I sat down with Agria and Elander, the Leader and Co-Leader of Fate, to get
the dirt on CPK, the ups and downs of being a powerful clan, and a little
history about the characters themselves.
Syltheana: Let's get some myths out of the way guys! Is it true you guys
actually sleep?
Elander: Yea, me and Ag are on shifts. We have a special Fate sleep rotation
schedule, as well as a phone network so we can patrol the mud at all times.
Syltheana: How did you guys get introduced to Medievia?
Agria: I was on mIRC with my Quake TF buddies and HX-BooTs and HX-Nightmare
and some other dude were talking about med. HX-Pertz was the same Pertz here
but he was already a hero and never helped me out and stuff.
Elander snickers.
Agria: Me and Ripclaw XP'd until level 19 then it got hard and I quit for
a year. Then my neighbor buddy, who was making fun of me for playing this,
suddenly starts playing and so I started playing again and he wasted me to
hero, Jasonicis that is.
Syltheana: This was then, probably 3 years ago?
Agria: Agria creation date Sat Jul 31 00:35:35 1999. I joined current 67 after
they were like 30hps and heroed in there. Took me quite some time to get to
hero because XP'ing just wasn't my thing. Can we break real quick? Someone
is running Bloodstone.
Elander: First time I played med was in '96 I think, I hardly remember but
it was when Bloodmoon and EOL were fighting and what not. A friend who doesn’t
play now introduced me, but he learned of it from Wek. Well anyways, Wek
started playing again in '97 I think when he created Wek. I think our creation
dates are like 4 days apart. Anyhow, I kept to myself a lot at first, somehow
though Morbius (on another char) randomly recruited me into clan 48 which
turned out to have a huge effect on me later. My clan was like all newbies
at the time but even then I think I excelled past most of them and I preferred
to solo when I could. After clantowns came around I was influenced a lot by
old 52 because 48 became a sister to 19's clantown. Eventually I had a falling
out with ct 19 though and ended up in Fate. I learned the majority of what I
know regarding CPK. But after 67 was created I went there for a while, I
stayed for a fair bit after Jabari took over, but eventually went back to
Fate because it was all but dead and I hated to see that. Magiin was leading
Fate by then and the "old school" Fate had retired. Anyways we had our ups
and down, myself and Evangelion did a lot of work in rebuilding, eventually
67 joined our town because Jabari and I are like -----)(----- and that's kind
of how Ags really got introduced to me I guess. Anyways there are too many
stories to tell but suffice to say. We're here now with him leading 3 and me
co-leading.
Syltheana: Give us some history about Fate that you know of, first
leaders/history/etc.
Elander: Oh boy.
Agria: Oh great. I don't even know those people.
Elander: I guess I better handle this one then because Ags still kind of
CLUELESS on history. Well my own knowledge is somewhat limited; I mean I
hadn't been in Fate before '99 so any old Faters reading this will be like
"wth", etc. But anyways, as far as I know Karamon whom few remember created
the clan and even fewer talk about... The most notorious Fate leaders are
probably when Cirion/Daedalus were leading it. For a lot of Fate's history in
the "old days" it was mainly fighting with LoSK. Gradually things have changed
I guess, LoSK has kind of died, although they revive once in a while. I was
around in Fate for the last 2 LoSK revivals, I suppose. It's hard to talk
about all of the leaders in Fate because in a sense there have been tons.
I mean, it's not just about who is "CLAN LEADER" right. I don't think
Varthlokkur ever actually lead Fate, and I know Cadran did only briefly but
they were some of the best leaders in Medievia history. I could go through a
lot of names I guess, Ontarious, Trideth, and Bastain... I guess though, to
keep this (relatively) short, I'll say that Fate has a history of constantly
finding new people to take the reins when the old cannot do so anymore, and
at almost any time while we only have 1 clan leader we probably have 10
members at least who could lead their own clan.
Agria: Yea I'd say about 14 or so right now, could lead their own clan.
Elander: There was a period where the clan was nearly gone, but thanks to a
lot of people we've been able to make it a great clan again.
Syltheana: You guys with no doubt have one of the most powerful towns in
the game. Does that bring a lot of pressure while you play?
Elander: You answer first Ags. I grow weary of doing so much talking.
Agria: Whatever.
Elander covers his eyes with his hands.
Elander: Ags is such a putz.
