| Hero's Hall: |
So Tasoli tell us a bit about yourself, family, work, women
in your life, where your from? |
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| Tasoli: |
Alright where to start off... well as far as family goes I've
got a mother and father who are divorced- my mom lives in Corona which is
near Los Angelas, and my dad lives in San Diego upstairs, heh. I've also
got a brother who goes to Harvard in Cambridge MA, and a half-sister who
lives with my mom. I've got a step-mom named Carolyn who also lives with
me, and a step-brother named Kyle who moved out a few years ago. That's
all of my immediate family, other than that I've got at last a dozen cousins
and a Grandmother and Grandfather (only 1 pair, my mother's parents are
deceased)
As far as work goes I pretty much love doing anything with computers.
Last Christmas however I was scrambling for a job and wound up working
at a Jewelery store! How, you may be wondering. Well my English teacher's
husband is a Jeweler and he really needed an extra hand around the store
for the holidays, so I offered to pitch in, and I was probably my teacher's
favorite student so she made sure I got the job ($10 an hour under the
table isn't bad!). I've maintained the job since Christmas as a part time
gig on saturday mornings, but I needed something with a few more hours
for the summer, so I went out looking and got hired at a LAN Center. (a
building with lots of computers people pay time to use)
And where am I from? Originally San Diego, but when my parents divorced
I moved north with my mom and brother to Santee originally, then Lakeside
(both in SD County), but the eventually up to Corona where my mom's parents
lived until they passed away (2001/2002). I've been in California my whole
life though- I don't think I would comfortably survive anywhere else.
Too cold, not enough girls with bikini's on constantly, you know what
I mean... our winters are hotter than some city's summers after all :). |
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| Hero's Hall: |
So now that everyone knows a little bit about ya what's your
gaming Resume, what did you start out with what games (that you can remember)
have you played in the past and currently playing now? |
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| Tasoli: |
Hmmm... I started off with Super Mario Brothers. I would play
it when I went up to Corona to visit my Grandparents before we moved in
with them. Loved that game, and still play it sometimes :). After Super
Mario Brothers I started playing.. well.. everything really- Super Mario
Brothers: Legend of the Seven Stars (my first RPG, VERY GOOD), Baldur's
Gate, Age of Empires 1, 2 and 3. I could go on, but I don't know how intersting
a long list of games is! I've played almost everything I've seen, and have
experiance in all genres. Though, I'd have to say my favorites are MMORPG,
RPG, and FPS. I'm currently playing Counter-Strike: Source, Baldur's Gate
2 (just started again heh) and nothing in the MMORPG department. I've got
my eyes on Neverwinter Nights 2 (RPG), Hero's Journey (MMORPG), and Battlefield
2142 (FPS). |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Well at least I'm not alone with how many games
I've played, What aspect of MMORPG's got you hooked? |
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| Tasoli: |
Funny question actually! It wasn't MMORPGs at all that got me hooked,
it was MUDs. Let me elaborate...
MUDs are the best thing ever, not a question, no doubt in my mind. Why
you ask? Customization, interactivity, and description. MUDs leave everything
to the imagination, which is a more powerful tool than any graphics engine
can ever be. If I say katana, we both have seperate images in our minds
as to what one looks like. Sure, there is a specific way katanas look,
but what if my mental image looks different than yours? Are you wrong
or am I? MUDs allow each player to "paint" their own graphics
in their brain, and allow verbs and actions that no graphics based MMORPG
can even compare to. If I had to artciulate it with wit, I'd say MUDs
were my first dive into the world of The Online RPG Drug and ever since
then I've just been chasing my first high :).
MUDs are the best thing ever, not a question, no doubt in my mind. Why
you ask? Customization, interactivity, and description. MUDs leave everything
to the imagination, which is a more powerful tool than any graphics engine
can ever be.
If I say katana, we both have seperate images in our minds as to what
one looks like. Sure, there is a specific way katanas look, but what if
my mental image looks different than yours? Are you wrong or am I?
