I enjoyed this interview. I liked how the interviewee answered the questions...sort of like how you'd expect an instructor to answer them. I also appreciated the fact that the interviewer asked questions pertaining to the subject's role that he plays in Pinnacle. In reading all of Teldon's interviews, there are naturally similar questions (like age and pets and stuff..), but the later questions specifically are for that particular player. Good job Teldon on your research and knowing the person you are interviewing, and good job Mindscythe on the interview. 
Well I like to throw in some questions that relate to all of us. Afterwords I try to tailor the interview the person. Cholera was the one who gave me the idea to add the one's about books in there.
Shadowy Presence - Absolutely, positively worse than playing a Kheldian... --Myrmydon
Muy Buen.
Ah he's the guy who did the sound bites of The Radio? Very cool.
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I liked how the interviewee answered the questions...sort of like how you'd expect an instructor to answer them.
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Uh oh... I _sound_ like an instructor? Damn... 8)
Mt.Pleasant, MI. I love that city. I have a question, how do you find time to play with a great bar such as O'Kelly's in town?
Wow, how many Michigan people do we have on this server?
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Mt.Pleasant, MI. I love that city. I have a question, how do you find time to play with a great bar such as O'Kelly's in town?
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You know, I've spent a total of almost five years here (in two chunks) and I've never been. I'm going to have to get my butt out there and see the inside of the place. I've seen the outside of it enough that I know right where it is...
Very cool, DJ. I always enjoy seeing what aspects of the game everyone enjoys/dislikes.
Also didn't realize there were so many actual decent well-to-do individuals who play online computer games with people like me.
@Quarktease
The Unofficial Official of Nothing Official
Proud member of Nites of Darkness/Shut Your Pie Hole
ha cool, i live in mt pleasant as well, except for as a student and not an instructor.
and O'Kellys<The Bird
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ha cool, i live in mt pleasant as well, except for as a student and not an instructor.
and O'Kellys<The Bird
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I used to work for Ruby Tuesday's and I was one of the managing team that opened the Mt.Pleasant restaurant a few years back. I spent 2 weeks crawling through the hampton inn after visiting o'kelly's, the wayside and a bunch of other local watering holes. Those native americans sure know how to drink!
I have to update one answer.
What is your favorite movie?
I have recently been seduced by this little independent flick I happened across on Showtime while at a conference, called [u]The Movie Hero[u]. It's grown on me, and I'm ordering a copy. What got my attention at first is that the movie uses the Atlas Park Theme for its opening music. The movie's about a guy who thinks he's the leading man in a movie. It starts out as a something of a quirky romantic comedy, and becomes a quirky fantasy piece somewhere along the line. Everyone I know that's seen it finds it strangely engaging and memorable. And my audience is thrilled that I'm telling you about it. 8)
Very interesting. i love your work with The Radio contact.
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I enjoyed this interview. I liked how the interviewee answered the questions...sort of like how you'd expect an instructor to answer them. I also appreciated the fact that the interviewer asked questions pertaining to the subject's role that he plays in Pinnacle. In reading all of Teldon's interviews, there are naturally similar questions (like age and pets and stuff..), but the later questions specifically are for that particular player. Good job Teldon on your research and knowing the person you are interviewing, and good job Mindscythe on the interview.
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Exactly thats why i like Teldon interviews
GooD Job Teldon
GooD Job Dr.Mindscythe
*gulp* Someone just flagged me down in-game and told me they saw this in the City Scoop, so I had to go look. Sure enough, there's a link.
I'm feeling a little... um... stunned? Yeah, stunned.
Well I think I did link yours to last week's scoop for a classic BtM becuase I got flooded with other things that week.
Shadowy Presence - Absolutely, positively worse than playing a Kheldian... --Myrmydon
I'm flattered, but... warn a guy next time eh? Random tells coming out of nowhere thanking me for stuff I didn't know I'd done... makes me doubt my sanity (well, more than usual). 
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Wow, how many Michigan people do we have on this server?
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(Waves) Over here! Woot! I live in Lansing.
I frequent the Soaring Eagle on my 4 day breaks off of work. If you're ever there for a visit, ya gotta go to the Sweet Onion. Good foodies!
Uh no... you have to go to the Brass, or to the Mountaintown Station. The Sweet Onion has gone the way of the Dodo, as has the Embers.
