Archive for the ‘Sword & Shield Gaming’ Category

Last month we conducted a poll among our members.  We asked what game people thought was the best game last year.  Our members play a wide assortment of games.  We wanted to know which game came out on top according to Sword and Shield Gaming.

For 2011, the winner of the Game of the Year, according to Sword and Shield Gaming is….

a tie!  When all the votes were tallied, it came down to not one game, but two!

Our community selected both Modern Warfare 3 and Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim as the games of the year.  Coming in a close third was Gears of War 3, followed by Portal 2 and Battlefield 3.  2011 was a great year for gaming.  Here’s to 2012!

So last week some of you noticed I didn’t post a blog… Actually none of you did. Hmmm. This week you might notice that I don’t have any screenshots… actually you probably won’t notice that either. Never mind, here is what happend…

Monday Knight Halo: Many of us jump into games together so that we can team up against the onslaught of prepubescent mongrels. This is pretty typical. However, sometimes we don’t even want to face the riff-raff and would rather play with just our fellow knights. That’s just what we did in the TU Beta hopper this week. Let me just say, having Kistov AND nzapters on the same team is cheating. The Kiwi Connection, as I have some to call them, are lethal enough on their own. Putting them on the same side is a kind of demoralizing slaughter that Grunts must feel hopping off a Phantom on easy mode.

Eventually the gang went back to proper matchmaking against some internet randoms. However, the blood lust did not cease. I’m not sure if there were some hidden grudges, or if wrath transcends all sense of color and team descriptors, but  some knights went on some betrayal sprees. This was all in good fun mind you, which was picked up on by the other team… who proceeded to assist in that fratricide. While this isn’t typical behavior for knights, everyone involved was having a good time. No harm no foul.

Wednesday Knight Warfare: Final Session: So what better why to celebrate the passing of a game than to mortar, napalm, and grenade your teammates? Wait what? That’s right, the team killing didn’t stop at Halo. You know the thing with a fast paced game like Black Ops is you have to keep your head on a swivel. Not every single person darting around a corner is your enemy. As I discovered multiple times as BIGG NATE responded to my calls for help… only to be shot in the face by my M4. Indirect fire weapons are a dangerous tool as SSG Jettstream learned as I, once again, failed to see where my teammate was and burned him alive with super hot napalm. Napalm sticks to kids… and Canadians. Finally, after having given up on killstreaks I decided to use my ‘nades… much to MadMike’s displeasure. You see, when you throw a grenade you should be sure that your partner isn’t about to run into the same corridor that you just chucked frag down…

Thursday Knight Horde: They say dying is a part of life. I say dying is a part of dying. SteelValor, SSG Gideon and Apoc came with me into some new maps for Horde mode. I had gotten used to SSG CodeMonkey’s awesome mutators and  figured I could just run up and slaughter what ever I wanted as Big Rig Dizzy. Well I was wrong, but I took everyone with me. Anytime Steel, Apoc, or Gideon attempted to save my sorry butt they ended up dying a terrible death. So you don’t always have to be the one to pull the trigger to get a team kill…

Other Big News: We have more knights included in our family. SSG Gideon was made official this week and we all are super excited that he has joined our ranks. I didn’t get a chance to mention SteelValor in a blog so I’ll do so now and congratulate him as well. I hope you like your new armor. Remember it chaffs

Sword & Shield Gaming had the great pleasure of being on the podcast/radio show: BulletProof Radio on Tuesday August 23rd, 2011.

The hosts were fantastic, Bob Lohblaw, Option Disabled, and SteelValor ran the show very smooth and organized.  SSG was represented by SSG Jayman, SSG Cazaril (Viktim Viktor), and SSG IrishGirl.

