LazyNinjaJay

Name: Trovendir Race: Elf Occupation: Currently unemployed but would greatly appreciate any work given.

Out-Of-Character Minecraft Account Name: LazyNinjaJay How old are you?: 16 Time-Zone/Country of Residence England (GMT) Do you have a good grip on the English language/good grammar?: Yes, I have lived in England my entire life and I feel that it is reflected in my grammar. Small 2-3 Sentence Description of yourself: I am a pretty "nerdy" you could say sixteen year old from south England. I have been gaming basically all my life since my dad got me into very old games on our first pc, things like Xwing and old flight simulators. When I was a bit older I started playing the Elder Scrolls series allot, mostly Morrowind and Oblivion. Although I was in the wrong generation me and my friends picked up DnD mainly to see what it was like and played that for a good two years. My favourite hobby that isn't gaming related would probably have to be music, one of my favourite possession would have to be my BCrich Warlock guitar. How much time could you be on the server weekly?: about 2-3 hours on weekdays and about 4 hours at weekends so that is about 23 hours per week. What do you know about Roleplaying? Give a definition of what it means to you: Roleplaying is quite literally playing different a role. This means that in some situations you would do things completely different to what you might do, instead doing something the character you're playing would do. I don't like to think of it as pretending to be somebody you're not but having an excuse to look at things from a different perspective. A very important part of Roleplaying is to develop your character. What experience have you had in Roleplaying, if any: I am a keen Roleplayer and have been for a while, as I said before, I have played allot of DnD as well as scouring the Minecraft forums for a good Roleplay server but none of them really seem to get them right because of the low amount of players and just general meta gaming. In your own Words, define what the act of Meta-Gaming is: Meta-Gaming is where your actions are effected by what you know out of character but your character does not. For example you are walking down a road and you know, out of character, that there is an ambush up ahead so you make a detour because of that when usually you would just walk on into the ambush. In your own Words, define what the act of Power-Gaming is: There are two main ways to power game in RP games: the first way is for example saying you want to enter combat with somebody by shouting at them or something, then killing them before they get a chance to react. The second way is by killing things out of RP to level up. What do you expect this server will be like?: I expect this server to be what all the over RP servers are trying to be, real role playing. That means no metagaming and everyone staying in character in a large map with a few major cities with wandering merchants and bandits. Looking at your website this server has a good chance of being like that. What other server(s) have you played on and why did you leave them?: The most recent RP server I have tried was called "Wildcraft" but I left this server because there was little to no RP everyone was talking OOC and it was anything but immersive. The latest non RP server I played was called Battlemine, I left that because it shut down due to lack of funding. , if any?: Have you read, understood, and agreed to the rules?: Yes. Do you promise to abide by said rules, and laws? This includes the Server, Forum, and Teamspeak set Rules: Yes. How did you hear about us?: Planet Minecraft. Have you previously made an Application? If so could you link us to your last Application?: I submitted an application two days ago, however I cannot seem to see any applications submitted before yesterday. I may be doing something wrong but I cannot find it. It's called "LazyNinjaJay's server application" and the general feedback was "the character doesn't fit into the lore" 2nd app: http://www.lordofthe...er-application/ Last app: http://www.lordofthecraft.net/forum/index.php?/topic/54617-lazyninjajays-4th-server-application/ In-Character: Character Name: Trovendir What Race are you?: Elf What Sub-Race are you? (note, you aren’t required to have a sub-race): None Biography (Please make this at least 2 paragraphs long. This must include the history of your character and his life as well as age, appearance and personality, etc.): Trovendir was born in the Elven city of Normandor were he was raised under his parents. When he was ten him and his parents were out of the city walking along a dirt track when they were attacked by bandits. After the bandits stole all the money they had, they decided they would kill the elves. The bandit leader was about to strike at them, Trovendir screwed his eyes shut while waiting for the inevitable. A few seconds past. Trovendir opened his eyes to find the bandit leader with an arrow through his forehead and a band of adventurers fending off the bandits. Trovendir was so inspired that he decided he wanted to be an adventurer. By the time he was 22, Trovendir had gotten fairly good at archery and wasn't a bad tracker. He no longer lived with his parents and was camping out in the wilds, living off the fat of the land. He was ready to start off his adventuring career, helping people with their troubles and issues. Trovendir is a 7 foot tall elf with long blond hair and blue eyes, his skin is pale like most elves and he often wears the same tattered green gear he crafted from linen. Personality: He isn't very old for an elf or a human for that matter so he is usually quite outgoing in a one on one conversation. In a group of people he will usually stay out the outside, not interjecting that much but listening in. He tends not to launch straight into combat like an Orc, but nor does he have the physical strength of an Orc. Instead he will stay at the back, trying to pick people off with his bow. What is your