MUDs allow each player to "paint" their own graphics in their
brain, and allow verbs and actions that no graphics based MMORPG can even
compare to. If I had to artciulate it with wit, I'd say MUDs were my first
dive into the world of The Online RPG Drug and ever since then I've just
been chasing my first high :). |
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| Hero's Hall: |
You know now you've got me considering trying out some of
the MUD's out their was never a big fan but maybe now I will be, So if you
had to pick an all time favorite game what would it be? |
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| Tasoli: |
Game? I'm not sure. Series? Baldur's Gate- hands down. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Well ya series will work too, I'm a big fan of Baldur's gate
as well, do you belong to a gaming guild? |
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| Tasoli: |
Not currently no. I've belonged to a couple in the past but
most have either broken up or I've moved on. I like to join guilds where
I feel I will stay for a long time- throughout multiple games. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
:So since you don't belong to one, what are some of the things
you look for prior to joining an in game guild? |
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| Tasoli: |
When I join a guild I like to look at the caliber of people
who are in it- why they are in it, what they do for it, who leads it and
who just kind of sits around mopping up the glory. These kinds of things
are easy for me to see. As I said before the guild should be a guild that
games in multiple places, but sometimes that isn't always the case. I like
a guild where people put other before themselves and just try to make everyone's
experiance a good one. I'll probably be joining an RP guild in HJ, though
at this time I'm not sure. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
How much time on average do you spend playing games? |
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| Tasoli: |
Before Hero's Hall and work or after? Haha! Just kidding (<3
ya frosty :P). I probably spend a good 2-3 hours daily, but on an off day
I'll get on for 3-5 sometimes, and then again I may be busy coding PHP so
I'll only play for 1. Probably 2-3 hours is a good average amount, however. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Frosty's gonna come and beat you, you know that, along the
same lines as the previous question how do you usually play MMO's are you
an Achiever, RPer, Powergamer what? |
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| Tasoli: |
I started off in my MUDs as an RPer. I loved roleplaying,
still did after I started playing graphical MMOs, but it got difficult.
After I started playing WoW I got really caught up in items and loot and
started to whore myself out on the corner of Orgrimmar for gold- okay maybe
not that far. BUT, I dropped the roleplay and focused on items. I became
an achiever and tried to set standards in my guild as far as mage items.
Long story short, that guild broke up and I joined another. Sure enough
the next one was more focused on items and running MC ( a large instance
), daily, so I became a powergamer. I didn't really like it though- I found
myself spending upwards of 10 hours on the computer to keep abreast with
the competition and I asked why? Why am I in front of my computer putting
in these long hours? For the Netherwind gloves? Oh no no no my friend this
is all wrong. Canceled my account and I haven't looked back since. I'm hoping
to redeem my roleplaying side when I start HJ and fall back into my old
ways :). |
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| Hero's Hall: |
What is your most memorable or proudest moment in a MMO? |
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| Tasoli: |
Discovering places in WoW that astonished people. I've been
to Hyjal, Onyxia's Lair 2, The World Tree (top of Hyjal), secret caves in
various places, Caverns of Time, top of Orgrimmar, Northern Plaguelands-
and that's just the tip of the iceberg. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Now maybe you could tell us what it involves being an admin
of Hero's Hall, whats your day to day things you have to do to keep the
site running? |
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| Tasoli: |
Well I wake up and I check the forums. I read through any
new posts and comment on the ones I think I can contribute to or that really
made me laugh, ect. and make sure they're all appropriate. Then I hit the
'hot sheets' (as Will Smith would call them in MIB) and check every site
about HJ that I know, scanning for all new information that I can format
and update to our site. If something interesting comes out I will generally
make a news post about it and upload it to our RSS feed. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
HAHA, you're Hero's Hall's slave, Tasoli now where did that
name derrive from; what made you choose that for a nick? |
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| Tasoli: |
Well I was about 10 and I was playing through my favorite
series, Baldur's Gate. On the first game there is a small town called Nashkel
to the south, and one of your quests is to kill an evil madman out to the
west of Nashkel. As I journeyed west I came across some little lizard men
called Tasloi's. A few weeks later when I came across Dragon Realms and
I needed to choose a name, I wanted a unique one so I chose that creature
because it was small, insignificant, and no one would ever pick it. Well,
