Wot About You Wednesday: Markus

 Today's Wot About You spotlight is Markus! Markus is a Captain in the Charging Boars. 

 **This article has been edited slightly at Markus' request for clarity. My apologies for the confusion! =)



Hello, Markus! How long have you been a part of the WoTMUD community? 


Since 2000, or maybe 1999? I'd bet on 2000, though.


What is your most memorable "newbie" experience?


Coming up north for the first time on my first character, Morken, who was secretly a male channeler (of course). With his RP storyline in the southlands basically concluded, Morken came to Fal Dara to look for death fighting the Shadow, and Lord Paitar of the Shienaran Lancers gave him a bit of an RP welcome and introduction to the north, which seemed Really Cool of him. (Then I proceeded to die to Zork around Burnt Wagons without really knowing what I'm doing or where I am, which wasn't nearly as epic or noble as I hoped )

Later on, the early days of the Charging Boars saw some great newbie PK; we would sometimes ride out in a group of 5 or so, none of us any good at it, get ripped apart in Blight by 2-3 competent DSers and sit in the Circle of Light trying to figure out what we did wrong. Fun times!


The mud is very complex, with something for everyone. What is your favorite part? (For example, pk, rp, questing, smobbing, etc)


It used to be RP, back on Morken and later Connaht. Connaht was my most developed roleplaying character and I've had great times on him.

Nowadays it's mostly PK. Though I've had some great RP fun on Vhailor (my Child of Light based on a Planescape:Torment character of the same name) and to a lesser extent Chemuel, Senamika and Markus.

Not a fan of smobbing or questing. Exploring used to be interesting, but one does get bored of it eventually.


You're a long-time member of the Charging Boars. What made you choose a player run clan rather than an implemented clan?


Part of it is that it's really "ours". Implemented clans are really owned by Watchers, who can - and sometimes do - do things completely contrary to the will of the clan. Also their involvement is often a bottleneck for advancement (people waiting forever for ranking/master quests, the shawling procedure etc). You'll probably hear some horror stories if you ask around.

In a PRC, we're a clan in the most basic sense: a group of people who choose to share a common identity and loyalty. And because we have no coded bonuses, the only people who try to join us are those who want to be in for the people and for the atmosphere, which means we mostly get the sort of people worth having in the first place.

Certainly there is value in the coded clans and I've a number of alts in them, some of which I enjoy playing. Coded bonuses can be fun, and there are some good people in those clans too.


What's the best thing about your clan?

The people.


Why should people join your clan?

To learn the game and PK if they're newbies, or to help others learn, if they enjoy doing that, or just to be part of a group of good guys.



What should they know before they apply?

Nothing much; we're very newbie-friendly, indeed the point of the Boars is that we're a learning clan, where we help each other learn the game. That's how it started years ago, when we were all newbies, and while now the Charging Boars have quite a few accomplished players, inexperienced players are very welcome as long as they have a good attitude and will play actively.
More detail here:
http://www.wotmud.org/forums/viewtopic.php?p=245509



Do you have any regrets, and if so, what is your biggest regret?

For the most part I don't believe in regrets; sure, I would do some things differently now compared to how I did them in the past, but that's inevitable, there's a learning curve in everything and you can't climb it without making mistakes to learn from.

One thing I do regret though is that I grew out of the habit of immersing myself in RP as naturally as I used to. The Wheel of Time world was a little more magical back then, when I played my characters seriously and acted out a role. It's been hard to sustain that over the years, however, because 9 out of 10 people out there don't have a good sense of IC/OOC separation, and it's hard to keep interacting with such people and maintain immersion.


Do you have any hidden talents?

I'm psychic. Nah, not really.



What is your biggest accomplishment in the game?

Probably getting Ta'veren 3 on an unbonused human (Markus).


What are your goals in the game?

I don't really think in terms of "goals" any more, I just PK for fun and sometimes RP.

My current plans involve remaking a Gaidin master (I declanned my last one, Earle, to make room for a better-statted Chemuel, because immortals changed the way character homelands worked and I was stuck with a bad one) and eventually I will want to master Vhailor and my Ghar'ghael as well. I'm also toying with some interesting ideas for Tower Classes to teach as Senamika. Those will take work to develop, however. In the meantime I might put Markus back on Ta'veren just for the hell of it, but I'm not strongly motivated in that direction any more so we'll see.


If you could change one thing about the mud, what would it be?

I'd like to see coders with the authority and the PK know-how to make real improvements to game balance.

But if you just meant a single feature, then: remove the ambush skill. Or better yet, do as Langois suggested and make ambush result in zero damage and a "Learn to PK!" message.



What advice do you have for newbies just starting out?

Three things:
- People are important for getting things done and for advancing in clans, so don't be a jerk and alienate people who could help you.
- Keep a positive attitude, especially if you're going to PK; dying is part of the game and you're better off learning from it than raging at your allies about it.
- If you want to learn PK, play a hunter or warrior, with a heavy two handed weapon and plated armor (known as "abs" due to absorbing damage), because that is easy to reequip in after you die. Don't do a rogue or channeler at first.



What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you?

Can't think of a single outstanding event. I've been on the receiving end of a whole lot of small good deeds, which would be too long to list in detail. I've had help from players learning the game, reequiping after dying, becoming a better PKer...

Actually, I do recall something that maybe isn't the very kindest thing that's happened to me, but that I think is worth mentioning: at one point Zarth and... someone else, I forget, killed me in Shienaran Commander while I was having lag issues. I had a heron-marked blade at the time, which is a rare and highly valued weapon, and they returned it, even though I wasn't obviously linkdead or anything that they could see. I was impressed with the fair-play attitude involved, and it's one of the reasons I usually try to give people the benefit of doubt.


Thanks for taking some time out to talk to us, Markus! 

If you have any questions for Markus, leave a comment below and we'll get those answered. Next week, we'll be talking to Dare and finding out what's up with those Gleemen and their juggling balls!