Ok, I know, I said on Facebook that I would only put these out on Wednesdays. But this one is special in a number of ways. First this is about a very special person and second, I intend to try something new in the post- let's hope the devs don't mind. We have a person on our forums and in the game who has made a major difference to all of us. For the past few years she has been someone we have looked up to, have been in awe of her abilities, and it is a special privilege and honor to be able to present her in a spotlight. I personally have loved seeing her homes and have read her articles and guides on zam, eq2wire and other sites. Without further ado, let me introduce you to one of most interesting and talented persons we have in the game. I am sure a lot of you are very familiar with her already. I present to you Cyliena: Can you please tell me about your work on zam and eq2wire? I had worked with ZAM for 6.5 years, from 2009 through September of 2015. I was one of the content managers for EQ2 (Calthine also worked with me most of that time, with a few others such as Raven, Kain, and Bludwyng). I wrote a lot of guides such as housing, battlegrounds, lore and legend hotspots, etc, as well as a lot of the quest walkthroughs for events, GUs, and expansions. My last two years of ZAM I was the Managing Editor of the entire site. I ended up going to a lot of conventions and covered news for any game you could imagine during that time. It was busy as heck and reduced my free time for playing EQ2, but I loved it. After I got laid off from ZAM, Feldon welcomed my help over on EQ2Wire. I've continued doing event coverage there, and whenever he's on vacation I try to keep up with all the things. Do you have sites of your own you work on? I contribute to the Cook 10 Rats cooking blog (though I haven't added anything new lately)and also have a personal blog at cyliena.com. =) How did you get started with zam? My first contributions to ZAM were in 2008, before there was a wiki for EQ2. There was a one-time world event going on, and I kept sending Calthine updates for the evil side versions of the quests, and we became acquainted with each other that way. Several months later in early 2009, during the closed beta testing phase of Free Realms, I saw a post from Calthine that they were looking to hire wiki people for that game. I already had written several guides in the beta forums, so after applying and an interview, I was hired. It was about six months or so after that before I started working on ZAM's EQ2 site, I believe after The Shadow Odyssey expansion launch. When did you start playing the game? August 20, 2005. There was a GU shortly after I started playing that made the overlands really hard, and that was tough on a first-time newb in EQ2. For the next three years I only played off and on, renewing my subscription whenever I missed decorating. It wasn't until the Living Legacy promotion during the summer of 2008 that I stuck around for good. What do you love most about the game? Decorating, for sure! I love being able to unleash creativity and trying to accomplish something beautiful and unique in the game. After that I would say events, especially when there's new stuff to enjoy, then the first day of expansions, because I love disco'ing stuff. Please put modesty aside and talk to me about your accomplishments and the things you have done for the game. (we can reword that one but i really want to know more about your work) Over time specifics have really gotten hazy. I know I've helped contribute a lot alongside others on the Test and Beta servers by thoroughly testing past expansions, GUs, and events. I feel bad that I wasn't able to dedicate the same amount of time during the last fall's expansion testing. At every Fan Faire/SOE Live I had attended I made sure to give both positive and negative feedback to the devs. It didn't mean a change necessarily was made, but it's important to have that dialogue open on both sides so that we can understand why something is the way it is, and they can understand why something frustrates us as a player. I'm always thrilled whenever I see a suggestion I made in patch notes. If you want to make a difference, put emotions aside and be constructive with your feedback. It's hard at times, but it's important to be objective and to keep an open mind. Not everyone is going to agree with your views or playstyle, and arguing about it will not further the cause. Can you tell us about you personally? I've been married to my awesome husband for over 16 years, and we have three children together who range from the single digit through upper teen years. All five of us play EQ2, though one of us more than the others. It's a household of avid gamers--I think the current love for the kids is Prison Architect and Sims 4. I went back to college to pursue a BA in English about the same time that ZAM did its layoffs. I'm still taking courses, so that's cut into my free time, but it's been great being able to still exercise my writing muscle. I've been on the college's literary magazine staff in both the fall and current spring semesters, and most recently have also contributed gaming articles to their newspaper. Here's one of my articles from March (no offense to the devs here, I wrote it the day after the EQNext news broke). I also sell jewelry and other handmade items at local craft shows every fall. I haven't updated my crafting blog since 2014, but there are a bunch of pictures there if you're interested. http://AiraArtistry.com Aside from all of that, I love to read, bake goodies, take pictures, read some more, play lots of games, and write. Since October I've written several short stories and a few poems. I started writing a fantasy genre novel last summer, but that's going to be a long process. If there's any other creative writers out there who want to workshop things, I'd love to include you in my feedback group. What are you most proud of? In real life? My family. I'm sure it sounds cheesy, but they are everything to me. My kids might drive me batty at times (that's their job, right?) but they really are fantastic and smart. My husband has climbed the ladder the hard way in his career, but his tenacity made him succeed and it's one of the things I love most about him. In game? My pet Qho on my main character. She hasn't completed The Return of a Gathering Obsession since it was first released (2011?) just so she can continue to drag Qho around and abuse him. I even wrote several "Qho's Adventures" stories about it: http://eq2.zam.com/wiki/Qho's_Adventures_(EQ2) That may be a silly thing to be proud of, but it's made Cyliena who she is now. From EQ2 ZAM? Hedge Hollow maze walkthrough . That thing took so many hours to complete. It's the downside of writing walkthroughs when none exist--you have to figure out everything with no assistance most of the time--and complex zones/quests are the most trying. What have your disappointments been? I have no real life answer here because I think we need to go through both good times and bad to learn and grow. Things might suck and not everything will work out as expected, but it's the different facets that makes us who we are. In game? I'm disappointed that I still haven't finished my epic weapon quest on any of my characters. Not even my main. At this point it's pure indifference as the cause, because there's no reason I shouldn't have completed it. From ZAM? Just that things went down the way they did last year. I loved that job and enjoyed being able to help other players. I can't go into more detail than that. Do you have plans for future involvement? I plan to continue writing guides for Feldon on EQ2Wire. Make sure you keep checking there if you need help with monthly or holiday events! Depending on workload from my courses I'll continue testing new content *waves to Kaitheel*. I'm hoping this summer to get back into decorating more, since I have so many projects waiting to be completed. My days of writing walkthroughs for entire expansions and GUs is likely over, though. Some people have taken up the torch keeping EQ2i updated better now, and I give them my kudos for their dedication.
