June 27, 2004
Recently Selthios and I had the pleasure of interviewing the Goddess Aewen. Aewen is a level 33 (total level 132) goddess who works as a Quest Assistant, World Builder, and as a New Player Helper (NPH). Below is what she had to say.
Selthios: When did you begin your Medievian career?
Aewen: In March of 1999.
Kimetan: Wow – has it seemed like five years?
Aewen: No it really doesn’t see like five years. Time flies when you’re playing Med! Maybe that’s part of its charm.
Selthios: What got you started playing Medievia?
Aewen: I had been playing another long running MUD, which finally died. One of the players there played Medievia and I followed him over.
Selthios: Does that person still play?
Aewen: No. He hasn't been on since last year.
Kimetan: How did he get you to switch over?
Aewen:As the other mud we played gradually began to decline in player numbers and administration, he had started a character on Medievia. When the game we played died, I asked him where he had been spending his time and he told me. So I just tagged along over.
Selthios: Did he influence your experience with Medievia very much?
Aewen: No, not really. He was a very busy player here, and I immediately got enrolled into a clan as soon as I hit level 6. So my first 20 or so levels were with that clan. It then disbanded and I went to another clan where I stayed for probably a year.
Selthios: How many clans have you been in that you would consider home?
Aewen: I have fond memories of my first clan, but only two clans ever felt like home.
Kimetan: Which clans would those be? Why do/did you consider them to feel homey?
Aewen: I would rather not say specifically which clans. However, a big part of it is leadership and friendship. You feel good in a place where you know the other players care about you as a person and care about teaching you to be a better player, helping you to gain equipment, and in some cases helping you to level.
Selthios: What was your initial reaction to Medievia coming from a different MUD?
Aewen: Shock! I couldn't believe so many people were on at the same time and from so many different places in the world. And there was no end of things to do here.
Selthios: So would you say the large player-base was what kept you coming back?
Aewen: That was a big reason for coming back. This is truly a multiplayer game. While there is an almost never ending list of things to do in Medievia, all of it is enhanced by the unpredictability of real players.
Selthios: How has Medievia changed since you started playing?
Aewen: Well, I arrived after kingdoms had already gone. But in my time here, MLRs have come into effect, several new zones have been implemented, CPK has changed, and the balance of the classes is constantly being tweaked. Adversary was added, and the weather module, eclipses, and fire have all changed Medievia from the days when I was a lowbie.
Selthios: Do you think Medievia has changed much in the time you have been a god?
Aewen: Well, the changes are profound now.
Selthios: How so?
Aewen: In the last six months I've seen bits and pieces of Medievia V take form and it's fascinating watching it come together, especially from this perspective.
Kimetan: What are you looking forward to the most with Medievia V?
Aewen: I can’t wait for clanships! I suspect it will be a whole new area of the game where players can gain expertise, like trading, CPK’ing, or running zones for fun and profit.
Selthios: Everyone in Medievia has their own personal accomplishments within the game. What would you consider to be your greatest feat?
Aewen: Being promoted to a goddess. I have played Medievia for five years, following the rules the best that I could. I have tried to be a well-rounded player. But being hired to be an immortal was the pinnacle of my Medievian career.
Kimetan: What type of an impact has becoming an immortal had on your mortal players?
Aewen: For the most part, it has had zero impact. I’ve made no really great secret of who my mortal is. Players are generally courteous, and though I do get the occasional teasing request for questing from friends and clannies, I haven’t been harassed or nagged.
Selthios: What was your impression of the immortals of this realm before you joined their ranks as a level 33?
Aewen: I have always had the utmost respect for Medievia's immortals. They have a difficult job overseeing a game as populated as this one. At the same time, I also realize that they are players and have the same problems the rest of the players do. They have conflicts, successes, and failures just like all of us have had.
Selthios: How did you see things differently after you came on board?
Aewen: The job is a lot harder than I really imagined that it was. This is a game that daily averages 500 players. All of those players have their own perspectives. Trying to keep this place from melting down into chaos and anarchy takes team work and patience.
Kimetan: When you are on your mortal, what aspect of the game do you enjoy above all others?
Aewen: I love to be on zone runs. I don’t have to lead the runs. But just being in on a big zone run with the clan is great. Everyone is working together for a common goal—each doing their part to help to secure the success of the project. There is nothing like coming to the end of a difficult zone run and having something tweak perfectly!
Selthios: In retrospect, is there one situation or event from your Medievian career that sticks out more than all the others?
Aewen: That would have to be the first time I was ever CPK’ed was in Bloodstone (by Tharghan). I'll never forget that, or the people who came in to try and save me, and who helped me afterwards.
Kimetan: How did that all turn out? Did you lose a lot?
Aewen: Laugh! Oh, I lost pretty much everything but my socks. But it was great. I mean the island was packed with people from both sides and it was like a war was being waged. You knew your comrades and enemies were falling, that you might be next and you still run back in anyway. It was fabulous! They’re your clan and you’re friends. So you don’t stop think that your set might be lost, you just go back in there because they would come in for you, and they did.
