Featured Contributor
Keeping with our tradition, the Founders Circle and Regional Storytellers are proud to introduce the Featured Contributor for the month of September 2013, Evalin! Evalin is a veteran player who has been around for some time now. She has contributed to many things, both IC and OOC. She is on the front line when it comes to Summoning magic, and is also a storyteller as well. Let's all give a big thanks to Evalin, and congratulate her as this month's Featured Contributor! |
The Interview
1. Well lets ask the question everybody likes to hear. What are your role playing roots? What got you into role playing?
So I saw this questioned, and I literally laughed because my roleplaying roots are NOT impressive at all. In fact I have probably been RPing a lot less than most people who come to this site. My roots start back to only about four years ago on an RP server in WoW known as Wyrmrest Accord. I was so nervous about it that I almost backed out, but I had a wonderful person helping me at the time and she showed me the ropes on how to get into my character and really tell their story. My character's name was Lassandra, and she was a simple Librarian to start but very quickly her story escalated to epic proportions. I am embarrassed to say that she became a bit more fantastic than she really should have in such a short time haha. After a time I joined several roleplay guilds of all kinds, including some involving bloodelf house feuds which I found AMAZINGLY fun to play out. I have always had a flair for the intricacies of politics and house affairs, and I especially love the roles of master and servants. I played the role of the supporter more often than not, and I loved every second. I even ran a few guilds myself, but eventually I could not afford to play any longer and I had to quit. Thus that lead me to search the web for a new form of RP, because I was hooked. Guess what I found? Mizahar!! Yep! No more than two weeks after I logged off WoW for the last time I was registering for this very site. I have not looked back since.
So to answer your questions, about 80% of my roleplay experience TRULY comes from right here on Mizahar. I came in as a real and complete novice two years ago, and since that time I have been working hard to improve my writing and story telling abilities. Before Mizahar I never showed my writing to anyone, and so it was a big leap for me to start putting my voice out there for everyone to read. Those of you who know of my very first character Iliana are sure to notice a huge change in my style of writing as time went on, and I like to think I have changed for the better 
2. You contribute to the site both under the name Evalin, and with your storyteller account in Sahova. What would you say is the biggest difference between your contributions as Evalin versus your work as Mirage?
I've never actually thought about it, separating my contributions between Evalin and Mirage. To be honest I always think of them as one and the same, neither one more or less important than the other. If I HAD to say something though I suppose it would be the simple fact that as Evalin I contribute as a player, and as Mirage I contribute as an ST.
Lol really obvious I know, but I cannot really think of a better way to describe it. As Evalin I contribute in ways that other players can contribute. I answer questions, I offer advice and guidance, and do some work in the world development forums. I tend to focus a lot more on my story however, and usually helping others as Evalin in a way helps to contribute to my own growing story since I often invite them to take part in Evalin's plots. Also, as Evalin I feel I connect to other players on a more personal level, because as a player someone will not take my word as law and just do what I say. So as Evalin I find myself often offering more advice and answering more questions in the Q&A forum because I do not have to worry about the added weight of my green name influencing the other person's future RP. I usually answer questions and give advice from my own perspective, and so I do not want to inadvertently change a person's entire story just because they think they HAVE to do what I say. So as Evalin I usually do a lot more contributing on the Q&A forum, and advising newer players ^.^ (well those not coming to Sahova at least lol)
As Mirage I tend to stick around my own Domain of Sahova, so my contributions usually entail creating NPC's, locations, modded threads and of course lots of fun plots lol. When i wear my green name I feel that my words carry a lot more weight, the burden of authority, and so I generally try to only answer questions that I know are fully supported by the lore, and leave my own opinionated answers to Mirage for the reason above. I also try to focus my efforts on players coming specifically to Sahova, where as with Evalin I have a much broader focus. When I am contributing as an ST I also tend to focus a lot more on the players needs, and very little on my own story. If a player wants a cool lab to apprentice in I make it. If they want a dangerous monster to fight I whip one up, and if they want to advance in rank I give them the opportunity! So as Mirage I feel my contributions are more those that will provide the necessities for OTHERS to tell their stories.
