Real Life First Name: Christopher
Forum Handle: TheRockStar
Main Character Name: Tal'yn Sun
Server: FarStar
Player Association: Secks

Where in the real life world do you live? The People's Republic of Mancunia, England.

How long have you played Star Wars Galaxies? Just over 4 and a half years.

What other MMOs have you played? None, I never really understood the concept of an MMO. When my friends explained SWG to me, prior to its release, I didn't understand why you'd pay a monthly subscription to play a game - like - surely you'd complete it within a month anyways?

I haven't completed it yet!! But the amount of time involved in playing is incredible. People will remember back in the day just travelling across the galaxy could take up to an hour if you got unlucky with shuttleport timers. So I definitely have no time for another MMO, and short of there ever being a Galaxies 2 that I can transfer my character too, I don't think I'll be putting myself through another!

What type of work do you do? I've worked very hard earlier in life so that I can afford to not really work very hard now. So I try and do as little as possible! But I sing in a band, and keep myself amused with other things from time to time.

How long is your typical gaming session when playing Star Wars Galaxies? I tend to play for a least a couple of hours.

What does a typical Star Wars Galaxies day consist of for you? It can depend upon my mood. I seem to happen to wander into PvP when I log in. I just get drawn towards it! But I'm also working on the slayer collections; I'm a big badge collector and recently completed the 250 badges mark. Our guild runs heroics quite often so I like to help out when I can. I like helping people learn their way through things.

I also have a Munitions Trader that specializes in weapon crafting. I'm totally loving the new crafting system there!

What was the species and profession of your very first character? Tal'yn is Zabrak - my first Novice Professions were Scout and Medic. I went onto become Doctor / Teras Kasi artist. I enjoyed playing loads of professions back then, and unlocked Spy in the hologrind of 2004!

What got you into gaming and what sort of games do you like the most? I used to go around to my friend's house and normally four of us would be on the PlayStation or Xbox... I really loved Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City , but the subsequent titles seemed to be the same. I really suffer badly with OCD though so computer games are very, very bad for me. I try not to get involved with new ones if I can help it. I'm especially bad if there's a high score or something to beat. I stayed up way into the night one time beating all of my mate's lap times on Mario Kart! Evil game, evil!!

What other hobbies or activities do you take part in, other than playing Star Wars Galaxies? I love snow boarding, rock climbing, and football; I'm a decent standard at all three. I also do a little salsa and capoeira - you might want to search YouTube for Tony Jaa on what that involves!

What is your highest character level in Star Wars Galaxies? CL 90. But since the NGE, I could never be bothered leveling up my unlocked slot, Ariella, so that character was CL 70 odd for almost two years. Then I decided to level her up for heroics, and actually leveled her inside heroics. I got my 5-piece General Set (Officer) before I hit CL 90 I think! Only took about two weeks, I was surprised. Took me a heck of a lot long to get that jewelry as a spy... you get a lot more "need Officer for EK" and you do of "need spy for...<anything>"

What species and profession is your main character? When presented with the choices, I thought - ooh Zabrak - I bet nobody else will choose that, it's like, there's only ever been 1 in the Star Wars films that I know of, and he was a mean dude... I'll be so bad ass!

So Tal'yn is that ever-so-rare-to-come-across species of Zabrak, Ariella is Zabrak, TRS (my crafter) is Human. He used to be called Uncle-Owen, as a sort of parody to the comment "nobody wants to play Uncle Owen" that some players might remember. But his name got nerfed. :(

What do you like the most about the profession you have chosen for your main character? What I like most about Tal'yn.... I've had many funky hair styles in real life, but Tal'yn has the haircut I've not yet dared to try! I remember leveling Image Designer purely to give myself that haircut.

As regards the profession, spy is just so much fun for PvP. During the CU, I was Jedi but I got bored of it as so many others had become Jedi. So I respec'ed to bounty hunter but kept Force Cloak, and hunted my marks from cloak. Spy was the natural choice in the NGE!

What faction is your main character? Imperial. Incidentally I don't have a single Rebel badge on that character either, in spite of being a badge collector. It just seems wrong to have a mixture of Imperial and Rebel badges.

What is your favorite player owned ship? Secks Machine , my TIE Advanced, is such an awesome ship and a great challenge to equip. I also have a soft spot for the Kihraxz. I became an Ace for the second time a couple of years back in that ship, but learning how to do it with such a tiny ship really was how I learned Pilot.

I just finished decorating my Imperial Gunship - submitted it for the Homeshow so maybe people will get to see it - if not, look me up on FarStar - one of the most eye-catching decorations on board is the miniature chess set, I'm yet to see another one out there. :)

What is your favorite ground vehicle? I'd have to say Jetpack, as it was crafted by the enigma wrapped inside funk that is DGF!

How did you choose your main character's name? It's kind of a rip-off really. My favorite all time sci-fi show is FarScape, and there was a character called Aeryn Sun (who incidentally was pretty hawt). Anyways her father was called Talyn and they named a ship after her father as well. I added the apostrophe to be more like a Star Wars-y name. :D

Which current professions in Star Wars Galaxies have you NOT played? I've not played commando since the NGE, and being a spy, I've never really felt I've been able to participate in Beast Master as we're so reliant on our own expertise to be viable in most game play situations. So when the time comes that I'm sick of waiting for spies to get a little love, I'll probably try out a commando/BM combo.

What is your favorite expansion? I'd have to say Jump to Lightspeed. It took me a long, long time to get into JTL, but once you take the time to learn about ship components, it's the most amazing system. In many ways it's a shame you can't just pick it up and play it - this puts off so many people - but I wouldn't change the system of components for the world. The customization of ships is brilliant. That expansion also brought loads of new emotes -- about time we got something like that again!

With Kashyyyk and Mustafar, I've rarely had time to return to the planets since completing the content.

What is your favorite planet? Dathomir. I've often got a bounty on my head and I spent a lot of time on Dathomir completing the slayer collections there. Bounty hunters would often swoop in, dismount, and then a load of rancors would load in around them and do half my job for me.

What is your favorite NPC? "Emo," who spawned at one of the Dantooine starports if memory serves me correctly.

What are the most credits you have ever spent on purchasing a single item for one of your characters? I remember back in the pre-CU days, there was a weapon that had a mind DoT that was so weak, that even the character with the lowest mind regeneration would regenerate the mind pool faster than the DoT could hurt it. It was put up for trade as a joke, and many players ended up bidding loads of credits. It ran into the millions which was a heck of a lot back then!

Generally I don't like buying stuff, I prefer to figure out how to earn it, or acquire it through some wheeling and dealing.

Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so what is it and why do you keep it? Still got some TK, Doctor and Pikeman outfits, still got my old Lightsabers somewhere, and a pile of useless SEAs.

What do you like best about Star Wars Galaxies? The community, no doubt about it - our guild, Secks is such a great laugh and full of amazing people, and also the spy community is compiled of awesome people.

Describe your best experience playing Star Wars Galaxies. I think one of my best achievements was defeating seven players from one of FarStar's best ever guilds ( OM ) in one swift maneuver. The fact that I was grouped, driving them across Mustafar on the desert skiff, and accidentally stored the vehicle over some lava...well... let's not go into that...

As for best experience, it's a tough call in so many years of playing. Taking out 3 bounty hunters at once for the first time was awesome, getting to meet some of the faces behind the players and go for a few beers with them has been great, and getting to know the hottest girl in Illinois , Lissna, has also been fantastic.

I've had such a wild ride really and I'm so lucky to have met such wonderful friends, especially DGF, Snoken, Lioen and SpaceDoggy. :)