Agria: Well, personally when situations arise there are some people who are
like ‘WE ARE FATE WE blah blah blah’, but usually things get worked down to
what the current situation is and if we can do something about it or if we
even want to bother. The theme is you play to have fun. Otherwise if your
not having fun, you shouldn't be playing.
Elander: Ags shooting for modesty here but sometimes we get caught up in it
all as well. One of the hardest things (I think because some people find
arguing to be fun) is that we lead a clan that has a lot of history and a
lot of expectations. Which means you either have players who will say, "You
guys are nothing compared to old Fate". I guess well, it's hard sometimes
dealing with having to maintain a reputation because you would be amazed at
the amount of crap I get.
Agria: Well it’s harder for me because I don't even know the old Fate.
Elander: Suffice to say we have a lot of critics, but on the whole we are
proud of what our clan has accomplished and continues to accomplish, and we
take some enjoyment from that.
Syltheana: Do you think you guys have influence on other players who were
where Ags was maybe 3 yrs ago?
Agria: Oh definitely.
Elander: Yeah lots of people hate us now whereas they wouldn't have otherwise.
I mean um! Ok Ags, go ahead.
Agria: About every day or so, at least one person spam slaps me in the face
or other players know of you, but I don't know them and we've never interacted.
Elander: Hah, our egos would like to think so. It's fair to say that there
are a number of players I've helped become better at the game. Just as there
were players that influenced me.
Agria: Granted our term of fun isn't exactly fun for the other person.
Syltheana: Describe a typical day in Fate.
Elander: Oh oh, a fun question. Ok, I'll go first then Ags can describe. A
day from my perspective: Log on, check clanlog to see who removed after
getting mad over something dumb, check clannews to make sure we didn't get
annihilated in CPK while I was gone, town IP, say hi, ask what's up, get
complaints from clannies about (random issue here), if no one says anything
is up, go check random CPK zones, yell at people to get set up, get ignored,
get mad, go AFK for 30 minutes, come bank, try again, and repeat this process
for a while, maybe run a zone or two, or if Rynheart tricks me go trading.
Syltheana: Agria, describe your typical day.
Agria: Login re-enroll the person who got mad, make an inspiring clannews to
keep people from leaving after we got smoked in CPK, I don't have to town my
IP because I'm static so people just spam call me, and spend 1 hour sorting
UPS.
Syltheana: UPS?
Agria: Universal Point System.
Syltheana: Ahhh, a script I imagine.
(This is a point script Agria uses to determine points from a run. Points are
when you go on equipment runs and earn "credit" or "points" for attending.
You then get to pick a piece of equipment after you've accumulated so many
points.)
Syltheana: How do you recruit for the clan? Or do you have to?
Agria: Occasionally we see someone.
Elander: If we see someone we really like, we try to recruit them.
Elander: TAEMIRA, IF YOU ARE READING THIS. JOIN FATE!
Agria: TAE, YOU READY YET?
Agria: There are those who we mark as -"if they ask" we'll enroll. Then
we go trading.
Syltheana: Fate trades?
Agria: We try to. We have a 50% trade completion rate. Usually weather or
trolls smoke us. One time we were trying to be all cool and trade a
catastrophe and everyone gave up. Most of our time is either spent AFK or
running a zone.
Syltheana: What do you guys have in store for the future of Fate and the town?
Elander: Oh future plans for Fate..
Agria: If Zeb is bored and we need a restart basically El goes and pushes
‘the button’.
Syltheana: The Fate button?
(This is based on old legendary tales of Fate having a secret command to
restart the game at their leisure. Completely untrue of course, but a nice,
old joke!)
Elander: See, Lestrade got really mad one night and kept slamming the button
with his fist. So now sometimes it gets stuck and we can't reset the mud for
days on end. Anyways.. Hey Ags, what is the plan for future of the clan?
Agria: Uh.. Maintence. Damn that can't be spelled right.
Elander: Maintenance, I think. but dunno. Ok basically I guess we're going to
keep the status quo and uh.. continue educating the mud in equipment transfers.
Oh and just want to add for the people who are gonna claim I was an arrogant
ass for this, that no, I do not think that we are invincible.
Syltheana: Does the town get along? It's hard having a big town with so
many sister clans.
Elander: Actually, all 3 clans have quality players and with fewer leaders
we don't bicker as much.
Syltheana: What has been your best moment as leaders? Was there that one
CPK you landed or just a moment you decided all the time was worth it?