I spelled it wrong on accident, and didn't figure it out until a few years
later when I googled Tasoli and I was the only thing that came up. After
trying the variation Tasloi, I found the AD&D creature I had seen years
before. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
You know I never would have guessed that. What is it that
attracted you to Hero's Journey and with that when did you first find out
about the game? |
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| Tasoli: |
Well I had heard about HJ a few years before while playing
DR, but never saw anything about it. I came across HJ again a few months
ago when I was browsing MMORPG.com's homepage. I was talking to my friend
who was playing WoW with his girlfriend and I thought "There has to
be something better." so I looked at the up and comming MMORPGs and
I saw HJ. I read everything MMORPG.com had about HJ and then I shot over
to their site and checked out the fansite section. I saw Hero's Hall and
I loved the layout, the easy navigation, the movies (this is the only site
to date that has movies that I know of anyways, aside from the german one
I can't read). I sent Frosty an e-mail complimenting him on his beautiful
site and asked if he needed an extra hand. After that things just kinda
took off, and now here I am writing photo album code and integrating messangers. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Hero's Journey has mentioned that you can do what you want
in game, so do you plan on being the Hero or the Villain in the game? |
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| Tasoli: |
I plan on being the mysterious Wizard who's intentions are
unknown to anyone but himself. Sometimes his actions will be evil, and sometimes
they will be good- you'll just have to stay tuned to find out how that pans
out :). |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Another deranged psycho path on our hands yaaa (jk mate).
What do you see yourself doing the first day Hero's Journey is released? |
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| Tasoli: |
Playing with the character creation screen until I get him
juuuuust right. In every MMORPG I'm rushing to get the character created
so I can start questing and start leveling and start pwning li3k omfgz0r.
In this one, I'm going to take it slow and make it right. This game is about
me and my enjoyment, so I'm going to spend my sweet time making my guy look
exactly as he does in my imagination. Hell I might just make a day of it
and eat in front of my computer with the game on :D. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
I agree with you ill be doing the same thing my first day.
From what we know so far about Hero's Journey what if anything would you
add if you were given the opportunity? |
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| Tasoli: |
I would add interaction verbs. In DR there were any number
of things you could do to any given item. You could try out any verb on
any item and see if it worked, and an example of verbs would be /kick, /punch,
/kiss, /hug, you get the idea. If we could use those verbs on inanimate
objects such as chairs and have some of them work I think it would be a
level of interactivity no game has approached yet. I mean, all you can do
to a chair now is sit in it. What if I want to stand on a chair and flail
my sword about? Why can't I? |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Having not played MUD's that seems like an interesting feature.
Have you already chosen a class and race for Hero's Journey? |
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| Tasoli: |
I plan on being an Old Blood who is a Wizard / Necromancer
dual class. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
MAGES UNITE!!! Sorry got carried away. Tell us something that
we wouldn't have probably guessed about you? |
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| Tasoli: |
Alright, I'm in my boxers while I'm filling out this interview!
Haha no I'm just kidding ( I really am ) but that's not something I'd like
to share. How about I had cancer when I was 4 years old. I was diagnosed
with Wilms' Tumor. "Wilms tumor is a neoplasm of the kidneys that typically
occurs in children. It is eponymously named after Dr Max Wilms, a German
surgeon (1867-1918). It is also known as a nephroblastoma." (From Wikipedia,
the best way I could describe it is tumors inside that are bad. Heh.) I
was stage 4 metastasized when I was diagnosed, which according to my doctor
had about a 10% going survival rate. I had an 8 hour long operation during
which they removed my kidney, and prior to that I had undergone 64 weeks
of nonconsistant chemo therapy, and a few doses of full body radiation to
boot. So, I guess in the words of Destiny's Child, I'm a survivor an I ain'
gon give up. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
What type of music do you listen too, and whats your favorite
band/singer/DJ? |
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| Tasoli: |
My favorite kind of music is Techno, specifically the Happy Hardcore
genre. My favorite DJ? DJ BosS (formerly DJ CJ) who taught me everything
I know and brought me into the genre. Happy Hardcore is basically a type
of techno that has fast, hard bass drum kicks, and uplifting lyrics. Instead
of talking about death or bodies or something, it talks about love and
pleasure and joy, or something completely off the wall (for example one
song repeats the word "Experiance" probably 30 times, for no
apparent reason).
