Guild Intro: Caerulius

Tell us about your character(s)....

1. What is your primary character's name/class/level?

Caerulius / Paladin / Level 80 He’s specced Retribution and Holy.

2. If you are interested in raiding with us, are you willing to build a secondary set on this character, and respec as necessary (generally to dps) if the raid needs it, without bitching excessively?

My main spec is geared toward dps, with my off spec being healing. I have an alt that is a tank if the raid is short one. I have tanked on a paladin before, but I currently have very little tank gear.

3. What alts do you have that you also wish to join the guild?

I have a death knight and a mage, but I’m not currently applying for them. If the raid or group needs an extra tank or is full up on paladins I would be willing to swap if necessary.

Tell us about your gaming history...

4. What previous and current MMO's have you/do you play?

I currently play World of Warcraft and have played Guild Wars for three years previous. I’ve played a few others but nothing worth noting. (Mainly because I can’t remember the titles; clearly, they made a favorable impression on me.)

5. Describe what makes a good gamer, and then on a scale of 1 to 10 tell us how good a gamer are you, and why?

Decency, adaptability, and a willingness to learn. Decency, because this is a team game. If you cannot conduct yourself civilly in a group setting, you will be unable to succeed. Adaptability, because there are always new situations coming up, be they new people you are meeting, or new fights to learn. Flexibility is tied into this as well, a good understanding of what a tank is supposed to be doing and how they are doing it is important to the person playing the mage because all the roles intersect. If I have no idea how Thunderclap works, how will I know when to stop dps? I’m not saying that you need one of every class, but it would be a good idea to try another role once in a while to “walk a mile in the person’s shoes.” Willingness to learn is, of course, a necessity because if you an utter failure or very, very good, there is still room to improve. So being able to accept and apply criticism is a good trait to cultivate. As for how good of a player I am... I’d say an eight to nine depending on my mood. Modesty prevents me from saying ten, but I feel I’m pretty awesome.

6. Have you been in any other guilds, specifically in WoW and on Farstriders? How bout in other games or on other servers? Which? Why did you, or why are you leaving them?

Most of my characters are on Farstriders. Horde-side, I’m affiliated with the Justice League Society and Alliance-side I’m a member of Clan Battlehammer. JLS is full of mostly awesome people, but they don’t have enough active members or experience for some of the content I’m wanting to experience. My alts are still there and I am an officer in good standing with them. My leaving on my main is amicable and I let them know that I would still be available for events if I have planned for them ahead of time. I don’t foresee any scheduling difficulties due my lack of availability with JLS. I was in the Order of the Silver Phoenix on Guild Wars. My reason for leaving was simple lack of content update for the game.

7. What do you like to do in WoW (world pvp, instances, etc)? What about other games?

I like a variety of things in WoW. I like to do dungeons, older content, pvp (I currently stank at it, but hope to improve), roleplaying, raiding, and the occasional game of hide and seek. Guild Wars just had dungeons and pvp, but I would occasionally organize scavenger hunts. Oh, and I like exploring and finding new places. There’s been alot of effort put into the game and it’s nifty to find Easter eggs.

Talk to us about Natural Order...

8. How did you hear about Natural Order? Do you have anyone already inside who could reference you in a good or bad way? (Who?)

My friend Censura recently joined you and had great things to say about the guild. I also worked with some of your members on the weekly (XT the deconstructor) and was impressed by the ability and friendliness of Natural Order. I've checked out your website and found it interesting and it made me laugh. Always a bonus there.

9. Have you read all the posts in the About Natural Order section of the forum?

Yep, I don't have any questions but I will need to download the addons. The loot system doesn't make much sense to me but Censura assures me that it's flat out simple. *Eh* Frankly, I'm not very concerned with loot, I just want to have some fun.

10. What are your expectations? What do you think you will gain from joining Natural Order? What would make you happy that you joined us?

I’m looking for a guild that I can experience content that I haven’t done before. I am not looking for a raid guild per se, but I am wanting to raid. Though I play quite a bit (More than I’d like, to be honest.) I consider myself a casual gamer. If my buddies want to hang out I don’t want to be that guy that won’t do anything because “I’ve got a raid”. Now if I sign up for something, I will be there barring any unforeseen circumstances. I try to schedule things a few days in advance so I will know if I am going to be available for the events.

11. What do you think you can bring to the guild? Why are we going to be happy you joined us?

Like I mentioned, I consider myself a casual gamer. I’m a laid back fun guy, or at least I consider myself so, so there may be a bias involved here. I’m good at the game and willing to help out. I’m not the one to ask about detailed information or to break down the mathematical formulae for hunter dps, but if you enjoy a bit of snarkiness and witty conversation, then I’m your man. If I’m in a foul temper, I generally am quiet or just don’t play so as not to inadvertently take it out on someone. I’m generally good, but I tend to play after work so you can understand how this could vary.