Well now that beta testing is over with, I can finally focus back on my home server. Here is the last interview I did before I was invited. DJ is our unofficial ambassador to the outside world. He is a great player and always fun to talk to and team with. Enjoy, disscuss, question, but no flaming.
So tell me a little about your self? Your current age, where you live, etc.
I'm 41, and live in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. I teach broadcasting, news, and broadcast & cable law at the University level, and I'm trying really hard to finish a lengthy Ph.D. When I get it done, I may change my global ID to Dr Mindscythe... not sure yet.
Do you have any pets?
Definitely. I have my two computers, WPOS-1 an WPOS-2 (Worthless Piece of SH**). They take up all my time, they constantly need to be fed, pet, and disciplined. They occasionally get sick, and I make them better. It's just like having kids... or so I'm told.
Do you have any brothers and sisters?
Yes. I'm the oldest of five, I have three brothers and one sister (who just gave birth to my 2nd niece on March 13th). My sister is dance instructor, and my brother's jobs include DVD Buyer for Borders Corporate, Manager at a Barnes and Noble, and Warehouse Manager for the University of Michigan.
What is your favorite movie?
Easy: V for Vendetta. The idea of a hero who's not a hero, and who turns a heroine into a dark heroine, all the while fighting an oppressive, fascist regime... if the movie had had actual Nazis in it, I'd have died right there in the theatre.
What is your favorite type of music?
I'm a huge classic-rock-head, and I'm still discovering "new" bands just about every month, or at least new albums/songs from bands I already knew about. My favorite group is "Steely Dan," although I also really like Kansas, America, Boston, and the Eagles. I'm also a newbie Jazz fan (I know very little, I only know a few artists/groups, but I know I like it). Other than that, I like just about every kind of music, with a few notable exceptions: No rap, no grindy, growly, screaming rock, no opera, and NO COUNTRY. I grew up hearing old country-western music, and I've never recovered. Now consider that my first full-time radio DJing gig was at a country station. Yes.
Who is your favorite author?
I've had many throughout my life... R. A. Salvatore, Robert Jordan (through book five anyway), George R. R. Martin... but the one that I keep coming back to time and time again is Stephen R. Donaldson. I've gotten the chance to meet and get to know him over the last few years, and that's just increased my appreciation for his writing even more. He writes epic fantasy, but with an anti-hero lead who's self-loathing and has to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into doing the right thing. The "hero" in the Thomas Covenant books is a flawed man, but I can understand him, so I connect with the books.
What is your favorite series of books?
The First, Second, and Third Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever, and the "The Man Who" mystery series. After that, any of the Drizzt books by R. A. Salvatore, and recently the Jarlaxle/Artemis Entreri books as well.
What is your favorite Simpson's quote?
I'm not really a Simpson's fan, but the one line I find has inserted itself into my daily live is simply: DOH! I am a South Park fan, though, and the line that keeps reappearing in my conversations from South Park is "Screw you guys... I'm going HOME!"
So how did you get introduced to MMOs in general?
I started MUDding in the early 90's, and eventually joined the team running (and later took over running) a MUD called "Realms of Aurealis/Aurealan Realms," which I still run. However, I had a lot of friends who just couldn't get into the "no pictures" aspect of that style of gaming, so when Everquest came out, they all started playing that. The MUDding community reacted badly to EQ. The accusation was raised that EQ was based on a type of open-source MUD code, and that making EQ violated the MUD licensing agreement. Nothing ever came of that allegation legally, but due to the negative reaction of others in the MUDding community, I wasn't interested at first.
So how did you get introduced to The City of series?
My friends found City of Heroes, and fell in love with it. They tried to convince me to get involved, but I was still resisting the "evil graphical MMO's" at that point. In the summer of 2004, I stayed with my best friend before moving to where I am now and starting my teaching job. While I was there, he let me "try" playing CoH while he was at work. And that, as they say, was that. I signed up as soon as I got moved into my house at the end of the summer, and have never looked back. Almost all of my friends have moved on to other MMO's' (mostly to the game that shall not be mentioned), but I've just made new friends and stuck around CoX.
Who was your first character and do you still play them?