I do not really separate the two sides of my contributing coin, since in the end it is still me doing the contributing lol. Whether I am Evalin, or Mirage, I try to give something useful back to the site that has taken me in and made me a part of its grand universe. In the Q&A forum, in the World Development forum, Staff Lounge or my own domain of Sahova, I always ask myself what can I do to help Mizahar grow. As Evalin I help the site grow by helping other players grow and learn, especially those who are new to the site, and as Mirage I grow and expand my own city so that it can stand proud next to the other awesome domains out there. At the very least I hope I can leave a stamp on Mizahar, and pave the way for the next person to come along and start building on the foundations that I lay down 
3. What would you say has been your greatest contribution to Mizahar, the one thing you are the most proud of?
My greatest contribution...? Well to be honest I have never thought of it that way. Each and every one of the things I give to the site hold equal importance to me, especially those as Mirage, because I know they will go on to be used by others in the future. If I had to choose though I would probably say Sahova's internal structure was what I was MOST proud of. What I am talking about cannot really be seen on the outside, and honestly most players wont ever notice it. When I first came to Sahova I read through all of the notes the previous DS left for me, and a few of them noted a few processes in Sahova which were overly complicated, or needed revamping. There was 1 in particular that I discovered was the most troubling and difficult to work with. How players got INTO the city.
New players coming to the city was, at the beginning, a really long and very taxing process on both players and the mod in charge. It required no less than THREE moderated threads for each individual player before they even set foot in the door. They had to be moderated and let through the Harbor one by one, then they had to travel up to the TAR and find out where they would be assigned to apprentice, and FINALLY they would get a modded thread for meeting their new master and the lab they would work in. Many cities have a system where players can visit a location and request a job, resulting usually in a moderated thread of the player acquiring said job, or just getting a little sign off from the mod that they could start work. Well in Sahova it was like every single player who every wanted to get into the city had to go through a long and formal job hunting process before they could even begin posting in the forum. Unlike other cities though I had to include a moderated thread where they met with their masters, because usually I had to create a brand new lab and NPC master for them as well. After they had done the moderated thread with me they were given permission to self mod that NPC from then on, and they could finally post in the forum. In general the entire process from start to finish took about 4 days (at my fastest) and sometimes getting to almost 2 weeks before a player was officially in the city. As you can imagine this dissuaded a lot of players from even trying to come to Sahova. That is why this summer I came up with a brand new method of player entry into the city. Now they can post in the Harbor an entry post, like most cities do, can bypass the TAR completely and can come and visit Sahova as just that, a visitor! This makes it a lot easier for me, and players, because as a Visitor characters can come and go as they place, but as you can imagine visitors do not have access to all of Sahova's goodies. If players want to become an apprentice they now undergo a Judgement which consists of a single solo on one of the set Judgement days, and they turn it into me to grade. I jump in, give them their judgement and if they pass THEN I give them ONE modded thread where they meet their new master and BAM they are in. During this time players can go on and make threads and post in Sahova, meet other players, go explore and have adventures even before they are given a yes or a no to their judgement.
4. If there was anything you could change about Mizahar, anything at all, what would it be?
This is a question a lot of people have asked me before, and my answer is the same as then. I am happy with everything in Mizahar. Right now it is a steadily growing, heavy story driven, awesomely huge RP site with thousands of people coming and going over the years. If it ain't broke don't fix it, as the saying goes haha.
5. Tell us about a day in the life of the player of Evalin. How to you begin? How do you pick and choose what and where to write? Any other interesting hobbies that compete for your time on Mizahar?
I wish I could say there is a magical method to my writing, or that I have a very organized system for getting things done. I would be lying if I said I did haha. I am very good at making plans, not so good at following my own. So in generally I fly by the seat of my pants and take the day as it presents itself. I usually wake up, go into my lab where I do fun science stuff, and write a post or two if I feel like it. Then its off to work for the rest of the day and then home where I either post some more or I just sit in chat and dream lol. I do have a pretty active life outside of mizahar. Like I said I work in a lab as well as my regular job which usually keeps me busy from 9 AM to 10 PM. On my days off I usually try to spend it with my significant other as much as possible, and if the chance comes and people ask me to hang out 9/10 I take them up on it. I am afraid there is no real structure to it all, and I just get it all done as I get the time to.
Now how I choose who to write for is an interesting question, because really I never know WHO I will be feeling like writing for at the time. I generally go through swings where I will be hugely inspired to do things as Mirage, and then the pendulum will swing to one of my PC's, and then back to Mirage, and then to another PC and so on and so forth. I have noticed though that while the PC's I am feeling inspired to write for change, I am almost always in the mood for something on Mirage. So when it comes down to it, I look at what needs to be done more urgently. Generally I will make sure I post for all of my modded threads first, and once that is done then I will look at doing some posting for my PC. Something about being able to create and guide a city is very intoxicating, and I admit I am rather addicted lol.
6. If you were a vegetable, what vegetable would you be and why?
Definitely a Sea Cucumber. Haha I sort of remember the joke, but it has been a while. My second pick would probably be a couch potato, because then I could become a french fry and learn a second language 
7. The last question was an inside joke that you might not even remember, so I'll ask a real question now. What advice can you give to others who wish to contribute to the site?
