Q: What do you do in the Guild Wars community and where can everyone find you?
A: I mainly do videos on my youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/c/DeroirGaming, with a thematic focus on hype for and critique about Guild Wars 2. I also do living world guides and entertaining videos, for the fun of it. Also I occasionally stream on my twitch channel http://www.twitch.tv/deroir, though in reality, to me, twitch is mostly reserved for special events or happenings. Lastly I’m on twitter @DeroirGaming.
Q: Did you hear of/play GW1 and what was your experiences/ you're impressions? What is your earliest memory if so?
A: In fact I did play the original Guild Wars, I believe I started about 6 months prior to the first expansion was released - at the time I really wasn’t that old. Well, long story short, I played that game extensively, it was the first game that I had ever sunk soooo many thousand hours into. I don’t exactly remember my earliest memory in concrete details, though I do have fragmental memories of pre-searing Ascalon. My most prominent memory though, has to be the many weeks of me playing my trapper ranger in the Realm of Torment, farming, to get to the 8th tier of the Lightbringer title. Arh good times.
Q: Did you/are you playing other MMO's? What attracted you to them?
A: Actually I’ve never played any other MMO for more than about an hour or so. There always seemed to be some horrible thing about each of them, compared to Gw1 - Sub fee, bad graphics, and so on goes the excuses. Some might call me an early fan boy of Gw1, and at times I would have to agree. I quickly fell in love with the entire structure of the game, the mechanics, the world, and especially the lore, and so I stuck with it for quite a while.
Q: When did you start playing GW2 and what got you involved in the game itself?
A: I started during the head start. When I initially quit playing Gw1, I was aware that a Gw2 was in the works, and so I told myself I’d simply lay off on extensive game hours till Gw2 came around, to see if it was worth getting back into or if I should just go full casual gamer for the rest of my days. And so I started as soon as I had a chance to buy it. It was like a nostalgia flood in my mind that day, just the world, the scenery, the story, everything really.
Q: What have you enjoyed about GW2 and what has kept you playing?
A: Generally, the feeling that drives me to play any game, can only be described as “a call to adventure” I guess. Which in itself, also basically is how I fare on a daily basis; There’s nothing better than the feeling of going on an adventure, through travel or new experiences in general - stuff like that. To me Gw2 provides that feeling of pseudo-adventurism. Every day I come home and sit at my computer, I can choose what sort of adventure I want to experience. Now the thing is, at a certain point, (like many other players experienced) that sense of adventure sort of ebbed out. Introducing the living story! In essence, this living concept of the game, is what keeps my sense of adventure alive. Sure in the end, it’s the more challenging aspect of the game that I mostly strive towards, but just knowing that any part of the game can and will evolve over time, is just priceless to me.
Q: What has been your favourite memory of GW2?
A: My favorite memory probably has to be the first time I encountered the Shatterer world boss. I remember taking extensive amounts of screenshots and sending them to a couple of friends like: “Wauw check this sh*t out man!”. Haha. I still have those screenshots laying around somewhere, so I sometimes get reminded of that day.
Q: How do you feel about the upcoming expansion HoT?
A: I am very very excited, it’s been long time now since I started reaaally wanting something huge to happen to the game. Something in the game so huge that it would just leave me baffled and immersed, wondering about the scenery and story. I have faith that we’ll come to see a really cool expansion. Still, I do have some major concerns about it, one of which especially lies in the details about challenging content. That aspect of the game is a huge passion of mine, and I thoroughly hope that Anet has some serious plans for it.
Q: What class do you main/ What is your least liked class and why?.
A: I mainly play guard, theif and mesmer - Though I pride myself on understanding all classes to a certain degree. So throughout my many thousand hours I have willed myself to dig deeper into the the rest of the classes. I know I’m not equally skilled at the rest of those classes, but I still know how to use them in most situations. Knowledge is power.
Q: What is your preferred game mode/Have you been drawn to any other modes, and what has drawn you to your game mode of choice?
A: I guess you could simply categorize my preferred game mode as PvE. Mainly, on a daily basis I do Fractals of the Mists, which in itself could be categorized as “dungeons”, though it’s been a looong time since I completely burned out on the rest of the dungeons in the game. Basically I strive for challenges, and especially challenges with proper reward (though the RNG aspect of the Fotm rewards can be discussed in length, in regards to whether or not they’re proper/fair). Still, I really enjoy doing fractals, it’s not necessarily the same thing every day, and so I still manage to keep my eye on the price: The illusive Fractal Sword.
Apart from fractals I do have a deep love for the instanced living story content - especially some of the bosses. The mechanics and gameplay in some of those instances are very different from what we encounter elsewhere in Tyria, and can really offer up some interesting fights. The sole problem with those, is simply the lack of incentive for replayability - which is one of the confirmed things that I’m super excited for to change with Heart of Thorns!
Q: Has it changed since you started playing? If so, how?
