Get to Know Your Guildie: Harte!
Posted by 2021-07-07 in G2KYG
Every guild needs a little Harte, and we’re lucky to have the best one! From his dependable deeps to his late-night-cool-jazz-radio voice, he brings it all! Get ready to get to know… Harte!
WoW Stuff
How long have you played wow?
Late 2006, right before TBC.
How did you come to start playing?
An old friend got me into EQ back in the early 2000’s. I watched him play, but my college PC was a piece of junk Compaq Presario that I couldn’t cram a video card into, so I couldn’t play on my own. I decided to give the newly-released PS2 version of EQ a try, “Everquest Online Adventures”. Sure, it was a slightly watered-down version of EQ for the PC, but man, I was obsessed. Just the novelty of chatting with people over the PS2 on my TV, seeing a mountain on the distant horizon and being able to actually run to it (for an hour), and no loading between zones…it was totally new, uncharted territory, and I was completely hooked. We were all figuring it out together at the same time…running back and forth from our PS2’s to our PC’s with the Allakhazam website up, printing up hundreds of pages of quest notes and zone maps. But after a couple years, of course, most of my in-game buddies were whisked away by WoW. I resisted for a few years, even as my EQ buddy made the jump over to WoW. But eventually I caved and started a WoW account. I quit and resubbed a few times prior to the sunsetting of EQOA in 2012 (remember the graphic of the crying orc when you unsubscribed back in the day?!) But ever since EQOA was shuttered, I’ve been all-in on WoW.
What’s your favorite race/spec?
Tauren Warrior. In EQOA, I mained a squishy caster (Erudite Necromancer). He was awesome, but I longed to throw on some plate gear and get right up in mobs’ faces with a gnarly two-hander. So when I got into WoW, I started a Tauren Warrior, and it was love at first moo. A race, name, and faction change later, and it’s the same character I still play these days. Humans are definitely not as cool as Taurens, but my kids say I’m not allowed to change him because he looks like me (just the bald dome and beard). Wish I had time to try out more, but I’m barely cutting it with one.
What brought you to Darkwind?
I spent years in WoW just being a solo completionist, finishing every quest chain and achievement, and collecting random mounts and pets. I raided regularly in WotLK and Cata with a great guild on Turalyon (The Elders of Turalyon), but fell out of it when my wife and I had our first kid in 2013. When I started to get back into WoW a few years later, I joined a mega alliance realm, thinking that’d be a great experience by having a ton of other players around. But I noticed it didn’t have the same community vibe that I was used to in the old days of WoW and in EQOA. I’d heard that RP servers still had some hints of that vibe, and found that to be mostly true. I checked out wowprogress.com to find a guild on one of these servers that was active, pushed heroic and dipped into mythic, but only raided 2-3 days per week after 9pm Eastern, and had a tight-knit community. Sounds like Darkwind!
What is your favorite thing to do in game?
I used to like collecting stuff, completing all quests in every zone, fishing, random achievements…checking off all the boxes. These days, I’m finding trying to improve my dps and get better at end-game content is what drives me to log in. Probably time to dust off the ol’ fishing rod…
If wow were to suddenly disappear, what game would you be playing?
All the Zeldas, over and over. Maybe LotRO also.
If you could vacation anywhere in game…
Camping in Nagrand or Moonglade
If you were able to turn any in-game mount into a real life one…
Magic Rooster. Reminds me of my old pal that got me into WoW. Or the Winterspring Frostsaber, just because it’s so beautiful and I had a fun time unlocking it.
If you were able to turn any in-game pet into a real –life one…
Corgnelius….the fluffiness is out of control.
What is your most favorite dungeon or raid in WoW? Least favorite?
Loved the Deathwing fights at the end of Dragon Soul. Least favorite was Blackrock Depths. As a filthy casual, this place would just ruin my night when I had limited time to play, but something got screwed up.
Who is your favorite character from the World of Warcraft and why?
Green Jesus. Embodies the essence of WoW. Hemet Nesingwary would also be a great safari partner. I also love to hate Sylvanas…she’s one of the most powerful personas in the game with an intriguing story line, even though she’s a genocidal maniac. Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage are also some of my favorites…classic Teldrassil would definitely be my choice of digs.
