Masterchef Application, Attempt 1

[Masterchef 0]

Out-Of-Character:

Minecraft Account Name: Sterns14

Did you attend minecon and sign up at the LOTC booth?: No, and thus no.

How old are you?: 14, very nearly 15.

Time-Zone/Country of Residence: Central Standard Time, USA.

Do you have a good grip on the English language/good grammar?: Yes, I do.

Small 2-3 Sentence Description of yourself: I am a big video game nerd, currently in his Freshman year of High School. I am generally a good student, getting an A- average in most classes. Currently I am becoming increasingly interested in Retro Gaming, and often wonder how irritated my friends get when I simply won’t shut up about how awesome the Megaman X series is. I like to think myself hardworking and responsible, although one’s view of oneself is almost never fully accurate. I do know, though, that I normally make use of a very dry, sarcastic sense of humor, and love ironic or literalist humor. I can be quite shy in new communities, and will often spend days simple studying them before introducing myself (most recent example being right here). However, I will usually slowly grow used to and more active in a community over time.

How much time could you be on the server weekly?: My schedule is highly variable, but I believe that 7-10 hours per week would be a decent estimation.

What do you know about Roleplaying? Give a definition of what it means to you.: Roleplaying, at least for me, is essentially when I create and then slip into a fictional character and become a part of an ongoing, usually open-ended or even never-ending, story.

In your own Words, describe what Metagaming and Powergaming are. Metagaming is when one begins to blend In-Character knowledge with Out-of-Character knowledge, and takes advantage of things that the Character should not know about. Powergaming, or “Godmodding” as I have better come to know it as, is when a person takes complete control of a roleplay situation and does not allow any enemies to even have a real chance at victory. For example:

Player 1: *Punches at gut, then attempts an uppercut

Player 2: *Blocks punches, then stabs player one through the heart, loots him, and goes on his way

A more reasonable action for player 2 would be to thrust his knife at player 1 (giving player 1 the chance to dodge or block) and then loot him and be on his way when, or more pertinently IF, he wins the fight.

What do you expect this server will be like?: I expect that this server, while compatible with a “settle down and farm” lifestyle, will encourage traveling or adventure. I anticipate many adventures to be had, and eagerly await large battles between denizens of a city and the beasts that will, inevitably, attempt to overrun them.

What other server(s) have you played on and why did you leave them?: I have participated in one other, smaller, server with two of my friends and would by now have joined several others, had technical difficulties not complicated things. I do not actually intend to leave any of these servers, but the one I have managed to join so far is so rarely online that almost all my time on Minecraft will be spent here anyways.

Have you read, understood, and agreed to the rules?: I have.

How did you hear about us?: I was linked here by a member of another community. This community is called The Chaos Theatre, and they specialize in Top 10 countdowns and play-throughs of video games. Likewise, I respect their opinion when they say that a game (or in this case a server) is worth at least looking at.

Have you voted for the Lord of the Craft on Minestatus? Which vote number were you? I have not voted, but I intend to eventually.

What is your The Lord Of Craft forum account name?: Masterchef.

In-Character:

Character Name: Walter Sturns.

What is your Race?: Human.

Biography(This should include the history of your character and his life as well as age, appearance and personality, etc.): Walter Sturns by no means lived a normal life. For starters, and perhaps for everything else too, his parents were both very, very paranoid merchants. Scared of being forced into a war, or of being prone to the flaws the spotlight would inevitably point out, or of breaking family tradition, or scared of any of a myriad of other things, they never stayed in one place, never kept the same names, and never let their work get traced back to them. It was only with great effort that Walter managed to train his parents to respond to the names of William and Mera, for as far as the family tree could show, not one of his family ever even had a set name (it can only be speculated just how this family managed to find mates to continue the bloodline. It may perhaps have been through inbreeding, or perhaps through a second family of similar camera-shy beings, or even through a simple induction of other paranoid souls wherever they might have been encountered).

All his life the family traveled, and as a result of their secretive nature his family often became the go-to suppliers for assassins and other shady types who didn’t want anything to be traced to them. These scary-looking men and women, generally bearing scars or other deformities, repulsed Walter, and he pledged from a young age that whatever he did when he grew up, it certainly wouldn’t be any of that. Walter’s family would often use the small or unnoticeable in terms of shelter, so it should probably be of no surprise that Walter became an architecture enthusiast, spending spare time building or recreating magnificent castles and forts in miniature using clay and whatever gold he could sneak under his parents’ noses.

When Walter reached the age of 16, the time had come to pack up from Aegis. Careful to stay hidden in the crowds and each taking different ships so as not to draw attention, the family moved on to Asulon. They met up together at the Sanctuary, and Walter’s parents decided it was time to take the great wealth they acquired through their travels (for many a shady character was willing to pay extra for the safety that came with untraceable suppliers) and set up a house in some obscure town that was carefully observed and eventually decided to fall under the category of “places no one’s heard of.”

At this, however, Walter had had enough. Enough dreaming, enough wishing, enough hoping; a life of adventure and renown was the one for him, and Walter Sturns was not about to turn down anything that resembled an opportunity. He made his wish clear to his parents, and while they disproved of his decision, they respected it. Unlike many of the parents of many of the denizens of the realm, it seems, Walter’s parents are still alive somewhere, albeit not on the best terms with him. Once or twice a year, they promise send a letter, and once or twice a year Walter expects to read about how life is great in the country and how terrible it is to be an adventurer these days and how his parents are still waiting for him to come crawling back. His only regret, however, is that he still does not know the family secrets. How does the bloodline continue? What are his parents so scared of? To this day, he does not know.

