Who are you, what do you do and why are you here.

Gods you are all so young......

I'm Chris, 57, with two kids out at work though still at home who are the same age as some of you. Oh and dogs, many, many dogs sometimes as I foster them / train them for a local branch of a shelter charity.

I was a stockbroker / investment banker but walked on that (just before the crash as it happens) and now freelance, these days mostly as an expert witness in civil and criminal court cases that are rooted in my old world. I was in the reserves in the UK (rifleman for life) for 14 years, and was lucky enough *cough* to be deployed several times, as well as doing two stints on secondment from my bank with UN deployments. Left me with an abiding dislike of being shot at - it lacks all charm.

Gaming wise I go back to table top wargaming with models as a teenager, which led me to an interest in computers, that for me started out with a Tandy TRS80 and then via Commodore 64s and and Amiga (an amazing piece of kit and software for its time IMHO) and then into PCs. I have spent far too much of my life on games, at least according to my domestic management, its the MMOs she particularly resents as at times the raid schedule in WoW was more like work than the real thing! MWOs have also given me a lasting dislike and outright intolerance of guild / clan / unit drama (gamers are an anarchic lot anyway, the internet seems to make that worse) making me frequently the grumpiest as well as the oldest unti member - and don't you dare sit in my favourite chair by the fire!

Favourite games, hmm well Planescape Torment, Arcanum, most of the Fallout series, WoW, & Pillars of Eternity nowadays. I got to MWO via a real liking for the Mechwarrior games on the PC, though I only came late to MWO as for some reason I missed its development / launch completely.

I'm now off to spread pulse laser love across the universe.........

 

Great post old man.... Nice to know I'm not the oldest man on here.

Cheers

 

Ivan
Also go by Van, easier to say properly.
Living in New York for many years, New York raised, 36 years old now. Telecommunications/security design engineer, with a passion for swimming, skiing, camping, music festivals (just being active really).

My tag you can find in many games and comes from counterstrike days, when i would charge up with a P90 or MP5. Back in the day had an Atari 2600 (river raid, pitfall, a few others), then DX2 with a turbo button and played Golden Axe, AlterBeast, Space Quest IV, the first Mechwarrior on it. We would get together with my friends at my place or theirs and both play and try to game Mechwarrior and other games. I've played i think all of the Battletech/Mechwarrior games that came out on the PC. I've read all of the old Battletech books that i could get my hands on from the 4th Succession war period (i think i'm missing the 2nd and 3rd Grey Death Legion books, but that's it). I'm really glad I found Mechspecs, the community, the builds, the critique...

I really spend more time playing MWO than anything else right now (that premium time and those sales), been trying to finish Skyrim and Fallout New Vegas though... one of these days.

Good to meet you all!

 

Good posts on here, good to meet you all.

 

Andy.

I'm 45 years old and live in Columbia, Maryland. I'm a Materials Engineer (keep plugging away Gneckes31 - it's a fun degree) and work for the Department of Energy developing fuel and poison systems for nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers. Like many engineers my job doesn't give me enough creative outlets so I do a lot of home improvements and repairs - got into decorative concrete (countertops, tables, etc) a few years ago and have gotten pretty good at it. Concrete makes a great white elephant gift, by the way.

I started gaming back in the days of D&D and tabletop Battletech. My first computer game was Zork on my buddy's TI-80 (I think) and I've been hooked ever since. I played MW1 and that final battle is one of my best computer gaming memories. I'm in a Battlemaster with all weapons destroyed but one ML that I'm desperately shooting at the final enemy's leg while he pounds at my chest with his small lasers. Victory was mine and it was sweet. I must have been out of the loop and missed MW2/3/4 but after a heart attack at 42 (don't ask- the cardiologist has no idea where the big blood clot came from) I found reference to MWO somewhere and got signed up. I've got 50+ mechbays now and most are filled. I found mechspecs when I was trying to figure out why I sucked so bad. Mechspecs has helped a bunch although I'm still pretty mediocre. Everquest had a negative effect on my marriage so I had to quit those big time sink MMO-type games. MWO is great because you can get in and out of game in 15 minutes.

Like to ride and work on mountain bikes, played football in college and play soccer now. Can't dance for crap - probably why I'm not that good at MWO. Travel as much as possible - recently to Shanghai and Istanbul. My daughter plays ice hockey, soccer, the harp, cello, piano and bells. My son is the center and captain of his football team and plays cello (as does my wife). The boy has started playing MWO and you may see him in a match as LittleDiamondCreeper. If you do - dual gauss to the head, please. He needs it and it's funny to see him get all riled up.

It's nice of you guys to share some of your real life - I knew MWO were generally older than most online gamers but this non-representative group is even older than I thought.