So I wanted to do a little something different and I thought it would be nice to do Spotlight Interviews with Old Timers & Newcomers.  This interview with TTL Thrasymachus is the first Spotlight with a Newcomer.  Thrasy stands out for many reasons. 

1. Thrasy brings laughter to the game which is one of the main reasons we are here to HAVE FUN. 
2. Thrasy also brings a serious side to the game with his way he can take charge in a game (if necessary) and get his team to communicate and work together. 
3. Even though Thrasy could not be at the FloridaLan he still took time to send Gunslingers stickers that he had made to the Lan just to show that he was still there in spirit. Your Gunslingers “Thank you”.
4. Last but not least, not only does Thrasy come here to bring laughter to our games and life but he also does it in the ER.

Thrasy has a ridiculous work schedule and still finds time to come here after being in the ER for hours on end and having I am sure NOT SO NICE days, and graces us with his comical stories, his antics, his laughter, his jokes (that are dorkish at times) and his dedication to this clan.  I myself hold the utmost respect for Sir Thrasy as a Gunslinger and as a Friend.  Thank you Thrasy for your time, your laughter and your TTL friendship.

Enjoy the Interview. Venus

1. I know you have answered this question a bazillion times but what made you choose Thrashymachus?

Well a long time ago in a place far far away I studied philosophy.  In fact I mostly just studied the Greeks.  Plato’s book on the theory of justice is done through the dialogue of two characters.  Thrasymachus was the character who took the stand that might makes right.  His position is that the ones that make the rules are the strong.  It seemed appropriate for an environment where you are attempting to dominate all around you to take that moniker as a GT.  Now in hindsight it’s a long and ridiculously hard name to pronounce and maybe I should have picked something easier but Chubbyhands was already taken.

2. Where are you from? What do you do for a living? (I asked this as I know the answer and want everyone else to know what he is truly about)

Yeah so I’m from Hotlanta but now am living in La.  I am a ER physician.  This will the first time I have ever really publically stated this.  I don’t really like to talk much about it cause once people figure out you’re a doctor they treat you different.  I don’t know.  In reality I’m just some dude who liked school too much and figured out the best way to prolong it would be to go to medical school.  It’s a great job but you have to give up your whole life to do it. 

3. How did you find your way to TIED THE LEADER?

Noka. Hate to admit it but all you who have to deal with my hyperactive, over-caffeinated  pregame lobby incessant chatter can blame him. We randomly matched in a MM game.  I ended up partying up with them. I got on his FL and then one day a few weeks later I get this message from Noka saying that I should come over and check TTL out. At first I figured it was a spam message but thought Id give it a shot anyway. When I got to the website it was just the type of community I was looking for. 

4. What made you want to become a part of TTL?

Man tough question without answering like some kind of prepubescent dweeb in love with the prom queen.  Well I think it’s the high quality of gamers.  Not necessarily a clan looking for a bunch of ringers but one that you can enjoy your gametime with.  I am constantly impressed with the good sportsmanship of the group.  I really like the professional attitude of everyone and I enjoy my H3 time more now than I ever have.  I have never really had this kind of gaming experience before. There is so much good sportsmanship here I feel really lucky to be a part of such a great group.

5. What is your favorite weapon?  What is your favorite vehicle?

Well certainly the BR has to be my favorite. I know that MLG can be a touchy subject around these parts to some but its where I used to spend a whole lot of time trying to learn and improve my game.  I am by no means the best with it but it is one of the most versatile weapons in the game.  I don’t think that there are many good/great players out there who can get to that level of skill without mastering this weapon.  Lately I have been trying to learn about leading my shots but its always a work in progress.  Vehicle you say?  Well probably the hog.  It’s the only vehicle Im decent at using.  I don’t do it much cause there are soo many RK that are better at it than I am but you get a good hog team out there and they can totally dominate the entire game. 