Character's ambitions?: To one day settle down with a partner and raise a family of his own, although he knows that is a long way off. What is your character’s favourite tool? (sword, pickaxe, shovel, etc): A bow. It makes him feel safe. What is one of your Character's most skilled talents? Trovendir is a confident shot with a bow and a keen tracker, he isn't brilliant with a sword and doesn't have a lot of brute force. Picture of skin: Open-Response-Questions Whilst travelling from the Cloud Temple you see a small Halfling, being harassed by two armed warriors. They appear to be trying to steal money from him, how does your character respond? Trovendir instantly crouched in the brush to speculate further. He noticed that the guards were getting more aggressive with their swords and the Halfling was refusing to give them the money but didn't realize that the guards were about to kill him and leave his body in the bushes. Trovendir got up and half walked and half crept up behind them and cleared his throat with authority. The guards turned around to Trovendir and angrily squinted at him like he had just tried to sell them a dodgy horse while they were eating limes. "Get out of here!" snarled the bigger of the two guards while they pointed their swords towards Trovendir. Trovendir noticed that they had their backs to the Halfling so discreetly made a gesture to tell him to sneak off while there attention was elsewhere, luckily fortune was on his side as the guards didn't notice. "now now" said Trovendir "I'm sure we can come to an agreement here." "What have you got in mind?" replied the spokesmen of the guards. "How about this? you let the kid go and I'll let you live" Trovendir said trying to sound menacing. The guard's expression suddenly shifted from interested to enraged "Just for that I will kill you both were you stand!" He went to slay the Halfling but then saw that he was missing, He swung at Trovendir and glanced his leg. Trovendir fell to one knee, but managed to limp into the trees due to the adrenalin before the guard could swing again. The guards attempted to chase him but the Halfling had used his belt to tie both the guard's feet together. The guards let out a booming shout of rage as they stumbled to the ground that could be heard by everyone in the area. Trovendir was amazed that he managed to get out of combat, he was lucky the Halfling tied their legs together. Your character wanders into Alras, and comes across a small stall, behind which a well dressed man is standing. He’s offering various wares, the merchant turns to you and says in a posh accent " 'ello there, what can I do you for today?" What is your character response? Trovendir was about to walk away when he noticed that the merchant was selling and enchanted bow, his eyes narrowed with lust as he said "how much for the bow?". The merchant smirked and replied "usually one hundred gold, but for you fifty." Trovendir trusted his hand into his coin purse before realizing that he had just spent all his money on a pair of enchanted trousers, hung his head in shame then sulked away. Whilst wandering in the wilds, your character comes across a small hut, which looks abandoned. Inside it you see a chest containing a few iron bars, and a golden sword. How would your character respond?: Trovendir narrowed his eyes in curiosity before creeping up to the hut. He placed one hand on the door frame and leaned in. Although he didn't intend to take anything he couldn't help but seeing what was in the chest. The contents of the chest didn't interest Trovendir in the slightest, the iron bars were far too heavy and he had no use for a sword so he simple closed the chest before walking away. Hungry and lost in the wilderness, you stumble across a small trading camp nestled among the forest, they greet you in the common tongue, how do you respond? Trovendir stumble up to the trading post, hands clenching stomach, wondering if he was hallucinating and walked up to a middle aged human man wearing a white linen shirt under a brown leather waistcoat, he had gray hair and the kind of smile that just makes you feel comfortable around him. "Ello there traveller, my name is Earl and I make a living going around and trading with town merchants. I've just been to Ascella in fact." said Earl. Trovendir nodded with interest then told Earl how he was starving and in great need of food. "Well why didn't you just say so laddy?" Earl handed over a piece of bread and signified that it was free with a hand when Trovendir reached into his pocket although he knew it was empty. You hear word that bandits occupy the road outside the town in which you have been staying. The town guard have gathered, and are asking for assistance to help eliminate them. The leader of the party is offering a reward for any who offer their support. How does your character act on this information?: Trovendir walked into the town where he noticed that the guards were rallying up men, a call to arms. He asked them what was going on and they told him about the bandit problem and that they had to be eliminated immediately. Trovendir asked him roughly how many bandits there were, "bout ten ide say" he said before turning to his fellow guard and shouting "Hey Barry! ide say bout ten of em ay?!" Barry squinted and made a duck face while nodding slightly. Trovendir told the guards he would do it after counting a good twenty so arrows in his quiver. As Trovendir and the party marched down the road they saw the oncoming bandits, they all hid in the bushes ready to attack. "Archers, Ready!" said the guard to signify Trovendir and five over bow wielding adventures to aim. Trovendir plucked an arrow from his quiver and aimed but shaking as he did. "Fire!" the six of them released. Trovendir didn't manage to hit because of the range, but he got one in the leg on the second try as the rest of them charged to the bandits. Trovendir didn't charge but instead gave supporting fire. The adventures and guards were victorious.