Selthios: Please walk us through an average day in the life of the Goddess Aewen.
Aewen: I run quests every day, if I possibly can. I help new players. I answer questions that people may have about rules or game play. I try to be accessible to everyone whenever I can.
Selthios: Do you have any projects currently in the works?
Aewen: Well, I am collaborating with a quest designer on a possible new quest. I am learning the ins and outs of being a New Player Helper. I have just finished room descriptions for a small zone.
Selthios: What about any big up and coming projects in the works that you care to share a little information about?
Aewen: At the moment, I am focusing on current projects. I may at sometime in the future attempt to build a zone. I'd like to work on new quest projects at some point in the future.
Selthios: Being a god you must have had some interesting experiences. Can you share an interesting, funny, or quirky story with us?
Aewen: Being a quest god comes with its own special hazards, like running a fishing quest on an island where the only water available is ocean. Or starting up a fishing quest on a lake and not checking for storms that make it impossible to fish. Players love that! But I've been really lucky. The players have been very patient with me and that makes the job even more enjoyable.
Selthios: What words of wisdom or sage advice would you like to pass on to the Medievian people?
Aewen: Follow the rules and have fun! Hold on to your seat! Because you haven't seen anything yet!
Selthios: Let’s shift gears a bit and talk about the person behind the keyboard. How old are you, in real life?
Aewen: Older than the average Medievia player!
Selthios: What is your current profession (asides from running quests and helping new players, of course)?
Aewen: Currently I'm a homemaker. I am also a part time adjunct professor of American History at a local college.
Kimetan: Growing up and going through college, did you always know you wanted to teach, or did you have your sights set on some other profession?
Aewen: History was always my favorite subject in school. I also enjoy writing. It all seemed to gel together when I went back to school. I had hoped to go on and get my ph.d to teach full time on the college level, and may still yet do so some day.
Selthios: Do you have any favorite hobbies or pastimes, asides from playing Medievia, of course?
Aewen: I love to read. I write fiction. I cross stitch (a hobby I picked up from another Medievia player), and I garden.
Kimetan: Writing fiction, huh? Have you ever thought of writing some pieces for the MUDSlinger? ;-)
Aewen: Well, I did once write a piece for MUDSlinger but I think Excrucior lost it somewhere in that old word processor he calls a computer!
Selthios: If you were forced to quit Medievia this very second, what would you want people to remember about you?
Aewen: That I was nice to people. I still have people who come up to me, whose names I don’t remember or recall who tell me I resurrected them along the road while they were trading as newbies, or I helped them in some zone with something, or I helped them get into a clan.
Selthios: And what do you think people will remember about you?
Aewen: That I was nice to people, of course. Because, that is what I have tried to do
Selthios: Where did you get the name Aewen from, and what does it mean?
Aewen: I was looking for a name with a fantasy feel that was short, and easy to remember, so I used a name generator and came up with this one.
Kimetan: A name generator?
Aewen: There are a number of websites where you can put in certain criteria (male/female, elvish, dwarvish, etc) and it will spin original names for you. I wanted a name that had an ‘elvish’ feel to it. I wanted a name that was relatively short and easy to remember, and just sounded good. It came up with Aewen. I thought it was perfect.
Kimetan: If you were a disk jockey, or D.J., what type of music (style, artist, etc.) would you refuse to play? Why?
Aewen: I like a lot of different musical styles. I can listen to anything from classical to classic rock with no problems. I like some country music and I like bluegrass. I even like pop music and some disco. But, I would refuse to play Rap.
Selthios: If you could have one of the skills or spells on Medievia in real life, which would you want and why?
Aewen: Invisibility would be the best spell to have; imagine all the things you could do and hear if you were invisible.
Kimetan: If you turned yourself invisible, what would be the first thing you’d do with your new-found power?
Aewen: Wow, I really don’t know how to answer that one. I’ve never really wanted to be invisible. Except on Medievia, and of course, I have a spell for that.
Kimetan: If you ruled the (real) world for a day, what law would you pass?
Aewen: I’d make it a law that all wars had to be fought by Heads of State, winner take all. Maybe I’d set up a nice football field for the event.
Selthios: Describe yourself in three words.
Aewen: Intelligent. Fair. Friendly.
Selthios: What would you say has been your biggest accomplishment in real life, so far?
Aewen: Graduating from college, raising my children to adulthood without killing them!
Kimetan: How many children do you have?
Aewen: I have 3 children
Kimetan: What is your favorite type of food?
Aewen: Anything with peanut butter and chocolate.
Selthios: Name five things most people don’t know about you.
Aewen:
On behalf of Selthios and myself, I’d like to thank Aewen for taking time out of her busy schedule to sit down and chat with us.
Keep an eye out for more interviews with the various gods and goddesses of Medievia in the next issue of the MUDSlinger!
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