yacks
09-10-2013 23:25:44
Well, thankfully Tally is a bloody rockstar and managed to get the answers into me while it was still October, so I can still call this the October Edition of Get to Know a Tally!
So, without further adieu... I present to you... Talon Drear
Yacks: So, tell us a little something about yourself. We're here to get to know Tally in this month's get to know a Tally. What makes Tally tick?
Tally: Hi! I'm not completely sure if I can define what makes me tick (within sane parameters, that is..) I think I'll opt for letting y'all know how and why I joined up and how I ended up in Taldryan of all places, with a little history and dusty name-dropping on the side. Here goes:
I think I joined up around '98/'99. I learned of the DB through the Emperor's Hammer, where - being an avid Star Wars nerd - I joined up as a TIE-fighter pilot in their TIE Corps. (Woot for the Battlegroups and Wing X, boo Sovereign and everyone else). I signed up with the EH because of an article in a popular UK games magazine at that time (PC-Zone). The article was mainly based around the Star Wars nerdiness of Kessler and as a sidenote mentioned the EH, which included interviews of a 15 year old Vice Admiral (Yes folks, the Yacks we all know and love) and my future squadron commander Callista. (Yay, Typhoon Squadron. Battlegroup Commander's escort squadron and winner of the 1999 Sovereign Squadron League!). At that time I was familiar with the concept of clans of 5 to 20 people who played online, but was in awe of an organisation that had hundreds, if not thousands of people competing and participating with eachother in an organised structure. At that time Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 was a very popular game to play online and I had just started playing it on my first proper internet connection (ISDN). It took me a while to figure out that it was a platform that was used within the EH as well, but in different subgroups. First I joined the Hammer's Fist, which was prety much dead before it got off the ground. After that I got acquainted with the DB and soon after joined up as a fresh recruit for Clan Aquillas, House Borealis. Back then the Star Wars gaming platforms were popular enough to have their own sections. The Sith were the pilots who played games like TIE-Figher and X-Wing vs. TIE-Figher. The Obelisk were the footsoldiers who played Dark Forces 1 and JK: Dark Forces 2 and the Krath did the fiction. I joined up around the time where I had gotten proficient in a certain gametype of Jedi Knight (saberdueling, without the use of forcepowers) and was looking for some serious competition in the DB, disappointed by the few games the members I knew in the EH had offered me. (I was quite arrogant :p) I didn't immediately find any stiff opposition. Aquillas died and people suggested I transfer to the newly found Clan Taldryan, which was apparently already a place for the cocky people to converge. I joined House Dinaari (The Obelisk chapter of the clan) and as a clan we pretty much owned all the others on every platform, every field and every DB-wide competition.
Oh and Tally is my nick, derived from my full EH/DB name Talon Drear. And I've had it before Taldryan was even born. So suck it.
Y: Something that many people may or may not know, is that you actively turned down promotions to Obelisk Warrior (shut up, I'm old) many times. Three at least, that I can remember. Why did you choose to stay a Dark Jedi Knight for so long?
T: DJK sounds cool. OW doesn't. Come on, who wants to be an OW. or worse an OWL.. In all seriousness though, I was primarily a guy who just wanted to stick his saber in people. When later on in my career I got confronted with responsibilities (Battle Team Leader, Aedile, training others) I pretty much choked and went AWOL whilst holding a House summit position. Definitely not my finest moment. I pretty much denied every promotion that got thrown my way around that time. After rejoining Taldryan and having a really cool student (Woot, Nero) I decided that it was finally time to move on. I still miss being DJK though..
Y: What is your favourite thing about the DB, and why the hell have you stayed in the DB for so long?
T: My favourite thing in the DB is Taldryan of course. Followed closely by Shad's table. I used to think I stuck around and came back again and again because of pure nostalgia. Now that the DB has transformed into something else I know that that's not the case. It's the people that make this place and I realise now that it's the people that I came back for. Friendly nerds and nerdettes, willing to up the ante when needed and work towards a common goal, like winning a Vendetta. Crusade. Whatever. People who you can have serious talks with and just shoot the breeze with. People like Tarax who ambush others with porn, Sid with his abundant enthousiasm, Shadow with spurts of superhuman activity (BGJ NF, come at me bro), Yacks and Jac who can be both down to earth and way up there, inspiring the entire clan. House, whatever. Rian who is constant source of guidance, Howlader, who has.. fur. That's why I'm still here. Some of these guys may not have been around as long as I have, but their spirit is the same nonetheless. And that goes for a lot of the newcomers as well.
Y: So... you're apparently Dutch. What's that all about? Do you have an unnatural fascination with tulips, wooden shoes and windmills? The colonies wish to know!
T: Yup, born and raised. I have nothing with tulips, wooden shoes or windmills. But here are some of my favourite typical dutch things to put in my mouth:
So, without further adieu... I present to you... Talon Drear
Yacks: So, tell us a little something about yourself. We're here to get to know Tally in this month's get to know a Tally. What makes Tally tick?