My first character was based on a pencil-and-paper superhero character I'd played: Fix'er. He's a rad/kinetic defender. However, I made him on Champion, and moved to Pinnacle after the first few months in CoH, so I don't really play him anymore. I do have a version of him on Pinnacle, however, but he's languishing at L20 and has been for over a year.
What, if any, powersets would you say are your favorite?
I've found that I really like /rad controllers. The /rad secondary is so incredibly helpful, soloing or teaming, that it's allowed me to really be of use in a teaming situation, and I think I've finally gotten a decent feel for using to its fullest advantage. The next toon I'm going to be work on is an Illusion/Radiation controller.
What ATs or powersets do you hate and why?
I'm not a fan of stalkers. I see them as inherently game-unbalancing in PvP (which I don't do), and weak for too many levels in PvE.
What is your favorite zone in the game and why?
I'm a huge fan of the whole Fire Base Zulu/Cascades area. I spent so much time trying to navigate that zone with my first L50 (a SJ/TPer) that, now that I have a flier, I just zip around and enjoy myself. I'm looking forward to trying the task forces in the zone, which I've never done.
Any particular story arcs or contacts that you love to do? Even when you have done them a million times already?
My favorite contact in CoX is, hands down, the Radio in CoV. Being a radio DJ for many years, I read those missions and laughed. Whoever wrote them has also DJ'd before... they were dead on as far as how they talk, the way they interact with their "callers..." I even produced the missions, voicing every one of them, and posted them online. I got good feedback about them, even from some of the Dev staff. They're at http://www.theschoolofrock.org/theradiospeaks/ if anyone's interested in hearing them.
What is your favorite feature of the game?
The fact that, with a few notable exceptions, the game designers don't force you to team to get things done. I tend to be a solitary player, mostly because my old SG-mates have left for other shores, so I appreciate being able to do everything now by myself (either I can do it, or I can drop it). On the other hand, I enjoy how easy it is for me to come out of my virtual hermit cave when the mood strikes me too.
What was the most amazing moment you had while playing the game?
Doing the Eden trial. I only did it for the first time with a group of PinnacleBadge-channel members a couple months back. The scope of it... I was staring at the screen with my mouth open for a while before I remembered that I wasn't just on a sight-seeing tour. I've also enjoyed finally getting to participate in the Hami raids. That many people all working together for a common goal is a very cool experience.
What is your favorite enemy group?
It _was_ the 5th Column. I, like so many others apparently, love beating the living daylights out of Nazis, so I took to fighting that group right away. Since their disappearance... I'd have to say I enjoy taking down the Circle of Thorns. They're wimps when up against a mind controller, and I have fun "persuading" the big winged flaming demons to help me beat up on its fellows. Muah.
What is your least favorite enemy group?
Until I learned the marvel that is "Confuse" it was Malta, but I can handle them now (confused sappers are a blast to watch!). The group I hate the most now are the Carnies. They're highly resistant to the Mind pool, so they're a pain in my [censored] to try to take down.
What is one feature you would like to see added to the game?
I would really like to see something that would enable me to transfer influence/infamy between alts. I can use base storage to trade inspirations, enhancements, and salvage, but not influence/infamy. That's the one thing I'm still completely dependent on other people for. Oh, and inducting offline members into SG's, or least extending invitations, so I don't have to call my old SG members and beg one of them to log on just to induct a new toon into our SG.
What would you say is your greatest strength in the game?
I seem to be pretty good at figuring out tactics against the various groups. I tend to see patterns and can figure out how to take the opposition efficiently most of the time... in PvE that is.
What is your greatest weakness in the game?
My low tolerance for people who are too stupid or too greedy to be a team player. My tolerance is about -><- long. The way I see it is... if you're going to team, you're part of a group, and you do what's best for the group, not revel in the fact that you have a captive audience you can make watch you be an idiot/jerk. When this happens, I don't yell or make a scene, but I do tend to bow out of the team as soon as I can.
If you were any AT in the game which one would you be?
Definitely a mind controller. Not sure what the secondary would be, but that primary suits me really well, to the point where one of the friends who got me into CoX was visiting, watched me play, and said something to the effect of "Wow, you really _do_ know how to play him, don't you?" That was a very cool compliment to get, because he's a much better gamer than I am.
With I9 "Breakthru" almost getting here, what feature of it are you most looking forward to?