6. Is there a certain achievement that you set out to accomplish?

Another set yourself up to sound like a db question (obligatory shout out to the squad).  I’m guessing you mean in Halo and not in real life (I just deleted my real life answer.  It was something about medicine and doing the right thing but I forget).  No no real achievements except to help my team.  I don’t think that I’m the best player but I do think that I have a good idea of what needs to happen in game.  If I can be an influential force in the game and help my team to win then that’s enough.  I enjoy doing the roles that don’t get too much credit but really help the team (support slayer etc).  For a time I really wanted the General but I think Ill be ok without it.  In reality I don’t think that Im good enough to be a general anyway.

7. What is your favorite game variant? And why?

Slayer….all freakin day…Although I will admit the coordination and teamwork of playing with the GS has made objective games pretty fun.   I guess it’s relatively obvious why I was always going to go strike.  I will admit that although that I find slayer more fun I find playing objective games with GS more satisfying/rewarding.  We played a game the other day (assault on Standoff) where the coordination was phenomenal and it was so satisfying to have that much teamwork. 

8. On a more personal note: What is a secret passion you have? Sports? Hidden Talents?

Secret passion: please insert rude and disgusting sexual comment…No just joking…Uh lets see I love to cook.  I used to cook in a variety of restaurants.  I was going to go to culinary school but ended up down the medicine path instead.  I cooked for 7 years and ended up learning enough to be comfortable in the kitchen.  I really enjoy cooking for others(I almost never cook for myself  I just don’t care enough) and most enjoy my cooking.  I love trying to cook new things.  As a side note I am currently cooking Beer can chicken on the grill for some co-workers

9. Where do you see yourself in your life a year from now?

Well pretty status quo but living in BR (that’s Baton Rouge).  Working in the hospital while trying to squeeze in as much H3 time as I can without ruining my studies.  I still have 2 more years of my residency so I committed to BR for the short term.

10. What is one of your most favorites memories since you have joined TTL?

Well one of my most favorites (WTF?)…uh…anyway is that I was inducted as a total random. I guess I never really figured out how hard it was to get into TTL until I was a GS. I was just some random that got paired up with Noka in MM and then (for some unknown reason he sent me a note to come check out TTL) came over to the forums and started posting.  I found some really good games and through some stroke of luck (which probably means all the overlords were drunk on the same day) got inducted.  Most of the GS knew someone in RL prior to getting in but I was just another random posting love notes on the forums trying to get some games in with GS.  I remember getting onto the forums (that day) and seeing all this extra crap that I had never seen before. That’s when I knew.  I was soo pumped. It was only after checking my messages about “Welcome Thrasy, There are a ton of new boards to read so DeeJ’s letter may give you a few tips to where you can go…” that I deduced I was in…the funny thing is I was so excited I wanted to tell everyone but ,of course, no one would understand.  I told my girl and she was excited for me(probably placating my juvenile enthusiasm again).  It’s an honor to be associated with such a group and hope to have many more great games with everyone here at TTL.  Looking forward to Chicago…Look for me Ill be the white guy drinking Miller High Life.

Enjoy the Interview. Venus

1. What inspired you to pick TTL Al Capown?
Well, it took me a couple of hours to come up with this one. I wanted something unique, as I don’t like adding numbers or “x, l, o” to my tags. I really like gangster movies, and I had just recently seen The Untouchables, with Robert De Niro playing Al Capone. I took Al Capone and added a gaming twist to it with the word “pwn”, but also wanted to keep the name similar to the original spelling, so that lead to Capown.

2. You have been a member of TTL since 2/23/07 but how did you find your way here?
If my memory serves me right, I was first introduced to TTL through bsangel. As most know, she is from The Cavegirls, and this was the first gaming community I come across while in my first clan, Truth Regret. After that, I was later introduced to Dweezle, and from that point we
were always gaming together. When my clan fell apart, Dweezle convinced me to apply for recruitment for TTL. The rest is history.

3. What is your favorite game variant and why?
I have many that I like, but if I had to pick one it would be Multi-flag. This variant allows us Gunslingers to perform to our full potential. Having squads allows everyone to go do their thing, knowing that everything else is taken care of. Ex: If I’m in a Banshee controlling center field or helping strike team, and see a Mongoose drive by, I know I can let it slip by. Having some HG in the party, I feel confident that they can take care of it with a heads up, which allows me to not be distracted by it and help else where.