A: My game mode preferences have changed numerous times. One might say I tend to go through phases. Mid-early game I got really hooked on WvW, and played that extensively. Though now a days, I only return for the WvW seasons (Which we don’t often get to see). Same goes for PvP, I had the Shark rank when the rank changes were introduced and was immediately promoted to Dragon, which really left me with little to no incentive to play PvP for some time. Though, currently on the sideline, I’m working towards my last set of Glorious armor before the launch of Heart of Thorns!
Q: What do you think of the current Meta, do you think this will change?
A: I sure hope so! Zerker meta is great fun, but sinister gear could become even more versatile and engaging to play with! (could). Either way I don’t want Anet to push for something completely far out of the very niche trinity of damage/support/control that I enjoy so much in the combat system of Guild Wars.
Q: What is your opinion on the lore of the game?
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve always been a huge fan of the lore behind the universe of Guild Wars. One of the reasons why the game world feel so living to me, is the fact that so much stuff has happened in this world. Hundreds, if not thousands of years of history, that we may or may not ever get a glimpse at, but that we know has taken place. An ancient battlefield, a crumbling wall, a “radioactive” reactor - all these things and more is what keeps me interested in the story, and how it will unfold.
Q: Is there a place, theme or person you would want new content to include?
A: I have a thing for caves, mountains and dark forests. Spotting a cave entrance in the ground, seeing the darkness that lurks inside really sparks that adventurous spirit in me: “Uhh what could be down there? Treasure? Monsters?”. Guild Wars 2 don’t really have many cave systems, endlessly high mountains, or deep dark forests. Though I really hope we may soon come to see some dark caves, and jungle areas in the Maguuma Jungle. The mountain part, might have to wait till we go further north into the shiverpeaks. One can hope.
Q: How did you get started with the community, what inspired you to get involved?
A: I started quite early on, on the official forums. Just hanging around, searching for builds and stuff, and quite often I came across lore discussions, which I got hugely engaged in quite fast. I remember back during the Queen’s Jubilee I had all these crackpot theories as to what could actually happen. That was a fun time. Some people found my comments interesting, and so I guess I sort of wanted to expand on that, because I really enjoy talking and discussing passionate subjects with people who have a similar passion.
Q: Why did you choose your particular format [youtube/twitch/blogs ect]?
A: I started YouTube because it was a format that I was already somewhat comfortable with at the time. Previously I had started a more personal channel (that I’m not sharing, haha), with a buddy of mine, which didn’t at all revolve around gaming. I love making videos in general, I have had loads of different video project going on ever since I was in 6th grade I believe. And so for me to use YouTube for my current Gw2 addiction, seemed like a very natural step.
Q: What content do you create? Anything of note coming up soon?
A: At the moment I’m mostly focused on my weekly video series called “Hype Time!” which is all about my thoughts about the current state and/or changes to Guild Wars 2; as well as a newer bi weekly series called “Tyrian Characterology”, where I investigate the background stories of some of the characters around the world of Tyria - at the moment I’m halfway through the B-iconic group. Apart from those I have a whole bunch of upcoming smaller videos, which take up way larger production time. One of which is already in late pre-production and will see the light of day very! That video is an extension of a video I did earlier, that I know a lot of people wanted more of.
Q: How much does the audience and community influence your production/creations?
A: I do my best to read and listen to every little comment I get - I want to show, tell, talk, and discuss about the most interesting things at that specific time, not simply clutter up peoples subscription box with stuff that a lot of them may consider to be meaningless. I think it’s really important to be able to take in constructive criticism and sense the mood of an audience. In essence I really do love the interaction I have with my subscribers as well as the community, they keep me on the right tracks.
Q: Do you have any advice for people wanting to follow in your footsteps?
A: I once read a quote by John Irving, famous author, who said that “If you are lucky enough to find a way of life you love, you have to find the courage to live it.” It’s something I regularly tell myself whenever I’m in doubt. If it seems worth it to you: Jump.
Q: What type of games do you play for your own enjoyment?
A: Honestly, Guild Wars 2 is the only game I actually play - or at least the only game I set aside time to play. There are loads of games that I’m excited for, that I’ll most likely just end up watching the cinematics or playthroughs for on youtube, while I play Gw2 on my other monitor. Hahah.
Q: Who else would you recommend in the GW2 community?
A: I think the Guild Wars 2 community has soooo many great personalities that cover so many aspects of the game and the ambiance of the community itself. But if I were to select one out of the bunch of talented creators, writers, streamers, etc. I may have to go with a guy who, to me, seemed like he came out of the blue with one of the most innovative ways of portraying the world of Tyria: through science! Here I’m of course referring to MightyTeapot.
Q: Who is your favourite youtuber/streamer [non gw2]?
A: I’ll probably have to say Rhett and Link, they cheer me up every day with their show “Good Mythical Morning”. Hilarious guys really!
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