An Interview with Radar-X

EverQuest 2's Most Prolific Poster

by Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle

I met Radar-X, the most active poster among the hundreds of thousands that throng the game's official forums, at the EverQuest 2 Community Summit earlier this month in San Diego. Radar has racked up over 7,200 posts since last November, but don't let sheer numbers fool you- you don't get a developer's kindly attention with a post count alone. Radar's sense of humor and intelligent apologist manner, coupled with (of course) massive amounts of posts have made him a definitive part of the EverQuest 2 Community.

A big thanks to Radar-X for agreeing to do a laid-back interview on his forum presence and the game in general!

A Posting Machine... Or "Robot", More Precisely

Ethec: First of all, grats on your posting accomplishments! I was amazed when I did the math.... you average an astounding 20 posts a day! I'm lucky if I come up with one interesting / insightful / obnoxious thing worth saying each day.

Radar-X: To be honest, I rarely notice numbers. Post count has never really been a real big deal to me. But to actually frighten/impress you further I didn't get active in the forums until probably January. It's really not hard to get a high post count...we've had some spammers come in and toss posts around. The people that garner the respect are the people that post substance (which is subjective in NGD) [ed. note: Non-Gameplay Discussion: the /ooc of the EQ2 forums] and are around a long time

Ethec: So it wasn't it a conscious decision to become posting king. How much time would you say you spend on avg trolling the forums per day nowadays?

Radar-X: Hmmm... would the word "ungodly" be too vague?

Ethec: Ballpark "ungodly" for me.

Radar-X: I just fortunately have a job that gives me lulls between tasks and I check in especially around NGD . Its mainly about fun and when you are having fun you really aren't thinking about the time or count. I'd say literally reading....probably 3-4 hours a day. At the same time though its something I enjoy doing and I spend quite a bit of time with friends there so I wouldn't expect the average person to do it.

Ethec: So that our aspiring forum power-posters can adjust their career goals, what do you do for a living?

Radar-X: I actually do Accounts Payable, PC equipment procurement, and technical support for about 90 PC's

in between the "Why isn't this printer working?" I usually have time to check a few threads.

Ethec: So you don't really feel a pressure to post consistently? Would you say the highest percentage of your posts are meant to inform or put a stop to misinformation and negativity?

Radar-X: I never feel any type of pressure to post... well, the only time I feel any "pressure" is when I see something fun happening in a thread in NGD and I want to be a part of it. Even then, it's not pressure to post, it's desire to be involved. I'd only say like maybe 1 in 15 posts is to put a stop to misinformation or negativity. I would say that at least half my posts are for just pure fun and goofing around with other NGD posters. It's unfortunate, but it sometimes gives the connotation that I can't be taken seriously and am incapabale of logic (i.e. if you haven't seen my new forum title).

Ethec: I was loathe to bring it up, but since you did it's fair game :) What's the deal with having the title "female robot" ? I can honestly say, folks, that between the beard, deep voice, and the wedding band, Radar never once struck me as any other gender than male.

Radar-X: I am not going to lie to you....I know Mawie started it (and I love her for it even though she is secretly Jessica Simpson). Mawie begged Raijiin [the new EQ2 forums moderator guy] who made a bunch of posting name changes if you haven't seen them, Gaige got the title Fanboi. Here is the thread where I became a female robot (thanks to Mawie for remembering) http://eqiiforums.station.sony.com/eq2/board/message?board.id=Non-Gameplay&message.id=190551 . Apparently I was trying to expose that she wasn't the 78 year old 3-nippled hermaphrodite (yes, we are weird, I know...) so she claimed I was a female. Feel free not to put any of that in the interview lol :)

Ethec: Whoops, I stopped the tape too late :) So I take it your forum presence is a big part of your total EQ2 experience (as the interviewer states the obvious as he scrambles to take down the "female robot" notes)?

Radar-X:: I think its a huge part for me because its where I met most of my current guildmates. You'll remember at the summit BG [Blackguard or Ryan Shwayder, SOE's EQ2 Community Manager] joking about most of the top posters being from AggroFish...he's not far off. Pretty much what you see on the forums is a lot of what you'll see in our guildchat. We usually try and get together a group a few times a week and do something constructive but otherwise it's almost always about fun.

Ethec: Let's go ahead and do the shout-outs while we're on the subject of guild Aggrofish on Neriak server.

Radar-X: Sure I wouldn't be who I am in game without them....Tallika, Loolee, Savanja, Kiara, Tarra, Maniycal, and my wonderful wife Tasim from my guild and Coyote, Asterothrax, Mawie, and the lovely Gaige for enhancing my posting experience.



Ethec: Nice, and I didn't even have to start playing the transition music. Back to the forums- you indicated that there'd been a shift in the forums in the last 6 months or so, can you tell us what you're seeing nowadays and how it compares to the past?

Radar-X: The forums have really kind of settled down. I mean most recently we have a new moderator who has become very involved (yay Raijin!) but really its no secret that SOE made a ton of changes since launch. People don't like change and they like to complain about it.
Servers have stabilized, they've reduced downtime, etc... I mean sure we still get the occasional "OMG SOE CS NO SPEAK TEH ENGLUSH" every now and then...
NGD actually kind of died for a while because the forum games moved...but since the DoF expansion and the games moving back to NGD I've seen a flury of activity.

Ethec: For those of us who don't have a cushy desk job (myself excluded), can you explain what kind of forum games we'd see tossed around Non-Gaming Discussion?



