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Congrats Mo!
Congrats Mo!
Democracy at Work, and Poetry in Motion! August's Community Spotlight.
Interview | August 2, 2012 5:09 pm
By Moo Lissa
Sorry guys, Revelation has... a life or something.
Well, it's a new month, and that means that it's time for a new community spotlight! I, your pal AJ, am here to introduce you to this month's victim!
Ok, ok- I admit it. I'm not really AJ. It's me, Kat, and due to some busy summer schedules, this month's community spotlight is a collaboration! 4 staff writers have combined our powers to make this a SUPER-MEGA-NINJA-ULTIMATE-COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT! Don't worry, AJ will return next month in a triumphant blaze of glory, but for now let's get to the lucky man of the month!
August's community spotlight is none other than your very own Mo the Surfer! You voted for him, now get to know him better! The first question is from Mo himself!
Mo: Are all of the staff really sure you want me to be in the spotlight for this month? Most of the time the answers you get in the past CS's have been really funny or just fun to read, mine is gonna be REALLY REALLY boring.
Meta: It's a democratic process my friend! You got voted in.
Mo: SMH...ok, ok...Recount? Hanging chads...anyone?
Come on, Mo! These women fought for the right to vote just to vote for you!
Kat: OK, let's get this out of the way, first off... tell everyone anything you want us to know about you. Who you are, what you do, family life, height, weight, astrological sign... It's really up to you how much or how little you want to share!
Mo: I am Oscar's long lost brother - I am a complete grouch and I hate people. JK!! I am actually feeling like that little kid at the end of Monster's Inc. who wakes up to find Mikey in his room in the middle of the night doing stand up.
Kat: For anyone wondering about who Oscar is, it's a Sesame Street reference. If you don't get the second reference, well I can't help you with that.
AJ: OK, jerkass- it's my turn! I read in one of the threads around the site that you said you were going to school (again?). What are you taking, what made you decide to go back to school (besides the very obvious trollin' for sluts) and what are you hoping to achieve?
Mo: Jerkass? Gosh AJ, if you got some sleep you wouldn't be such a grouch!!!
Kat: AJ doesn't have time to sleep! Now that he's no longer in school, the night is his time for (very obvious) trollin' for sluts!
AJ's women...ha-cha-cha-cha-cha-chaaa
Mo: Yes, I am back in school, working toward a degree called "Art, New Media." Simply put, I am going into digital animation - and gaming is on the table at that point.
I would really like to dip into the local talent pool and put a game development studio together.
AJ - Just don't make any ass games or I'll come put an end to your company and possibly you.
Kat: Yeah, what do you think happened to 38 studios? Schilling is lucky AJ left him alive! So, as a gamer, what is your favorite genre?
Mo: I used to be a voracious reader but I discovered gaming so that went out the window - although I still have to read before going to sleep at night. RPG's are my absolute favorite because of the depth of MOST of the story lines. many times I have been quoted (by my wife) for saying - I have just got to see how this turns out!!!
Kat: That's exactly why I love RPGs- and will take a mediocre game with a bunch of interesting storylines over the most beautiful, polished, story-free shooter any day!
Mini: So you said potential gaming design is on the table after your degree, and that your favorite genre is RPGs. Would you make an RPG if you could? If so give us the basic plotline...
Mo: I wouldn't make an RPG unless I had a LOT of money and a LOT of time. Making a good RPG is a monster of a task. Not done right, it would be just one more bad RPG in a long line of bad RPG's filling up the shelves of our local gaming shop and do we really need another one of those??
If I could do it the way I wanted to, I would pull out my copy of 'Rogue Trader' and base it in that universe. The WH40K universe is huge and most people have only seen a sliver of what could be available.
Mini: The real question is do all the bad RPGs actually make the good one's seem better though....hmmm....
Meta : What specifically about the old, original Rogue Trader universe appeals to you versus the current state of Warhammer 40,000?
Also, if you were a Space Marine in said universe, which Chapter would you be and why?
Mo: Ha!!! Someone who might remember the Rogue Trader!! COOL!!!
In the original RT, the Space Marines were a mere sideline - there was more ink dedicated toward the Imperial Guard (if you discount the table top game example in the back of the book and all of the how to paint your minz) and its many divisions and subspecies.
The universe itself is more of a cross between Robert A. Heinlein's Starship Troopers (book, not the movie) and the game Knights of the Old Republic. Yes, you could be a bounty hunter, yes, you could serve the Emperor, perhaps a navigator, a treasure hunter or a mercenary. The early White Dwarf magazines - the ones that focused on 40K and not the original WH, had all kinds of examples of armies to field.