SSG Theo: Hello IrishGirl! Welcome to SSG Speaks!
SSG IrishGirl: Hey, Theo!
SSG Theo: How long have you been in SSG?
SSG IrishGirl: Well, I first applied to SSG back in October of 2010. After a few weeks of apprenticeship I was inducted as a Knight in December of 2010. My husband, Grant, actually applied a couple weeks before I had but the Overlords decided to delay his membership until I was ready to be inducted. Kind of funny, but I understand why they made that choice.
SSG Theo: Ah yes SSG IamGrant. We are coming on to September 2011 soon which means that is a 11 month mark for you being involved with SSG. How has SSG changed your gaming experience thus far?
SSG IrishGirl: It has changed my experiences as gamer tremendously. Before joining SSG I had lost hope for finding suitable people to play with online. Most of the gamers I came across were rather crude and had very unpleasant things to say, especially concerning the fact that I am a girl gamer. After a while I just learned to mute everyone on Xbox Live because the constant barade of comments started getting to me. Luckily, Grant found SSG and this community has changed my perspective of online gaming completely.
SSG Theo: That actually draws upon a question that Jayman brought up to me. As you said it still draws comments being a female gamer I mean you are the first female that has been on SSG Speaks. I just want to clarify to make sure the question is answered. Is it better or worse being in a gaming community? Keeping in mind even in SSG we are mostly male.
SSG IrishGirl: Definitely better. This may be in part due to the fact that I do not game with as many “randumbs” as I did before, but I have noticed that a lot less people are so quick to spew dirty comments when you are rolling with a full party. There was a time when we had a full party of 8 rolling into BTB on Halo: Reach one night and somebody made a comment to me. It was like having a bunch of big brothers right there by my side because every one of the SSG guys came running to my defense, quickly putting the guy in his place. It was really nice and it certainly made me glad to have met a group of gamers who treat you like family.
SSG Theo: now, we do know SSG IrishGirl well. Who we don’t know is Marleighna Claunch. Can you tell us more about the girl behind the Gamertag?

SSG IrishGirl: Haha, I always find these questions hard. It’s like someone is asking you to wrap up your entire biography into one paragraph, but here it goes! I am currently a college student, earning a degree in Graphic Design & Multimedia in online college. This was not my first degree choice though. When I was 17 I moved from Maine to Springfield, Missouri to go to Baptist Bible College, earning my degree in Intercultural Studies at the time. About 2 years into my college experience at BBC I realized that I was pursuing a degree that I just wasn’t interested in. I had always been interested in art, but I never really thought I could pursue any kind of career in art or design. After thinking about it for a while I decided to make the change and switch to Graphic Design, and I am completely glad that I did. That being said, I do not regret my time at BBC because I met my amazing husband Grant there.

Since then, I spend most of my time either doing homework online or designing things on my computer. Aside from that, my interests include reading, playing games (video and board), music, cooking, tennis, and outdoor activities like camping, four-wheeling, snowmobiling and more. I am pretty diverse in my interests. Lol. Oh, and paintball.
SSG Theo: You just got a internship somewhere amI right?

SSG IrishGirl: Yes, I see you have been doing your homework. I saw an ad for a graphic design internship for a graphic design firm and the internship was described as having potential to lead to a full time position on their design staff. The internship is actually in St. Charles, Missouri, which is about 3 hours from where we live right now, but I decided to take a risk and apply anyways. The lead designer/owner took a look at my portfolio and decided to have a phone interview with me and two days later asked me to work as a graphic design intern starting Monday, August 22. Because we are 3 hours away, we worked it out so that I can do all of my work online until Grant and I move to the St. Louis area at the end of October. This is probably the biggest break I have had as a designer and I am completely ecstatic about this opportunity right now.

SSG Theo: Can you release to us the place that hired you?

 SSG IrishGirl: I hope so, lol. It is a small design firm called “FreeMan Marketing.” They have a great deal of business in the St. Louis area so this should open up a few doors for me!

SSG Theo: Well rest assured that I am positive all of SSG is happy for you! We have reached a point in the interview that some people fear. It’s the random question time. I will use Toma’s question first. SSG TomaZero askes, “How do you pronounce your name?”

SSG IrishGirl: Lol, I was not expecting that as one of my random questions…It is pronounced Mar-lee-na. The part that trips people up is “leigh” but it actually comes from the British form of spelling the name Lee. My mom was very kind in giving me the name Marleighna. It is funny to watch people try to pronounce it when they read it off of something. Lol

SSG Theo: Dal would like to know, “what tastes better on toast glue or oil paint?”