Out-Of-Character Minecraft Account Name: LazyNinjaJay How old are you?: 16 Time-Zone/Country of Residence England (GMT) Do you have a good grip on the English language/good grammar?: Yes, I have lived in England my entire life and I feel that it is reflected in my grammar. Small 2-3 Sentence Description of yourself: I am a pretty "nerdy" you could say sixteen year old from south England. I have been gaming basically all my life since my dad got me into very old games on our first pc, things like Xwing and old flight simulators. When I was a bit older I started playing the Elder Scrolls series allot, mostly Morrowind and Oblivion. Although I was in the wrong generation me and my friends picked up DnD mainly to see what it was like and played that for a good two years. My favourite hobby that isn't gaming related would probably have to be music, one of my favourite possession would have to be my BCrich Warlock guitar. How much time could you be on the server weekly?: about 2-3 hours on weekdays and about 4 hours at weekends so that is about 23 hours per week. What do you know about Roleplaying? Give a definition of what it means to you: Roleplaying is quite literally playing different a role. This means that in some situations you would do things completely different to what you might do, instead doing something the character you're playing would do. I don't like to think of it as pretending to be somebody you're not but having an excuse to look at things from a different perspective. A very important part of Roleplaying is to develop your character. What experience have you had in Roleplaying, if any?: I am a keen Roleplayer and have been for a while, as I said before, I have played allot of DnD as well as scouring the Minecraft forums for a good Roleplay server but none of them really seem to get them right because of the low amount of players and just general meta gaming. In your own Words, define what the act of Meta-Gaming is: Meta-Gaming is where your actions are effected by what you know out of character but your character does not. For example you are walking down a road and you know, out of character, that there is an ambush up ahead so you make a detour because of that when usually you would just walk on into the ambush. In your own Words, define what the act of Power-Gaming is: Power-Gaming is where you give your character unrealistic abilities that are most likely not achievable in real life. For example saying that your character has super strength or is invincible. What do you expect this server will be like?: I expect this server to be what all the over RP servers are trying to be, real role playing. That means no metagaming and everyone staying in character in a large map with a few major cities with wandering merchants and bandits. Looking at your website this server has a good chance of being like that. What other server(s) have you played on and why did you leave them?: The most recent RP server I have tried was called "Wildcraft" but I left this server because there was little to no RP everyone was talking OOC and it was anything but immersive. The latest non RP server I played was called Battlemine, I left that because it shut down due to lack of funding. Have you read, understood, and agreed to the rules?: Yes. Do you promise to abide by said rules, and laws? This includes the Server, Forum, and Teamspeak set Rules: Yes. How did you hear about us?: Planet Minecraft. Have you previously made an Application? If so could you link us to your last Application?: I submitted an application yesterday, however I cannot seem to see any applications submitted before today. I may be doing something wrong but I cannot find it. It's called "LazyNinjaJay's server application" and the general feedback was "the character doesn't fit into the lore" In-Character: Character Name: Trovendir What Race are you?: Elf What Sub-Race are you? (note, you aren’t required to have a sub-race): None Biography (Please make this at least 2 paragraphs long. This must include the history of your character and his life as well as age, appearance and personality, etc.): Trovendir was born in the Elven city of Normandor were he was raised under his parents. When he was ten him and his parents were out of the city walking along a dirt track when they were attacked by bandits. After the bandits stole all the money they had, they decided they would kill the elves. The bandit leader was about to strike at them, Trovendir screwed his eyes shut while waiting for the inevitable. A few seconds past. Trovendir opened his eyes to find the bandit leader with an arrow through his forehead and a band of adventurers fending off the bandits. Trovendir was so inspired that he decided he wanted to be an adventurer. By the time he was 22, Trovendir had gotten fairly good at archery and wasn't a bad tracker. He no longer lived with his parents and was camping out in the wilds, living off the fat of the land. He was ready to start off his adventuring