For those of you wondering, I spin on 2 Numark Pro tt-100's and I have
a Numark CMUSB200 mixer along with Pioneer HDJ-1000 headphones. :)
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| Hero's Hall: |
Your gonna have to teach me how to spin someday. If you were
stuck on an island and could only bring 2 things what would they be? |
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| Tasoli: |
A gun and a bullet? Okay no seriously, uh hrm, that's definately
a tough question. If you were asking the two most important things in my
life, I'd have to answer my computer and my DJ equipment. If you were asking
what 2 things would I bring to get me off the island, I'd only need one-
the Enterprise (provided the transporter rooms are in proper working order). |
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| Hero's Hall: |
I'd go with the gun and the bullet lol. Do you enjoy traveling?
What are some of the places you've traveled to? |
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| Tasoli: |
Honestly? I don't enjoy it. I don't like being
without what is mine, and you can't possibly bring everything along with
you. The internet connection usually sucks other places, and I don't like
adjusting to other climates. It may sound like I'm complaining but hey,
you asked me :P. I don't like moving from where I am, which is one of the
most beautiful and relaxing cities in the world with one of the best computers
around and an internet connection that could easily get a ticket if it were
a car. I dislike extreme change and I do like where I'm at now.
I have however traveled in the past- to NYC, Washington, Chicago, and
Mexico. I liked them all, but I always longed for home and my home environment. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
If someone were to meet you for the first time what would
be their first impression? |
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| Tasoli: |
Probably that this guy hasn't got a 'serious' bone in his
body. I crack a lot of jokes, but as time slowly ticks by people usually
percieve me as intelligent. (note me throwing some unnecessarily large words
into my sentances to drive my point home) |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Your like me but without the intelligent part. What are some
of the things you like to do in your spare time outside of games? |
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| Tasoli: |
I enjoy playing on my turntables, listening to my Happy Hardcore
and possibly going to raves (though I'm not much into the drugs and the
scene has been degrading lately), playing baseball, and as of late doing
Martial Arts- Ninjutsu (which is actually Bujinkan now adays). |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Tell us a bit about your new job you just got? |
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| Tasoli: |
I recently aquired full time employment as a LAN (local area
network, a lot of computers clumped together) Center employe. I stand behind
a counter and register time for customer's accounts, fix any problems they
have, answer any questions they have, and sell them beverages and snacks.
It's a fun job, so far. Today will only be my 3rd day, however, so time
will tell. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
So then if you could pick something to do for the rest of
your life what would it be? |
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| Tasoli: |
Something with computers. Networking, hardware, graphic design-
I love it all and hate nothing about any of it. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
What is the most embarrassing moment that you can remember? |
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| Tasoli: |
When I went streaking with a few friends and a car came down
the road we were on. They flipped a U and drove back to see us- that was
pretty embarrassing. |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Oh god defiantly something I wouldn't want to see. In a fight
who would win Brittney Spears or Jessica Simpson? |
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| Tasoli: |
Uh- a pregnant woman against a model? Make love not war. (specifically
with me I'd hope ;D) |
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| Hero's Hall: |
Um me too. Well thanks Tasoli for subjecting yourself to this
cruel and unusual punishment but just one more question, Who's the sexiest
Mod from Hero's Hall to ever interview you? (So help me you answer like
Morneblade you will find many of fireballs coming at you your first day
in game ;) ) |
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| Tasoli: |
Plead the 5th?
Kidding! Cordy! (sex me please <3)
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