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Member of the Month - August 2015


Reys

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As fall is approaching for many of us, it's time once again to award a member with the title of Member of the Month. Our member this month is regular contributor to the site in terms of quality guides, posts, and graphics. He has been helping his House Championship Team in every aspect he can including participating in each adhoc so far. I like to present to you August's Member of the Month, kinjall!

 

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Can you tell us a bit more about the person behind the PSN ID?

 

First thing first:

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Not meaning to say I enjoy dressing up as a bride, but I’m sure you guys get the point. :D

 

Anyway, my name is Renaud, I’m 33 and I currently live near Bordeaux in South West France (might ring a bell if there are any wine lovers around). I acquired a Master’s Degree in Biochemistry/Physiology and Computer Science 10 years ago and have been employed by a major IT services and software engineering company ever since, mainly working for banks and insurance companies. I’m currently assigned to a governmental agency as deputy project manager. I guess it’s not the most exciting job in the world, but at least it puts a roof over my head and allows me to enjoy life as much as I can.

 

I have the chance of living 45 minutes away from the coast, so I often hit the beach to surf or just hang out with my friends, either after work or on week-ends when the tourist masses went home. There’s a mountain range not too far as well, so I frequently go skiing/snowboarding there on week-ends during the winter. Finally, I regularly go to Paris which is only 3h away by train, to just wander in the city, eat in small amazing restaurants, go to concerts (the best way to experience the music from artists you like if you ask me) and visit art exhibitions.

 

I assume I should also mention I’m a comic book nerd. I’ve been reading French/Belgian classics since early childhood and later took a liking to more varied things, including US comics (mostly indie) and mangas. There’s so much production it’s hard to keep up but I try to always keep an eye opened for exciting new stuff. I’m also a major travel freak and try to go abroad at least once a year now that I can afford it. Discovering places and people both from around the corner and halfway across the world is in my opinion the greatest way to broaden your perspective and learn about yourself at the same time.

 

All in all, I’m quite a curious guy by nature, I like trying out new stuff and experiencing different things. Oh, and I also enjoy cooking and have been growing a beard for the past 3-4 months, which have nothing to do with one another but just felt like mentioning. :think:

 

You mentioned you love to travel. Where is your favorite place you have visited?

 

Answering this question required some serious thinking, but in the end I settled for Cambodia. The heritage of this country, both historical and natural, is as beautiful as its history is tragic. The atmosphere is really unique if you try to look beyond the surface. They’re barely recovering from the genocide that took place around 40 years ago but they’re fully aware that what their country holds could be part of the solution. The people are wonderful and tourists are always welcomed there, but at the same time they’re starting to do everything they can to protect this heritage (by making partnerships with other countries to help restoring and preserving antique buildings, encouraging the creation of eco-friendly communities to accommodate the tourist masses, etc.).

 

But enough with the serious talk. Discovering the amazing architecture of the ancient city of Angkor, spending a night in a floating village on the huge Tonle Sap lake, trekking and watching wildlife in the Cardamom Mountains, relaxing on the wonderful beaches of Koh Rong island, this country has everything you could ever want. If you have the chance to get to South East Asia this is definitely the place I’d recommend, and somewhere I know I’ll go back to when I get the chance.

 

Oh and you could also get to taste fried tarantula, that’s bound to turn quite a few heads when you’re back home. :D

 

Do you have a go to restaurant while you visit Paris? How about your favorite bread and wine combo?

 

I usually try to look for small traditional bistros, bustling with life, serving somewhat old fashioned but delicious dishes and tended by cranky waiters (they’re all part of the charm if you play along). But the area I always like to come back to is around Rue Sainte Anne. It’s historically where many traditional Japanese restaurants settled (now joined by other Asian nationalities) and you can find pretty uncommon food there like okonomiyaki, takoyaki, etc. There’s a tiny sushi restaurant called Mishi that I particularly like. You could pass in front of it without even noticing it and can only accommodate like 15 people, 4 on a counter next the chef and the rest in a cave below. The chef is really nice, the fish is always top-notch and these sushi are among the best I’ve ever eaten.