career, helping people with their troubles and issues. Trovendir is a 7 foot tall elf with long blond hair and blue eyes, his skin is pale like most elves and he often wears the same tattered green gear he crafted from linen. What is your Character's ambitions?: To one day settle down with a partner and raise a family of his own, although he knows that is a long way off. What is your character’s favourite tool? (sword, pickaxe, shovel, etc): A bow. It makes him feel safe. What is one of your Character's most skilled talents? Trovendir is a confident shot with a bow and a keen tracker, he isn't brilliant with a sword and doesn't have a lot of brute force. Picture of skin: Open-Response-Questions Whilst travelling from the Cloud Temple you see a small Halfling, being harassed by two armed warriors. They appear to be trying to steal money from him, how does your character respond? Trovendir instantly crouched in the brush to speculate further. He noticed that the guards were getting more aggressive with their swords and the Halfling was refusing to give them the money but didn't realize that the guards were about to kill him and leave his body in the bushes. Trovendir got up and half walked and half crept up behind them and cleared his throat with authority. The guards turned around to Trovendir and angrily squinted at him like he had just tried to sell them a dodgy horse while they were eating limes. "Get out of here!" snarled the bigger of the two guards while they pointed their swords towards Trovendir. Trovendir noticed that they had their backs to the Halfling so discreetly made a gesture to tell him to sneak off while there attention was elsewhere. "now now" said Trovendir "I'm sure we can come to an agreement here." "What have you got in mind?" replied the spokesmen of the guards. "How about this? you let the kid go and I'll let you live" Trovendir said trying to sound menacing. The guard's expression suddenly shifted from interested to enraged "Just for that I will kill you both were you stand!" He went to slay the Halfling but then saw that he was missing, He went to slay Trovendir but he had already started to run, the guard attempted to chase him but the Halfling had used his belt to tie their feet together. The guards let out a booming shout of rage as they stumbled to the ground that could be heard by everyone in the area. Your character wanders into Alras, and comes across a small stall, behind which a well dressed man is standing. He’s offering various wares, the merchant turns to you and says in a posh accent " 'ello there, what can I do you for today?" What is your character response? Trovendir was about to walk away when he noticed that the merchant was selling and enchanted bow, his eyes narrowed with lust as he said "how much for the bow?". The merchant smirked and replied "usually one hundred gold, but for you fifty." Trovendir trusted his hand into his coin purse before realizing that he had just spent all his money on a pair of enchanted trousers, hung his head in shame then sulked away. Whilst wandering in the wilds, your character comes across a small hut, which looks abandoned. Inside it you see a chest containing a few iron bars, and a golden sword. How would your character respond?: Trovendir narrowed his eyes in curiosity before creeping up to the hut. He placed one hand on the door frame and leaned in. Although he didn't intend to take anything he couldn't help but seeing what was in the chest. The contents of the chest didn't interest Trovendir in the slightest, the iron bars were far too heavy and he had no use for a sword so he simple closed the chest before walking away. Hungry and lost in the wilderness, you stumble across a small trading camp nestled among the forest, they greet you in the common tongue, how do you respond? Trovendir stumble up to the trading post, hands clenching stomach, wondering if he was hallucinating and walked up to a middle aged human man wearing a white linen shirt under a brown leather waistcoat, he had gray hair and the kind of smile that just makes you feel comfortable around him. "Ello there traveller, my name is Earl and I make a living going around and trading with town merchants. I've just been to Ascella in fact." said Earl. Trovendir nodded with interest then told Earl how he was starving and in great need of food. "Well why didn't you just say so laddy?" Earl handed over a piece of bread and signified that it was free with a hand when Trovendir reached into his pocket although he knew it was empty. You hear word that bandits occupy the road outside the town in which you have been staying. The town guard have gathered, and are asking for assistance to help eliminate them. The leader of the party is offering a reward for any who offer their support. How does your character act on this information?: Trovendir noticed that nobody was volunteering, nobody wanted to go if nobody else was. Trovendir trusted a fist into the air and roared triumphantly, "I'm in!"

