Greetings! I go by the name Hayoo
on the Emerald server of Planetside and I would like to welcome
you to my website. I'm a member of the New Conglomerate faction
and a proud member of the outfit, Drunken Lunch Corp.
Just for some quick background, I grew up
in Florida and went to college in North Carolina, graduating with
a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art (computer graphics) and Creative
Writing. Since then I have returned to Florida (specifically Orlando)
where I've furthered my career as a graphic artist. I have worked
for places such as Nickelodeon, Disney, Siemens, Harcourt
Publishers, and JHT, Inc.
History of Online Gameplay
My first MMOG (massively multiplayer online
game) character was on Dark
Age of Camelot as Heyyou There of Hibernia on the Lancelot
server. I started playing 10 days after its release, thoroughly
enjoying this new gaming experience. I was a part of several guilds
till joining Valor where I stayed until it disbanded. I then helped
start my first guild The
Foundation. After reaching level 30, I realized my entire existance
would be killing creatures till level 50 just so I could join the
Realm Wars. During that time my guild started fading due to the
balance changes and level gaps. Because I was a casual gamer, all
my friends soon surpassed me and I could no longer play with them.
So I decided to move on to greener pastures.
Earth
and Beyond was released and I decided to pick it up because,
hey it was space!, and it offered a different way of leveling up.
While I enjoyed my time there as well, reaching level 50 or so,
I was struck by the same realization that I would be killing critters
in space for my entire existance. Don't get me wrong, the environment
was supurb, the voice-talking NPCs a real treat, the special effects
exciting, the stories intriguing, but it was missing something that
I couldn't put my finger on. Then along came Planetside.
Planetside
I first heard about Planetside
when it was going through Beta. I browsed the images, raised a couple
eyebrows, and bookmarked the sites. When it released I hesitated
(after all, twice-bitten, thrice shy) and I waited till early July
before picking it up. I have never regretted that decision. This
was a game that was completely different than what I had experienced
before. It had all the elements I could want: Futuristic setting,
First person action, military social structures, real-time strategic
thinking, mountable vehicles, flying aircraft...I could go on and
on. I was also fascinated by the story behind the game and my brain
buzzed, like I know many others did, with the future possibilities
of such a world.
Other MMOs
Since picking up Planetside, I have played Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, and EVE Online. While I have not stayed long with these, my experiences with them have helped me quite a bit in my hobby. I even dabbled in coming up with my own type of MMO, called Spaceflight Online, as well as designs for an MMORTS game.
Currently I am in Beta Test for Lord of the Rings Online and am starting up a sister idealab site called Visionsofthering.com.
Planetside Idea Lab
My inspiration for this site comes from three
main sources:
1) Planetside itself. That's obvious. How isn't
this game inspiring? =)
2) Reference books for all things contemporary,
historical, and imaginary. Chief of these books being from those
wonderful guys at DK Publishers. You know them as the ones who did
Incredible
Cross-Sections, Worlds
of Star Wars, Star
Wars Visual Dictionaries, Secret
World of James Bond, and countless educational books; and also
the various tech and field manuals for Star
Trek , Robetech,
and Battletech.
3) Military books. You know the kinds I'm
talking about: Military
planes and tanks, military
maneuvers and tactics, military
history, military
uniforms, military
strategy, military
maps, military
fiction, and sci-fi military fiction like Rick Shelley's fantastic
Until
Relieved trilogy (which I highly recommend to anyone playing
Planetside).
Combining those two styles of presenting
information, I hoped to create a graphics-oriented site that provides
current and future game concepts and info in a fun, exciting, and
educational manner. This site is all about the visuals and expanding
on the game lore, so I hope you visit often to see what is new in
the world of Planetside.
In its second year, Idealab has become more of an archive of ideas than a frequently updated fansite. The reason for this is the shear amount of timeless material involved. There is little need to update the concept sections except with new graphics. In time I hope to finish the game info sections that illustrate the weapons and gameplay already on the servers, but since everyone already knows about these, there has been less of a need to crank them out quickly. Time will tell.
In the meantime, enjoy the site, and keep on gaming.
Hayoo
mcdowalj@hotmail.com
