OT: How old are you ? - Page 18

Spyder · #**171** December 19th, 2001, 07:50 PM

Well, I'm not a noob, but this is the first time I've seen this thread

I am 44 and work as a VMS Systems Administrator with EDS in Ralieigh, NC. I am currently interviewing with Cerner in Kansas City and may move there soon

I spent 8 years in the Marines where I worked on the Hawk Missile system (yeah, the ones that Oliver North was selling). I attended many colleges over the years, real life kept interfering with my schoLastic pursuits, but, most notable were Texas A&M University, University of Texas at Tyler, and Sam Houston State University.

I was introduced to gaming in the USMC and have been playing ever since. My first roleplaying game was Merc, and my favorite was The Morrow Project...both are long out of print

My all-time favorite game of any sort is Civilization, the board game. It is also out of print, but I hear rumblings that the company that bought Avalon Hill is going to re-release it

My first strategy computer game was Empire, and I've been playing them ever since. Some of my favorite Computer games (other than Everquest, which I talk about below) have been: Empire, MOO, MOO II, The Perfect General (no better game for mano-a-mano, armor tactics), Global Conquest (Dan Bunten), XCom, Civilization II, The Bard's Tale, the original Pool of Radiance series by SSI (don't waste your money on the new one), Drakkar (early MMORPG) and all of the Sim games...gotta love them Sims.

EverQuest deserves special mention because I've never played any game as long as I have this one, except for Drakkar. My wife and I have been playing Everquest since the final phase of the Beta test. Soon after the game went live, we founded our guild, The Chosen Few, on The Rathe server (http://pub10.ezboard.com/bthechosenfew2416). We are currently on the Zebuxuruk server, and, We are one of the oldest guilds in EverQuest on any server.

My wife discovered SE IV in a magazine review (CGW, I think) Last year around December sometime and showed it to me...we ordered it right away

[ 19 December 2001: Message edited by: Spyder ]

Mark Walton · #**172** December 19th, 2001, 08:17 PM

Might as well introduce myself too.

My kewl board nickname is Mark Walton, but my real name is Deathlord Zxk'ulll.

I am 32 years old and currently unemployed following a &!+(# of a year. (really)
Just to make myself look even more impressive, I am single and live at home.

At present I am expanding my knowledge of C++, and OOP in general, studying toward an OU degree (if they ever process my application for next year... grrrrrrr...)

I am a keen mucker-abouter-with of games. If I can't actually mod a game, I'll probably just set up a website telling the developers their jobs (for instance, my quest engine etc pages for Ultima Online when I was masquerading as Coral of Minoc, for reasons too dull to explain to you here)
See my other Posts and you will see what I mean - I'm always trying to change something or push the system to breaking point.

When I am not ruining computer games, I spend my time ruining board games, or inventing new ones, or just coming up with neat rules and ideas which I will collect into a game later.

My goal in life is to become a pro programmer, and make games. Or, do something amazing with an AI which will impress everyone.
Basically I just need to get a job, though. Or, make a new game which people will buy a lot of. But the only idea I have had recently is "copy SE4" so I need to generate some new ideas.

Growltigga · #**173** December 19th, 2001, 08:58 PM

Seems a good time to jump on the bandwagon and introduce myself to all and sundry

Forum name is Growltigga which is actually the name of one of my cats (sad I know). Real name is Rob. Neither of these has anything to do with my game persona as leader of the Solar Federation.

I am 32 and am a lawyer based out of Manchester. I specialise in banking and finance which means (a) I am boring and (b) I have no social life. My wife agrees.

I spend most of my time avoiding the locals and cursing anyone who supports Manchester United (I am originally from Kent and support Chelsea for anyone who cares).

I got into board gaming as a child, primarily Starfire, Starfleet Battles and any of the bookcase games that were produced. Got into SE IV after checking the Starfire forum on Delphi and finding a thread that said SE IV was the closest computer game on the market to the Starfire format - which it is). Also a mate of mine (I think he was on the forum as Khanuk) reccomended the game.

Also a naval history buff so spend a fair chunk of time on the game coming up with names for the various classes of ships I design - sad but I do get perverse pleasure from designing Agamemnon class battlecruiser, Tigris class destroyers etc
I also seem to have a bizarre problem in that everything I design is missile heavy.

I am a bit of a perfectionist - I have only had SEIV for about 3 weeks and have spent a fair chunk of time renaming all the star systems with proper astronomical names - I spend hours trying to come up with decent names for colonised planets and usually end up with derivations of 'New Boston', 'New London', 'New Basra' etc

classic case of anal retentiveness really

Still, SEIV is a top game. I think myself and Dogscoff should pursue the nation challenge I mentioned in my earlier Newby qyestion thread

Mephisto · #**174** December 19th, 2001, 10:59 PM

So many lawyers on this board.

I see that many people here mention Star Fleet Battles. Head this way if you are interested in a SFB PBEM:
http://www.sfb-pbem.com/

imported_Balifis · #**175** December 20th, 2001, 01:35 AM

Soon 16-years old, still in school. Active RPG player and a ambitious modder.

Shyrka · #**176** December 20th, 2001, 02:10 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Growltigga:
...renaming all the star systems with proper astronomical names...

That would be a nice file to share.

solops · #**177** December 20th, 2001, 04:45 AM

A 45 year old consulting engineer here who has been addicted to wargaming since age 8 (Avalon Hill's "Gettysburg").

DocShane · #**178** December 20th, 2001, 05:00 AM

I am a 33 year old family physician in Scottsburg, Indiana. A bunch of lawyers on SEIV! Any malpractice lawyers out there? I would love to go head to head against you in a game of SEIV. Just think of it as therapy. You can act out fantasies of death and destruction Online. It would be therapeutic for me. Just drop me a line. Hehe.

I have played most of the Avalon Hill, etc... bookshelf games. Shoot, I cut my teeth on Star Fleet Battles. I used to play PBEM about 7 years ago. I couldn't believe it when I saw Mephistos posting for a web site. I thought the game died out years ago. Now I am going to have to go to the basement tonight and see if I can find those tattered and worn boxes of rulebooks and counters! Thanx.

Growltigga · #**179** December 20th, 2001, 10:54 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Shyrka:

That would be a nice file to share.

No worries, tell me how I do it and I will post it on the board. I am currently up to 255 names (the max size of galaxy I seem to able to get SE IV to take).

Talking about Starfleet Battles, has anyone done ship sets/new races for Gorn, Kzinti, Lyran and the lesser known Trek races. I see the main ones have been done (and very nice too).

Talking about boardgames, if any one you want a board game that is very much like SEIV, Starfire is the definately the closest match I have seen.

Talking about lawyers, there are probably so many off us on the forum as we are nice, sociable, well adjusted individuals

Zarix · #**180** December 20th, 2001, 03:18 PM

Hey Balifis! I'm from Finland too. I thought that I was the only one who plays SE4 in Finland.