Out-Of-Character Minecraft Account Name: LazyNinjaJay How old are you?: 16 Time-Zone/Country of Residence England (GMT) Do you have a good grip on the English language/good grammar?: Yes, I have lived in England my entire life and I feel that it is reflected in my grammar. Small 2-3 Sentence Description of yourself: I am a pretty "nerdy" you could say sixteen year old from south England. I have been gaming basically all my life since my dad got me into very old games on our first pc, things like Xwing and old flight simulators. When I was a bit older I started playing the Elder Scrolls series allot, mostly Morrowind and Oblivion. Although I was in the wrong generation me and my friends picked up DnD mainly to see what it was like and played that for a good two years. My favourite hobby that isn't gaming related would probably have to be music, one of my favourite possession would have to be my BCrich Warlock guitar. How much time could you be on the server weekly?: about 2-3 hours on weekdays and about 4 hours at weekends so that is about 23 hours per week. What do you know about Roleplaying? Give a definition of what it means to you: Roleplaying is quite literally playing different a role. This means that in some situations you would do things completely different to what you might do, instead doing something the character you're playing would do. I don't like to think of it as pretending to be somebody you're not but having an excuse to look at things from a different perspective. A very important part of Roleplaying is to develop your character. What experience have you had in Roleplaying, if any?: I am a keen Roleplayer and have been for a while, as I said before, I have played allot of DnD as well as scouring the Minecraft forums for a good Roleplay server but none of them really seem to get them right because of the low amount of players and just general meta gaming. In your own Words, define what the act of Meta-Gaming is: Meta-Gaming is where your actions are effected by what you know out of character but your character does not. For example you are walking down a road and you know, out of character, that there is an ambush up ahead so you make a detour because of that when usually you would just walk on into the ambush. In your own Words, define what the act of Power-Gaming is: Power-Gaming is where you give your character unrealistic abilities that are most likely not achievable in real life. For example saying that your character has super strength or is invincible. What do you expect this server will be like?: I expect this server to be what all the over RP servers are trying to be, real role playing. That means no metagaming and everyone staying in character in a large map with a few major cities with wandering merchants and bandits. Looking at your website this server has a good chance of being like that. What other server(s) have you played on and why did you leave them?: The most recent RP server I have tried was called "Wildcraft" but I left this server because there was little to no RP everyone was talking OOC and it was anything but immersive. The latest non RP server I played was called Battlemine, I left that because it shut down due to lack of funding. Have you read, understood, and agreed to the rules?: Yes. Do you promise to abide by said rules, and laws? This includes the Server, Forum, and Teamspeak set Rules: Yes. How did you hear about us?: Planet Minecraft. Have you previously made an Application? If so could you link us to your last Application?: No, This is my first application. In-Character: Character Name: LazyNinjaJay What Race are you?: Human What Sub-Race are you? (note, you aren’t required to have a sub-race): None Biography (Please make this at least 2 paragraphs long. This must include the history of your character and his life as well as age, appearance and personality, etc.): I grew up in a small village north of Asulon were I was left as a baby. I was taken in by Master Ninja who most people knew as One Eyed Hrothmane because of an accident involving knives. When Hrothmane lost his eye he was no longer an effective Ninja so instead he decided to raise me as one. I was never very good with knifes or any blade for that matter no matter how determine I was, I just didn't get it, nor was I any good at sneaking. Hrothmane was about to give up on me when he saw me being hassled by the village thugs, they had caught me basically red handed trying to steal a turnip from the farmer's market. I was pinned up against a wall with swords to my neck, I can never remember how the conversation went but somehow I persuaded the thugs to not only let me go but get the radish stains off my clothes. That is when Hrothmane decided I was ready to go into the wilds on my own for 40 nights. And so I did. Although it was hard, I did it. Upon my return I had found no trace of Hrothmane but a simple bag containing: an old tattered ninja costume that I assumed was Hrothmane's at one point and his old amulet that he had told me on my seventh birthday "I will give you this when you are ready, when you're older you will understand". At that moment I decided to travel to Asulon in search of finding people who needed my service. I am a 22 year old Human and I