SSG IrishGirl: Only Dal would ask such a question…In my experience, oil paint tastes much better. You really get the earthiness of the minerals used in the paint which compliments the toast quite well. Glue however, leaves you smacking your gums for hours on end, which is not appealing at all.

SSG Theo: We got two more here. This is from Dragoon, how long you can hold your breathe?

SSG IrishGirl: Hold up, let me count…1..2..3oihd[fougbadm f[iygfdsfdfgdusgiuahdbsougdiyagdiyfgdfgodsilagfpi8eptgfuihdguifg7e9p7aufeugyf97g

Well, I reached 3 minutes before Grant ran over and gave me mouth to mouth. Sorry, my head hit the keyboard when I passed out.
SSG Theo: haha nice. Ghost Rider would like to know, “If you had a genie and he gave you one wish. What would you wish for?”

SSG IrishGirl: Well, as shallow as this sounds, I would probably ask for a couple million dollars. Not so much that I am filthy rich and spoiled for the rest of my life, but enough to get settled somewhere so that I don’t have to worry about bills for the rest of my life. That would allolw me to pay off student loans, buy a wicked awesome house, and build a sweet “man” cave that rivals Jayman’s. Lol
SSG Theo: A very worthy cause defeating Jayman in the “Man Cave” making. Thank you for your time Irish.
SSG IrishGirl: It has been…interesting. See you around!

SSG Theo: This has been SSG Speaks with IrishGirl! See you next time.

SSG_Theo: Hello Toma, welcome to SSG Speaks

SSG_TomaZero: howdy

SSG_Theo: How long have you been with SSG?

SSG_TomaZero: since its Inception.. which was about September 2009ish

SSG_Theo: Many of us here at SSG don’t know how the start of SSG went. So simply put, how did SSG get it’s bringing?

SSG_TomaZero: Well I still actually have the messages archived at Tied The Leader which is where we all first started out. Us being Jayman, Odin Runebearer, Codemonkey, Watchamacalsmit, and a couple of others that joined us later General Ghost, Private Ryan, and whomever I can’t remember. we all started out as what was called Allies FTW a weekly Halo 3 event that finally settled on mondays. in a nutshell We were all at TTL for the Good Games, some of us we’re vying for spots in the Gunslingers but they Recruit in a closed setting very slowly and carefully. Jayman contacted myself and others that were Allies FTW regulars and it snowballed from there.

SSG_Theo: When did you become one of the Overlords, and how has this experience been for you?

SSG_TomaZero: I was one of the founding Overlords, so from the beginning I’ve tried to be a driving factor in this group of ours. Its been fun, and I enjoy coming up with creative solutions to problems, which leads me to my primary position Challenge Captain for Halo, Which is my greatest challenge, finding a well balanced team that can get together on a regular basis. myself included. my time with the clan recently has become limited due to my growing family

SSG_Theo: You say you are the ‘Challenge Captain for Halo’, so we can gather by that you are a player of Halo. Is there any other games you play?

SSG_TomaZero: are you looking for new or old games? for what I play is almost countless.

SSG_Theo: haha. What games can you be seen to be playing more often today?

SSG_TomaZero: I put hours into most of the Halo games each month, Halo Wars, Halo: Reach, and Halo 3. but I play a lot of fighting games, Super Street Fighter 4, Capcom Vs Marvel 3, Soul Calibur 2. Racing games I’m into right now, Blur and Burnout: Paradise. PC I’m still playing Counter Strike: Source, Team Fortress 2, Starcraft 2. Super Puzzle Fighter 2 HDT I play lots of games

SSG_Theo: haha yes you do. Now we all know Toma the gamer. So I am pulled to talked about your real life. Who is Tomazero away from the TV screen?

SSG_TomaZero: I’m a father and family man, I have a 8 month old Daughter which you can find pictures of on my Knight page on our site I don’t work for anyone but myself at the moment but normally you can find me playing with my daughter or wife for most of the time you find me offline. unless I’m doing one of my other offline hobbies

SSG_Theo: What offline hobbies do you have?

SSG_TomaZero: I play Magic: The Gathering pretty often its my main hobby offline. other than that I read every now and then, and I play my nintendo DS pretty often when we travel.

SSG_Theo: How long have you been into Magic: The Gathering?