 

As for the second part, just wine and bread alone would be pretty dull. But I guess you could start with a good Graves red wine and some traditional baguette, not something particularly fancy but not some tasteless stuff you’d buy wrapped in plastic in a supermarket. If you add some old Comté cheese to that, you'll start to be on to something. And if you throw in saucisson (some kind of dried sausage, preferably not too fat) and a bunch of friends to share all those with, then you’re guaranteed a good time!

 

So, you like skiing and experiencing new things. What is the craziest thing you have done?

 

I guess that would be skydiving in Byron Bay. It’s a typical tourist trap but the weather was awesome, I had a lot of fun with my instructor and the view is just breath-taking. Everything from the moment I stepped on the plane until my feet were back on the ground was pure pleasure, and I’ll never forget that minute-long free fall! :francis:

 

Scuba diving in the Red Sea came close second though, as it’s a very different but pretty intense experience too.

 

What sort of setup do you have going back home for your gaming?

 

Nothing really fancy. My PS3 is in my living-room, hooked up to a Sony KLD-42W706B which I chose for its looks, performance and reasonable price tag. I also have a Vita always ready to pick up when I travel (I usually don’t take it abroad though).

I also have all my past consoles and a tiny old TV stashed in a cupboard, but it’s been awhile since I’ve used those.

 

How long have you been gaming and what made you decide PlayStation as your gaming companion?

 

This is a common answer but I’ve been gaming for almost as long as I can remember, so kids, you’d better prepare for the smell of mothballs. To be honest, I couldn’t even name the first game I’ve played before making some research. It turns out it was Miner 2049er. I still vividly recall inserting the 5¼-inch floppy disk in my father’s IBM computer and trying to progress through the levels of this rudimentary platformer on the orange monochrome monitor. :o

 

My first proper gaming platform was a NES, which came with the zapper. I’ve spent countless hours roaming Super Mario Bros., Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Double Dragon II, Solstice, the incredibly hard TMNT game and various Disney franchises like DuckTales. I then briefly owned a MegaDrive/Genesis. I also started playing a few PC games (mostly Tomb Raider, Broken Sword and Age of Empires 2), but have never considered it as my gaming platform of choice.

 

When the time came to choose between the Dreamcast and the first PlayStation, I jumped ship again because most of my friends owned a PS. I guess I also fell for the aggressive marketing, not that I regret it: Tekken 3, Crash Bandicoot/CTR, Galerians, Spyro... They were all great exclusives. I bought a PS2 with my eyes closed and it kept me quite busy, even delivering two of my favourite games ever: Ico and Okami.

 

For the next generation, I admit I shortly considered buying an Xbox360, but having little taste for shooters and racing games, the PS3 exclusives like Heavenly Sword and Folklore felt incredibly more appealing to me.

 

I’m not saying I didn’t miss anything by sticking with Sony, I’m even sure I did. But my resources aren’t endless, both in terms of time and money, and there’s just no way I could play and appreciate every single great game ever made. From this point of view, PlayStations have always allowed me to play the games I wanted to play and I’ve even discovered a few unexpected gems along the way, so I’m convinced it was (and still is) the most sensible choice considering my gaming tastes.

 

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What was the last game you bought, and what's the next one you’re looking forward to?

 

The last game I bought was South Park: The Stick of Truth, no later than this very afternoon. As I don’t mind waiting for months or even years to play games, I usually buy them ages after release so I can get new copies at a really low price or grab them on :ps+:. Not to mention that the completionist in me tends to favor GotY/complete editions when they are available.

 

For the same reason, I have no idea what game I’ll buy next as it will all depend on the deals I stumble upon. But if I consider unreleased titles, I’m definitely looking forward to The Last Guardian and the Nier sequel. That will have to wait until I get a PS4 though, which I eventually will.