rarely take off my tattered ninja rags. I usually want something but really when I get down to getting it I usually give up due to my short attention span and general laziness. I try to get into as little conflict as possible and like to stay away from bandits because really who doesn't? What is your Character's ambitions?: To one day learn how to be a master ninja, however hopeless that may seem. What is your character’s favourite tool? (sword, pickaxe, shovel, etc): A bow. He isn't very good but it makes him feel safe. What is one of your Character's most skilled talents? Despite his incompetence in allot of things, he has been known to be able to talk his way out of the most risky situations. He's no fool, just lazy. Open-Response-Questions Whilst travelling from the Cloud Temple you see a small Halfling, being harassed by two armed warriors. They appear to be trying to steal money from him, how does your character respond? Jay instantly crouched in the brush to speculate further, he never jumps straight into situations that might end up getting him killed before observations. He noticed that the guards were getting more aggressive with their swords and the Halfling was refusing to give them the money but didn't realize that the guards were about to kill him and leave his body in the bushes. Jay was about to turn around and make it somebody else's problem when he thought back to what Hrothmane taught him, he had to save the Halfling. Jay got up and half walked and half crept up behind them and cleared his throat with authority. The guards turned around to Jay and angrily squinted at him like he had just tried to sell them a dodgy horse while they were eating limes. "Get out of here!" snarled the bigger of the two guards while they pointed their swords towards Jay. Jay noticed that they had their backs to the Halfling so discreetly made a gesture to tell him to sneak off while there attention was elsewhere. "now now" said Jay "I'm sure we can come to an agreement here." "What have you got in mind?" replied the spokesmen of the guards. "How about this? you let the kid go and I'll let you live" Jay said trying to sound menacingly. The guard's expression suddenly shifted from interested to enraged "Just for that I will kill you both were you stand!" He went to slay the Halfling but then saw that he was missing, He went to slay Jay but he was nowhere to be seen. The guard let out a booming shout of rage that could be heard by everyone in the area. Your character wanders into Alras, and comes across a small stall, behind which a well dressed man is standing. He’s offering various wares, the merchant turns to you and says in a posh accent " 'ello there, what can I do you for today?" What is your character response? Jay was about to walk away when he noticed that the merchant was selling and enchanted bow, his eyes narrowed with lust as he said "how much for the bow?". The merchant smirked and replied "usually one hundred gold, but for you fifty." Jay trusted his hand into his coin purse before realizing that he had just spent all his money on a pair of enchanted trousers, hung his head in shame then sulked away. Whilst wandering in the wilds, your character comes across a small hut, which looks abandoned. Inside it you see a chest containing a few iron bars, and a golden sword. How would your character respond?: Jay narrowed his eyes in curiosity before creeping up to the hut. He placed one hand on the door frame and leaned in. Although he didn't intend to take anything he couldn't help but seeing what was in the chest. The contents of the chest didn't interest Jay in the slightest, the iron bars were far too heavy and he had no use for a sword so he simple closed the chest before walking away. Hungry and lost in the wilderness, you stumble across a small trading camp nestled among the forest, they greet you in the common tongue, how do you respond? Jay stumble up to the trading post, hands clenching stomach, wondering if he was hallucinating and walked up to a middle aged human man wearing a white linen shirt under a brown leather waistcoat, he had gray hair and the kind of smile that just makes you feel comfortable around him. "Ello there traveller, my name is Earl and I make a living going around and trading with town merchants. I've just been to Ascella in fact." said Earl. Jay nodded with interest then told Earl how he was starving and in great need of food. "Well why didn't you just say so laddy?" Earl handed over a piece of bread and signified that it was free with a hand when Jay reached into his pocket although he knew it was empty. You hear word that bandits occupy the road outside the town in which you have been staying. The town guard have gathered, and are asking for assistance to help eliminate them. The leader of the party is offering a reward for any who offer their support. How does your character act on this information?: Jay always liked to stay just outside a crowd, it made him feel like he wasn't bound to them, but this time it was different, he was in the crowd ready to take out the barbarians. The main difference this time was that he wasn't doing it for the reward, instead he was doing it for the glory, for once in his life he was tired of being mediocre.