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July 2016 Members of the Month

Tue Jul 05, 2016 10:35 pm



Mo' months mo' interviews - even if we're a little late due to some hiccups in communication. Buckle up buckaroos, here are your July 2016 MOTM interviews featuring Swift and Cinco.

How and when did you find the site?

Swift: Well I was one of those who find the Wheelmen through what is known as the "Bungie Rush". An old member of the Wheelmen, LouieBlack, was featured on the front page as one of the average joe interviews. So I figured "Oh cool,I like driving people around and have fun driving friends around so I will check this site out." Needless to say everything was hectic and there were a million and one new members on the site. This is also why I don't have an introduction thread because there was one made for the large influx of members from the Bungie rush and I just posted in that one.
Fun fact: I joined 3 days before Sarge and look at where I am and he is now!

Cinco: I typed warzone strategy into youtube and somewhere legundo's video came up in the list and I watched it. Originally I was annoyed because it didn't have any strategy really just had some general statements I already knew. He mentioned HWM in that video saying "with this strategy it's not a matter of if we will win a warzone match it's a matter of when".
I then sought out the site and watched most of the strategy videos, hog starts and read all the guides before I even joined the site.
Once I joined I added as many people as I could and muffin was the first one to get me into games.


What got you into Halo?

Swift: I was a playstation kid growing up. Never owned an N64 or any other of Nintendo's consoles or any of Sega's, so when it came to video games I was a late starter. I played on my friends and cousins consoles for a while before finally getting a PS1. Whilst playing on my PS1 and eventually PS2 after that came out I remember hearing about the Xbox and eventually playing with some of my friends who owned the console. My first real experience of Halo was playing it in a store and playing the level Halo. The big thing for me was hearing and reading about xbox live because not a lot of friends of mine actually played games or to the extent I had. So hearing about Live and Halo made me get an xbox and from there on I would play splitscreen Halo. Funny thing is I never actually completed Halo until like a decade later. I got stuck on the second to last mission(?) and I just didn't go back and finish it after hearing how it ended and instead just moved on to other games. I finally completed it when MCC came out.

Cinco: This is a long hurtful story. The first good xbox live enabled multi-player game was mech assault. I got that a week or two behind my friends because I was a poor college kid. I played multi player with them for like a week and they all bought wolfenstein. I felt so betrayed. I refused to buy wolfenstein to play with them, and decided to just master mech assault. When Halo 2 came out it brought our real life friend group back gaming together and we formed the wootang clan. (one our 3 founder's last name was Woo)


What's your preferred playstyle?

Swift: The one that fits "He's either very brave, or very stupid." I am a very aggressive player which is unfortunate for me because I don't have the skills to back up that play style which leads to me dying very, very often. However if I can sneak around and avoid a frontal fight then that's what I'm best at doing. Often enough I shield swap or team shot with people and will be the one to die or I may charge into an area full of 6 people. I also often force 1v1s even though I shouldn't which I generally inevitabley lose. However with the addition of Warzone and more objective play (which I have always preferred over slaying) I now find I can be more useful and turn my aggressive play into stealing enemy bosses/flanking enemy armouries. Also I play supportive roles so even when I'm being aggressive it's generally with the idea of making the fight/current goal easier for my teammates for example running scout hogs or gungeese as a distraction or causing a little mayhem on their side of the map to draw some aggro.

Cinco: Vehicle driver/pilot. In my pre-hwm group I was top two driver of warthogs in my friend group. I was the preferred wraith and scorpion driver, and on most maps with a banshee I'd be either getting ours or timing the respawn and stealing the other team's.
If I can't be in a vehicle, my play style is a lot like that of a containment player. Hold an area and team shot people in transition. I don't care much about if I'm getting the kills or the assists as long as they are dying.


Where did your gamertag come from?

