This month’s Player Spotlight focuses on Tallica, helpful global chatter, creator of new player guides and fiction writer in our Traveler’s Tale forum. Tallica’s fellow players as well as the GMs appreciate his contribution to the Illyriad community. Learn more about the Player Spotlight program at our website and nominate players by sending an email to community@illyriad.co.uk.
GM Luna
I am Tallica, that is my online name and yes it’s short from Metallica and yes I created it when I was in high school. I live in Seattle, WA with my wonderful wife (she’d probably kill me if she knew I was putting her picture here too!) and my odd dog Pearl. I like to think of myself as a down-to-earth, logically thinking type of person and I hope that shows through whenever and wherever you encounter me. I am a very helpful person, but I also like to joke around (sometimes too much :P). Now on with the interview:
What brought you to Illyriad and how long have you been playing?
I came to Illyriad from a game ad banner posted….somewhere (I think on Kongregate Games, but I could be wrong), back in April 2011, so I’ve been playing for a year and a half (though half of it I was on vacation).
Have you played many other online games or been active in other online communities?
My first experience with online gaming was playing Diablo 2, my first actual online game was Nodiatis (an interesting game that is now broken, don’t get me started). I play here and there and everywhere, but Illy has been my longest online game.
Any hidden talents or interesting hobbies outside of gaming?
Outside of gaming? Well, I have a quite large (yeah, I’m being modest) collection of movies, I play tennis irregularly with my wife, have a quirky dog, and really love the city I live in (Seattle).
What keeps you playing Illyriad?
So many things, the community, the dev team, the game, the tourneys, the updates… I love how deep and involved Illy is and I’m hungry for more!
What’s your favorite aspect of the game?
That’s a really hard question. There is so much that really sets Illy apart from games of it’s type (are there REALLY any other games of this type?). If Illy had turned out to be another newbie farming game, I wouldn’t have stayed. The community and the game mechanics really make it so that isn’t possible, and makes Illy so great.
What’s your proudest achievement in game so far?
My Spider Slayer Award 😛 (see my profile), that was me getting revenge for GM TC. Aside from that, making so many friends in the game.
What are you most looking forward to for the future of Illyriad?
Probably the day that the devs implement one of my suggestions! Group mailing? Sequential research queues? Specialized chat rooms? GM Tallica? need I go on?
What area of the game do you think needs the most improvement?
Currently, I would say that having pathfinding will be a major improvement, it’s kind of silly that troops can freely cross oceans and such. Also, the factions have been around forever and have very little to do with anything. I know, I know, it’s coming soon.
What advice would you give a new player in Illyriad?
Have you read my newbie guides?