SSG_TomaZero: I’ve been playing MT:G since Early 2005 been playing casual and competitive ever sense

SSG_Theo: Well we have reached the portion of our segment where the readers ask you random questions. The first is from SSG Dalcaeus,”How many hotdogs can you eat before you feel guilty?”

SSG_TomaZero: Depends, its a rare occasion that I ever have hotdogs, so when I get good ‘dogs I have about 4 or so. and at this point I feel obligated to say yes and no.

SSG_Theo: I think it’s time we create a SSG hotdog eating contest.

SSG_TomaZero: free food. I’m so down for that.

SSG_Theo: On another note, SSG Jayman had this to ask, “What made you want to start a community from the ground up with SSG?”

SSG_TomaZero: to be honest it gave me a lot to do after I had some trouble with my personal life, gave me something to work at to take my mind off of stuff. that and I thought it would be a lot of fun and it has been so far, even with all the work and stress we’ve had I probably wouldn’t give it up for nothing.

SSG_Theo: Thank you TomaZero. This has been SSG Speaks TomaZero Edition.

SSG_Theo: Hello Aelius

Aelius: ‘ey there, Theo

SSG_Theo: How long have you been with SSG?

Aelius: A few months short of a year. I applied in either August or September of last year and gained Knighthood status on my birthday. Easy to remember, being that date, and it was during all the previews of Halo: Reach.

SSG_Theo: Since then how has your gaming experienced evolved?

Aelius: It’s been tremendously more enjoyable. Before discovering the GGN, it was a struggle for me to find friends online, and since I didn’t have any local friends who played XBox, I was often stuck with random folks on XBLA. I became increasingly frustrated at being paired up with people I didn’t know (I was a shy guy), and was even considering dropping my attempts at multiplayer. Luckily, I found some interviews from various GGN clans on Bungie.net, so I decided to give it one more shot.  Since then I’ve had a constant number of friends to hang out with and play with online, which has definitely made things far more enjoyable

SSG_Theo: What lead you to join the SSG instead of some other clan in the GGN?

Aelius: SSG stood out at first, due to the Camelot/Medieval theme (I’m a sucker for themes), and that ended up being the first I researched. I checked out the other groups, but some weren’t accepting new recruits while others’ websites didn’t quite seem as organized as the SSG site. I also liked how clear the Code of Chivalry was about respectful gaming, which was exactly what I was looking for in a group of online (and possibly offline) compatriots. Given that they were accepting recruits, I decided to go for SSG.

SSG_Theo: What games are your primary focus while on xbox live?

Aelius: On XBL, I often stick with Reach as it is the one I often find the most friends on. I also enjoy Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood, as it is unlike any other multiplayer game out there, and very fun with buddies. Hide and seek with knives, heh. I’ve been trying to start on Blur, too, as I love racing, but every time I get the chance to buy it, something more pressing demands my money and I have to delay it. Some day… I may get into the Gears of War 3 multiplayer when it comes out, as well.

SSG_Theo: Cool, now I am sure we all know Aelius the member of SSG but what we don’t know is the Aelius in real life. So, quite simply who is Aelius away from the screen?

Aelius: Welp, I am a librarian at an agricultural college in south Georgia. You might think it’s a fairly stress-free job, but just wait until finals week every semester Beyond that, I also enjoy writing fiction and trying art from time to time. I’ve already got a potential novel being looked at by an editor, and reading into the Halo universe has actually given me some loose ideas for fan fiction.

SSG_Theo: What is the book about? Are you allowed too say?

Aelius: I think I can give a little synopsis. It’s basically a fantasy story told in a modern setting. A group of individuals learn they possess a genetic link to ancient mythological heroes of days past (think Hercules and so on), and right as they begin to manifest those heroic traits, two warring societies gain notice and think that these people are either a threat or a liability. Now they have to figure out how to stay alive through this ordeal, if only they could stop bickering with one another and work together.

SSG_Theo: Sounds amazing! Have you any short stories to share on the forum?

Aelius: Thanks! But alas, I don’t think I have any short stories ready to post at the moment. I may have to take a look through my documents and see if some have slipped my mind, though.  I do have a couple that are in-progress, though.

SSG_Theo: Good luck with them! How about family have you got any of that?

