Vanguard
Ten Ton Hammer Staff

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Community Managers href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#Shay">Shayalyn href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#Ralsu">Ralsu
Class Specialists Arcane Casters href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#SOR">Sorcerer href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#DRU">Druid href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#NEC">Necromancer href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#PSI">Psionicist
Defensive Fighters href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#DRK">Dread
Knight
Healers href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#CLR">Cleric
Offensive Fighters Moderators href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#Darelas">Darelas href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#Martuk">Martuk
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style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Community
Managers

Shayalyn name="Shay">Forum Handle:
Shayalyn



Role:
Community Manager/Site Lead



MMO History:
EverQuest, City of Heroes, EverQuest II, Guild Wars, Dungeons &
Dragons Online



Age:
40 (and apparently still not old enough to know better)



Gender:
Female (really!)



Location:
Upper Midwest, USA



Bio:
Shayalyn's MMO odyssey began when a family friend told her of his
adventures as a wood elf in EverQuest. Intrigued by the concept of
playing a fantasy character in a massive online world, she found
herself at BestBuy the next day with a Ruins of Kunark box in her
hands. 5 years and countless online friendships later she left EQ, but
by that time she'd become a certified MMO junkie.



As a writer, Shayalyn has been a newspaper features journalist, a
columnist for a small dog-related magazine, a technical writer, and the
author of several published works of short literary fiction. She
founded and operated CoffeehouseforWriters.com, an online community for
writers. Under her leadership, the site received recognition (in 2
separate years) as one of Writer's Digest's 101 Best Web Sites for
Writers. It was also featured in The Wall Street Journal and USA Today.
She sold the site in 2003.



Shayalyn lives in the Upper Midwest with her husband, two children, and
several furred and feathered creatures. Her husband is decidedly not a
gamer, but her son has impressive Xbox skills. In her meager spare time
Shayalyn plays piano, Native American flute and recorder. She enjoys
gardening, reading, and making jewelry.



Vanguard's Best
Feature: An epic-sized world and infinite possibilities.



Biggest Wish for
Vanguard: That it will come to feel like a fantasy home
away from home the way EQ's Norrath did.



Favorite Sphere in
Vanguard: It's all about beating up bad guys and taking
away their stuff. Adventuring!



Goal for Vanguard
Ten Ton Hammer: To continue providing the kind of
well-written, comprehensive and
helpful content that has made Ten Ton Hammer the Vanguard community's
favorite one-stop resource. style="background-color: rgb(160, 184, 216); font-weight: bold;">Ralsu style="background-color: rgb(160, 184, 216); font-weight: normal;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Forum Handle:
Ralsu



Role: Community
Manager



MMO History:
EQ, EQOA, DDO



Age: 29



Gender:
Male



Location:
Pacific Northwest, USA



Bio:
Ralsu avoided entering the world of MMOs for as long as he
could because he knew they would dominate his life, and that the PC
upgrades would drain his pockets. When offered the chance to beta test
EverQuest: Online Adventures for the Playstation 2, he relented at
last. Predictably, EQOA was just the beginning. Danny went on to try
EverQuest Live, World of Warcraft, and Dark Age of Camelot, and
Dungeons & Dragons Online.



Ralsu has always enjoyed writing. He won awards for journalism and
creative writing during high school. He went on to pursue a B.A. in
English, after which he won a graduate scholarship for an essay he
wrote as an undergraduate. Ralsu wanted to pursue advanced study in
creative writing and Medieval literature, but the arrival of his
daughter in April of 2002 made the need for gainful employment more
immediate. He finished a M.Ed. that year and has worked as an academic
advisor for the US Army and various colleges since.



When he’s not obsessing about video games or
“slaving away” for Ten Ton
Hammer’s Vanguard community, Ralsu enjoys watching NFL
football with
his daughter or Food Network series with his wife. Ralsu also enjoys
hiking, theatre, and all-you-can-eat buffets.



Vanguard's Best
Feature: Coming from the fully instanced DDO, I am
enjoying a world that feels huge and open.



Biggest Wish for
Vanguard: My wish is for Vanguard to be my only MMO for
the next 3-5 years.



