We here at Swtor-Life love all the interesting people who are getting ready to dive into the world of The Old Republic. The game is not even out but it already has a following of some of the most passionate individuals you can find the world over. At times the individual player can become a blurred face among all the guilds and other thousands upon thousands of players out there. So we decided to try and put some faces to the game and give you all a look at some of the players you may come across on your Star Wars adventures in  feature we are going to call The Galaxy’s Most Wanted. Read on to take a look in the mind of another player anxiously awaiting to get their hands on The Old Republic!

 

What is your name and/or handle?

My longest-used and most widely-used Internet handle is Syndramise. It’s pronounced “sin-dra-ME-sha” and is a play on words. “Mise” is a way of saying, “I am…” or “my name is…” in Irish. I’m a writer and editor, and I enjoy playing with words, especially double entendres.

None of my characters will be or historically have been named that, though. You know, I really couldn’t tell you why. I did try using it in WoW, but the game wouldn’t let me use it. I won’t use it in TOR because it doesn’t sound enough to me like it would fit in the Star Wars universe.

 

Age?

It’s not polite to ask a lady her age! But you’re in luck, ’cause I’m no lady. I’m 39. Which means that I got to cut my gaming teeth on “vintage” consoles and computers like Intellivision, Atari, the Commodore 64, and the Apple ][e. I thought my Mac 512K was da bomb. (I got a Mac Plus after that, but that was the last Mac I used; their lack of upgradability frustrated me; I build my own rigs now.) When monitors started to use *gasp* color, it was like a whole new world. I was introduced to a rudimentary form of what we now know as the Internet via a VAX/VMS system in 1991, where we played MUDs. Myst was revolutionary. Needless to say, after diving into the world of computers and the Internet, I have no intention of coming up for air anytime soon.

 

What is your real life occupation?

I’m both a microbiology lab manager and a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant. I’ve been working in labs since 1995. I got my degree in ecology, and that field of study was almost unheard of at the time. After graduation, I moved to the city to be near my then-fiancé, and there just aren’t many ecology jobs in the city. I got a position in a molecular biology and genetics lab, and since then I’ve worked in pretty much every area of biology except medicine. It doesn’t sound like something that would be a barrel of laughs, but microbiology is actually a ton of fun.

I started my Mary Kay business in February. They’re both very different occupations, but my lab work has really brought a lot to my business. As a scientist, I understand how the products work and how the ingredients affect the skin. I love my Mary Kay business because of how supportive Mary Kay, Inc. is of their independent sales force and because of the ethics that are integral to Mary Kay. A true sense of service is paramount in the business; it’s about helping and teaching, not about selling, and I love that. I don’t make a good salesperson, and people love to buy but hate to be sold to, so it works out well.

 

Do you belong to a guild?

I’m guild leader of Pillars of Ashla, a Republic US East PvE guild. Some of us have been gaming together for almost 20 years, and some of us are brand new to guilds or MMOs. This is the first time we’ve used the Pillars of Ashla name, though; it just felt right to pick a more Star Wars oriented name for TOR.

Our guild is solidly constructed on our foundational values, which include mutual respect, honor, fairness, honesty, and cooperation, among others. Our guild structure allows us to minimize drama and focus on the exceptionally important tasks of having a great time, chatting, joking around with each other, and enjoying each other’s company. Our atmosphere is laid-back, friendly, and helpful, but we know how to get down to business when it’s go time.

 

What MMO have you devoted most of your time to in the past and why?

I have to admit that I devoted most of my MMO time in the past to World of Warcraft. And there’s no chance that I’ll ever reveal my /played time for that game! I started playing WoW for the people, and I played as long as I did for the people. WoW gets a bad rap, but I truly do believe that Blizzard does a great job of maintaining the game, of trying to improve it, and of trying to be responsive to customer needs. Not all changes end up working out well, though, and any game gets stale after a while. The people with whom I played, with whom I shared a community, were what made the game worth coming back to, time and time again, regardless of how frustrating the latest nerf was or of how stale content had gotten. I dedicated myself to the people, and once I develop loyalty to a group of people, trying to get rid of me is, well, something akin to pulling teeth from a chicken.

 

What class and advanced class are you planning to make your main? What playstyle are you going to choose?

Vanguard Trooper tank. I love tanking; the idea of protecting and defending people really speaks to who I am. But at the same time, I love having a ranged aspect to the toons I play. The Vanguard Trooper seems perfect for me: a tank with ranged abilities. I love it!