Aelius: Heh, indeed! I have a younger brother who graduated from college last year, and a mother and father taking care of our two dogs back at home.

Aelius: My brother and I often geek out about movies and video games. Star Wars and Skyrim seem to be current topics of discussion.
SSG_Theo: The future does in fact look good for gaming. Now onto random questions. The first one is from Jayman, “If zombies attacked the library what would he use to defend himself?”

Aelius: Well, there are plenty of big bookshelves and carts to use as makeshift barricades. If they get through, then we’ll have to resort to whatever office supplies are available to fend them off. Perhaps we could disassemble those big paper cutters and use them as crude machetes, or throw some huge encyclopedias at them with the hope of snapping their necks and severing their brain stems.

SSG_Theo: The next is from me, “Who is more bad ass Darth Maul or Darth Revan?”

Aelius: Oooh, this is tricky, because it’s so easy to be biased here. Okay, while Darth Maul definitely as some badassery due to the awesome lightsaber and fighting style, he was and always has been an apprentice. Revan, on the other hand was a Sith Lord, and brought together an entire armada to take on the Jedi. Plus, you gotta admit that a revenge tale (light side or dark side, Revan still went after and slayed the former apprentice that nearly killed him/her) is always badass. Having an entire army under you command, escaping death and betrayal, and then going back to bring down the empire that was stolen from you, is far more badass than having a cool fighting style that couldn’t save you from getting sliced in half and tossed down a shaft.

SSG_Theo: Thanks for talking with me. This was SSG Speaks with Aelius.

Sometimes, you meet a person that-at the first few moments of having them in your life, it seems like they were always there. It’s hard to imagine life without and you just assume that’s how it’s always been.

People might call that… romance, but for our purposes it’s bro-mance. When the vote went down to induct He4then into our ranks, it just made so much sense that you’d think we’d forgotten it. Nah, we were just too busy already being awesome with our Knight and new friend.

He4then joined our boards in Dec 2010 already with a thirst to formally take up arms with Knights in honour of the Good Game ™. My personal experience with him have found him to be among the strong-silent type in game. He’s the guy you’re surprised to see on your way through mid-field, helping clean up kills, as well as the guy slowly making his way to the base. Calling out when needed and always offering a friendly word, He4then is the man you want backing you up and most certainly on your team.

March 22nd this year marked the official day when the vote from the SSC (Super Secret Council™) was handed  down and granted him Induction into Sword and Shield Gaming. Though for many in the brother (and sister) hood, He4then was already part of our digital home as naturally as air fills the sky. Congratulations were given, he quickly sold out proudly adopted ‘SSG’ to his tag, and good times continued to be had with his new brothers in arms. It was just so natural and felt so right, but don’t just take my word for it;

Dalcaeus

Running running running. He’ll know what it means.

SSG Gambit

Heathen is BA… That’s all you really need to know about the guy.

SSG IrishGirl

HE4THEN is a really cool guy to game with. He is quiet and chill about everything, but he also knows how to communicate with teammates for a great game. I’m glad he joined us as a knight!

SSG Jayman

When I founded SSG I really did it so my current friends and I would have a place to call home. Little did I know know that we would continue to grow and gain amazing new Knights (and friends) like HE4THEN.

HE4THEN is the kind of person that SSG was made for, teamwork oriented, always having fun, and plays with honor. It’s doesn’t hurt that he can dominate the battlefield with a variety of weapons/vehicles either!

In He4then’s Own Words;

…to everyone here in Camelot for making my stay here so enjoyable. It’s been a true pleasure getting to know you guys and gals, and the games that we’ve shared renewed my faith in online multiplayer.

Hey, it’s our pleasure having you here, man! You complete us.

Keep an eye out for this guy on and off the battlefield, he does not disappoint.

BONUS IMAGE:

He4then's 'helping' blue team in some Stockpile. What a guy!

