Who am I? I'm Pat Willis player #224534, I got my first medal in Middleweight Mecha Match, I received Participant as placement coming in 49th in Division 6 on 2013-02-16. So I've been playing for a couple of years now. As for clans currently I am with The Brotherhood of the Black Watch (NWHL), and I really like it there so I don't see myself leaving anytime soon unless it is to another clan in the same family, just a different level bracket.
I started off in A.N.N. as a writer/editor, so much the same thing as I do here. Working for them taught me the basics of filler work, associating with the players, and really how to work a news site (at that time the actual A.N.N. site was still up and running.) How did I wind up here? Got the idea in my head one day and just kind of ran with it. Talked to Chef about it, set all this up, got approval, and well here we are. My wife designed the site, although she doesn't play she took my ideas and made them tangible here, so credit to her big time in all of this.
How did I put together the staff? Joel originally recruited me into Black Watch, and we've been talking ever since. He volunteered for clan liaison officer for The Brotherhood, and as we talked I just offered him an editor position. Ron showed great potential as a writer and we brought him on board, he has some great "advice column" articles, even though we are all Brotherhood in our in game clan affiliation, I do not allow clan politics or favoritism on this site. Here we are the press and as such have to be as neutral possible. Both are great fighters for The Brotherhood, and I think they are both great people in and out of game. They are also a great fit for the Galaxy Gathering and I'm glad to have them on board.
Aside from running this site and writing here I have written tech manuals for mechas in the game. I wrote the firing mechanism explanation for the fork ability on the Dilophos, wrote out the entire entry for the Frigis, as well as the Jadoon, and Yallan mecha. Also the armor, skeleton, Unstable matter engines, and explanation of the firing mechanism for the Anubis mecha. A couple of behind the scenes things here and there like the origins of the Ignis mecha ( the multi parter in these pages.) Help with the other editors and Devs to get the clan liaison idea up and off the ground, pretty much anything that comes my way really.
Favorite mechs? For me at present I still love my Frigis, Frozen Dream. Although my Regis and Jadoons are quickly becoming favorites of mine. Any tips for new players? Be patient. You are going to get wailed on, it happens to all of us in the beginning. Be smart, enter tourneys, improve your load out for weapons, and mechs, upgrade them as much and as best as possible to compliment the build stats, start slow and don't spread yourself too thin. Eventually you'll be able to fend off a lot of folks who once used you for exp hunting. Don't level too fast and let your resources have to play catch up to your leveling.
What do I do in the game? Mostly circuit fights and KOTM tourneys. I don't usually go player vs player until clan wars which is why my kill count isn't higher. I have changed my mecha load out multiple times which is why my tonnage is so low. I just prefer to concentrate on one mech at a time, get it tuned in and working good for a fight, get the weapons sorted on it, then once all that is done move on to the next mech. Is it slow going? Oh definitely, but once a mech is done and the next one is being worked on I know I have one more stronger mech ready to go. Also it helps that my clan family has it's own tech support division which gives suggestions on load outs, and formation possibilities.
Anything else I can say? I just love the game truly. I built the site for the love of the game, and so players could have another resource, and a clearer voice. I own a couple of shirts from the game, and spend a lot of my free time on this site or in the game itself. So yeah I'm kind of a mecha junkie..lol
Submitted by Pat Willis#224534