Interview Week (Ian Stormstaff)

 

Welcome to Interview week with Well Known Wizards/ Pirates in the Spiral! This week we'll have 5 people that will be interviewed on Atswel and you can learn more about them. On the 5th day we'll have one last interview, I can't tell you who you'll have to guess :) Only I know and the person answering the questions of course! Okay lets start the Interview with well known Ian Stormstaff!

Me: Hello Ian! Could you tell everyone about yourself before we start the interview?

Ian: Sure! I am a 3 year Wizard101 Player, Active Pirate101 Beta Participant, and Wizard101 Blogger for a little over a year. You've probably seen me on Twitter, as I have over 11 thousand tweets under my belt :P

Me: Lets first talk about the funny segment called Wizard101 Ramblers with Jordan Sunflame, when did you come up with this idea and how is it so great?!

Ian: Ramblers started by a random DM from Jordan on Twitter. He'd been in the community I'd guess about a month and I'd never really talked to him much. But he asked if I wanted to start a podcast. My first thought was "My voice.... on the Internet.... PASS." But somehow he conned me into it and we began planning. Our first show was in late February this year I believe. It was crazy hectic and I hope we've gotten better since then. We're approaching our 9th episode Wednesday so we're almost double digits! I would hazard what makes it so fun is the unique perspective, us being teenagers, as well as the constant rain of off topic subjects, keeping our listeners on our toes. You never know what's going to come out of our mouths... (Always P.G. 13 stuff of course :D)

Me: Wizard101 Ramblers isn't the only great thing you have, there's also Wizards Unite, Could you tell everyone about this great Fansite? :)

Ian: WU is my entry project in the Community and my most successful endeavor. I started out out in the Community on DOAW Connect X and talked my blog up on there. Then I joined Twitter on July 14th (I remember because it was the night of the HP 7 pt. 2 premiere) and very soon after I started I started building followers. I tweeted about my site and started getting readers. WU was mostly small until about three months ago. I gave the site a makeover after feeling it wasn't very inviting. WU went from a blog to a full fledged site with guides and more. Steadily it's built up and gained views and members. Everyday I am blown away by WU's success, as well as the community's acceptance and enjoyment of it. It's been around the block and had no staff, full staff, back to no staff, and now its over a year old! I look forward to seeing what else comes from it. 

Me: The other day on Twitter, you said you weren't famous, why would you say that, I think you are!

Ian: The term Fame is a double edged sword for me as I know from past experiences power can corrupt me; but I say I am not famous for the simple fact I do not feel famous. Yes, Wizards scream Hello when I walk in a room, Yes I have a heavy amount of followers a lot of people daydream of having (I promise you I'm just as amazed by the number) and people like me; but to me it feels like a HUGE family! I walk in and feel like I'm with a huge group of friends enjoying a wonderful game. If I really am famous (I'm not) then its news to me! :P

Me: (Ian that's a great response! :) Lets say you're well known!) Okay enough with silly questions.. Do you have any secrets you would like to share with us about the future of Wizard101 Ramblers and Wizards Unite?

Ian: There are no silly questions :) Secrets.... Secrets.... Well. I can make no promises about Ramblers as it is just a joint effort; but WU is always cooking something up. After this last string of Hogwarts contests I'm going to start working on a highly interactive site for the next Hogwarts set (February 2013- March 2013). This site will be the main event for a huge contest. Other than that I can promise more features on the site as my interwebs expands. I'm looking forward to seeing what crazy stuff I can come up with. And If WU ever becomes official, lets just say the contests will blow your mind...

Me: Are you planning on submitting your sites to Pirate101 & Wizard101 for Official Status?

Ian: I submitted WU for P101 official the day it opened and got an email back from friendly saying WU was 99% Wizard 1% Pirate and he was 100% right. I had thrown together a new header with P101 Characters and opened some new forum categories but my heart wasn't in it. I have formally submitted WU once to W101 and was immediately rejected because I used my personal email and not my custom domain address. My own mistake. I am waiting and hoping they clear my form so I can have another go. I have no anger with KI for either rejection because I don't want to do this for fame or prizes, I am here because I love Wizard101  and its AMAZING community. I don't think WU will resubmit for P101 as I have a stronger attachment to Wizard101, and its WU's focus. There will still be P101 content on there, as its a very blogable topic :P

Me: Now lets talk about Pirate101, What did you think of Pirate101 when you first had a chance to play/test it?

Ian: When I received my Beta Key my brain shut down. I couldn't believe that I actually had one. Once I'd gotten in and installed the launcher I sat down and braced myself. It loaded the game and the intro shot melted my senses. From there it was immediate action, I was dumped into an Armanda Ship to make my character, and battled my way out. This game has NO slow points. You are always battling and moving. This game also has a lot more Strategy than Wizard101 does and you have to pay much more attention to battling. No more blind car picking! All in All I am blown away by every bit of P101: The art, the story, character build, SHIPS; its beautiful and I can't wait to share the game with you once it goes live! (Hopefully very soon!) (Yes very soon!! October 15th!)

Me: To Conclude this interview, Do you have any advice to anyone that is planning on making a site?

Ian: Don't give up. Ever. And be yourself. I have been attacked online, and told my site will never be official, banned from a site or two, and more. But nothing has killed my aspiration to blog and contribute. EVERY site is original and AMAZING, don't ever count yourself out of anything. Ever. If you need help I will be there and so will everyone else in this community.


Thank you SO much for this Interview Ed!


Me: Wow, thank you! The last question I asked you was answered great. I'm so sorry you've been told that, I'm sorry to say this but... They ARE wrong. I'm telling you that one day one of your sites will be official! You are a great member of this community and this is why I chose you for this interview. I really am glad you accepted :) And you're welcome! :)