Welcome to the very first [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Forum/1913692]Community Spotlight[/url] interview, featuring [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Profile/254/5377922]ajw47[/url]! AJ was recommended to me by various people for being a positive and constructive member to Bungie.net. He has chosen to do a written interview, and through this interview hopefully you will learn a little bit more about him. Now without further ado, let's jump right into it. [b]Q: Ok! First question is simple enough. What brought you to Bungie.net?[/b] A: I came to b net by way of the Destiny Companion App. I had played some Halo 3 with friends of mine for quite a while but hadn't heard of b net. One of those friends mentioned that Bungie was developing a new game and that peaked my interest. I followed the latest news on this new game (Destiny), and when it was close to time to play the beta, downloaded the Companion App and joined b net. [b]Q: Excellent. Destiny definitely brought in a lot of new faces, glad to see you're still here! What was it about Bungie.net made you decide to stick around?[/b] A: Initially I was looking for people to play Destiny with. The first year I played mostly solo, but that became progressively harder and, of course, I couldn't raid. I joined the Community Carnage group and made some friends there and over time that pretty much snowballed into a big bunch of friends. Now, if the game disappeared, I'd still hang around to chat with the friends I've made. [b]Q: B.net has a way of keeping people here. Lots of forums to share content, and hospitable groups with great people to meet. What public forum do you find yourself frequenting the most?[/b] A: Well if someone looked at my activity they would probably think that I stayed in the Clans section of #Recruitment lol, admin duties take up much of my b net time. But I do browse the mains, from time to time, to see what catches my eye. I would say that it's a fairly even split between #Destiny and #Community as to where I'll be browsing. [b]Q: Fair enough. I spent a good deal of my time sticking to private groups. What do you think makes you stand out in the community?[/b] A: I'm not sure that I do stand out lol. I actively try to be nice and upbeat when posting, maybe people appreciate that? There's an old saying that "you catch more flies with honey than you do vinegar " it's true, though I don't know why someone would want to catch a bunch of flies. But it works with people too. [b]Q: I think that's a good way to go about things. A little bit of kindness can go a long way. Whats one of your favorite memories related to the Bungie community? This could be anything from a game night, to something crazy that went down in the forums.[/b] A: Oh wow, just one? Ok. There was the time that Deej pinned Charlemagne to the top of the Destiny forum for several weeks to answer any and all questions that people could throw at him. I decided to stop by every day and "bump" the thread despite his and others attempts to explain to me that a pinned thread did not require bumping to remain at the top of the forum (which I did know, but was doing it for comedic effect). Charlemagne and I have been friends ever since. Or I could tell you the story of how I found the truth behind how #sexy longhorn became a thing, but some b net secrets should be found not told. [b]Q: That's honestly pretty amusing. It's hard to choose one for sure, there's lots of shenanigans that go on around here. This next one's easy. Drink of choice?[/b] A: Water [b]Q: Good man. How about your favorite Bungie game? You had mentioned you played some Halo back in the day, how does it compare to Destiny for you?[/b] A: I have played more of Halo 3 than any of them, a bit of Combat Evolved and Reach. I have yet to play Halo 2, but I will get around to it. I still love Halo 3, running around with a shottie in the Pit or sniping on Valhalla. But Destiny is amazing, the movement is so fluid, it's fun to just move around in Destiny. And it's just plain beautiful. I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has found himself looking at the sky or standing at the shader kiosk for an hour. [b]Q: Oh for sure! Bungie really does a great job making their games look beautiful. I can certainly see how Destiny's player mobility is appealing as well. How about non-Bungie games? What else do you spend a lot of time playing?[/b] A: That would be Ark: Survival Evolved at the moment. Some of my clan mates in Dead Mans Hand would say that I spend too much time playing Ark and not enough playing Destiny. But it has dinosaurs that you can tame and ride! I have played and do play a lot of Destiny though. Did I mention that Ark has dinosaurs? [b]Q: From what I've seen, Ark is a pretty great game. I have some experience with a similar game called Rust on the PC. Games like that are sooo easy to sink time into. You mentioned you're in a clan called Dead Mans Hand. Could you tell me a little about the clan?[/b] A: Absolutely! Dead Mans Hand is a group that has been active on b net for about 6 years. We have 400 plus members from all over the globe, but the majority of us are in North America. We were originally an Xbox clan (Halo era) but now are pretty evenly split between PlayStation4 and XboxOne. Destiny is the game that we all have in common, but we play other games together as well. For instance, we are currently running a private, dedicated Ark: SE server for XboxOne. [b]Q: How did you come across Dead Mans Hand and what made you decide to call it home?[/b] A: I met a fellow b net user named Metni through the Community Carnage group, he was in the clan and encouraged me to join. What I found was a group of people that focus on fun and friendship, it was a perfect fit for me. [b]Q: It's those sort of groups that have kept me around all these years. What are some ways you like to spend your time outside of gaming and B.net?[/b] A: I spend a lot of time at work, wait, you said ways that I "like" to spend my time. I am an avid bass fisherman, and a decent golfer. I don't feel that I get to do either nearly enough, but I try. [b]Q: Ah, fishing is something I'd like to do more of. What's the largest bass you've caught?[/b] A: 9lbs 2oz, on a little 4" worm out of Lake Guntersville, AL. Fair warning though; if you think video games are expensive, don't start bass fishing. After buying a boat and truck, dozens of rods and reels, and an untold number of lures, I've calculated bass to cost in the neighborhood of 100$ per pound. Now that might be a slight exaggeration, but only slightly lol. [b]Q: Oh I believe it. Boats aren't cheap! I think it's safe to assume you're excited for Destiny 2?[/b] A: I'm so hyped for Destiny 2. It was a pleasure doing this, and I can't wait to see who you interview next. [b]Q: No problem! Thank you very much to agreeing to this interview! Any shout-outs you'd like to make?[/b] A: Sure! A big shout out to Dango, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. That concludes our first interview. AJ seems like a pretty stand-up guy if you ask me. Here's a link to our [url=https://discord.gg/fy28Qju]Discord[/url] server if you're interested in participating in the fun. Also, here's a link to [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Clan/Detail/13082]Dead Mans Hand[/url] if you're interested in checking out AJ's clan. Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this interview. I hope everyone enjoyed it and are looking forward to our next installments!