Dougbug – VIP In Our Hearts
Dougbug – VIP in Our Hearts
Not all heroes wear grape and not all of our biggest supporters are VIP pledges. We get so much feedback and encouragement from the greater Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen community and one of these folks is the always delightful, Dougbug. You can find him, most frequently in our General Discord channels and while he may not be officially a VIP, he is definitely a VIP in our hearts.
Thank you, Dougbug, for agreeing to be our latest Spotlight, can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hmm, let’s see. I’m 39 years old and have 3 young kids and a beautiful wife. I was an English teacher for 10 years, but because I have a lung disease (Cystic Fibrosis) I stopped teaching to take care of myself and my family. I love sports (tennis in particular), reading, hanging with my friends/family, and videogames. My buddies call me a Bard because I am pretty charasmatic, This explains my Discord avatar which is me in Bard form. I try to be a positive person and listen to everyone’s viewpoint as much as possible.
Your bard persona comes through loud and clear! You have been a lot of fun to have in the community. Please share your gaming history. Are you a general gamer, or are MMORPGs your genre of choice?
My first videogame ever was Super Mario Bros when I was 5. It was pretty much love at first sight. However, I was a console kid until about 8th grade who was fearlessly loyal to Sega. I even owned a Sega 32X which I’m not proud of, but I did love my Dreamcast and Saturn despite their flaws.
The first online game I played was Rainbow Six over MSN The Zone. I rememeber staring in awe at my monitor over the fact that I was playing online with someone else. Then, Everquest happened. EQ was the first game that really formulated my current best friend group. We all went to junior high together and played on the Rallos Zek and Veeshan servers. Those friendships are still going strong (I was the best man of my Rogue friend). We love fantasy and actually all have our designated class tropes we play. For Christmas I even commisioned a drawing of my friend group as all of our “classes.”
My MMORPG experience is pretty decent. I played the following a good amount: EQ, Dark Age, WoW, DarkFall, The Chronicles of Spellborn (look it up!), and New World. WoW is probably my favorite MMO of all time, but EQ was my first love.
My buddies and I play a ton of games weekly, and I dabble in single player games. To name a few: Hades, Mass Effect, Grounded, BG3, Valheim, Halo, Starcraft 2.
Okay, so that is a pretty well-rounded gaming resume. What brought you to follow and support Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen?
Two things: the inclusion of my favorite class (Bard) and the perception system tied into the lore. Perception is ingenius IMO because to me the wonder of MMOs is the world and the POIs. Unfortunately, most players don’t know much about the worlds of mmorpgs because the lore is hidden behind giant walls of quest text. As a wise sage once said, “Aint nobody got time for that.” I think the perception system will finally encourage players to care about lore. I can’t wait. Also, as I’ve followed the game I’ve grown to root for the VR team. It’s hard not to root for an indie studio.
That support has been incredibly helpful for us, so we appreciate it. You have had particular interest in the audio that the team has been working on in partnership with PVL Studios, could you share why game audio piques your interest?
To me, Audio is the final piece of gaming to make something grand. I cannot hear Kelethin’s theme without smiling or imagining the city. It adds an odd mysticism to MMOs that few games can match because in a vast world, you associate songs with locations. Even in my real life, certain memories are tied to certain songs. I can’t hear the song “Intro” by M83 without thinking of the night I walked along the Carolina Beaches staring up at the stars. Music is power, something all the mobs and players of Pantheon will find out when I get my hands on the Bard (notice a theme?). Also, that track from the recap was beautiful. Whoever the composer is, please give them many kudos.
Some of my favorite video game moments are tied to music. Mordin, from Mass Effect, singing is still in my ringtone rotation, and the EQ/EQ2 opening continues to be one of my favorite compositions.
What do you look for in a game. What games have you been drawn to in the past?
Well, I prefer multiplayer games because gaming is a way for me to keep in touch with my friends who have since moved all over the place. I also want a game to feel “smooth.” I know that seems nondescriptive, but I can typically tell if I will like a game within 30 minutes. I think animations play a huge part in this. Finally, and this is especially true for single player games, I need a good story. I’m far more motivated to play if I care about what is happening.
Experiencing a good story, and good gameplay, with good friends. Sounds perfect! Which Pantheon features are you most excited for?
- I’ve been long winded so I’ll list my top three (excluding perception since I mentioned it above).
- Class Identity having true meaning.
- The Metroidvania mechanic for zones where certain content cannot be completed until later.
- FFA PVP (I am putting a lot of faith in Joppa here since he always plays PVP).
If there was one change you could make to VR’s current plans with Pantheon, what would that be?
I would make it so ALL of the best gear in game is crafted instead of from drops. In other words, raid bosses would drop mats that could then be used by the crafting classes to make BIS gear. This would allow for strong synergies that I think Neph would nail.
Oh, and I would include WIP as a statue in thronefast 😉
I’ll allow you to sneak that one in. Please join us on the official forums or on the Pantheon official Discord server to get to know Dougbug and all of our other fantastic community members. We have fun while we await the game. If you would like to support Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen development, click here to find out how.