Agria: Oh I guess hmm.. I don't think there will be a single moment when I
will ever realize that 6000 hrs was worth it. If I had to pick one event..
Stone Pool 30v20!
Syltheana: What's Stone Pool refer to?
Elander: A room in Bloodstone CPK.
Agria: An event, man.
Syltheana: What about you Elander?
Elander: Well, let me give you brief history of this. One of the big
grievances Fate had after we rebuilt it was the splitting of one of the
clans from Fate town because they took most of the good members and then
made an alliance with another clan against Fate. But finally, one day in
Stone, I was helping lead Fate in a brawl where we basically smashed them.
I kind of felt I'd "earned" my spot leading fate because I sort of earned
"revenge". Ags, you have anything you want to mention man? This is like your
only chance, man.
Agria: Yea I'm exploding with stories.
Syltheana: How did you become leader of Fate, Agria?
Agria: Some old guy got purged and I was defaulted.
Syltheana: Do you guys have any special music you play while CPKing?
Elander: I don't go "oh man CPKing, gotta turn music on". But sometimes, if
I already have a CD in, I'll play Metallica!
Syltheana: You guys have such a huge town, how do you raise money to keep
it going?
Agria: Uh 67 has 0 taxes. Our taxes are pretty low.
Elander: We CPK people and sell their equipment.
Syltheana: Is there anything you want to say to aspiring Heroes who look at
Fate and want to be a part of it one day - advice or how to succeed?
Elander: Learn from other players. What makes them great? What do they do?
It's not just talent or EQ it's also how they act towards other players and
eventually you'll lead them.
Agria: You stop learning, you’re toast. There are so many players who say to
me ‘Blah blah I've played for 8 years. I've CPKed more people before you
existed then mobs you've killed and they are still some second rate newbie
who was created the other day.
Syltheana: So your advice is to learn all you can, because to be in a power
town like this you have to hold your own, basically?
Agria: Maybe even worse because they seem to feel they know for sure that
they are right. I'll enroll new players if they can show they are fast
learners, inquisitive and have the potential. Basically, if you’re some new
guy and eventually you want to be in Fate, play it smart, learn, don't be
annoying but don't suck up to either. Show respect to your allies and your
enemies. Learn from other people’s mistakes. I've had IMM off for roughly
6 months now. Just remember when you talk on IMM every hero and god sees
that. So if you’re talking crap, you’re spewing junk to the hero population
and it makes you look like an ass. So unless, you have higher purposes just
stay.
Syltheana: It's good advice really. What's kept you coming back to Med
and playing? What keeps you going, basically? Would you quit cold turkey if
it honestly wasn't fun anymore? Or do you have an obligation here with Fate?
Agria: At the moment, I have an obligation because of our EQ list and picks.
If that wasn't solely based on me, I could quit anytime.
Syltheana: Hard to quit when people have expectations.
Agria: Being a leader is some sort of responsibility, but all in all this
is just a game, and you can't let this control your life. The thing that
makes Med so hard to quit is the real friends you make in this game. Hence
why most people just retire and go lazy.
Syltheana: I thank you for being honest, and I had a good time talking to
you. Was there anything you wanted to add?
Agria: Basically, a lot of people have 2 sides that people see. A
clannie/ally side and an enemy side. Getting CPKed is a bad thing and the
people who did it to you are obviously cold hearted and mean to kill little
old you just for your equipment, or sometimes just to de-level you. Don't
judge someone solely based on their enemy side or their Ally side at that.
But in Fate a lot of people know almost all the zones and CPK'ing people
is a challenge. I like to think most people here CPK because it’s an
evolving challenge and not for the equipment or to be mean.
Syltheana: CPKing that unsuspecting person I'd feel bad
Agria: I always feel bad when we nail that person who grew up the courage
to attack our bait. But for all you DW traders out there who go through but
naked on level 21 clerics I'll kill you just to give you a 10-minute
inconvenience. CPKs usually happen for 1 of 4 reasons:
1.) Underestimating
2.) Miscommunication
3.) Invincibility Feeling
4.) Or just laziness
Hard to find someone who got CPKed and can't find one of those 4 things.
I've been CPKed plenty times. Oddly enough, most of them don't fit those
categories but the rest do.
I want to thank Agria and Elander for a great hour talking, they made me
laugh nonstop.
They seem like a great team, who get along well, communicate well and lead
one of the most widely known and notorious towns in Medievia.
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