The one that became popular were the Space Marines because of the art that was done by Jon Blanche and the figures painted by Mike McVey and Tim Prow. The only reason I know so much about the table top game is that I used to paint for a gaming shop in Bellevue, WA, Games and Gizmos. It may still be there.
If you want a good look into the universe itself and many of it's characters, I would read the book Space Marine (Warhammer 40,000). It was printed in 1993, and a used copy goes for about $65.00. I wish I still had my copy. Warhammer: Inquisitor is another great glimpse into the early origins of WH40K.
As to which chapter, now that's a hard question. I could see myself making a bunch of bad decisions along the way and end up like the Legion of the Damned - having a great time and then finding out much later on that you've been lied to so spend the rest of your life trying to make up for the mistakes of the past.
Meta: Sounds like you could also pass for a Dark Angel ya emo bastard.
Mo: Emo? WTF is that? You know I am an old guy, right?
Emo's not just for kids anymore!!!
To be a Dark Angel, you have to born on their home world. Read Space Marine - you will understand.
Mini: Okay, if you could work for any gaming company, whether developer or publisher, who would it be?
Mo: Bethesda always comes first to mind, but then again Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Skyrim are my favorite games. I don't know how much I could contribute to what they are already doing, but I can dream - right??
PopCap also comes to mind, they are up in the Seattle area. That company is making games for everything. Mac, PC, consoles, phones and tablets. They aren't that unique anymore, but when they started out they were one of VERY few gaming companies that covered the whole field.
Would I work for Nintendo? "If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say."
Mini: I have to say those are some very different companies to potentially work for. Though I do imagine that any of them would be fun to work for. Speaking of fun, what is your fondest gaming memory?
Mo: My fondest gaming memory would be beating the final boss in The Legend of Zelda - side 2 - in 1990. I mapped the whole game out on lined notebook paper and took copious notes about which rooms contained what enemies. It was REALLY nerdy.
Then a 'friend' borrowed the maps copied them and started loaning them out like he had done the work. That ruined the whole experience for me.
Mini: Took credit for your work? What a tool...sounds like something AJ would do.
Kat: Besides gaming, what are your interests? I mean- now that you've given up reading, what do you do when the power is out, or your 360 red rings?
Mo: I still read occasionally. I like to run and I have recently decided to start running the local 5k's. Other than that, I have 3 kids - boys - that keep me fairly busy...or if my wife gets to the game I want to play first. That just happened recently with Lego Harry Potter 5-7. I had to wait 3 hours for my turn!
Kat: Three boys? You must be a masochist! See, we're getting to know you after all! Obviously from your gamertag, we can deduce that you love the 3 stooges and browsing the internet. Does it signify anything else beyond these 2 great loves?
Mo: Curly was my favorite stooge. Moe was the boss and everyone hates the boss! Mo is a severe shortening of my last name, and while I was serving in the US Navy I spent a lot of time in San Diego and Hawaii - surfing just kinda came naturally.
Kat: Awww, your tag wasn't an homage to the coolest stooge ever? I am so disappoint!!!!
Mo's motto. Saddy-face.
Unrelatedly, if your (now horribly offensive) gamertag was reported to MS (by someone else of couse, not me!) and you were forced to change it, what would you want to change it to?
Mo: If I had to change my G/T it would have to be "Remade Joseph" as I have remade myself several times and will yet again before too long.
AJ: Anyway, I guess I'll get back to some questions. How would you feel if you suddenly got gamerscore reset? Would you quit xbox, start a new tag or quit gaming altogether?
Mo: I have pondered that question more than a few times. First, I would be REALLY REALLY PISSED OFF!!!! I may even hemorrhage a blood vessel or 2. If I survived that, it would take me about a week to calm down, maybe a month. Eventually, I would start again, avoiding MANY of the games that I currently have on my tag.
AJ: Yea, I think I'd be the same way. I wouldn't play for gamerscore anymore, that's for true.
Mini: Okay on a non-gaming note, what sort of work did you do post-Navy and before this new Media degree? Did you enjoy it?
Mo: Does anyone ever REALLY enjoy going to work everyday? Pardon my cynicism... Maybe I should ask the question - what didn't I do?
I waited tables, I worked in construction, washed windows, did some retail, worked at a bank and then another bank, did some modeling (I used to be good looking) I have owned several businesses, I spent 1 semester at a community college in the Seattle area.
Don't we all remember this issue?
Mini: Hahahaha. Fair enough, I guess that's why I'm back in college myself, to try to do something that I enjoy a little more at least!
Meta: Next question: which of the Avengers in the recent movie is the coolest?