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If you had the chance to improve the PlayStation and/or PSN store, what one thing would you like to see implemented?

 

I guess this one is not going to be popular, but I’d say the ability to truly delete trophies. I understand how it would disrupt the little world of completionists, but I’m pretty sure there are ways to mitigate this. So make it paid, make it limited to a certain amount per month/year, make it an incredibly tedious process to go through to discourage little pricks, but please Sony let me delete these 4 trophies a friend of mine popped on my main account while my back was turned (half of the other trophies from the stupid game being now unobtainable due to closed servers). :D

 

Please note that I’m not looking to start a huge debate here, I understand the argument against it. That being said, I believe that some people can have legitimate reasons to delete some of their trophies. Besides, wanting those 4 gone for good doesn’t cancel out the fact I did (or eventually will) go back to most of the games on my profile and do my best to complete them. ;)

 

If you could add one title to the PSN store from any gaming system past or present what would it be?

 

I’m torn between giving in to nostalgia and mentioning a game that was released recently on a competing platform.

 

Picking a game from the days of yore (thanks for reminding me I’m THAT old with almost every question btw) could prove difficult. First, because many of the games I’ve played and liked growing up have already been remastered. I mentioned DuckTales in a previous question, but I could just as easily add several others I used to play a lot back when they first came out like Worms Armageddon or Day of the Tentacle. Also, many of these games didn’t age well, especially those from the early days of 3D (yeah American McGee’s Alice, I’m thinking about you).

 

For these reasons, I think I’ll go the easy way and choose the only game I could actually consider buying another platform for: Bayonetta 2. I absolutely loved the first one, and from what I hear the sequel is just as good if not better.

 

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How much of a certified trophy whore are you? Does the trophy list play any part in the decision to play or buy a game, or do you base that decision entirely on the game?

Oh I’m a trophy whore alright, but somewhat of a high-class one I hope. Outside of PST competitions, I don’t play games for easy trophies, and only some I’m at least remotely interested in. I don’t auto-pop as I’ve never seen the point besides toying with your e-peen, and I rarely stack (and again, only for games I like and can use for a site competition). I'm not judging people who do though, they're just not my thing.

 

Needless to say that the trophy list plays little to no part in my decision to play a game. As people who made the effort to read my gibberish this far might have understood, I’ve been gaming for a while now and have a pretty clear idea of what I’m looking for in a game and what I should avoid, so I basically play whatever I want to play regardless of the trophy list.

 

What would you say was your proudest platinum and why?

Another tough question, but I guess I’ll go with Transcendence from WipEout HD. I’ve got the game for free as part of the Welcome Back package after the PSN hack (it was one of the few offered games that mildly sparked interest in me). I started playing it then and enjoyed it but dropped it quite early because something else came up. I went back to it as part of the backlog cleaning I started about a year and a half ago in prevision of buying a PS4. Since I’m usually not into racing games, at first I just wanted to earn as many trophies as I could and wasn’t sure I’d go for the (P) (or even if I was capable of getting it). But as I started playing the game more and more, I guess it turned into a personal challenge. It took time and dedication, but it was worth the effort. Besides, I unlocked it for the Platinums We Have Earned On High event during the Advent Calendar season last year, and it made it feel a little more special.

 

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If the end of the world was nigh and you had to grab three games/franchises to take with you to play out your final days to, what would they be?

 

Honestly, if the end of the world was at hand, I probably wouldn’t be gaming. But I’ll get along for argument’s sake. :whistle:

The first one would probably be Zelda even if I haven’t completed any of the latest instalments (in truth, I’ve only played Zelda II, Ocarina of Time and Phantom Hourglass). They’re all great, and that would give me a good number of games to play if the apocalypse decided to take a break.