A vote was passed down from the super-secret meeting room of SSG’s Membership Council and from that emerged a newly Knighted Apprentice, Dalcaeus. This screen shot (that I nabbed from Dal’s own fileshare) fits his zanny personality. If you’ve been in a party with Dal for more than five minutes there is little doubt that you haven’t heard one of his ‘Bazooka Gum’ style jokes, for the 3rd time…

Dalcaeus showed up last night for SSG’s weekly event, Monday Knight Halo, like he does every week and was greeted with the news of his Knighthood from a party of 14 Knights. Quite the induction. Dalcaeus rounds out the Knights numbers up to an even 30, and has already decided to join the Raider division. The Raiders, although starting off strong with SSG’s inception, has lost quite a few members to other Divisions so Dalcaeus will be a welcome addition.

Dalcaeus seems to make a favorable impression on everyone he meets, and I knew it was only a matter of time before he received his own set of armor. With his light humor, team-first attitude, and his compassion for fellow Knights he was everything we were looking for in a recruit. I found Dal while he was checking out the fine clans over in the Good Game Network. I told him to go check out what SSG has to offer, and the rest is history. Now I could wax on my own feeling about Dalcaeus but don’t just take my word for it:

SSG Odin:

The first time I noticed this guy, he was a FNG in a GGN lobby. Didn’t take note of him till he said this REALLY, REALLY, BAD and I mean like ‘FML, that’s bad’ joke. It was so bad that it was awesome. I got hooked.

IMO, he’s one of the best examples of a GGN Recruit. If all the people applying to be in GGN clans were like him, we’d have to shut down recruitment in a week.

SSG Dead3ye

I have played many good games with Dalcaeus in Crysis 2. He always seems to be able to brighten the mood when our squad is horrible and we are getting pounded by the other team. I know I am in for a good laugh when he starts a sentence off with “Did you hear the one about…” Welcome to the castle Dalcaeus.

SSG Gambit

You never really know what’s going to happen in a party with Dal… He could be on Nyquil… and a betrayal spree, or he could be making offhand comments that leave your ribs hurting.

Aelius

I never expected someone to be able to crack a joke while pumping an opponent full of bullets.

SSG Frogwort

I first ran into Dal in a Friday night dustup he’d been invited to by Sunburned Goose over at TTL. While my bullets strayed into the occasional ally, Dal’s always found their intended targets (on the opposite team), even if a couple of his jokes missed by a groan.

It’s an honor and a pleasure to see a new Knight of such an excellent caliber has chosen to sheath his sword in our scabbard. Er, tuck his arrow in our quiver? It’s good to have Dal aboard, jokes and all!

SSG Omega

While I’ve not been fortunate enough to have a proper gaming night with Dalcaeus yet, his attitude around the Castle is more than enough evidence that he’s a great addition. He’s always ready with a friendly word, kind remark-and something hilarious. Dalcaeus is also passionate about Sword and Shield Gaming, and has been since Apprenticeship. Seeing that kind of enthusiasm even going through the Trials on new faces is infectious and-at least for me-helps enforce what Knighthood means. Teamwork, friends, brotherhood, and over all good times. We’re glad to have you, Dalcaeus!

SSG Theo

Dal is one of those players that you don’t have to worry about being quiet. The awkwardness of just being you and him never exists because he knows who to stir a conversation well. I think thats the best part about Dal, his energy that he brings to the table and lets all others feed off of. Never a boring time when Dal is around.

SSG IrshGirl

Only those who are completely awesome are fit to join SSG, so it only makes sense that Dalcaeus should become an SSG Knight!

SSG_Theo: Hello Dragoon

SSG_Dragoon: Howdy Theo

SSG_Theo: How long have you been with SSG?

SSG_Dragoon: Well I would say since just about the beginning. I knew all the overlords before this little shindig got started back when SSG Jayman was just Jayman007 and SSG Tomazero was just Tomazero….that goes for the trouble maker Odin as well I helped game with the Knights to gain status as a GGN clan, as did a lot of the older knights

SSG_Theo: How was the start of SSG? Like what did you expect out of the start of SSG and what were the realities like?

