Player Spotlight - LunaticAsylumLA

This month EU forum member LunaticAsylumLA takes the stage. He is from Russia and has been playing Age of Conan since 2009.

Name on the Forums

LunaticAsylumLA

Name of main character

Alandalara

Which country do you come from?

Russia (Siberian Federal District)

How long have you been playing Age of Conan?

Since December 13, 2009

Which playfield/dungeon do you like the most?

Thoth-Amon's Stronghold

Which class do you like playing the most?

Herald of Xotli

On which server do you usually play?

Crom

What is your preferred play-style (soloing, raiding, PvP, mini-games ...)?

My approach is maximizing the experience and going thoroughly through, reliving, trying out, scrutinizing, and probing into every little aspect of the masterpiece, Age of Conan, available to a hapless victim voluntary captivated by the recreated millieu deeply influenced by the universe of Robert E. Howard's oeuvre; though, I have to admit, I eschew solo instances, opting for group action. Otherwise, it is all there, even role-playing.

Are you member of a guild (or even a guild leader)? If yes, care to shortly introduce your guild?

After being in no longer existent Spellbinders, Death Bringers, Komodo, I joined The Unforgiven (http:https://www.the-unforgiven.eu), which turned out to be a very amicable, helpful, and altruistic guild with members all across Europe. I was surprised to meet with such ardor and loyalty, even though I applied to the guild mainly due to seeing their manpower in player-versus-player minigames.

Our officers (Bloggsy, Kiresh, Nemia, and Highstank, our guild leader) organize scheduled runs through Thoth-Amon's Stronghold, while other officers and members, like Odinia or Thetta, organize spontaneous runs through tier 1 and 2 instances, and we are always open to new players across the globe without any discrimination: be it a free-to-play casual player just seeking adventure or help, or a hardcore raider seeking challenge. We can always offer a casual player some support at low-level PvP minigames, recipe hunting, exploring, and doing low-level dungeons.
We are planning to explore Elrik's Temple and the Jade Citadel in the nearest future.

What was your most epic, funny or special moment while playing Age of Conan?

Indubitably, that was the last encounter at Thoth-Amon's Stronghold: we had been attempting to overcome that challenge with full raid groups for six months since we had entered the instance, and there always seemed to be an obstacle preventing from the final push onto Thoth-Amon. One morning (I raid from 2 to 5 in the morning and go to work at 8 due to my distant location), we went onto the last stage with Conan appearing from the ingress scampering to the vast ape, while our team, perplexed by the predicament with the last, a little chaotic, murders of Havoc, Obliterator, and Overlord, forgot to check the clock to avoid the deadly bane on the ground (Precognition of Doom), which is cast by Thoth-Amon. Somehow, I ended up at the reins of the raid, telling everyone not to worry, relied on my instincts, ordered whenever it seemed necessary to run out, and we delivered the final deadly blow onto Thoth-Amon, collecting our first cloaks called "Amra's Pride".

Do you have a fansite/blog/wiki related to Age of Conan?

No. Ofttimes, I visit the official forum, and that is the main source of information to me. Sometimes, I check the work of Kentarii, http:https://aoc.is-better-than.tv. Http:https://aoc.yg.com is a good source too.

Anything else you want to share with your fellow players?

About the game. I always notice how players have a propensity to eschew any low-level instances, and I have always been doing those (such as Black Castle, Toirdealbach's Tomb, Cradle of Decay) spurring others to do the same several times with a normal group (not empowered by a high-level player). It can be hard to find a group (a mature game must be hard!), and I may spend up to an hour or two just gathering a team; but I implore you not to get deterred by such an inconvenience: your patience shall be rewarded!
I would be more happy to see players levelling their characters without any offline levels or experience potions mainly due to those group quests, but I realize that it is up for the player to decide what he wants.

Why and how I picked the game. I joined the game back in 2009 reading random Wikipedia articles on Conan due to my being an avid reader of H. P. Lovecraft, Clark A. Smith, David C. Smith, E. A. Poe, and R. E. Howard himself, and came upon an irresistible article on some computer game where they offered Howard's low-fantasy universe, blood, gore, dark atmosphere, complex challenges (for people over eighteen), and nudity. Those were the pivotal aspects inclining me to try out the product, and I still do not regret that!

About myself. I have been a part of the wonderful team of Apogee Communications, attempting to bid on localization of The Rise of the Godslayer. Also, I was a part of the following two bands, where you can spot me with the x-shaped guitars:
http:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exMbEi9I7s0 and http:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULbveXeB20U (some more tracks at http:https://www.myspace.com/blackswordmetal). If you like the last band, then the CD is still on sale online or at your local shops waiting for you!

Thank you, Oliver for the interview. Thank you, Shahir, for the Stonerune UI. I would also like to thank the following game masters: Jaestar and the one from North Carolina, whose name, regretfully, slipped my mind. My endless gratitude goes to Craig Morrison for unyielding and adamant devotion to this game - keep up your great work with the best computer game on the market!