Swift: When I first made my gamertag I wanted to just be Strider because I was a big Lord of the Rings fan and Aragorn is a beast, of course that was taken so it then came up with a whole list of other suggestions to add in front of my name and I figured Swift is a good way of describing a ranger. You know like swift strikes/movements so I went with Swift Strider. Then after being with the Wheelmen for like 7 years and becoming Blue a gamertag change was on the horizon. Needless to say I was hesitant as I had the same gamertag for over a decade and it had be a constant in my life I could always rely on. Struggling with depression, anxiety and a general sense of who I am and what I want to be my gamertag/alias was always something that was constant in my life so changing it was a hard thing for me. I won't lie I felt horrible the first few weeks afterwards and I occasionally see it and have a mini anxiety attack again where I just feel nauseous xD But it's a change I am growing accustomed too.

Cinco: Cinco was a nickname that was given to me by a 6'6 500lb man at work around the time the original xbox came out. I'm Richard Saunders the 5th, and that's where the nickname came from. I had the original "Cinco" on xbl but didn't renew it because I had a 3 month xbl free card and was college poor, that's why when I first came on here it was CLNCO.


Any favorite Halo memories?

Swift: Mannnnn my memory is horrible. I have plenty of Halo clips and pictures of games where we had full Wheelmen lobbies and would play custom BTB games against one another. I remember one particular hilarious game on Avalanche where at one point we had hogs from both sides of the team try to go through keyhole which ended up being a 3 car pile up with regens and power drains and upside down hogs. It was glorious. There have been a number of really clutch plays pulled off either against each other or others is really close nit games. Hilarious comical moments too and more recently Warzone has provided many of these. I do remember this one time there was a BTB clan match going and someone had to leave/got disconnected for the final match which was on Standoff I believe, and I was substituted in for the final match. Now I remember this, but we all know how fickle memory can be so this might not have even happened...

Cinco: 5. Halo 3 beta - this laser sequence the first time using it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spXRkH7eJkU apologies for the 1970's quality. basically the last one was a double kill through two guys pretty far from each other on valhalla. Halo 3 beta itself was the most excited I've even been about a beta and subsequent game release.
4. Halo 1 - Getting halo to work with some friends in ohio before the xbox changed to tcp from udp packets. You needed a computer with gamespy tunnel software to create a bridge to the other computer and then you could play multiplayer. It was the slowest most laggy BS in the world, however I felt incredibly accomplished getting it to work.
3. Halo 3 - Not favorite but memorable. In a 4v4 on standoff we went 50-1 by stealing the other teams warthog and hog killing them the entire game while I held the laser. I was the only death about 5 seconds before the end of the game.
2. Halo 2 - a 25 minute of so bomb contest on headlong before there was a time limit on single bomb assault. I kept creeping around watching radar to hide myself from their fields of view. Other team out slayed our team miserably but we won the game. So much happy.
1. Halo 2 - Being called a cheater in a flag game on waterworks. My team had a very elaborate strategy on waterworks ctf that included my flag catcher sneaking to the top of their base. When he signaled he was ready I would then crash the banshee i was flying into their stair well trapping them in their base. I'd get out, jump in and throw the flag to the catcher and he'd take it through portal. Well this specific attempt I jumped in to steal flag and while doing so I landed on a defender's head, pulled flag and jumped off his head back out of the base flag in hand. I heard him yell, "wtf, the flag just disappeared i'm reporting these cheaters".


What are your other favorite gaming series?

Swift: Oh boy... Gears Of War has always been one of my favourites, I made a bunch of friends on that (basically another community) that I occasionally play with on various other games. Same with the Rainbow Six/Ghost Recon series, I was part of a Clan for lots of those games and we would regularly meet up each year and go paintballing. Assassins Creed, lots of memories with Ilovecrepes, Mimemonkey and OnE ViZ. God there are probably loads I used to play but am forgetting about, I have always enjoyed the Final Fantasy series, Borderlands, Call of Duty up until Blops 2 where I decided no more with that franchise. I play alot of different games, both single player/story based and Multiplayer based which is why I always have a back log to get through and I have to find time to play different games with different people without sacrificing one or the other e.g. playing too much Halo and letting non completed games pile up/playing single player games and thus not playing Halo with the Wheelmen/playing other MP games other than Halo with other friends or sometimes Wheelmen like Overwatch. When you don't play much at the same time as the Wheelmen too (I only really get 2 days a week to do so), it especially looks like you're not playing much with the community.