I’m excited about how Bioware has designed the Advanced Classes and talent trees; it seems like a setup designed to lend itself to more flexibility and individuality than we’ve seen in many other games, and that’s something I’m decidedly looking forward to.

 

What made you interested in joining The Old Republic?

Did I mention the ranged tank? I have to admit that I was probably one of the last in my guild to get interested in The Old Republic. Don’t get me wrong; I love Star Wars and the Star Wars universe. But some of us had been drooling for release since the concept was announced, and I didn’t even seriously consider playing until about March. I figured I’d live and die in WoW, serving the guild in that game; it didn’t leave room for much else. As it turned out, though, the best way for me to serve the guild ended up being for me to go put together a guild for TOR. And

I’m so glad it worked out that way. I feel so blessed; we have got such an amazing group of people. We started with a relatively small core of WoW folks, and we’ve widened our circle to include a fantastic diversity of individuals. We’ve already built a strong community, and we don’t even have a game to play yet!

 

What is your most anticipated feature in TOR and why?

It’s tough to choose, but I’d definitely have to say the story, with the cutscenes and dialog options. Story can completely make or break a game. A strong story adds so much to a game; it gives the player a reason for being there. If you have great mechanics and a gorgeous environment but no story, you’re not going to hold the players’ interest for long. And there’s nothing that immerses you in the story and invests you in your character like actually seeing and hearing your character talk with the NPCs and other characters, getting to decide what you want to say as you engage in the ongoing conversation. This is no simple “skip reading the quest information and just go kill things” game, and that’s one of the things that will truly set it apart. The quality of the footage I’ve seen has been highly impressive; I can’t wait to experience it firsthand.

 

Do you classify yourself as hardcore, casual, or something else entirely?

As one of our council members phrased it, our guild is “casual ambitious.” Our goal is to stay current with content and maintain a good momentum but never at the cost of our fun, upbeat atmosphere or at the cost of any of our members. Staying current with content is important to me because people naturally want to see what the game has to offer while it’s relevant; being unable to do that decreases motivation, lowers morale, and increases frustration. I refuse to be hardcore, though. Competing for world- or server-firsts makes the game too much like a job; it puts too much pressure on the players, creates a competitive environment in what’s supposed to be a team, and kills the fun. I value people far too much to tell them what hours they have to play or tell them that if they want a spot in a raid and don’t get in immediately that I expect them park their character at the entrance and stay at the keys so that they can zone in the instant we need a replacement. It’s a priority of mine to ensure that everyone who wants to participate in a guild activity and is prepared to do so gets a chance to. We don’t have select raiders or set teams; we put a lot of attention toward maintaining a guild-wide community where everyone is included and valued. Cliques lead to drama; drama leads to hate; hate leads to suffering…that Yoda’s a wise dude, ya know?

 

How do you plan to go through your storyline? Do you plan on going Light Side, Dark Side, or will you be “Grey”? Why do you want to play this way?

I’ll be Light Side. Being a good, ethical person, doing the right thing, and living my values are very important to me. It doesn’t feel right to me to go against that, even if it is in a pretend world. I believe we are who we practice being, even in games, so I strive to be my best self even when playing a character. I’m not quite sure how that’s going to pan out for my Empire alts, but it will be fun to find out!

 

What game mechanic do you see yourself devoting most of your time to?

Raiding. I’m definitely looking forward to questing and PvP, but once I hit endgame, I expect to spend most of my time raiding. Since we aspire to give everyone who wants to raid a solid chance to do so, I expect that we’ll be running many operations groups every week. We’ll have a pool of raid leaders, but while we’re getting that pool established, I expect me, my main, and my alts to pretty much need clones in order to be everywhere at once. Even after that pool is established, I imagine I’ll help out with most of the operations in one way or another.

 

What has been your most memorable Star Wars moment?

Honestly? Playing Star Wars on the playground in first grade. That’s probably not the kind of answer anyone expected, I know. Since I was a girl, I was always supposed to play Leia. Now, Leia’s got some real fire in her, and I love that. But at the same time, I didn’t want to always play the rescued princess. I’d try to convince the guys to let me play Luke or Han or one of the other parts, but to no avail. No wonder none of the other girls played! (That, or they just weren’t cool enough to appreciate Star Wars.) But with TOR, I get to play a Jedi, a Smuggler, or even my highly-anticipated Trooper, and I can do it as a girl! Win!

If you are interested in joining The Wanted List contact me on twitter @MagicJoshrooms or via e-mail magicjoshrooms@yahoo.com