but like to latch onto something for a while, but I generally find the most enjoyment in MMOs - as they allow sometimes consistent friendly grouping and space combat sims - mainly because that's where I really got into PC gaming.

•What unreleased games are you currently following the progress of?
Diablo III, SW:TOR, Torchlight 2

•What unreleased games do you plan on playing in the future?
Diablo III, SW:TOR, Torchlight 2

•In the games that you currently play, what names do your characters go by?
Usually Xijitok or Toguril

Player Associations
•Have you previously been a part of any other Player Associations for any specific games or for gaming in general? Which ones were they, and why did you leave?
Wow, let me see here. I started in Everquest. I forget the guild name, but I ended up running it - had the first EQ Olympics style event in front of Qeynos, once upon a time. I was in a guild in WoW with some guys from work who ended up either being inactive or playing at a completely time of day. I never really left either guild; I just ended up no longer playing the game any more. I don't remember any other guilds right off, but with over 12 years in and out of MMOs, I am sure there may be one or two others.

•With the exception of the ones you have joined (if any) what other Player Associations did you consider?
I don't even know now. It's been a long time since I considered any other guilds that seriously. I often was a lone wolf in the last few years (with kids and all) unless I joined a guild with friends/coworkers.

Avian
•Have you read and do you understand the text of the official Avian Charter?
When I have clicked on the Charter link on the site, I get "Coming Soon".

•Is there anything you would change or amend to the Charter?
I don't know at this point, but you can get a good feel of my philosophy by referencing the SW:TOR guild application.

•Are you aware that a lot of Avian’s organization is conducted on the forum as opposed to in games themselves? How often do you see yourself regularly checking the forums if you are accepted into Avian
I've been checking the forums pretty regularly, and I'd most likely continue doing so.

•Please take a moment to tell us how you found Avian.
I was looking at some SW:TOR fan site, and I saw a post by Cyrus Rex. I seemed to remember him from SWG (once upon a time), as I think I collected resources from mines and the like for Core Technologies, and I happened upon the site/name of the guild. I went to swtor.com and signed up for the guild through the guild application process, and I found out to come here, and that's how I ended up here!

•Please explain why you have chosen Avian and why Avian should choose you. What do you expect to get from your membership in Avian and what do you expect to offer?
I go into more detail concerning this in my swtor.com application, but I like to get in with a good group, be helpful, have fun, work hard in crafting, including the PvE that usually comes with that, and be a helping hand as I can. My way of going about things is involving other people, if possible, as one can be helping others accomplish their goals as well as one's own goals and have a blast in so doing. In the end, more people are helped, there's more fun to go around, and progress toward those ever important goals is made across the board.

I hope this tired response to the application suffices. If not, you have my e-mail address and are welcome to contact me there.

Thank you!
Xijitok

Xijitok

Thank you for applying to Avian Gamers. Your application is currently being reviewed. The application process can take anywhere from a day to 2 weeks or more. A lengthy process is no indication of a negative outcome, however the more you participate in the forums the more likely it is that your wait will be short. As soon as a decision has been made, you will be notified.

You are encouraged to participate in these forums, and interact with our members in game.

If you have any questions about Avian Gamers Network, or about Avian in a particular game, please feel free to post your questions in this thread.

We are reviewing your application with the rest of the team. In the meantime let’s have some fun.

1. I am a long time Diablo fan, my wife and I loved playing Diablo II together. I was very excited when I first heard about Diablo III, however over time I guess my excitement has waned. I am not sure if it because of the length of development, or because of other games on the horizon, or just some internal quirk of my own. Do you feel similarly or are you dyeing to get your hands on the game?
   
   
2. Why did you choose the screen-name Xijitok ?
   
   
3. Tell us something cool about yourself that has nothing to do with gaming.
   
   
4. How did you first discover Star Wars? Was it in theatres? Catching one of the OT on video? Novels? How?
   
   
5. If you could be some known Star Wars character and actually live his life. Who would it be? Why that character? Would you change anything?

I’m Looking forward to your answers.

Welcome, Xijitok!

Glad you found us.

_________________
Moge

Welcome, Xijitok.

Our apologies regarding the Charter links not working. We're actually in the process of redrafting a lot of that to make it a bit simpler. Thanks for your application.

I haven't actually heard of Torchlight or Torchlight 2. What are those games about?

I love crafting in MMOs. I'm glad to see you favor that as well. Feel free to poke around our forums and get to know us.

_________________
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!

Xijitok,

Sorry for the confusion. They do not make the applications obvious on the SWTOR site, but I have made that available to our members to review now. Also, we will use the forums there to make it more clear that applicants should come here for the official application.

Please participate in the playful banter here in your application thread, as it is the best way for us to get to know you quickly, and generally results in a much quicker decision on full membership. Thank you.

_________________
"Loose with Dignity"
Robert
Second President, Avian Gamers

DDO - Cannith - AlistairItor - Rogue/Ranger (5/3) - Main
DDO - Cannith - Guijanitor - Paladin/Rogue (4/1)
DDO - Cannith - RicochetItor - Rogue (5)

Cyrus,

I will mix my answers in with your comments. I look forward to replying!



*******There you have them, such as they are.

Thank you!
Xijitok

Torchlight was released a year or two ago, and it was something to fill my Diablo II/III fancy. It's esentially a hack and slash type of game. I love the colors and the simple but fun storyline. There are 3 classes you can play, so the game is an overall simplified kind of game, but it had some neat features. You could buy maps, which opened portals to small instances where you could run, hack and slash, and get some items. There were some memorable battles and scenes along the way, and it didn't feel like a drudgery to get through it. I'm tempted to open it back up and play again while I wait for these games to come out. Torchlight 2 is due by the end of the year and is supposed to incorporate co-op multiplayer. You can go to torchlight2game.com. They have just announced that the retail price will be $19.99, so good stuff for a smaller price.