And then more recent games like Evolve (I adore this game) Titanfall, Overwatch, LoL.

Cinco: I'd don't buy/play lots of games for two reasons
1. I don't have a lot of time to play, so the ones I get I try to really master as much as I can so I can be competitive.
2. I look at each game at the unit cost per entertainment hour. Play a $60 game for only 6 hours? well that's about the same value as 3 two hour movies. I average about 3 games a year at most.
I also don't play campaign mode for fps games. I just want to get to vanquishing real people.
Madden - most of you know this but for those that don't I used to be a very strong and competitive madden player. I've been playing madden since 1992 or so. I'm a football coach at heart and just love the strategy behind madden.
NHL - Ice hockey is probably my favorite sport to play, and I've been playing NHL since around 1992 also. Better series than madden, but madden is supremely popular
forza - I love cars and racing games. I have a full gaming seat (playseats evolution frame) that I use when I play forza. I even made my daughter (then 7yrs old) a racing rig for xbox 360.
Mortal Kombat - played all versions countless hours at the arcade
Tecmo bowl 1 & 2 are my two favorite games of all time.


What is your favorite food?

Swift: Fish n' Chips! Nah probably Chinese takeaway. I do love a good pizza though and it's nice that it's abundant everywhere just like Italian restaurants, but boooooy oh boyyyy I can murder a good plate or two of Chinese. I also just love the whole idea of getting multiple dishes and sharing and then having some left over for the next day. It's a bit like when I go visit family in Spain and we all have tapas.

Cinco: Taylor ham on a poppy bagel. Only Paragon and MC might know what taylor ham is because they only have it in NJ. It's other name is porkroll.
Other than that I'd say there's a tie between Indian(beef boti kabob, chicken malai, tandoori shrimp) and Japanese hibachi (filet mignon dinner, double noodles, shrimp well done, fried rice, no vegetables). <- paragon order this at Izumi


Tell us something about yourself that we might not know!

Swift: uhhh... hmmm... You know what I've been meaning to make a thread about this and I just keep procrastinating about it so I will put it here even though most of you all know. I suffer from depression and social anxiety (it is self diagnosed but that's because I can't bring myself to go to a doctor and it's pretty apparrant xD) and I don't have a bad life or anything I can really complain about, there are people much worse off than me, but it definitely effects me and my mental state. Ever since joining the Wheelmen website I have had a constant group of people I could play games with and made some of the closest friends I could have, so much so I have met some of them multiple times. Whenever things have got particularly bad or I just have had a hard time dealing the Wheelmen have been a coping mechanism for me. You have all been a support group that I have been able to confide in, trust, and just chill with and I can honestly say my mental state would be in a much worse position if I didn't have you guys here for me. Sure as with any community there are a few that don't help (I mean there are a lot of us now) but for those that do I couldn't be thankful enough. Whether it's kind words or actions, or general support of the community you guys make me feel not worthless and like I mean something, that there is some worth to the things I do and the connections I make. There are people that care about me here and that I care about in turn that I have known for years, or even some of the newer members who have quickly become some of my favourite people in life and I couldn't ask for anything more. When you join an online community you don't expect to make such deep connections the the point of where people become family to you but that's what happened to me so I just want to say thank you.

Like I said this was meant to be a post which I have been thinking about but just haven't put together, I maybe still will so I can explain things better, but at least this way new members can see just what you can get out of being in a community like the Wheelmen. This community truly has been a safe haven for me not just online but with the struggles I have in my real life too and as much as the games help, it's the community here that has helped the most.

