Dr_Gonzo – May 28, 2007

Main Avatar:
Dr_Gonzo

Race & Class:
Mutant Shaman

Clan:
Hand of Fate

First Name (RL):
Michael

Profession (RL):
Weasel Wrangler, Unemployed IT Guy, and House Flipper

Location (RL):
Virginia Beach, VA

When and How did you start playing Auto Assault?
I got started on the Penny Arcade free Beta weekend. I love post apocalyptic settings and the game appealed to me. Back then the server was only up on weekends and Wednesdays. I was so enthralled by the end of that weekend I ran out to get the pre-order so I would be able to play again Wednesday. Been playing every day I could since then.

How did you choose you Avatar’s name?
When I first started playing I made a Human Commando, got that to the level cap. Went and created a Biomek Terminator next. While driving around the first Biomek zone I noticed the swooping planes in one section and thought they looked a lot like bats. This reminded me of the Hunter S. Thompson quote from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas “We can’t stop here! This is BAT country!” So when I hit 20 and rolled a Mutant I wanted a Hunter S. Thompson related name so I chose Dr_Gonzo. I got so used to the name in Beta that I decided to stick with it when the game went live.

Why did you choose your main Faction & Class?
Heh cause I am an idiot. Went down like this. I had made a Commando, I made a Terminator, after hitting the level cap of 20 I decided to make a Mutant and try that out. I made a Shaman because I wanted to try to learn crafting and thought they would have an advantage, being a builder sort of class. So I made this character and started playing.

I was still leveling Dr_gonzo up when the level cap was raised to forty so I kept playing that character. In the process I met a great group of people I really liked and got invited to join Hand of Fate. So I stayed with my shaman and have been there ever since. It was not the class, it was not the faction, it was fate and just the general spirit of the faction that made me stay.

So I play a mutant shaman because I thought I would get a class advantage on crafting. DOH.

Do you play solo? Why did you join a clan?
I originally joined Hand of Fate because all the cool kids where doing it. After Beta ended I stayed with them. Through attrition I have ended up the defacto leader of Hand of Fate through a series of bloodless coups.

Do you prefer PvE or PvP?
I like to farm PVE while sitting in the PVP instances killing passing players. Farming Lead Shielding while capping bases is a great example.

Do you craft? What is your favorite crafted item (yours or others)?
My favorite crafted item is my Mastery MK II ornament. Not because it was uber, cause it was, but because the miracle of me having it at all. The Mutant faction, as far as I know, only ever had one Mastery MK II drop. A clan mate got it, and while I was leveling up my ornament crafting he decided to use it. We both assumed breaking it would remove the customization.

Well it didn’t. We were heart broken. This meant that no one was ever going to get a Mastery MK II ornament. A couple days later I was in Tocado and a player I had never seen before, or since, walked up to me and opened trade without saying a word. I traded with them and they dropped into the trade window a broken mastery MK II ornament! I was stunned and immediately accepted the item!

They then asked if I could fix that. I told them, yes I could, what did they want for it? They just asked that they get it back and if possible a copy for there friend. Immediately made it and mem’d it. I gave him his back, gave one to his friend, and made 15 more of them for my clan.

They where handed out 1 per player, not character, to my clanies. One night I decided to be dangerous, knowing how the crafting system liked to kill the unwary traveler. I decided I could not stand it, I could not have a plain mastery ornament! So I decided to add three mods. It was a white knuckle ride all the way, but at the end I had a Mastery MKII ornament with Auto repair +5 and +3 and Accuracy +8.

I have always felt special having the ONLY enhanced Mastery MK II ornament the mutant faction has ever seen.

What is your weapon of choice?
I find my good memory and biting wit to hold me in good stead on the forum battles. In PVP I love my DoTs. Even with them being nerfed to hell and gone I still use them. I love to run in, tag someone and run off knowing as I leave they are still taking damage.

What is your favorite ride?
I am real partial to the Bravos Mach 14. Great handling, acceleration and top speed. The only downside is that none of the new special tricks work on it. Lately I have had to give my beloved Bravos up for the Switter, the defense and offense bonuses just cannot be beaten.

Which junk item do you refuse to get rid of?
I still have my Putrid Dead Rat somewhere. I have had that thing since the head start. Been in my locker since day one, and its’ still a laugh to trot it out and loot link it occasionally to make people wonder.

What is your favorite NPC & location in AA?
I like Max and Holt on the mutant side in Grand Junction a lot. At first it seems like a regular mission, then it gets annoying and you want to shoot them, but the referencing they do makes me laugh at the end so I don’t put any shells into there boat like I wanted to. I also hold a fond place for the crazy guy outside the INC station in the second human section; He is trying so hard towards futility.

Though for a vote I must say probably the best character in the game is the wife of the guy in Fetid Bayou that you have to do missions for to get her husband to fix something. Everyone hates her with such a passion. To illicit such a strong response from everyone shows some really good writing there.

Who is your Arch-Nemesis in AA (Player or other)?
Vendors, Vendors are my arch nemesis. I swear to God when I am crafting they can read my mind, find out EXACTLY what I want and make sure that as I empty the vendor to reset it that item never, ever, appears. I hate vendors with a passion, one day I will get my car into town and woe to the first vendor I see!

What is your favorite moment you’ve experienced in AA?
Killing Zzyn. Now he will tell you some story about him suiciding, that it was not a clean kill. In the final night of Beta, in the final hours, the Developers had a really cool event for the whole server. It was scripted and ran for several hours. During this event Zzyn showed up as a Xeno spawning tornadoes as pets. I decided to have at him and laid into him. His Hit Points kept dropping, dropping, and then it reached zero and he died. Now Zzyn claims he went to type a command and accidentally killed himself because he had zero HP, but in my mind it will always have been a clean kill. At least that’s my story and I am sticking to it!

What song/genre you like to listen while playing AA?
I typically play with no sound at all. No music, no in game sound, nothing but the tap tap of my keyboard as I run my car around. If I do get a wild hair and put some music on it could be anything but current country.

What current feature would you change in AA to make it better?
Crafting, oh my God crafting. I would love to have the chance to make something that caused people to crap there pants. Well not literally, uh wait a minute that would be cool also… Anyways I want to make stuff. I’m a builder type person, I like to put things together to make new things. With the current system I am just the post apocalyptic may tag repair man.

Which new AA features would you like to see in the future?
I would like to see a cross faction area with built in gambling. After getting my ass kicked in GZ for a while I can relax with a good game of Texas Hold-em and take money away from the guy who was earlier pumping rounds into my car.