Spotlight #15: Griven

Rinna · Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 11:19 am Post subject: Spotlight #15: Griven

I. The Basics

Real life first name:
Steve

GC Forum handle:
Griven

Age and/or birthday:
21

Where in the real life world do you live?
Federal Way, WA

What type of work do you do?
IT Guy

What other hobbies or activities do you take part in, other then playing MMO’s?
Single player games, reading, working out.

How long have you played MMO’s?
Four or five years now.

What is the main MMO you play?
Star Wars Galaxies

Main Character name:
Griven Terras

How long is your typical gaming session?
Anywhere from one hour to several hours, depending on what else I have going on.

What does a typical gaming day consist of for you?
Catching up on quests that I haven't done yet, idle conversation, and occasionally RP.

II. Your Main Character

What is your highest character level in your game of choice?
CL 90

How did you choose your main character's name?
After a long time away from the game, I came back and deleted my rebel character, Caelen. I wanted to play a bad guy, so I tried to think of an evil sounding name. Griven is what popped into my head. It was only months later that a Google search revealed that the name, Griven, also belongs to an Italian lighting company.

Terras is a surname that I've used for many of my characters ever since I started RPing.

What race and profession is your main character?
Human bounty hunter

What do you like the most about the profession you have chosen for your main character?
It fits Griven's personality. What other profession gives you the license to kill other people?

What faction is your main character?
Imperial to the core.

III. Most/Least Favorites in SWG

What is your favorite player-owned ship? Why?
Personally, I like the TIE Interceptor, as it's the best ship I've owned so far. I hate grinding, so I don't know if I'll ever make it to Master Pilot and get anything better.

What is your favorite ground vehicle? Why?
Imperial BARC. Although I'll probably never own one, I think they look damn cool.

What is your favorite expansion? Why?
Jump to Lightspeed, what else? It added what this game needed most. Unfortunately, it also took away quite a bit of the community feel, since there was no one to hang out with at starports anymore. At least you no longer had to wait for five minutes to catch the next ship.

What is your favorite planet? Why?
It's a tie between Tatooine and Endor. Tatooine is an absolutely gorgeous desert, and reminds me of the movies more than any other planet. Endor looks like here, the Pacific Northwest. It's almost like I'm tramping through the Mt. Ranier National Forest whenever I'm there. Well, aside from the deadly wildlife. And the Deathwatch.

Who is your favorite NPC? Why?
The chick that leads the Outcasts in the Kkowir Forest of Kashyyk. Not because she's endlessly flirtatious, but because she's involved in the first quest that I've found to really offered a choice between good and evil.

Which expansion do you like the least? Why?
Trials of Obi-wan, but only because I haven't really gotten to play it yet (get on it, Fedaykin!).

Which planet do you like the least? Why?
Ugh, freakin' Dantooine. I can't stand that much pink and purple! Were the designers on acid or something? It looks like they shot a bunch of clowns all across the entire surface of the planet.

What was your favorite Star Wars movie? Why?
I liked The Empire Strikes Back, since it contained much more emotion than the other two films. The dynamics between Leia and Han were great. Who wouldn't like to be able to pull of Han's line just before he goes into the deep freeze? Leia: "I love you!", Han: "I know."

That's awesome.

Who was your favorite character? Why?
The young Obi-wan played by Ewan McGregor is my absolute favorite of all the Star Wars characters. He seems the most realistic of all of them throughout the series, due mainly to the fact that Ewan is a fantastic actor.

Who was your least favorite character? Why?
The safe answer here is Jar Jar. But honestly, I didn't dislike him. My least favorite character is Anakin, or at least the Anakin that Hayden Christensen portrayed. He was only believable when he was pissed off, or murdering children.

What are the most credits you have ever spent on purchasing a single item for one of your characters?
3 million credits for a Jedi statue, that I bought from Rinna. It's now in my bedroom, wearing the skull of some unfortunate being.

Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so, what is it and why do you keep it?
No, since I'm not a very nostalgic person, I tend to throw away useless items.

Describe your favorite period of Star Wars: Galaxies (Pre-CU, CU, NGE, etc.) and what you liked the most about it.
Pre-CU all the way. Was the game better back then? Probably not. However, it was far more exciting. It was during that era that I got my start, and experience what I like to call, "Newbie Wonder." Everything is new and fresh and you're still forming very fond memories, like grinding for three hours to buy a swoop.

I still really miss the range modifier. That added a lot of depth to combat.

IV. Roleplay and MMO’s

What game brought you to Role Playing (RP)?
It wasn't a game, but rather the AOL chat rooms back in 2000. I had just gotten the internet at home for the first time, and my friend got me into RPing. My god, I was horrible at it. I think I conformed to nearly every bad RPer stereotype out there. I like to think that I improved over the years.

Have you played tabletop RP games before moving to MMO’s? If so, which ones?
Nope, none at all.

What other MMO’s have you played?
I've played a ton of them. The ones that I played for any significant amount of time were City of Villains, Lineage 2, Kingdom of Drakkar, Guild Wars, and probably a few others that I'm forgetting about.

What do you get out of playing your MMO of choice?
Good conversation, and good community. I'm a socializer above all else.

How did you get into Roleplaying?
As I stated above, a friend back in 2000 got me into it. It seems longer than seven years, somehow...

How would you “sell” roleplaying to someone that has never tried it before? What are the benefits?
I wouldn't sell someone on it to begin with, but if I had to, I would tell them that it adds another dimension to the game you're playing. In fact, it's a whole other game in and of itself. You get to use your writing talent to entertain other people, and be entertained in kind. It's creative exercise.

What was your favorite event or story arc?
It was back when I had to capture Oroho and deliver her to her boss or something. I ended up running through the streets of Nocturnus shouting like a madman for her, threatened the life of the Kiiva, got beat down by two Temple Jedi, got ahold of Oroho through some bargaining, and double-crossed her boss and killed him. With the help of some fellow Mercs.

How long have you been an RP’er?
Over seven years now.

What do you like best about RP’ing?
Being something that I would never be in real life. If I did what Griven does, I'd be a truly sick individual.

What type of RP ‘role’ do you prefer portraying with your character?
A homicidal psychopath. He's a bounty hunter by trade, but commits cold blooded murder and mutilation on the side to feed his addiction.

He's not a main character by any stretch, and I don't think that he could hold a storyline by himself. Rather, he's what is referred to as a "henchman". He goes out and does all the dirty work for someone else; a role that the bounty hunter profession is also a perfect fit for.

What kind of RP story arc would you most like to be a part of?
One that has a lot of use for a henchman like Griven.

What would you like to see more of when doing RP?
Realistic emotional responses from those characters who aren't psychologically impaired (like Griven). Fear is a natural reaction to having a gun put in your face, and depression is a realistic reaction to killing another person.

If you act without fear or a conscience, then you show signs of psychopathy or other mental disorders. I suggest checking in to the Corellian Mental Health clinic immediately.

Which other community member do you like to RP with the most? Why?
Xen'ya, by far. The personalities of our characters both compliment and clash with one another in so many different ways.

Do you have any ideas for future RP story arcs that you would share?
Since Griven is never the center of an arc, I don't bother coming up with any.

If you could give a new player one bit of advice based on your game experiences, what would it be?
Have fun, but don't be a dick.

_________________
Rinna/Rinna'
AVANT/KRETL
Doctor~Dancer~Kreetle With a Gun