SSG_Dragoon: Well starting SSG was a big step for a lot of us; we all wanted a place to be. Someplace were we could be seen and heard as a group of honorable, likable guys. It was a bit rocky at the beginning. But Jay, Toma, Codemonkey, Wacha, Odin all did a great job of founding what is now SSG. It was hard at first because we didn’t have all the Knights or even people we do now. We had a good foundation of people though, so it steadily grew from there. Everything was just started when Toma was like “hey, Dragoon. Come join this new clan I helped form”. Toma and I are good friends so I decided to check it out….I didn’t really have a choice. What I wanted out of SSG was a group of guys who don’t yell, scream or call people names. A group of people that are calm, cool and collected. I hate to say this, but Toma didn’t do me wrong by coercing me to join. I found all the things I had wanted in one place. Great friends, and good players to go into Matchmaking and show those other dudes who is boss. The reality was that we were small; just starting, but aiming high. Everyone wanted to be part of the GGN. Jay, Toma, and Odin all had connections to other GGN clans so they went about asking how we could get into the GGN. It took us some time because we were small and not everyone could make it to games with other clans for a while, but over time we got it done. It was a great achievement.

SSG_Theo: So you’d say it was a complete success coming here. Good! Now we know a lot about SSG Dragoon but we don’t know the guy behind the tag. So, tell us who you are when you don’t have a controller in your hand.

SSG_Dragoon: Well. I’m just about 6ft, blue eyes I work most of the time. I pressure wash heavy equipment for a living. Hang out with friends, drink some beers. Chase skirts every now and again. I love being outdoors Hiking, camping, running all of it. Plus I’m very competitive so just about any sport or game that you can think of, I’ve played at least once. I also play Magic: The Gathering.

SSG_Theo: Because it is April I have to ask about your history of April fools. Have you ever been fooled or the fooler in some great pranks?

SSG_Dragoon: well not very many, once my Girlfriend at the time told me she was pregnant. She wasn’t….I thought it was a HORRIBLE April fools joke…..she thought it was just about the funniest thing in the world, that and the look on my face when she told me. Most of the Aprils fool’s jokes aren’t worth mentioning, but that one was….

SSG_Theo: That’s terrible. Looking back does your opinion on the comedy of the joke at all change or you still think it’s horrible?

SSG_Dragoon: It was a good April fool’s joke, because I don’t fall for many such things often. It’s funny now….then not so much

SSG_Theo: Understandable. It’s come to the period of the interview where people ask random questions. The first one is from Grant he asks, “If you have to choose 1 celebrity man on a legit date, which would you choose?”

SSG_Dragoon: ohhh man. I don’t know about these random questions…..but if I had to choose. I would say Hugh Jackman; he seems like a nice enough guy. Yeah, I’d take him out to a nice seafood dinner and never call him again.

SSG_Theo: Deadeye would like to know, “What is your favorite sport and team?”

SSG_Dragoon: My favorite sport is Soccer. I played soccer for four years in high school, and was team captain my senior year. I like to run so it seemed like the best sport for me. I don’t really fallow sports to often but I’m a blazers fan since I was little

SSG_Theo: Thank you for your time. This was SSG Dragoon Edition!

SSG_Dragoon: Thank you

SSG_Theo: Hello Ghost Rider

SSG_Ghost_Rider: What’s Crackin Theo

SSG_Theo: Nothing much just interviewing you. How long have you been with SSG?

SSG_Ghost_Rider: I joined up with SSG sometime at the beginning of 2010 after months and months of SSG Jayman hitting me up to rally with his crew. Finally I caved and decided to be part of the club and, to be honest, I haven’t looked back since.

SSG_Theo: When I first came to SSG months ago you were a recruitment knight. Now your title is community Knight helping us keep on track for MKH. How has it been holding those titles?

SSG_Ghost_Rider: It has been my honor to hold titles and help out in any way possible. Most all of the overlords and quite a few of the Knights too had been my friends long before SSG even came into fruition. So blending into their system so things could run as smoothly as possible around here has, and continues to be, an enjoyable experience. As for the jobs individually I feel as if they both are very suiting to my nature. Most anyone who knows me can tell you I am extremely sociable and more than anything else I enjoy having fun, laughing, and kicking ass with my fellow Knight. Bringing new people into the shelter of our clan was fun. And now creating events to bring us all together for good games and good times has been even more fun.

SSG_Theo: Now this may be drilling into a Ghost Rider secret to success. But some of our readers, even myself, would like to know how you so quickly climbed the ranks? It is projected you’ll be top rank in a year you’ll be top rank pulling in 28,000 credits a day!