Then, I guess I’d go with the Legacy of Kain franchise. If there are any games from that period that deserve to be remastered it’s those, especially the first two. They’re not perfect, but the storytelling is awesome the gameplay is very solid.

 

Lastly, I think I’ll pick Ico which had a huge impact on me when it first came out. I’ve played it so many times back then that I practically know it by heart, but I still had a blast with the HD remaster.

 

What brought you to PST and what keeps you coming back?

 

The guides, of course, which I’ve started using years ago. I used to visit another website for this (one that starts with Game and ends with FAQs if I’m allowed to name it), but the guides there were rather “static”. What I like here is the constant feedback you can get from knowledgeable and respectful people. Then I decided to quit lurking and started posting around January 2014, mainly to look for online boosting partners. I think one of my first posts was in the LBP H4H thread, even before I introduced myself. But what really encouraged me to participate more was the Advent Calendar last December (and I sincerely hope the staff plans something like this for this year as well :whistle:).

 

In short, I guess what keeps me coming back is a combination of all this: an almost endless source of information regarding trophies supplied by a bunch of nice people, and we all get to take part in challenges and have fun along the way. :bearhug:

(I’m aware that last sentence makes me sound like I’m on Prozac, but I decided to focus on the positive things to answer this question. But I have to admit I get a good laugh every once in a while reading some of the drama as well. :p)

 

On a side note, I also joined PST to keep practicing English, something I don’t have many opportunities to do on a regular basis anymore. I’ve been particularly fond of this language since I was little, I’ve worked in English-speaking environments several times, even spent a few months Down Under, but the chances I have to interact with others are now few and far between. I’m still consuming every piece of media I can get in its original language, but being able to express yourself is very different thing (as I’m sure anyone who practices different languages could relate to). :D

 

Some may not be aware that you are a frequent Signature of the Month and graphics contributor. How did you get into image editing?

Actually, this is quite of recent thing. I mean, I’ve been interested in all forms of visual arts for a long time and I’ve been fooling around with images, but it was usually just limited to cropping/resizing and a few adjustments. When the signature tournament was announced last year (notice another wink at the staff here), I wanted to join but didn’t feel I was up to the task, and I was damn right. But when the Christmas Tree contest came up, I decided to take the plunge! So I gathered my meager skills, diligently studied a few tutorials (some of them by the guy who was still referred to as The__Noid back then) and ended up doing something way better than I had initially expected. I then started to make some banners and signatures for other members to give a little back to the community, and entered every SotM I could to get some practice. I’m quite slow compared to others though and I’m still learning a lot with every piece I make, but it’s definitely something I enjoy doing.

 

If you were an admin of PST for a day, what would you do and why?

 

Well, let’s just say that “Random Neutral” wouldn’t really be neutral anymore. And after pulling a Dumbledore by awarding tons of points to my House of choice, I’d just end the championship on fallacious pretexts. :slick:

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Now that I think of it, my biggest feat would be to add the following smilies. I’ve used these a lot in the past and would love to have them around.

http://i.imgur.com/6KZ2pZF.gif http://i.imgur.com/yz1PzkN.gif http://i.imgur.com/AcjKfJT.gif http://i.imgur.com/xdx5YdD.gif http://i.imgur.com/yitL9OE.gif http://i.imgur.com/kt3MFLd.gif

 

Seriously though, I don’t really know what to answer to this question. Everything isn’t perfect, but it seems to me the current staff is doing one hell of job keeping this community together. Then again, I haven’t be around for very long so I don’t have much to compare to, but I’ve been involved in other forums in the past and PST seems a pretty healthy place.

 

Any final words for the community?

 

I'm still baffled (and incredibly honored) I've been selected for this award, so I'll keep it short.

Keep being the awesome and friendly community I’ve grown to like and hopefully be a part of. I haven’t gotten close to many of you, I’m also pretty sure a good number of people who’ll read this won’t even know who I am, but that's just a matter of time I guess. I’m looking forward to what’s to come. ;)

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