I'm really curious, since I've just started doing them, how the Hamidon encounter is going to change. I hope it'll still be as much fun, and still involve large groups of people. I'm also mildly curious about inventions, but I'm not very good at doing the whole "salvage" thing, so I'm also a little hesitant.
How bad is your badge lust?
Before joining PinnacleBadges a few months ago, it was virtually non-existent. I just got my second character to L50. My first has 173 badges, but I haven't actively played him in close to a year. My current character, my signature toon, has 171 and I'm going to keep working on him. Suddenly badges seem both fun and very interesting. I blame the PB crew for that.
Which ones do you like to get the most?
I enjoyed getting all the giant monster badges that I've gotten, and look forward to getting the rest soon. With a /rad controller, I can actually really help on those teams, and I enjoy participating in something where I'm actually useful to my teammates.
So I finally had a Friday night off the other night and I got to hear your webcast it was fun. How did you get involved with W00tradio?
I saw something about CuppaJo's going away party, and it said it was being covered by w00t Radio ( http://www.w00tradio.net the 0's are zeros). I'd never heard of them before that, but I thought "Wow... a virtual going away party, for a virtual representative to a virtual community, being covered on a virtual radio station? I've got to hear this!" I tuned in, took part in some of the event, and really enjoyed the interaction I heard on the station with the listeners. So, I decided to see if they'd let me be a DJ for them as well. Jester, the station owner, found out that I was the "The Radio Speaks" guy and told me I was hired. I get to do my two favorite kinds of music, Movie Soundtracks and Classic Rock, each week. The Theatre of the Mind is on Monday nights from 7-9 EDT, and The School of Rock is on Friday nights from 7-11 EDT. Each show has its own website too, at http://www.theschoolofrock.org/ .
Where you assigned CoX or were you already here?
I was already here, and although Fridays are supposed to be "Freedom Fridays," I told Jester early on that I was only in CoX, and only on Pinnacle, so I'd be there every show, unless I was cross-server covering a special event. I keep hoping he'll rename Fridays "Drunk Fridays" and then people will ask what that's about.
How many servers are you on for webcasts?
w00t Radio has a primary and a secondary server that handles everything. For special events, they fire up additional servers to handle the load. For the CuppaJo event, they had something like 8 servers going, and all were full. But regardless, if you just connect to the main server, it'll bump you along if need be, or there will be info as to how to connect up to the additional servers on the website. Jester's very good about making sure people know how to listen.
How do you decide what events to cover?
We cover events that people come to us and ask us to cover. Dev-run, player-run, SG/VG-sponsored, doesn't matter. If we get a request, and we have someone (or can get someone) on-air during the event, we'll cover it. I'm hoping that Pinnacle will do something cool some Friday night so I can cover it. I covered the Hami raid a couple weeks ago, and that was a trip... trying to DJ, handle requests, and take down Hami all at the same time. A real test of my multi-tasking skills, which aren't as good as I hoped actually: I face-planted so much I hit the debt cap, but it was still a blast!
What one lesson have you learned in game that would be helpful to share with everyone else?
Take invisibility, and scout the missions before you start. Since I started doing that (when I can), it's saved me from sneak attacks by Illusionists, Sappers, and other assorted nasties. Sure, it removes the surprise element, but I'm ok with that.
Any other advice you would like to give to new players and other players that are learning the game?
Join the PinnacleBadges channel. Join the Pinnacle Community. Everyone there has been kind to me, helpful, and understanding as I try to find my way through some of the more advanced elements of the game, and that has inspired me to try to do the same thing for other folks as well. It's a great way to get a feel for the community, and to make a connection. Learning the game is much less daunting when you know you have a place you can ask questions and actually get answers, as opposed to someone virtually sneering and calling you a "stupid n00b."
Any final things you would like to say to everyone before we go?
As a scholar, I've been researching internet-related topics for about a decade at least, and I ran across something once called "The Ten Commandments of the Internet." Even though I'm not at all religious, I though the first "Commandment" was very good: Remember the Human. What they meant was to remember that, behind each toon, or name online, is a living, breathing, feeling, thinking human being. That idea is a good one to embrace as a member of any online community, and it's certainly saved me from making an [censored] out of myself many times.
Shadowy Presence - Absolutely, positively worse than playing a Kheldian... --Myrmydon