SSG_Ghost_Rider: Haha, well Theo there is no real secret to my success. I have played halo almost exclusively since I was about…15 or 16 years old. As such I have an understanding of how the base mechanics work so when Reach came out I was ready to get down to business. Once that happened I just constantly drilled into the challenges and commendation levels in the game to get those credits. Believe it or not I even stayed away from the campaign “farming” techniques until way after Bungie nerfed that method by not allowing any more credit gain after silver level was reached. Between matchmaking with my fellow Knights and hundreds upon hundreds of Grunts via score attack I have achieved a pretty solid rank in the reach system. And, aside from a few new games that I just picked up, nothing will stand in my way of reaching Inheritor someday. It’s all about the dedication to the game. And I am certainly a Halo fanatic. Even so to the point where Private Ryan and myself are creating a Dice based Halo system very similar in effect to Dungeons and Dragons. What can I say I am a giant nerd. I reckon that is why we all get along so well here, haha

SSG_Theo: A dice base Halo game? How long have you guys been working on that?

SSG_Ghost_Rider: About a week or so now I guess. We have been avid players of D&D for years and Private even went so far as to do his Honors College thesis on creating your own role playing game. I feel like we have a solid enough background between that and the amount of hours we have both logged in Halo to create an awesome game. Who knows, maybe by the time we are finished we can kick off a campaign for everyone to play with over in our Pen and Paper games forum.

SSG_Theo: Now that we are talking about real life away from the xbox. I would like to ask you to explain to us who Ghost Rider is? Who is he away from the xbox?

SSG_Ghost_Rider: Who I am in real life is very similar to who I am on LIVE. I like to hang out with my lady, my friends, and my family. Still being the jester of sorts and just having a good time in any and every way I can. I always have said that I believe life is far too short to not live every day of it as happy as you possibly can. I have an awesome job as a delivery driver for the largest Liquor distributor in South Carolina. I have a wonderful girl whom everyone also knows around these parts, good friends, and a loving family. But at the end of the day when all that work, family and friend time is over it is XBOX and my SSG family that I keep coming back to wind down with every night before bed. Do you see how it all connects? haha
SSG_Theo: haha. How did you meet Crystal?

SSG_Ghost_Rider: I met CrystLE about 3 years ago over on the Tied the Leader forums actually. We were both allies over there and somewhere between then and now we have played an ungodly amount of games together, fell in love, I have moved across the continent to be with her. We are powering through immigration and all of it’s stupidity and all in all just living life and enjoying every minute of it in the mean time.

SSG_Theo: Love being found over xbox. Every nerds dream! Well will move onto random questions now. We got two for ya the first coming from Jayman. He asks, “What made you to decide to join SSG?”

SSG_Ghost_Rider: Well, as I said before, Jay and I had been friends for quite some time before SSG ever came about. It was bound to happen in any case just because of that. The ONLY reason I didn’t join SSG on the day it was founded was because Private Ryan, Crystle, and myself had started another clan just a week or two before SSG called the Howling Commandos. At that time we even had SSG Gambit over there with us too. However the formation of two clans from the same base group of friends ending up being a bit on the silly side and as SSG had much better…everything that I did over at the Commandos site we just shut it down and decided to reunite with all the fine folks that I had so many good games with in the past. I believe the first quote on my thread after that time was Jay saying how full of win the reunion was. And, as I said before once again, I haven’t looked back since.

SSG_Theo: Thenext is from Dead Eye. He asks, “Do you like to boogie?”

SSG_Ghost_Rider: …I don’t even understand what that question entails. I call things that come out of my nose boogies. In which case I am sure I used to like them. However as an adult it is socially unacceptable to enjoy a good boogie. As such to save my own face I will say…No…I do not like to boogie. Haha

SSG_Theo: I believe it is a type of dance.

(22:07:38) SSG_Ghost_Rider: Hm, Well in that case no. I still do not like to boogie. I have about as much rhythm as the moss that grows on the side of aztec ruins. Which leads to the conclusion that I cannot dance. Which then leads to the conclusion that I do not dance.

SSG_Theo: haha. Thank you for your time. This was SSG Speaks Ghost Rider Edition!