Favorite Sphere in
Vanguard: Crafting--it's just so fun and complicated in
Vanguard



Goal for Vanguard
Ten Ton Hammer: To coordinate the development of the most
comprehensive class guides on the web href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#Top">Back
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style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Arcane
Casters

Grimore

Sorcerer name="SOR">Forum Handle:
Grimore Valentine



Role:
Class Specialist



MMO History:
EQ/EQ2/WoW/AC/AC2/CoV-H/SWG/PS/UO/EVE/SB



Gender:
Male



Location:
Alabama



Bio:
Well, I’m a college student majoring in Computer Science,
with the hope
and dream of getting a game development job when I graduate.
I’ve been
playing MMOs for a LONG while (about 10 years), and I’m a
pretty
hardcore and intense gamer.



Vanguard's Best
Feature: I really like being able to cast while running



Biggest Wish for
Vanguard: I’ll probably get lynched for this,
but I’d really like to have some Adventure classes that can
teleport.



Favorite Part About
Being a Sorcerer: I
love the concept of the high DPS high damage magic caster,
I’ve played
a caster DPS class in nearly every MMO I’ve played and it
makes me feel
right at home.



Biggest Wish for
Sorcerers: I really wish that
they would increase the overall DPS of the class to reflect the
original goals for the Sorcerer, and allow the class to take the
correct role of highest damage dealer. style="background-color: rgb(160, 184, 216); font-weight: normal;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Mensis

Druid style="background-color: rgb(160, 184, 216); font-weight: normal;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Forum Handle:
Mensis



Role:
Class Specialist



MMO History:
L2, RF Online, RO, Planetside, WoW, GW



Age: 20



Gender:
Male



Location:
UK



Bio:
Typical student who really should be studying instead of sitting
in front of PC. Doing Mechanical Engineering degree and finding it
quite fun although little too much work at times (university interferes
with my pc time). Not big fan of normal sports, much prefer the the so
called "weird" sports like breakdance and parkour.



Ah, my PC--the love of my life (don't tell my girlfriend I said that).
:-P It all started when i was around 5-7 when my brother started
tweaking around with the first 88 machines. back then they were still
considered quite powerful. I mostly just hanged around and watch him
use it. Now I don't live a day without tweaking my PC in some way;
usually that involves shoving fans everywhere. With 11 fans and
counting, this thing sounds like a Hoover.



Vanguard's Best
Feature: dungeons when you go through a dark dark
corridors full of spiders and you come to a dead end. With a puzzled
look you begin to search around and to your amazement you find a tiny
little pathway behind one of the stones.



Biggest Wish for
Vanguard: I want to see classes be non-standard.
disciples and monks set a good trend. i want to be able to choose the
path to walk (char development wise) along with seeing unique skill
mechanics.



Favorite Sphere in
Vanguard: Adventure and Crafting for now, but Diplomacy is
quite fun as well.



Favorite Part About
Being a Druid: Variety. I like to be able to do a
lot of various things at the same time. Nothing more satisfying than
blasting away enemies one second and then saving the whole party from
dying through heals (or evac) the next.



Biggest Wish for
druids: Druids are pretty solid class right now; however,
a lot more can still
be done. I would love to see more flavor to the class, non-standard
spell mechanics as mentioned before, and more varied spells and
utilities. Polkadots

Necromancer name="NEC">Forum Handle:
Polkadots



Role:
Necromancer Class Specialist



MMO History:
EQ1 - Necromancer; EQ2 - Guardian; WoW - Warrior



Age: 26



Gender:
Male



Location:
California



Bio:
Back in college I was looking for a game that didn't really have an
ending. I used to hate playing single player type games and getting to
the end. At that point I didn't want to play again. Really enjoyed
the FF series. One day I went to the store and found what I thought was
the perfect game (EQ1). Needless to say, thats the day I most
regret...j/k. I graduated college in 2003 with a degree in human
physiology and biology. Minored in nutrition. Having a minor in
nutrition is really useful because when I sit in front of the computer
I am always aware, and make sure to eat fruits and vegetables instead
of pizza and Hot Pockets.



I currently work as a licensed nutritionist. Would love to write a book
one day. I get sick and tired of all the fads about how to lose weight.
I just wish someone would come out and tell the truth. I would like to
be this person. Maybe the book doesn't sell millions of copies, but if
even one person can understand that getting in shape doesn't cost a
thing, except a bit of willpower and small lifestyle changes, I would
feel like I did something good with my life.



Vanguard's Best
Feature: It's potential. We will see what happens.



