Liebster Award!

I have been awarded the Liebster Award by Zernebog, can you imagine that? Little snarky old me! The Liebster is interesting as it allows the readers to get a tiny glimpse behind the online persona of your favourite gaming bloggers, while also not being too intrusive. So now that it is my turn, here are few little relatively unknown facts about me. Eleven, to be precise. Why eleven? I have no idea.

1. I don’t wear any jewelry. Ever. Because I tend to lose it pretty fast and get disproportionately angry at myself for losing it.
2. I have two tattoos instead. One was a birthday present, the other one a mistake. Both carry good and bad memories with them. One is the head of a howling wolf framed by a bat which spreads its wings in a way that they form a kind of crescent shape. That tattoo is already more than twenty years old, and still looks fantastic.
   The other one is a tribal style cat head, not as old, but unfortunately already pretty faded.
3. I have no sense of orientation. I often get lost in games when their map system is bad (Diablo II, I am looking at you! Limsa Lominsa in Final Fantsy XIV was a nightmare for me.)
4. Okay, cheating a bit because I think a lot of people already know this: I have two cats — Ianto and Ellie. Ianto is a black half-Abbyssinian I got from a shelter, Ellie a British Short Hair with light grey fur and orange coloured eyes that was rescued from a “breeder.“
   Ianto is the neediest cat I have ever met, basically behaving like a child following me around, demanding to be carried around, and affectionally biting the crap out of my hands and feet. Ellie loves to be cuddled and petted, but on her terms. She’ll come to me, collect her cuddles, and then gracefully wander off to sleep somewhere. Preferably my mouse pad. Which is why I went and bought the biggest mousepad ever — enough space for two cats and my mouse.
5. I very, very rarely drink alcohol (can’t even remember the last time I did because it was so long ago) and the trend to overly celebrate alcohol consumption in games (and in real life, too) gets on my nerves sometimes.
6. For the longest time I was a much bigger Star Trek fan than a Star Wars fan. That changed when Bioware published KOTOR. I’m still not as big a fan as some other people I know, but I still was a little bit sad when Disney de-canonized most of the Extended Universe.
7. I prefer storytelling over game mechanics in games and I really don’t understand the fetishization of difficulty — the people who dismiss any gamer who doesn’t play a game on at least ultra-brutal-mega-hardcore settings. Puuuleeeeze. *eyeroll* I also don’t like PvP. I veritably loathe it. I don’t raid. My Final Fantasy XIV sub expired because I couldn’t stand that the game gates the story through instances. Don’t get me wrong, the instances in Final Fantasy XIV have been some of the most pleasant instances I ever ran. People in this game are just that friendly. I won’t forget the healer who took pity on me and coached me on how to tank a lowbie instance when I was dumb enough to queue with a Marauder, thinking I could be a DPS. Also a biiiig shoutout to the people in the Free Company I was part of: Hello, Greysky Armada! But ultimately the thought of “I have to run Toto-Rak when I log in, if I want to see more of the story,” and the knowledge that grinding seems to be a big part of the gameplay kept me from logging in. Then my sub ran out and I simply didn’t renew it.
8. For the longest time I really, really sucked at math. Really. Terribly. Then I had to do lots of it while was taking courses with the goal of becomming a multi-media programmer and all of a sudden I was really good at it. Like, A++ good. No one was more surprised than I was, and I still don’t understand how and why that happened. Unfortunately I have forgotten much of it again, due to not having to use it any more.
9. A lot of people think that I don’t like them when we first meet IRL — which is not true in 98% of all cases.
10. I love roleplaying in MMOs. I’m still pretty much a noob though. Please be kind to the noob. I briefly dabbled in Pen-and-Paper roleplaying while I was in school and later again during university, but it never really clicked. Mainly because I didn’t find the perfect group.
11. I am a feminist.

And now to answer Zerne’s questions:

1. If you would get to pick a lightsaber (or blaster for you tech weapons lovers), what color crystal would be in it?
   Probably violet or, as a tribute to my favourite Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn: green.
2. Do you prefer PC or console gaming? Why?
   PC — I haven’t been able to find a console controller that didn’t give my hands cramps and I love game mods, which as far as I know only exist for PC games.
3. What is your favourite game that you have played (board games, console games, MMOs, table-top rpg’s, miniatures, the world is your oyster)? Why? Oh, that’s difficult. For single-player games it probably is Mass Effect 2. Love the companions I gather and getting to know their stories, especially Thane. A very close second would be Dragon Age: Origins, with KOTOR ( I prefer the second part to the first — because I have a big dislike for Carth. Poor Carth.) ranked third. As far as MMOs are concerned, SWTOR takes up all my enthusiasm and energy at the moment. I tried out Final Fantasy XIV, but ultimately the game is not for me. Not the fault of the game, or the players, though. All me and my gaming hangups. The first MMO that I played was Guild Wars, later WoW. I enjoyed both, but lost interest at some point and simply left. No drama, no ragequit.
4. Do you consider yourself a “hardcore gamer” or are you more “causual-core”?  Why do you consider yourself such?
   I am a filthy casual. I game to relax, I game to have fun — and beating my head repeatedly against an encounter wall until I finally manage to do the dance just right in order to “progress” just isn’t my idea of having fun. For me that has “frustration” written all over it. Sorry, not my cup of tea. I also have a very irrational hatred of everything related to PVP. My style is exploration, story, roleplaying, sometims crafting. Socalizing in– and out of game, thanks to Twitter. If that doesn’t make me a “real” gamer in someone’s eyes I give them a big *meh* and go on having fun the way I like it. I’m not a big fan of the casual/hardcore dichotomy anyway.
5. In games, do you have a preference for creating a character of a specific race (dwarf, elf, asura, human etc.)? If you check your characters, which race is in the majority?
   I often choose a race based on their lore and their aesthetic. Both are equally important to me. Stuff like racial boni don’t even come close in relevance. I am currently obsessing a bit over SWTOR’s Sith Pureblood race. In WoW it was Draenei, Blood Elves, and Trolls. Norn and Sylvari in Guild Wars 2. Really no preference in Final Fantasy XIV, except for Lalas. For some reasons the little race really creeped me out. Due to me being a shameless altoholic I have A LOT of characters.
6. If you could live in any fictional universe, which would it be? Why?
   Right at the moment the Star Wars universe during the era of the Old Republic (what a SURPRISE!!!). My second choice would be to live as an elf or Rohirrim in Middle-Earth. And some days I just want to take a short vacation in Jareth’s labyrinth and party with the goblins. Pure escapism in all three cases.
7. You may choose 3 people (living, dead, or fictional).  One is a dinner guest, one is a lover, and one is your arch enemy. Who are they and why?
   The dinner guest would probably be Zelia Nutall — I am interested in archaeology, and pre-conquest South American cultures are currently on the top of my “Want to know more about” list. Or Tsuruhime Ohori. Because she was a hardcore badass.
   The lover is a tough decision. The person who came immediately to mind was Dana Scully. She was my very first fandom crush. Intelligent, no-nonsense and loyal to her partner. If I can’t have Scully, I wouldn’t kick Captain Jack Harkness out of my bed…
   My nemesis? Pretty much any self-proclaimed gate-keeper(s) in gaming, writing, science-fiction and fantasy fandom, comic fandom, etc.
8. What inspired you to start your blog in the first place?
   A lot of reasons, actually — some of which even I am not entirely clear on. One, I read a number of great blogs, and suddenly wanted to blog, too. I wanted to be a part of the blogging community, I wanted to share my perspective and view on gaming, and have a place where I could one hypothetical day even share a bit of my own fiction writing. Two, to practice at least the written part of my foreign language skills. They have become a bit rusty over time, which irks me.
9. Do you play games for the story, the gameplay, or the social aspect?
   I think I already pretty much answered this question already, but don’t mind stating it again: I play primarily for story, then for the social aspects. I often say I can excuse mediocre gameplay when it comes with brilliant storytelling, but couldn’t play a game with bad storytelling even when the gameplay was THE.BEST.EVER!!!
10. What is your greatest gaming achievement
    Ugh. I dunno? I am not what you’d call an achiever. Maybe helping to organize roleplay events back in the days when I was part of a small Troll RP guild in WoW. I got roped into it without really getting asked, but then I just went with it because the enthusiasm of everyone else was so contagious. Success for me was, when every one enjoyed themselves. I can be a softie like that. Sometimes.
11. What do you collect (either in the physical or the virtual world)?
    Books, geeky T-Shirts in the real world, good looking outfits and weapons in MMOs, decorations and furniture when the game supports housing. Sometimes I hold on to quirky fun stuff, like Dartol’s Rod of Transformation in WoW (which allowed you to transform yourself into a Furbolg) even if my bank space runs dangerously low.

*****

And this is where I get to ask my own questions and nominate unsuspecting victims. *muahahahahahaaa* *ahem*

I nominate Heather from Pretty Little Sith, because I really like the way she writes, and she often is a voice of reason when the different factions of a game community are at each other’s throats again.

1. Is being able to create a good-looking character in a game important to you?
2. How important is the gender of your game character to you?
3. How important is the quality of the voice acting of a character you play to you?
4. Do you roleplay? If yes, alone or with other people?
5. If you could be a game dev for a day, what would you improve in your favourite game?
6. A life without gaming would be… ?
7. How big is your Steam backlog?
8. What do you think about tie-in novels/movies to popular games?
9. Fanfiction, yay or nay?
10. Dark Side or Light Side?
11. Would you ever name a pet (or child) after a favourite gaming character?

And that was it! I hope this little glance behind the online persona was entertaining. I’d love to see your opinions in the comments.