4. What is your favorite flavor Jelly Belly Bean ?
(if you have never tried them, go buy a bag and come back and answer this!)

Hard to know my favorite flavor, as I haven’t tried that many kinds of Jelly Beans. There are around 50 total I believe. Of the ones I have tried though, Watermelon was one of my favorites. Flavors that I would like to try, that I haven’t, would be: Blueberry, Coconut, and Piña Colada.

5. When did your love for the Banshee begin?
It all started with the campaign of Halo 2, and I never stopped enjoying it. It has definitely changed since Halo 2, but I have adapted, and turned it into a force to be reckoned with.

6. Did you try other vehicles or was the banshee just your first love?
I have always enjoyed driving/flying all of the vehicles in the Halo series. Believe or not, my first love was not the Banshee. Back in Halo 2, I really loved to drive around in the Warthog…especially in the campaign. It took me awhile to get the hang of the Banshee in Halo 2, but with everything else it takes practice.

7. When did you decide to go for 10k and how does it feel to achieve that goal?
I don’t remember when I first decided to make this a goal of mine, but it was probably in the 1 to 3 thousand range. This was back when I wasn’t the top pilot out there, and had a lot of competition. It wasn’t until I hit my 7,777 mark (which by the way was to show appreciation to Bungie) that I realized I had pulled ahead of the pack, and was in the top spot. From that point on, the others had no chance. It feels nice to set a milestone like this, and be the first person in the entire Halo community to have that many Banshee kills.

8. What is next for you and do you have plans to master another machine?
I don’t have any plans yet, but I am sure something will come along. Maybe I could get 7,777 Ghost kills and splatters at the same time. I have already mastered a majority of the vehicles in Halo, but if there is one I would like to be better in, it would be the Warthog. I want to learn better routes on the maps, and if possible, I want to perfect a
way to get away from those damn Choppers.

9. How many of those 10k kills were accomplished while flying drunk?
(Nodak’s personal question)

I believe the exact number is 9,989. I had to be sober on all the even numbers (1,000 through 10,000, and one for 7,777), so that I could hit those numbers exactly. LOL

10. Would you say this statement is true? Popeye + spinach = Capown + alcohol (another personal question from Nodak)
That is true at the beginning of the night. The number of generals we have beat on Friday Night Shots is amazing. I wish I had the numbers for it. As the night goes on though, I start to miss a lot of my shots and eventually start gazing at the clouds and stars if we are playing on Valhalla. That is actually a true story. I watched some films clips of a FNS one day, and noticed that I was doing that during the last game I played of the night.

Extra bonus question: What is one of your favorite gaming memories that stands out since you have been a member of TTL?
Ouch, that is a tough one. It is hard to recall many memories after playing 7k+ H2 matches and 6k+ H3 matches. I really do have a lot of stuff I could mentioned here, but one that comes to mind right away would involve a game of Halo 2, on Containment. The game type was Multi-flag, and the person involved was Tortacular. The only reason I bring this one up, is because it was discussed a couple of months back. Don’t ask me how either of us remembered this moment, but since we did, it must have been memorable. At the time I was part of Strike Team, and the situation was me sitting above their base for a full minute straight waiting for a perfect time to grab the flag or to wait for backup, which ever come first. Well, backup arrived in the form of Tort sneaking up behind me and before anything could be said, him bursting into the base giving away both of our positions. We both went down in flames, but had a good laugh after that, and again, not sure what made us bring it up in a recent conversation.

That was a memorable online moment, but if I had to give a memorable offline TTL moment, it would be L Askan getting me drunk and….well, you can PM me if you want this to go on :o. My first meeting with the Gunslingers was at the Penny Arcade Expo, up in Seattle, where I got to meet L Askan, L0coM0tive, KP, and bs angel. I had a blast all weekend,
and can’t wait to go back.

TTL Al Capown only does TTL appreciate your Banshee skills but so do other communities!

Just a little something to show you are admired within the Halo Community!

Special Thanks to Louie Black (from H3Wheelmen.com) for the “Shout Out”!

TTL VENUS
(Newcomer interview coming soon)