Mo: The Hulk or Thor - although, Thor's redemption (in his own movie) was a little too easy and too sudden. Going from absolute arrogance to humble servant is a long journey, not handled in just a day or 2. Dr. Bannister's admonition in the middle of the Avengers - "That's my secret, I am ALWAYS angry." - was quite revealing and somewhat relatable.
Meta: Hmm... ok angry man.
Mo: I am not an angry man - I am a grouch. And proud of it! Just ask my kids.
Kat: Oooo, I have one! What's your favorite animal? (don't say monkey, don't say monkey, don't say monkey!)
Mo: Sigma!! JK!!!! I have 3 kids and they are my favorite animals!!!
Kat: I said not to say monkey!!!
Meta: Next question!
Out of the 9 mooks & foogs in the original Fellowship of the Ring, who do you think you are most like, and who would you RATHER be more like? To wit, the 9 are Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Pippin, Samwise, Frodo, Gandalf and Boromir.
Mo: I would like to be Legolas - he gets to live for 1000 years or more. Who wouldn't want to live forever?
Kat: :raises hand: Oh, that wasn't a real question? OK, nevermind... carry on.
Mo: The question of who I have been most like gets complicated. I have probably been all of them at one time or another, but I would say that I have been more like Boromir. To go further, I would say I was more like his brother Faramir, with the bastard father to prove it. But that's another kettle of fish that I wouldn't want to open up, 'cuz it smells really bad.
Kat: Speaking of smelling like fish... Legs or breasts- which part of the chicken do you prefer?
Mo: BREASTS!!!! I don't like bones in the meat that I am eating! (trollface)
The Colonel's real secret!
Kat: You're stranded on a resort island in the middle of a zombie outbreak. What 5 items are you going to take with you when you set off to find other survivors, and why?
Mo: Kayak, paddle, sunscreen, sun hat and sunglasses - zombies can't swim!!!
AJ: If you were walking down the street and actor Hugh Jackman walked up to you, casually asked you for directions somewhere and then proceeded to spit in your face and kick you in the balls what do you think your reaction would be a minute after, a day after and a year later?
Just wanted to ask that question before Meta asked it.
Mo - In this town, he wouldn't be alone, which means I would have witnesses. In a case such as that, the sound of "cha-ching" would resound in my mind. A week later, I would be meeting with my lawyer and year later, after that poop storm had abated, my lawyer and I would be count our 'out of court' settlement.
Kat: Hahahaha, poop storm.
Mini: Random off topic question: Bro or Man-zier?
Mo: I had to look that one up to understand the question. Why would you ask me that??
Mini: :Impossibru face:
Wait someone doesn't get random Seinfeld references! You must not be a fan!! FML, this interview is OVER!
Master the force, master your own domain. Or is that backwards?
Mo: Seinfeld? Nope. I am not much of a TV person. But if I can watch an entire season in a weekend I will do that in a heart beat. I watched season 6 of Weeds in 1 day. Yeah, it's a sickness.
Mini: I uhh. Yeah. I got nothing else. Meta, clean up my mess!
Meta: Last question.
If me and Minioger got in a fight, who do you think would win, and
what would my Ultra Combo move be?
I mean what would the victor's Ultra Combo move be?
Mo:
Let's see...
Meta and Mini had a brawl
Smashed the chairs
And cracked the walls
Broke the pipes
And killed the doors
Twisted the fridge
Beat the beds
Mashed the stove
And smacked their heads
Twisted limbs
Missing teeth
Meta fed Mini
The Christmas wreath!
Scared the neighbors
With all of the roar
They called the police!
It's time for more!
The cops showed up
Not a minute to spare-
Meta's head was in the john
And he was running out of air!!
So ends the fight of Meta and Mini...
In cuffs - a draw.
PS - You both owe me a house....
Smashed the chairs
And cracked the walls
Broke the pipes
And killed the doors
Twisted the fridge
Beat the beds
Mashed the stove
And smacked their heads
Twisted limbs
Missing teeth
Meta fed Mini
The Christmas wreath!
Scared the neighbors
With all of the roar
They called the police!
It's time for more!
The cops showed up
Not a minute to spare-
Meta's head was in the john
And he was running out of air!!
So ends the fight of Meta and Mini...
In cuffs - a draw.
PS - You both owe me a house....
So that brings August's CS to a close, thanks Mo for being such a good sport, thanks all the voters for voting and making your voices heard, and thanks to Revelation 1318 for the August CS calendar below!
Keywords: Community spotlight, mo the surfer, rage quitting, minioger is a seinfeld fanboy
