Nexus Q&A Jelan took the time to do an IRC interview a well known NSI community member, Nexus. He is a moderator for the NSI message boards and had an easter egg within Redemption. Jelan: How did you first start playing vampire? Nexus: An American friend of mine brought some of the source books over and I looked them over, they were well written and presented a very different and interesting perspective than the simple good guy / monsters routine that some games seem to encourage. I had a look at all the aspects of the rules and created some characters and liked it a lot. Jelan: And, how did you first find out about Redemption? Nexus: I used to read quite a lot of gaming magazines, especially those bought by other people for the games on them. When I noticed a computer game based on a system that I knew about, more importantly a roleplaying game that encouraged roleplaying, I was instantly interested. Jelan: How did you end up being a revered board mod? Nexus: Well, like most of the board mods, I go back a fair way on the boards. At the start the boards were so small community wise that we didn't need anyone but Trail, when people started reading preview pieces and seeing concept art in magazines more came and Freaky and Banshee were both drafted. Around the time of the release there were a lot of new people coming to the boards, and not all of them were there to be happy or contribute, and some were annoyed about something or other thta they couldn't sort out. When I realized how much work Banshee and Ferret were doing I offered myself up in a momentary lack of sanity that probably had something to do with Banshee's eyebrow. I was reading almost everything that went through the boards anyway at the time. By the time my sanity returned I was on a power trip :) Jelan: How long do you spend on the boards every day? Nexus: At the moment, it doesn't take long to breeze though them. People are running out of things they want to discuss, especially about the game system etc. Most people that the mods are there to deal with can't be bothered with trying to stir something up in that environment. Back in the early days it could take several hours to go though all the posts, and it was far more necessary. Jelan: Are you a goth? Nexus: Nope. The FBI and NSA are interested in me for completely separate reasons. Jelan: In what ways do you think Nihilistic failed with Vampire? Nexus: Well, it seemed like they picked completely different target audiences with the single player and multiplayer parts. I really wasn't interested in much of the fighting in the single player, and I would have loved if they'd put a little non-linearity in there with multiple solutions and the one you chose having an effect. I suppose that the choice to have the conversations in audio contributed to that because they wouldn't have been able to fit longer ones on without another CD. It's always easy to look back critically though. Jelan: In what ways do you think they excelled? Nexus: They really listened to what people thought and wanted, they talked to us regularly on IRC and posted on the forums. When people asked for things they tried to supply them, which really sets them apart from most of the other companies out there. I'm really interested in what they're doing next because I'm so certain that they'll have taken on board what people said and try to improve those areas. No matter what people say, I still think that they provided a groundbreaking product in redemption, even if it got some bad press. Jelan: How long do you plan to stay active in the community? Nexus: I'm not sure at the moment, I certainly want to know what Nihilistic are doing now and I expect it to be very exciting, so I may be around for a while. Jelan: What's your favorite mod out for redemption? Nexus: I've not actually played any mods, I've been busy with too much else, but as far as I hear there's some very good work out there. Jelan: What's your favorite non White Wolf vampire book, your favorite White Wolf vampire book, and why? Nexus: I can't say I've read many vampire books at all, they're quite difficult to get in England (White Wolf books), so I can't browse and read at any local book stores - that really put a cramp on my spending habits in that area. Jelan: What is your favorite clan? Nexus: That’s a really difficult question because I enjoy playing any character with depth, and the clan is just part of the personality you put in. Either that or I'm one of those people who can't make up their minds on things like this. Jelan: Any ideas on Nihilistic's next project? Nexus: Actually no, they're very tight lipped and don't let us mods in on any more than anybody else. Either they're wise to our 'chemically altered' pop tarts scheme or they're incredibly digestively tolerant to truth serum. Jelan: What would you like to see Nihilistic do next? Nexus: I'd love to hear that they'd taken vampire and altered it in line with what people were asking for in terms of greater roleplaying in the single player and other features etc. with a completely new story and even more power for the ST. I'd also be quite happy if they gave me a black Mercedes with a white nihilistic logo spray painted on the front. Jelan: What's your favorite video game other than vampire and why? Nexus: Counterstrike has been eating huge amounts of my time recently, so I'd probably have to go with that. I'm in a bit of a rut with games at the moment because I tend to go off things quite quickly, and there's been a bit of a slump in things I'd want to buy recently as things have slipped back to the Christmas / spring deadlines. I'm keen to see Black and White and Halo to name only 2 promising games out there. Jelan: What do you do when you're not doing vampire things? Nexus: Technically, I spend most of my time trying to take over the world and save myself from the counter machinations of Ferret and Banshee (although perhaps that counts as a vampire thing). Somehow I also manage to fit 3d Art, programming a 3d Battletech rules conversion (very early stages), and a joint honors masters degree in there too, and a lot of sleep during daylight hours (I swear that's not a vampire thing!). Jelan: What's your favorite vampire movie? Nexus: No idea, I'm really not that vampirey. Other than the roleplaying game, I like the Crimson comics (which have a similar vampire does not imply evil thing going) again; they're almost impossible to get in the UK. I can only think of 4 vampire movies at the moment, Nosferatu, which I've never seen, The Little Vampire, ditto (shudder), The Lost Boys, can't remember any of it, and Interview with the Vampire, again, never seen. My wandering favoritism really doesn't do much for answers to these sorts of questions. Jelan: So, Nexus, what's the best Vampire: Redemption Website out there? Nexus: I can't say I read any of them at the moment, so I really can't answer.