September 18, 2000
The interview took place on 14th August, 2000 in my office. Raraku is a hero with the Rogues of the Forbidden Legion Clan. He is 17 years of age and is studying for a Diploma in Information Technologies in Australia.
Nykaul: How long have you been playing Medievia and what initially got you started playing?
Raraku: Started playing Medievia in July 1998. A friend introduced me to the game, I thought it was pretty boring at first, but it wasn't until later when I started to play solo I started to like it.
Nykaul: What made you think it was boring at first? And what changed you mind later?
Raraku: Well, I was only used to graphical games, like Doom and Quake and a text game seemed very bland and uninteresting but later I saw the amount of players online and the interaction you could have, it seems like one huge chat room. So for a while I used it like a chat room until I really got into it.
Nykaul: Who would you say were your influences/heroes as you were progressing through your Med life?
Raraku: The first person I ever met was a level 28 cleric named Allahandra, she was the nicest person to me, first person I ever really met on med. There have been literally hundreds of people who have helped me, some of the major ones are Edmund/Sloat, Lawrence, Rimas and Slamos, and Ranma.
Nykaul: What would you say has been the most memorial event so far?
Raraku: My First freeze! I remember being in a very bad mood that night, and I knew I was going to get frozen, I just wanted to test how far the gods would go.. I was stupid.. very stupid'.
Nykaul: What would you say was your most embarrassing moment so far then?
Raraku: There have been many. I was a single warrior to play the game, and I had no idea how stats worked, so until level 28, I had no idea of what Hr/Dr were or what they did and I remember having half a town laugh at me because I had stats like 5/-3. And once more I saw on the hint-info-trivia channel : Wind in the catacombs may take you up a level. So I always thought it would automatically level you and I asked my clan one day and they just laughed.
Nykaul: What do your friends/family think of you playing Med?
Raraku: Well I introduced half my friends to Medievia, Ie Ganey, Vorador (Who is my brother), Drakkaran, Kyte, all of them like it.
Nykaul: Do you find that being in Australia has affected anything about your Med experience?'.
Raraku: Yeah, Lag in Australian on a 56K modem is shocking. I find it hard sometimes using some common Australian slang and no one understands what I'm saying. Here's one, for instance, I may say on clan G'day Cobbers, and everyone in the clan just goes blank on me thinking I'm calling them some name. Here Cobbers means Mate/Friend.
Nykaul: So what made you become an Avatar?
Raraku: Well, to be honest at the start, it was to get prizes for helping players but after a bit, I found out I enjoyed it, was fun, and there was some satisfaction involved. So I figured I may as well apply, but I had no idea I'd get it as my history is fairly huge.
Nykaul: Do you ever get frustrated with answering the same questions over and over again?
Raraku: Not at all, I find sometimes even I learn stuff I didn't know. For instance, I sometimes run Newbie Trivia on clan 50's channel and one day I asked "What command lets you see your previous telepaths in a log form" and I got 2 different answers, and I previously only knew 1 way to do it. Tellog and showtells. I didnt know about showtells.
Nykaul: So how much more different would you say being an Avatar is from being a 'normal' hero?
Raraku: A lot more responsibility goes into being an Avatar, and a lot more commitment, sometimes you may be in the middle of a equipment run and a player telepaths you, so you have to concentrate on your equipment run, and try and answer a question too.
Nykaul: Are you able to balance both equally then?
Raraku: Yes, usually, I find sometimes I just have to shut off clan 50's channel and turn newbie telepaths off, its not that I want to be mean, its that I'm just busy'.
Nykaul: How much has med changed since you started playing, would you say?
Raraku: Well for me personally, its changed a lot. I've seen zones revamped, players who I care about quit, new players come and go. When I started playing med in 1998, we didn't have any mf's [mob factions] or Dragonlairs or avatars!
Nykaul: You think these changes have been a good thing or not?
Raraku: Well, seeing people quit, is fairly hard for me. I usually know people I'm friends with very well, and when I see someone quit, it's kind of hard for me. But the zone changes were all needed to accommodate growing player numbers, I just wish that someone would make another bloodstone type zone.
Nykaul: So why do you think players return to med over other types of gaming?
Raraku: Well, the proper answer here would be to say, they find it enjoyable and fun, the true answer is, its free. Medievia is really a very social game too. You cant go anywhere without having some kind of interaction with another player along the line.
Nykaul: So what aspect of the game is the most important to you?
Raraku: Probably the Interaction. As an Avatar I have a very high level of interaction with other players, by clan/newbieclan/imm/pray/avatar etc so many channels, so many different people. As I said before, Medievia is really just a big chatroom!
Nykaul: If you could ask anyone on Med a question, what would you ask and to who?'.
Raraku: Ooooh! That's a good question. I'd ask Tryschan when he's going to finish Day2 Demonforge and Adversary'.
Nykaul: You have anything to add?
Raraku: Medievia is a great game, I've played it for almost 3 years now, not a very long time compared to some people, but I've loved playing virtually every minute of it. I would like to be able to put more back into Medievia, and being an Avatar is one of the ways I can do this. It helps me help the new people who are experiencing this great game for the first time.
Nykaul: Are you looking for other accomplishments since reaching hero/avatar?
Raraku: Yes, I plan to start my own clan very soon and I'd love to have a DragonHunter Tag!
Nykaul: Name five things that most people do not know about you!
Raraku:
1) I'm from a small country town with a population of 25 thousand people!
2) I grew up on a commodore 64 and an Amiga as my "gaming systems"
3) Until 4 days ago, I had no idea what a Newsgroup was (thanks oma and baalz!)
4) I came 2nd in my state at the Quake Tournaments in 1999
5) I have an extreme fear of heights!
I'd like to thank Raraku for his honest and interesting responses.
If you believe you are a 'special' person that should be interviewed then email me at nykaul@medievia.com with the reasons why. Also, if you have a question you have always wanted to ask someone, feel free to email that question and if I ever interview that person I may include your question.