Biggest Wish for
Vanguard: Ton of end game content eventually. Hopefully
raiding wont be as
monotonous as other MMOs. Wouldn't mind if great loot came from group
dungeon crawls as well as raids. Just make those crawls as difficult as
any raid encounter scaled to 25%.



Favorite Part About
Being a Necromancer: I can do a lot of things other
classes don't even think of trying.
Needless to say we die a lot because of this attitude, but the juice is
always worth the squeeze.



Biggest Wish for
Necromancers: That someday curses are brought back into
the game. The idea for this
aspect of game play was fantastic and could really help in longer
fights. I would also like to see more group mobs using curses. I hate
having an ability that I have never used. style="background-color: rgb(160, 184, 216); font-weight: normal;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Suul

Psionicist style="background-color: rgb(160, 184, 216); font-weight: normal;"> style="font-weight: bold;">Forum
Handle: Suul



Role: Class Specialist



MMO History: EQ - 5+
years; WoW - 6 months; Saga of Ryzom - 2 months;
Vanguard - 3 months and counting



Age: 32



Gender:
Male



Location:
Western NY



Bio:
I'll just do a list of my priorities, you can figure out the rest.

1. Wife

2. golf

3. Vanguard

4. beer

5. work



Vanguard's Best
Feature: Huge world, freedom of game play



Biggest Wish for
Vanguard: More immersion through city life, lore,
furnishings.



Favorite Sphere in
Vanguard: Adventure



Goal for Vanguard
Ten Ton Hammer: Having the #1 resource anywhere for
Psionicists.



Favorite Part About
Being a Psionicist: tons and tons of utility with pretty
decent DPS output.



Biggest Wish for
Psionicist: fix bugs; stop nerfing. href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#Top">Back
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style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Defensive
Fighters

Vaeldar

Dread Knight

Forum Handle

Vaeldar



Role

Dread Knight Class Specialist



MMO History

EverQuest I, Lineage II, GuildWars



Age

21



Gender

Male



Location

Baltimore, Maryland



Bio

I started working as a generic computer consultant and digital
photographer/editor at age 15. Since that time, I have taken on many
clients and acquired many new skills, and now work as an independant
consultant for a number of medical businesses in Maryland, DC, and
Virginia.



Vanguard's Best Feature

The combat system, without a doubt. Vanguard's combat system lends
itself to skilled players and minimizes the monotonous button-spamming
found in most other major MMOs.



Biggest Wish for Vanguard

I'd like to see Vanguard meet the original expectations of its
designers. A tough goal to be sure, but it's getting closer and closer
to that vision every day!



Favorite Part About Being a Dread Knight

Combat as a Dread Knight is a blissful experience for me. I can feel
the effects of Dreadful Countenance as it slowly builds up and
overwhelms my opponent. I watch the devastating effects caused by my
attack skills as the battle rages on, and I get a sense of the feeling
of futility that my opponent must be experiencing as their attacks are
absorbed by my armor and constant life drains. This feeling is
amplified in PvP...the ability to materialize behind my foes and kill
them with a mere whisper is an exhilarating feeling indeed.



Biggest Wish for Dread Knights

I hope to see the Dread Knight gain a Force Critical ability. Our class
relies heavily on being able to consistently trigger our chain attacks;
such a skill would allow the Dread Knight to make better use of the
several chains we are given. href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#Top">Back
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style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Healers

Fallconn

Cleric Forum Handle

Fallconn



Role

Cleric Class Specialist



MMO History

I've been playing MMORPGs since Meridian 59, was an Alpha tester for
EQ1 and have played/tested about 85%-90% of the other games out there.



Age

36 and counting



Gender

Male



Location

Buffalo, NY - GO SABRES!!



Bio

Rhett was born in Buffalo, NY but lived in over 39 homes, 3 states and
2 countries over the course of his life. His father is a carpenter by
trade but also served as a pastor until his sabbatical about 3 years
ago. At the age of 13, Rhett and his family spent a year in the
Philippines as missionaries which is where he began his interest in PCs
after spending time learning a friends Commodore 64. After getting back
to the states he continued studying PCs in a local New York college and
then moved to California to study Computer Science and Electrical
Engineering. Shortly after, Rhett moved to Oklahoma where he took his
first official computer related job at a software company that wrote
medical billing software. Since that time he has worked at over 10
large companies in California and in New York as a Network
Architect/Engineer. In 2001, after the 9/11 attacks he joined the Navy
Reserves until work and family forced him to take an early leave.