Now a question for you (and everyone else): What do you look forward to with the crafting in SW:TOR?

Gui-Jan,

Understandable. Having two different sites and getting things synced when you have little to no control over one...trust me...been there, done that. I was tired when doing the application process on the Avian site, so I didn't want to leave anything necessary out that I had filled out before.

Thank you!
Xijitok

Man I am all over the map on this one.

1) I want to experience the crew skills system. Will crew skills feel like a great innovation, or will it feel like a slight twist to crafting in other games. Will the game support and make fun an all out business approach where I queue up several mules, and take on business partners. Or will it be a solo affair. I am looking forward to experiencing what Biowars has in store for me, I hope it is fun and bigger than what I know of so far.

2) I want to know how important player crafted items will be. When I played Wow I did not feel like the crafted items was comparable to the loot items. Often by the time I could craft something, I was already wearing better items. In SWTOR I think we will see great loot drops, and great crafted upgrades. I hope the Devs have discovered a happy marriage to keep loot and crafting both important. I am looking forward to several of us making a name for ourselves. I want to go to DF for his lightsaber upgrades because they are known throughout the galaxy. I want to go to Mantson for the epic armor he is known for. I might like to be known as the best guy to buy resources from. I am looking forward to these things but I am not sure the game will deliver on this level.

3) I am looking forward to creating a complete character experience. For me I believe it starts with choosing my class, then choosing my crew skills that both complement my classes needs, and meshes with the character persona I have in my mind. Do I want a Bounty Hunter who builds killer armor and salvages scrap on the side, or do I want a smuggler who tinkers with blasters and treasure hunts on the side. Unfortunately I have not chosen my starting class. Several classes look to be fun. I need to get moving on these decisions.

I'm kind of all over on this one too. I loved the SWG crafting system. If SWTOR has even 25% of the fun and complexity of crafting that SWG had, I'll be ecstatic. However, if it is a good game and the crafting is more involved and more important than it was in WoW, I'll be content.

Fallen Earth has a pretty decent crafting system that isn't nearly as involved as it was in SWG, but it is a lot of fun none-the-less. It has nodes that you have to harvest like WoW, but just about everything in the game is harvestable. Almost all plants you come across you can get something from, be it fruit, fibers, cotton, water (from cactus) etc. You can harvest junk, scrap metal, etc. You can mine. You can then combine stuff to make other reagents or ingredients, and make more and more complex items from all of it. You can craft horses to ride (needs lots of grain, a bridle, etc) and you can eventually make ATVs and cars.

Crafting in Fallen Earth is also a complete character development path, should you choose to do it that way. You earn XP by harvesting resources, and you earn XP by assembling items. You can level doing only those things. Crafting then takes time. It obviously isn't realistic time, but everything has a certain craft time. You can queue up items to be crafted, and it will work through the queue as long as you have the necessary resources in your inventory. It will work through the queue whether you are online or not, and the output goes back into your inventory.

I'm pretty sure SWTOR won't be quite that involved. With the story being the primary focus (which I'm pretty happy about, especially since it is BioWare) I'm sure the story will also be the primary path of advancement. But if they can keep the crafting deep enough, with a viable use for crafted items at all levels, with some specialization to keep people from being able to make everything, I'll be good with it.

_________________
Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!

Heck yeah!!! He's got my vote! (I'm an avid trumpet player, but I've recently got decent on the bone myself)

_________________
The Cord
Occasional Caretaker of the Horde Maelstrom Guild
Ex-Section 3 Director

To answer my own question...

Cyrus, without quoting everything you said in your reply, I have many of the same considerations. I wonder if crafting will be more of a solo affair or one where people work more as a community. I am in the process of trying to determine which class/advanced class/specialties best go with what combination of crew skills. I think you have another thread asking about that, and, as soon as I get all of my research together, I am hoping to post to that thread to get some discussion rolling on some of the specifics there. Every time I go to the official site, I find some reason to make another class my starting class. I am afraid I will end up starting all my classes at the same time and just picking which one to play that day. (Actually, I am enough of an optimizer to finally stick with one more than the others, if for no other reason than to get one character progressing far enough to make my crafting life a little easier).

Give me a day or a few (I've been under the weather lately), and I will try to make sense of my research and address your question about crew skills in the other thread when I get organized.

Thank you!
Xijitok

Cordalis, thank you for the vote of confidence. What's ironic is that we in the low brass section would usually make the trumpets out to be the section we always wanted to outdo. I still wonder how people play trumpet without always having a headache right smack in the middle of their foreheads!

Thank you!
Xijitok

Xijitok ,

Congratulations, your application has been accepted. In a moment I will be giving you access to the Avian Gamers, and SWTOR private forums. Please have a look around and feel free to post and ask questions.


Again, Congratulations on your membership.

Many thanks, Cyrus, and the rest of you fine folks. It's ironic I learn the release date of the game on the same day as my application being accepted.

Now to get to work getting ready for the big release day.

Thank you!
Xijitok

So, this is where Galaxies my screw up my satisfaction with this game. To me SWG had the Crafting game correct, and unless a game has that level of detail or better I just don't enjoy crafting.

_________________
"Loose with Dignity"
Robert
Second President, Avian Gamers

DDO - Cannith - AlistairItor - Rogue/Ranger (5/3) - Main
DDO - Cannith - Guijanitor - Paladin/Rogue (4/1)
DDO - Cannith - RicochetItor - Rogue (5)