Advice to other contributes huh? I would say don't be afraid to think outside of the box. Be unique, be creative, and be YOU. For everything you create make sure you are creating and contributing something that has a piece of you attached. Its great to make things everyone else wants and needs, like I said before, but always always ALWAYS make sure you put your own mark on it. Make it yours, truly yours, and make it how you see it and not how other people see it.
My second piece of advice is to take criticism well. Your going to have really stupid ideas sometimes, and someone somewhere is going to point out how stupid. Take it with grace and learn from it, and keep those lessons in mind so that you can pass them on to the next in line. You cannot always have perfect ideas, and every plan can have holes poked in it. So just do your best, and learn from the constructive criticism that is bound to come your way. In fact encourage questions about your work, because often it takes another person's point of view for you to see your own error. I personally want to thank Twister for a recent event that showed me that I am not always right when it comes to development XD
Finally my third piece of advice is this: No does not mean a person doesn't like you, or is prejudice against you. No just means your idea was not plausible for whatever reason. If you are told no then don't get mad and rant and rave about how unfair it is. Instead go back and reexamine your ideas and plans, and maybe you will see what they see. Worst comes to worse its OK to start over and build it from the ground up. The word "no" is not a blocked path, its a detour on your road to creativity.
Oh I lied, one last bit of advice. Before you offer to contribute, in whatever way, make sure you have the time to do so. Do not make promises you cannot keep, and always be a man or woman of your word. That is a lesson I learned myself in real life, so I would like to pass it on to someone else as well
8. I've seen your name in many parts of the forum, from World Development to Introductions, Q&A to the staff lounge under Mirage. All of these contributed to us choosing you as Featured Contributor. What is your favorite way to contribute to the site?
Simple. My favorite way to contribute is as Mirage and in my own city of Sahova. I cannot tell you the thrill it gives me to create plots and stories, to watch players grow and succeed, and to make lots of cool locations and NPC's. I love my time as a moderator, I love every second of it. I say I love a lot in this interview, but I really do mean it. Mizahar is where I come to let my imagination loose, and Sahova gives me the freedom to do just that.
9. As the resident expert on everything Sahova, what advice do you have to new players, pulser or Nuit, coming to Sahova?
DON'T BE SCARED!! I have heard every excuse in the book not to come to Sahova. "I'm not a nuit", "I don't want to die", "I don't want to be tortured or made a test subject", "I don't want to starve/try to survive", "I don't like magic", ect ect. My question to everyone who says these things is "why not?" Seriously why does that keep you from coming to Sahova? The danger is a big part of what makes the city unique. It thrives on magic, and monsters roam about. Starvation is a problem, living test subjects, slavery and torture all happen on Sahova. Its just a fact, and while I can understand why you may now want your character to ever be harmed, why would you fear the possibility? Life in Mizahar is dangerous. You could die of disease, stabbed in the back in the street (in some cities), mauled by a mutated bunny on your travels. The only difference between the rest of Mizahar and Sahova is that Sahova highlights its dangers as an attraction. Danger, the possibility of death, all of this is nothing to be afraid of, but what it IS is the chance for huge character development and change. A character who faces a life threatening situation and lives becomes stronger for it. Sahova IS death trap. Only the foolish or ignorant go there, but it offers so much more than doom and gloom.
Sahova is the last reminiscent of Alahea, steeped in magic and old promises. For every danger it has its own wonders as well. For nuits I advice you all to be sure you love what you do when magic is involved, because in Sahova you will be doing a lot with magic. For living players I give the following advice: Do not be afraid of danger and the possibility of death, embrace it. Yes you shouldn't be stupid and stick your head in the mouth of a mutated lion-pig thing, but then if you live a life of security you end up with a pretty boring story. Take a chance, risk your life and throw yourself into the fire. You might just discover you, and your character, are a lot stronger than you thought.
10. What's next on the to do list? Anything exciting coming up in the near future?
This is a very touchy question, because I have many things in the works right now as Evalin AND Mirage haha. For Mirage lets just say that there will be some very big events coming in the near future, and some may bring with them some interesting changes. For Evalin she is settling down a bit, opening a business to dish out misfortune for those who pay a high enough price. You know, living the simple life.
Look to the future, because I have only just begun to shake the world 
11. Any last words from the Immortal Witch?
The floor is mine? Lol where to start. I suppose I will take a moment to thank someone very special, and without whom Eva never would have existed. In fact Mirage might not have either. I would like to thank Fallacy/Rayage who helped me and guided me from day one. He was my DS when I was an AS in Alvadas, and he was the first person to every thread with Evalin. He has been a huge help to me, and a gigantic source of inspiration for a lot of my contributions to the site. Without his pokes and prods I would never have gotten to where I am now, and I sincerely thank him for everything. |
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by Eida on September 3rd, 2013, 7:39 pm 
