How do you feel you have been influential to the expansion of RGC and its events?
I am really excited to be helping out with the RGC. I love games, and I think it is great that I can use my skills to help further the goals of the RGC.
Tell us, when did this "gaming" take over your life? Or has it?
Well I don’t know if it has “taken over my life”, but it is definitely a major part of my recreational life. I have been gaming for as long as I remember. It started with board games with the family when I was pretty young. We had the usual games around; Chutes and Ladders, Monopoly, Sorry and such. I became very interested in fantasy and science fiction, so games like Dragon Strike and such started being played by my brothers and I. Once I got into high school, I met others who played CCGs like Magic and Star Wars, RPGs like D&D, miniatures like Warhammer and Euro board games like Settlers of Catan. This is when gaming really took off for me. I played CCGs almost every day over lunch time at school. I had a regular gaming group for D&D. There were a few different Warhammer armies around for me to battle and then I started introducing my family to the interesting Euro games I would pick up. I started going to Gen Con around this time as well, which helped me find many more fun an interesting games, as well as play at very competitive levels. When Decipher lost the Star Wars license, I started playing Lord of the Rings TCG as my main competitive game and was able to place 16th at the World Championships in 2005. Anyway, that turned into more of a history of my gaming than anything else.
How were you first introduced to the whole concept of gaming outside of a computer or a console system, when did you first learn about Role Playing Games, Collectable Card Games, or anything that you play.
I guess I kind of covered that in my above history of gaming, but I have pretty much been exposed to all types of gaming at some point in my life by some great individuals, and I am really happy to have had all of those experiences.
Has gaming been a good experience as a whole for you? Have you met many interesting people or seen interesting places?
Gaming has been a great experience for me overall. I have met people from all over the world through gaming. It is amazing how I have met people from across the globe to right down the street a ways all because of this hobby. Gen Con every year is an amazing interesting place to be. I am going to keep going as long as I can. I have been going for 6 years now I believe, and I just don’t want it to stop.
How does your family react to your daily or weekly Gaming escapades?
They mostly support it. My parents and siblings all enjoy games as well. My wife is a bit more reluctant with the games, but she is willing to try every game at least once, and there are many that she enjoys as well. She is also very understanding of my hobby and allows me to take over the house with my geekiness for Heroscape and other gaming nights.
What would the 'ultimate gaming store' be in your mind?
It needs to have a ton of room to play games and a huge selection. Knowledgeable friendly staff would be nice to see as well.
You are stranded on a desert island with a small group of people, what 3 games help you relieve the boredom?
Well definitely the number one game would have to be Heroscape. There are just so many options you can have with it, and if you start to get bored, you can think up some other cool scenarios to try for a while. I think Puerto Rico would be another one, for when I wanted a bit of a brain burner. My other would be Carcassonne.
You suddenly find yourself a lottery winner, what do you use the money for? Do you stop working?
Well I guess it depends on how much the lottery is for, but assuming it is a good amount. I would first pay off all my bills. I would then open up a sort of youth club where kids could come play games from a large library. I would also open a dog park in Austin and support some other charities. The rest would be invested so I could retire well, but I would continue working.
What is your all time favorite game? If you play multiple types of games, you can list a favorite for each category.
Miniature game – Heroscape
CCG – Star Wars CCG (Decipher)
Euro Game – Carcassonne
Card Game – San Juan
RPG – D&D 2nd Edition
What game(s) do you want to play but have not yet?
Thurn and Taxis, Battleground Fantasy Warfare, Tiki Mountain and like a whole slew of others. Those were just the first ones I thought of.
Is there a particular game or games you do not care for?
Most of the traditional board games and party games that are on the market are pretty lacking, but there are a few good ones here and there.
What is your favorite movie?
Hard to pick just one here, so I will list a few. Lord of the Rings Trilogy, original Star Wars trilogy, Braveheart and Boondock Saints.
What is your favorite type of music?
I really listen to all kinds of music. I think that pretty much every genre has something that is worth listening too. I think my all time favorite band is Barenaked Ladies. They have really evolved over their career, but every CD still has throw backs to their original stylings, and in concert they are wonderful crowd pleasers.
What are some of your favorite books/authors?
JRR Tolkien, Frank Herbert, Dean Koontz and Dan Brown.
Can you give us your favorite gaming story?
It is hard to pick just one, but we had a pretty amusing incident occur the other night when playing Heroscape that happens to be on my mind right now. Rali and I were assaulting a castle that Luke was defending with Raelin, Major Q9, two sets of knights and Sir Hawthorne. Major Q9 was doing a pretty good job mowing down the sieging army, but some of the knights were being picked off the ramparts by ranged figures in the sieging army, so Luke decided to move them back. He started by bonding with Hawthorne, and when Hawthorne takes a turn at the end of it you must roll the D20 to see if you roll a one. If you do, Sir Hawthorne stabs you in the back and you must give control of him to one of your opponents. Well on Luke’s very first turn of the very first time he ever played with Sir Hawthorne, he rolls a one and is stuck with an infiltrator that is in his well defended castle, and to add insult to injury, he is also in the way of where Luke wanted to move his knights.
What hobbies do you have outside of gaming?
I like to hang out with my wife Kate and play with my dog Sprocket. I also like to play Disc Golf and computer games. I like to paint miniatures and do other creative things. Reading and watching movies occupy another fair amount of my time. I also like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen cooking and baking and in the summer I like to hit the grill and smoker pretty hard.