What is one of your favorite wow memoires?
When my wife and I were still dating, she was just getting a taste of how much of a nerd I was, but wasn’t fully aware yet. At the time, I was obsessed with getting the Time-Lost Proto Drake, and my buddy and I were in a race to see who could get it first. I discovered the NPCscan addon, and set it to make an audible alert when it detected a rare. I set up camp in Storm Peaks, jacked my speaker volume to 100%, turned off the monitors, and went to bed. At about 4am, the thing shook the house when the Drake flew by. She fell out of bed…I jumped over her to the computer, tagged the Drake, killed it, looted, and celebrated at the top of my lungs, while she was still on the floor. I think that’s when she figured it out…
What random event would you like Darkwind to do?
RBG’s with the whole raid crew would be fun…it’s a part of wow I never had the time to really get into, but would love to learn more about some day.
When Not Playing WoW
What are some of your hobbies?
PC building and OC’ing, working on my truck (2011 4runner), golf (badly), tinkering with home appliances, trying to work WoW into conversations about sports, getting my kids into video games, then yelling at them for not playing outside more.
What hobby would you get into if time and money weren’t an issue?
Collecting old baseball cards, first-edition books, piano, and maybe learning to surf on an island in the South Pacific
Do you collect anything?
Dust. And also WoW memorabilia, retro video game relics, Lego sets with my son, and unfortunately LOL Dolls. My daughter has 5 billion of them, of which I’ve had to memorize all the names and accompanying accessories.
Favorite book?
Tie between The Hobbit and The Prisoner of Azkaban (and The Giving Tree, if you want me to get all emo)
Favorite TV show?
Tie between The Sopranos, Lost, and Breaking Bad
Favorite movie?
Man, so many. The Fellowship of the Rings, Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, Big Fish, Full Metal Jacket…different moods call for different favorites.
Favorite meal/food?
Tacos and a good greek salad
Coolest place you ever visited irl?
Kauaʻi, HI.
Do you have any pets? If so, introduce us!
My beloved kitty and best pal Buster, who just recently passed at the ripe old age of 17. :’-( This is an old pic of him and my dog Bailey, when they first met. He was scared of him at first, but they soon became best of friends. Bailey passed a few years ago also. Hasn’t been the right time to start fresh just yet.
If you could have a super power for 24 hours, what would it be and what would you do with it?
Time travel. All sorts of good and bad stuff.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
I’m 41 with two kids and a mortgage now, so it doesn’t get any better than having some drinks and a sleeve of Oreos after 10pm on a work night, and sneaking some extra trash into my neighbors garbage cans when mine’s already full
What’s the most useless talent you have?
I can completely tear down and restore a classic Nintendo Game Boy. It’s even more useless since I realized it was only awesome in my memory, and the lighting and graphics are actually too crappy to play enjoyably in 2021.
If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Cape Cod, Mass. Been going to Truro and P-town every year since I was a kid, and take my own family there now every summer. Chillest place on Earth. Or Nightingale Island…but I bet the lag sucks there.
What did you want to be when you were little?
Third baseman for the NY Yankees.
What would you sing at Karaoke night?
Frank Sinatra, One For My Baby
If you could share a meal with any 3 individuals, living or dead, who would they be?
Mark Twain, JRR Tolkein, and my late friend Phil (who got me into WoW)
What is your spirit animal?
Snowy owl
What small things brighten your day?
When a project works. Whether it be rebuilding that old Game Boy, taking apart the dishwasher to replace a part instead of getting a new one, or finally fixing the leak in my truck’s roof…it’s nice to get stuff to finally work out on a DIY project. A random hug from one of my kids (or wife) is also tough to beat.
What’s something about you that most people don’t know?
That I play WoW! Most of my coworkers and friends spend their free time watching ESPN and kids’ soccer games, so I don’t even bother getting into it. Though I’m always holding out hope that I’ll find a fellow warcraft nerd hidden in the sea of middle-aged normies