Radar-X: : Lol, well, just the typical stuff that has been around the old school forums like "State the Obvious" - where you state something obvious about the poster above you like their sig is purple, or they posted twice in the thread, etc. Another popular one is "Whoever Gets the Last Word Wins" which nobody does because they'd have to lock the thread so it just becomes random thoughts. They're mostly just time killers...but a lot of people have fun doing it.

Two Templars Discuss the Combat Changes (/cringe)

Ethec: Now, on a personal note since we're both Templars by trade and I can't in good conscience do an interview without asking about Combat Changes, were you satisfied by what Lockeye said at the EverQuest 2 Community Summit? That Templars are now pigeon-holed into a direct-heal, utility-heal role?

Radar-X: Honestly? Just like you said there are always questions you wished you had asked. It's no secret that Templars are at the very bottom of the DPS chart without question. I wish I had asked if they were happy with our DPS. The perception that a lot of people are taking is that heals (which is supposed to be our utility) is being equalized while the other priests have higher DPS.
Now past that you're going to hear 1000 different opinions. I'm happy with Templar as it is. Would I turn away some more offense? Not at all,
but I do wish I had asked more about the stacking issues.



Ethec: Do you think priests who don't typically group "big" are hurt by the specialization that's taken place? It seems like you need 2 classes of healer to take on tough mobs any more like we used to... one to repair ordinary damage and a situational "click" healer to take care of big hits.



Radar-X: A full group is completely functional with one healer....the normal group I hunt with I'm the only healer and while they will tell you I do cause problems due to my innate desire to make them laugh. When I'm locked down and serious we do fine.
As for raids...I don't raid, and from my understanding with the raid mobs and the stacking issues it's not an easy thing to do right now. But the Templar method has shifted-
we use reactives now to shore up damage and one time heals to do heavy repair.

Ethec: Do you find the game more fun now than in the days of easier healing?

Radar-X: I find it more challenging now and I consider it fun, yes.
I can't just stack a couple reactives and run to the fridge and make a sandwich...ummm not that I ever did that *shifty*.



Ethec: I confess I do miss the "stack 5 reactives and grab a snack" days - but you're right, healers have got to stay in shape. So, you feel that the shift toward more challenging yet more accessible for casual players has been a good thing?

Radar-X: Hmmm, that's a tricky one...First you have to define a "casual player." I mean, I play at least 20 hours a week, but because I'm not grinding levels and hitting raids, I consider myself casual. I think SOE is responding to a problem that their content was easier than they wanted it.
I think the next generation of people leveling up in EQ2 will be stronger players, that's for sure.

World of EverQuest?

Ethec: You don't see things like upping quest experience, making access quests optional, that sort of thing as pandering to the World of Warcraft crowd? Hee, dare i invoke WoW in polite company? :)

Radar-X: I actually played WoW for 3 months in tandem with EQ2 so its really easy for me to comment on that.
WoW is an entirely different game catering to a different crowd.
Some of the aspects of WoW...they aren't bad. It's not a bad game overall, but it's not for everyone.
Upping the quest xp was a good thing because lets be honest...unless I am a compulsive quester, why spend 3 hours doing a quest for 3% xp?

Ethec: Hear, hear!

Radar-X: The access quests made things restrictive...I mean, yes, there is a downside (like the lvl 17 shaman I saw running around Everfrost one night for some reason), but it makes the game feel less linear to me.
EQ2 will never be WoW though...I can tell you that for fact.
This is probably a tangent...

Ethec: /studies a calculus textbook... No, I don't think so, but dressing up as a "Female Robot" might be a sine. Get it? Ugh.

Radar-X: WoW really does appeal to the non-hardcore MMORPG players and casual players. It was very easy until SOE put in a quick travel method for me to sit down and grind out some kills in 45 minutes.
I think with the quicker travel methods SOE has really took a burden off the casual players.



Ethec: Hmm, quicker travel methods meaning when SOE made Thundering Steppes and Nektulos Forest travel hubs,
or did i miss something huge?

Radar-X: Yes. The cost prohibits just anyone from using it, but there is no reason someone level 35+ should have to run all the way to the docks. If you really want to go through TS using the griffins then you are free to.
However, if I'm in my inn room and a guildmate yells at me to get over to Cazic Thule, I'm able to get right to Feerott in a hurry.

The Inevitable Conclusion

Ethec: Ok, you've done your time here, let's wrap it up: cake or pie?

Radar-X: Actually, if I had to choose, I'd say Muffins...I actually claimed Champion of Muffins for a long time but after I lost the grassroots support, I tossed my vote to pie.

Ethec: That's the most original answer i've ever gotten for that question!

Radar-X: I'm an unusual person man,
I'll freely admit that, and I blame NGD. But I love them all....especially Coyote, even though he is not funny...ever.

Ethec: I'll put that in, too.

Radar-X: Good, he'll eat that up.
I'm trying to get him to put it in his signature.

Ethec: I'm realizing there's a whole other side to EverQuest 2 I never knew about!

Radar-X: I could frighten you with our dark secrets I'm sure... I promise you half of those "special poster titles" are people in my guild. They are some of the funnest people I've ever met, but we are strange sometimes.

Ethec: No argument here!

Thanks again for your time, Radar! And a special word of thanks to Aggrofish for sparing Radar-X from NGD for the duration of the interview!