Currently, Rhett is married with 4 kids and has a good job at one of
the nation's top 20 banks. He tries to keep a balance of his family
life, christianity, work time and time spent gaming which is not always
easy to do.



Vanguard's Best Feature

I chose Vanguard not for any one thing but for its complete vision.
Although it is not all implemented yet, the depth of the material
planned will make this game one to stick with for a long time.



Biggest Wish for Vanguard

I wouldn't mind seeing more real time events or changes in the world



Favorite Sphere in Vanguard

Adventure



Goal for Vanguard Ten Ton Hammer

Time permitting, I'd love to provide quality material for the viewers
and perhaps establish a good working relationship with the Cleric devs



Class Specialists

Favorite Part About Being a Cleric

Keeping my wife happy by keeping her monk healed



Biggest Wish for Cleric

More distinct paths(specialties) to differentiate clerics from each
other (editor's note: Fallconn
submitted this prior to the introduction of Affinities) href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596#Top">Back
to
Top

style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Offensive
Fighters

N/A

Recruiting
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style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Moderators

Darelas Forum Handle: Darelas



Role: Moderator



MMO History: AC1, AC2, DAOC, SWG, AO, CoH/V,
DDO, WoW, RFOnline, I know I'm missing some, but they obviously weren't
memorable LOL



Age: 30



Gender: Male



Location: Southwestern USA



Bio: Darelas moved away from home at 14. He
rented a small
apartment from his best-friend's dad and completed high school while
working full-time Night Audit for a small Pennsylvania hotel chain.
After graduation he was promoted to Assistant Manager, where he stayed
for 1 year before being promoted and transferred to manage his own
property in New Jersey. After a year managing the NJ property he was
offered the General Manager position at a full-service Radisson Hotel
in New England. He left the Radisson to GM an exclusive Resort/Spa in
Connecticut at 23. Through lucky investments, Darelas managed to retire
at 27. He now lives in the sunny southwest, and doesn't miss the snow a
bit. Darelas fills his days playing VG, running with his dogs, and
off-roading in the desert.



Vanguard's Best Feature: Vanguard's best
feature would have to be the beautiful vistas. I honestly find myself
Ooh-Aahing all the time.



Biggest Wish for Vanguard: My biggest wish for
vanguard would be success. I truly love the game and hope to continue
playing it for many years to come.



Favorite Sphere in Vanguard: I'm addicted to
diplomacy. I can't be any more straight forward than that



Goal for Vanguard Ten Ton Hammer: To assist my
fellow TTH staff in keeping Vanguard Ten Ton Hammer a thriving and
helpful site for all VG gamers. style="font-weight: bold;">Martuk style="font-weight: bold;">Forum Handle:
Martuk



Role:
Moderator/Content Team



MMO History:
Star Wars Galaxy, Planetside, Horizons, World of Warcraft, City of
Heroes/Villains, Dark Age of Camelot, The Matrix Online, EverQuest
2, EverQuest 1, and Vanguard Saga of Heroes.



Age: 30



Gender:
Male



Location:
North Carolina



Bio:
Previously i was involved with professional sports at an independent
level. Due to a little fender bender I have not participated in them in
a while. I game a lot (maybe too much) and I am working towards my
degree
in Game Design and Simulations in hopes of becoming a levels designer
for a video game developer.



Vanguard's Best
Feature: The community and the game play. Granted, a few
things still need to be
adjusted/fixed, but in my opinion it's the best option on the market.
Finally a game that can rival EverQuest in greatness.



Biggest Wish for
Vanguard: To see more sphere integrated quest. I would
love to see
adventuring/crafting quest be merged. Maybe make a quest that would
require adventuring to work with crafting and or diplomacy. I would
love to see crafting become more specialized where players could make
specific items that only they could make by specializing certain skills.



Favorite Sphere in Vanguard: Adventuring has
aways been my favorite. I play a warrior mostly and I
enjoy tanking for the group. A good community, a good group, and a good
setting make for a great gaming experience. Crafting would be a close
second as I have gotten deeply involved in that since this game
launched, and that was an achievement because I never craft.



Goal for Vanguard
Ten Ton Hammer:  I'm pretty happy doing
editorials and moderating, but I am open to helping with anything.
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