Cinco: I used to be pre-med and have a biology degree even though I'm currently a Senior Director in IT.
I taught high school pyshics and chemistry for 6 months before getting into IT. During that stint I was asked to the prom by 3 different girls, I didn't go. My first day of teaching, a girl thought I was a student and was flirting with me my whole way to home room (I didn't pick up on the flirting until after). She was incredibly embarassed when I took out the keys to the homeroom and unlocked the door. We're still friends today.
Most of you know I coach sports (football, basketball, ice hockey, tennis), what you might not know is I've been doing that so long the first kids I ever coached are now 33 years old!
I have a secret ambiton to be a motivational speaker. I actually have content and am working with a friend of mine in talent management and branding to see how I can make this a reality in my extremely small amount of free time.
I'm an animal lover. I have 3 dogs and 2 cats. One of my dogs is a frisbee dog.
I'm obsessed with learning about the concept of extending my own life span. I did my senior seminar in biology on anti aging and the limitations of human DNA on living forever. I want to live long enough to live forever.
I was on a rifle marksman team at the age of 12.
I was on the high school physics competion team under the agreement with the teacher that by doing so I wouldn't have to do any homework the entire year.
I can still dunk a real basketball on a regulation rim


Any advice for newer members of the community?

Swift: Just... it's hard depending on what kind of person you are, but if you are kind, open minded and have a good moral center just open up to those around you. Sign up to events and don't be afraid to say what's on your mind, if you're not inclined on talking much then stay logged into the site and talk in the shoutbox until you're comfortable. Honestly we are a good bunch here and as long as you show us you're a good person you have nothing to worry about, the only way we state like this is by making sure we don't let any bad apples in. You don't have to worry being judged about your skill, it's personality over skill here and if you want to improve yourself as a gamer that's what we are here for. As much as winning and strategising is fun, at it's core it's the personalities of people in community that drive it forward, because at the end of the day those are what carry over onto other games and real life, not your individual skill at one particular game.

Plus... have you seen Brick fire a BR??? I mean I know he owns the site and all but we still keep him around :wave:

Cinco: Add me. Chat and post often and be genuine. Take and absorb feedback well even if you think it's wrong. Read the guides and strategy threads, watch the youtube videos(especially the fail ones). Subscribe to twitter (for you Mauro).


Shoutouts! Who do you guys want to shoutout?

Swift: Oh boy... maybe I should have put that big thank you to the community in here eh? Anyone who has ever sent me a message on any platform asking if I am ok or if something is wrong or ever shown any interest in my personal well being (which is almost all of you) thank you for caring <3
Thank you to all the admins for all the hard work you do and to Sarge for being such a pillar of our community.

Lars, Yellow, thank you for the messages and kind words and advice you sent me when I was getting down, it really helped.

Jazzy, Muffin, Criporc and Timmy thank you for always helping me be a better player and all the wisdom you two have bestowed upon me and any and all training you guys are awesome.

And just... ugh the hilarity and comic relief so many of you give me, DuckE, Hel Monkey, Witney, Waldebie, Kobe, Mecha, Biggles, Tom, Jon, Panda and his brother, MC and his brother, Mime, BK, NinjaKitty, Oboe... just so many of you.

Then of course all the retired Wheelmen I had so much fun with back in the day, there are so many I won't list them but boy, OG Helljumpers, Team Euro members, everyone and anyone who has ever represented the wheelmen in a good way or done something for the sake of the community, training camps, events, new member lobbies, casual lobbies, sweaty lobbies, strategy/tactic threads, media threads, graphic designs, videos. It's because of all the content and activities that we are still here and than you two DuckE and Jon for all their hard work with the site and thank you to Brick, for sticking by and always providing a safe place for us, for a home for all the Wheelmen.

Then Also thank you to anyone who as ever got onto my gungoose or into my hog, you people are all troopers for dying so much <3 This community is awesome thanks!

Oh and thank you to Luv Gunn and Ilovecrepes for letting me stay at theirs!

Cinco: Muffin for getting me into my first games and which in turn made me ask him be my sponsor and him accepting the role as my sponsor.
Jimmyjam and Imoutofbullets for being the last men standing from our original crew. (still trying to work on china27)
Sarge for taking me aside early in my hwm experience and showing me some techniques to instantly make me a better driver.
Jazzy for helping me with OBS questions
Swift for helping me with youtube stuff
The entire community for embracing my presence so strongly in such a short period of time. It's nice to be part of the team/community/halo family.