12. If you are interested in 25 man raiding with us, what are your available nights and times for 25 man raids?

Almost every evening after 9:30pm server. If I've got work in the morning I won't be able to raid, but since raiding is not required I don't see that this would be an issue.

Tell us about you...

13. Do you meet our age requirement (18 and over)? How old are you, if you don't mind us asking?

I'm six years and a score.

14. If we had a party in real life, what would you bring?

Probably brownies. Most people think to bring chips and the host/hostess usually provides a main dish if one is served. Therefore dessert is more likely to be unique and welcome (most people like chocolate).

15. Do you know what parachute pants are?

Yes, though I admit that's only thanks to MC Hammer and XKCD.

16. If the answer to 12 is yes, did you ever own any?

No. I do wonder if it's possible to do the Hammer Slide without them.

17. If the answer to 13 is yes, do you still own them?

Well, it would interely depend on wiether or not I am able to so the Hammer Slide without them. If so I could discard them without fear. BUT! If I can't get mah slide on without 'em, the rest is elementary.

18. If the answer to 14 is yes, dear god why?

Gettin' mah slide on!

19. Pick one: Moist or Cornbread.

Moist, I'm not a huge fan of cornbread. I like it once in a while but I like Italian bread if I'm going to pick up a loaf.

20. Are you married? If so does your spouse play games too?

Alas, not yet.

21. Do you have kids? What ages?

Nope.

22. What activities or hobbies do you have other than gaming?

I'm trying to get started on the biking scene without getting hit by a bus. I play Dungeons and Dragons and Magic the Gathering. I have a medium collection of console games but I lean toward the older systems rather than the new for monetary reasons. It boggles my mind that MegaMan II used to be 60$. I guess it's still about 20$ used, so it's not too suprising but still. Anyway, so I'm an all around geek with a medium amount of adventure thrown in.

23. Tell us something cool that happened to you recently in real life. If cool things don't happen to you make something up. (hint - think of this as more of an essay...try and tell a story here, preferably something that actually happened to you)

This may seem a bit lame but I got a kick out of it. I was able to use the work patois in an article about pirates for work. I was trying to find a synonym for language that started with a “p” (I was going for some allitrative goodness, or should I say alliterative awesomeness) and found the word. Since I didn't know what it meant and wanted to make sure I was using it correctly, I looked it up in the OED. This was especially satisfiying since I has just learned that Oxford is going to stop printing the OED and go to online resources exclusively. Anyway the phrase was “practice your pirate patois” and I got a entry about Talk Like a Pirate Day pass the commitee. Awesome day for me, though it's not exactly titillating.

24. Pretend there is someone in the guild that you must eliminate. You want to join the guild, but this person will prevent your application from being accepted. What methods have you selected to dispose of them before they can affect your application? If you don't know anyone, pretend you do, and describe how you'd eliminate them. This question is not optional. Do your worst.

Before applying with my actual charater I will make an alt that is unbeknownst to my opponent. I will level it to 80 and win my way into the hearts of the guild. Once there I will subtly work against them. When all hope is lost to him or her I will apply with my actual character and allow my opponents downfall to be complete. I'm thinking an Undead Rogue specced assassination, for flavor purposes of course. Probably named something innane like “Puddinface” just to rub it in.

25. If you half-assed this application, and didn't even attempt to give us more than a sentence on a single question, why the hell should we still accept this application?

Because I am hearty and you can use my wool for a variety of garments! Wait, that's alpacas. Nevermind. Basically, you don't accept my application in that situation. Well, unless I am an alpaca, then it's to be expected.

Now for the Natural Order SAT...

26. Fill in the blanks with...

"The family went into town to look for their (b) dog. They checked the pound but he wasn't there (a). After finding nothing, they were (d) very despondent.

27. Which one or more of the following is not a punctuation mark

c) lol If you haven't already read it, you might enjoy Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss.

28. Do you like Kipling?

a) Yes. Though I have not read much of his work I am partial to Rikki Tivi Tavi (Rikki, the ivory fanged), a segment of The Jungle Book.

29. How spicy do you want your food prepared, on a scale of 1 to 10?

I'd say a six. I like spicy food, but I'm fairly Miquetoast in comparison to other palates. I put red pepper in most of my food but like to taste the food and not just the pepper. I also don't enjoy having to down several glasses of milk just to stop the pain. In contrast I feel food should be seasoned with more than cream and a teaspoon of basil. I'll never be a French chef.

30. Divide 546 by 47 to two places, without using a calculator

b) 11.62 I did not use a calculator, but I did use pen and paper.

31. What is a hectocotylus? (it's ok you can Google this one)

My initial guess was the feathered dinosaur, but that wasn’t it. That’s Archeopteryx. The hectocotylus is a cephalopod reproductive organ. Thanks to you, I’ve now Googled octopi twanger at work and discussed this with my manager. Sooo not a conversation I want to repeat. Apparently, he also told the rest of my co-workers how weird I am. I can live with this though, because they didn't know what a hectocotylus was either.