Tally: Hi! I'm not completely sure if I can define what makes me tick (within sane parameters, that is..) I think I'll opt for letting y'all know how and why I joined up and how I ended up in Taldryan of all places, with a little history and dusty name-dropping on the side. Here goes:
I think I joined up around '98/'99. I learned of the DB through the Emperor's Hammer, where - being an avid Star Wars nerd - I joined up as a TIE-fighter pilot in their TIE Corps. (Woot for the Battlegroups and Wing X, boo Sovereign and everyone else). I signed up with the EH because of an article in a popular UK games magazine at that time (PC-Zone). The article was mainly based around the Star Wars nerdiness of Kessler and as a sidenote mentioned the EH, which included interviews of a 15 year old Vice Admiral (Yes folks, the Yacks we all know and love) and my future squadron commander Callista. (Yay, Typhoon Squadron. Battlegroup Commander's escort squadron and winner of the 1999 Sovereign Squadron League!). At that time I was familiar with the concept of clans of 5 to 20 people who played online, but was in awe of an organisation that had hundreds, if not thousands of people competing and participating with eachother in an organised structure. At that time Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 was a very popular game to play online and I had just started playing it on my first proper internet connection (ISDN). It took me a while to figure out that it was a platform that was used within the EH as well, but in different subgroups. First I joined the Hammer's Fist, which was prety much dead before it got off the ground. After that I got acquainted with the DB and soon after joined up as a fresh recruit for Clan Aquillas, House Borealis. Back then the Star Wars gaming platforms were popular enough to have their own sections. The Sith were the pilots who played games like TIE-Figher and X-Wing vs. TIE-Figher. The Obelisk were the footsoldiers who played Dark Forces 1 and JK: Dark Forces 2 and the Krath did the fiction. I joined up around the time where I had gotten proficient in a certain gametype of Jedi Knight (saberdueling, without the use of forcepowers) and was looking for some serious competition in the DB, disappointed by the few games the members I knew in the EH had offered me. (I was quite arrogant :p) I didn't immediately find any stiff opposition. Aquillas died and people suggested I transfer to the newly found Clan Taldryan, which was apparently already a place for the cocky people to converge. I joined House Dinaari (The Obelisk chapter of the clan) and as a clan we pretty much owned all the others on every platform, every field and every DB-wide competition.
Oh and Tally is my nick, derived from my full EH/DB name Talon Drear. And I've had it before Taldryan was even born. So suck it.
Y: Something that many people may or may not know, is that you actively turned down promotions to Obelisk Warrior (shut up, I'm old) many times. Three at least, that I can remember. Why did you choose to stay a Dark Jedi Knight for so long?
T: DJK sounds cool. OW doesn't. Come on, who wants to be an OW. or worse an OWL.. In all seriousness though, I was primarily a guy who just wanted to stick his saber in people. When later on in my career I got confronted with responsibilities (Battle Team Leader, Aedile, training others) I pretty much choked and went AWOL whilst holding a House summit position. Definitely not my finest moment. I pretty much denied every promotion that got thrown my way around that time. After rejoining Taldryan and having a really cool student (Woot, Nero) I decided that it was finally time to move on. I still miss being DJK though..
Y: What is your favourite thing about the DB, and why the hell have you stayed in the DB for so long?
T: My favourite thing in the DB is Taldryan of course. Followed closely by Shad's table. I used to think I stuck around and came back again and again because of pure nostalgia. Now that the DB has transformed into something else I know that that's not the case. It's the people that make this place and I realise now that it's the people that I came back for. Friendly nerds and nerdettes, willing to up the ante when needed and work towards a common goal, like winning a Vendetta. Crusade. Whatever. People who you can have serious talks with and just shoot the breeze with. People like Tarax who ambush others with porn, Sid with his abundant enthousiasm, Shadow with spurts of superhuman activity (BGJ NF, come at me bro), Yacks and Jac who can be both down to earth and way up there, inspiring the entire clan. House, whatever. Rian who is constant source of guidance, Howlader, who has.. fur. That's why I'm still here. Some of these guys may not have been around as long as I have, but their spirit is the same nonetheless. And that goes for a lot of the newcomers as well.
Y: So... you're apparently Dutch. What's that all about? Do you have an unnatural fascination with tulips, wooden shoes and windmills? The colonies wish to know!
T: Yup, born and raised. I have nothing with tulips, wooden shoes or windmills. But here are some of my favourite typical dutch things to put in my mouth:
- Hagelslag! (http://www.deruijter.nl/media/581749/xlhagel_nieuw.png)[/*:m]
- Dutch pancakes, not the stupid small, thick american/canuck ones. (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_JdGwP3oibSk/S7imiOirUiI/AAAAAAAABUU/DPmtNpvMDWI/s1600/pannekoek.jpg)[/*:m]
- Stroopwafels.. yummy. (http://bakin-n-bacon.typepad.com/bakinnbacon/images/2008/02/17/stroopwafels.jpg)[/*:m][/list:u]
Y: OK, a Ninja walks into a bar, and there's a Navy SEAL there. The SEAL insults the Ninja's honour, and all of a sudden, boom, it's a fight. Who wins?
T: That's easy, I would kick the shit out of them both and have time to spare to take a sip of my rootbeer.
Y: Jac Cotelin, a Great Grand Master, or the Greatest Grand Master?
T: He is without a doubt the great grandaddy of all Grand Masters. I bow to him.