While adventuring and purposefully “throwing himself out there” would be difficult to adjust to, there were perks that came with being sheltered from all his life. For one thing, there was nary a book that would not wave passed through the Sturns’ hands, and Walter had no shortage of spare time to read them. He became literate and knowledgeable on a wide variety of subjects. He also gained quite a knack for trade, and learned an especially large amount regarding architecture and redstone contraptions. However, while some things like mining or smithing or farming can be easily conveyed through books, there are some things only hard experience can offer. Beyond that fact that the sharp end generally goes toward and into an opponent, Walter knows nearly nothing about swordplay or archery. When encountering more than one simple monster at a time, Walter often simply decides to flee rather than fight.

Walter is generally a helpful soul, and while he himself cannot fight effectively, he is always willing to provide support to allies in the form of food, spare armor pieces, weaponry, or whatever indirect help he can find. He can be somewhat vain about his intellect. While a challenge of strength he will always turn down or even run from if need be, he has never been able to resist a battle of wit. As well, a lack of a social life has left him a bit starved for friends and short on social knowledge. As a result, he is very trusting and somewhat gullible. While he would barely ever willingly perform an evil deed, he is relatively easy to manipulate into unwittingly performing one.

He stands at an even 6 feet tall, has indigo eyes, dark brown hair, and tan skin.

Your characters ambitions: Walter’s greatest desire is popularity and fame. Fortune is nice, and friends and adventure and whatnot are probably important, but renown is what he is starved for, and so renown is his goal. If he is asked to build something, his first priority is to ensure he shall have credit for it, payment being a secondary objective in most cases. He counts himself lucky to have left his family during the relatively early days of this new “Asulon” land, as early land means a lack of structures, and a lack of structures means a need for architects - a need he intends to fill, preferably singlehandedly although there will always be competitors.

 

Out in the Wilds, your character comes across a small cottage. Outside, there appears to be an elf struggling combat with two bandits. What does your character do?

 

Walter quickly crouches down and begins to sneak around behind the bandits, plotting out, step-by-step, his attack. He could probably manage in one surprise blow before the bandits could react, so where does he place it? From some anatomy books, he knows that the base of the spine is a good place to attack, as it renders most targets incapacitated yet still alive (he has no desire to kill another sentient being when he doesn’t have to). After that, either the elf would assist him, which spells victory through overwhelming numbers, or the elf would flee, in which case he too would run and escape as the bandit would most likely make his fallen companion first priority. Victory through escape.

Seeing no downside, Walter sprints forward and, as expected, brings down the first bandit with a single stab to the back. The other bandit, now realizing he’s outnumbered, steps back from the elf and adopts a defensive stance. With that, the elf runs off, and the bandit decides to give chase. Oops, Walter didn’t anticipate that. Following behind the bandit as best he can, he eventually comes to a stop behind a bush as the bandit comes to a halt. Taking advantage of the opportunity and surprise, Walter manages to apply one cut across the bandit’s chest before the bandit can turn around and block his next attack. The elf comes back now, and decides to end things once and for all. The elf stabs the bandit through the heart, then steps back, clearly a bit shocked at all the events.

“You saved me.” The elf says, still a little in shock. “How can I ever repay you? What’s your name?”

The reply is, “I am Walter Sturns, and no payment is necessary.”

With that, he walks off into the forest back towards his original destination, in the hopes that he might get a little credit as some sort of vigilante hero from any tales the elf might tell.

Your character walks up to a shop in a quiet market. "Hello, my good sir!" says the shop owner. "What may I help you with today?" How does your character answer?

Walter responds, “I’m in the market for some wheat seeds, and possibly some ores. Do you have both?”

“Yes. That’s quite the peculiar combination of items, are you perhaps a merchant yourself?”

“No, I simple dabble in many subjects.”

“Ah. Which kind of ore would you like? Gold or iron?”

“Just some simple iron.”

“Very well, that will be [amount] minas, I’ll go get your items.”

Walter counts up the money as the shopkeeper moves toward the back of the shop to look for items. He notices, however, that the keeper was making some very familiar motions, motions which Walter recognized from his own parents. The shopkeeper had something he was trying to hide.

“What is it back there you’re so careful to keep hidden?”

“Excuse me? I don’t know what you mean.”

“I know that behavior. Dodging certain crates, carefully choosing which to open and which not to. So I ask again, what have you that you wish to keep secret?”

The shopkeeper readjusts his position, revealing the slight glint of a sword under his robes and the hand ready to grab it. “I have no idea what you mean.”

Walter takes the hint, pays for his items, and leaves, deciding it wasn’t worth it to cause a ruckus, that there were many possible explanations for the shopkeeper’s behavior, and most importantly that he wouldn’t have won the fight anyhow. He decides not to give the mysterious shop any further thought, and simply archives it away in his memory.

A screenshot of your skin:

(I hope the front view will be enough. I use a mac and as a result the f5-f5-printscreen trick won’t work for me. It’s not that the f5 key won’t operate properly, but rather that my computer has no prinscreen button in the first place. I still have a screenshot button combination (shift-cmd-4), but that requires freedom of mouse movement, which doesn’t work in the f5-f5 system. The back of my character, if you trust me to tell the truth about it, simply shows the predictable back of the outfit, which is nearly identical to the front.)

Other Information:

Walter can get along well enough with nearly any species willing to listen. He shares the Dwarves’ love of mining, the Elven appreciation of nature, and even an Orclike affinity for war machines.

Land scarring is not an issue I anticipate, as I intend most if not all of my structures to either be so grand that they enhance the landscape or so well hidden that someone who did not already know their exact location would not be able to even see them.

[Trouvo 205]

Very good, but you need to use the new app format that was posted before you posted this app

[Trouvo 205]

Moved to Denied Forum