Tims: That'll do it for this month's set of interviews. Huge thanks to Swift and Cinco for sharing with us and congrats again. If anyone else wants to take a crack at being MOTM, step up and get involved! That way I can send you the questions and you can answer them two weeks late ( <3 Swift). We'll be back next month with a new pair of members, until then keep on hogging .
::hog::
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Swift Strider
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Tue Jul 05, 2016 11:36 pm

Hey you worded it weirdly in the message so I thought I had the end of July! GODDAMNIT GRASS!
 
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Monster
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 6:22 am

Of course Cinco can dunk.
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 7:57 am

Monster wrote:
Of course Cinco can dunk.

Apparently there's nothing he can't do...
I do not sponsor recruits for clan status
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 8:01 am

Monster wrote:
Of course Cinco can dunk.

http://i.imgur.com/5yabCOJh.jpg
A rare picture of me dunking and having glasses on (I had lasik a few years ago
[redacted]
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 8:02 am

Jazzy wrote:
Monster wrote:
Of course Cinco can dunk.

Apparently there's nothing he can't do...
things I can't do is an extremely long list, just no one else knows that list but me :)
[redacted]
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 9:53 am

thanks for the BR skillz shoutout....
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THIS SHOULDN'T BE HERE

I'M A LEGEND IN MY SPARE TIME
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 9:58 am

Good read, gents. Much <3
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 12:37 pm

brickfungus wrote:
thanks for the BR skillz shoutout....

<3 ::glomp::
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 2:12 pm

While Swift is the more sensitive guy working in the background on Videos and stuff and overall cuteypie ( xD ), Cinco just got even more Boss with this Motm interview,no really I got big respect for him.love you guys.

good work Tims and that Swift took so long was ... I guess unlucky ? ;)
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 2:18 pm

CINCO wrote:
Monster wrote:
Of course Cinco can dunk.

http://i.imgur.com/5yabCOJh.jpg
A rare picture of me dunking and having glasses on (I had lasik a few years ago



If this picture gets out the Nets might sign you to a big deal the way NBA contracts are being thrown around these days.
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 5:31 pm

ImOutOfBullets wrote:
CINCO wrote:
Monster wrote:
Of course Cinco can dunk.

http://i.imgur.com/5yabCOJh.jpg
A rare picture of me dunking and having glasses on (I had lasik a few years ago



If this picture gets out the Nets might sign you to a big deal the way NBA contracts are being thrown around these days.

I'm to short and at 40 yrs old starting to become to slow as well
[redacted]
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 10:40 pm

Awesome reads!

Every time I read these, it makes me feel pretty good about our community here. We mean quite a lot to a lot of people. Thanks, Swiftface, for reminding us. <3

And Cinco, if only you were to put as much effort into halo as you do for RL. You're wasting your potential. You could be the best, if only you wanted to. In the end, we're your parents and we'll love you no matter what you choose to do.
When I grow up to be a Waterfall, I'm gonna wear a helmet.
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Wed Jul 06, 2016 11:13 pm

Gorillars wrote:
good work Tims and that Swift took so long was ... I guess unlucky ? ;)

Ok so he worded things weirdly in the PM and I thought it meant I had until the end of July to answer the questions so I figured I would wait until I was free to do it because I was busy with a convention and travel and flights and socialising and stuff.

But I finally got them done! I enjoyed reading Cinco's answers though, he's such an active guy and has done so much!
 
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Re: July 2016 Members of the Month

Thu Jul 07, 2016 9:04 am

Swift Strider wrote:
Gorillars wrote:
good work Tims and that Swift took so long was ... I guess unlucky ? ;)

Ok so he worded things weirdly in the PM and I thought it meant I had until the end of July to answer the questions so I figured I would wait until I was free to do it because I was busy with a convention and travel and flights and socialising and stuff.

But I finally got them done! I enjoyed reading Cinco's answers though, he's such an active guy and has done so much!

it's all good Swift, that wasn't meant as hit in your direction, it has an inside joke between me and Tims.

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