I did read your epilogue at zam back when you first wrote it. What have you been doing since? I notice you mention spring break. Are you back in college? I think I answered this pretty well earlier that I did end up going back to college. =) My recent spring break was pretty much a non-spring-break because I spent most of the days helping the design staff finalize our upcoming magazine issue. Here was a peek at what that will look like: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1108318439189985&id=156227937732378&pnref=story As of a few months ago, I became employed by the college, working in the communications department office. At the end of this month I'll be accepting an award for outstanding performance in English. I'm also taking a photography class this semester and submitted some photos to the college's art show; yesterday two of them got accepted (pics here). I wrote a review of EQ2 ToT for MMORPG.com in December: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/2/view/reviews/load/418 Do you have a list of the guides you have written? Do you have other blogs? Guides: I'll get back to you on that one with more specifics in the next couple of hours. Blogs: Concordium of Cyliena (personal; occasional updates): http://cyliena.com Aira Artistry (IRL crafting; not being updated atm): http://AiraArtistry.com Cook 10 Rats (IRL cooking; shared blog with other EQ2ers such as Feldon and Calthine): http://Cook10Rats.com (my contributions can be found directly here) Dragon Age Humor (just a tumblr account of funny Dragon Age stuff): http://dragonagehumor.tumblr.com Twitter (does that count? I randomly babble there...): http://twitter.com/Cyliena Guides This isn't a comprehensive list, but here are the ones I can remember offhand. I'm not going to link to the plethora of xpacks/GUs, either. Not every guide was 100% my work, but these I started and/or had a major role in maintaining. Keep in mind that many of the ZAM ones are likely outdated now. EQ2 Wire: Live Events from NotD 2015 through present ZAM: Lore & Legend Hot Spots ZAM: Public Quests ZAM: Battlegrounds ZAM: Solo, Heroic and Raid Progression ZAM: Betrayal and Citizenship ZAM: Dungeon Maker (RIP) ZAM: Aether Races ZAM: Housing ZAM: Guild Halls and Guild Hall Amenities ZAM: Plundered Loot (way out of date) ZAM: House Items (never got around to finishing this) ZAM: Beastlord and Beastlord Warders ZAM: Leaper, Glider, and Flying Mounts ZAM: How to Make Money ZAM: Racial Ring Auras (and most of their associated quests) ZAM: Freeport (revamped version) and Qeynos (revamped version) ZAM: City of New Halas ZAM: Live Events (Calthine and I always split working on each event, which are now out of date) ZAM: Coldain Daily Solo Missions ZAM: Item Help Since I mentioned it earlier... my Hedge Hollow walkthrough Suka: Do you have inspirations or themes for your homes? What are they? Cyliena: Some of my homes I've taken inspiration from in-game places, such as the Village of Shin, while others I enjoy doing a play on theme (Frostfell, gnomish mechanics, etc). I like toying with trying to make a unique or modern look, and though I'll spend a lot of time finishing select rooms in a house, it's rare I finish an entire house. Suka:Can you show us your unfinished homes? Cyliena: http://imgur.com/a/mTVd5/layout/horizontal (78 pics, added descriptions and whose homes they are) Suka:Do you have a favorite item on display in one of your homes? What makes it so special to you? Cyliena: This probably sounds weird, but the lower tiered mastercrafted portraits of the girl (sackcloth, roughspun, ruckas, cloth, and linen x2). From the moment I could make them they've always resided in Cyliena's home. Suka:Which server do you currently play on? In your opinion, what makes your server unique? Cyliena: Halls of Fate (formerly Everfrost). I haven't played very often since the merge, but prior to I enjoyed the fact that it was a quieter server that still had a healthy decorator population. Suka: Are you involved in a guild or a close group of in-game friends? Cyliena: Yup! I'm in the Crusaders of Neriak, which is a guild primarily filled with a few family members and guildies from EQ1. We're in Primal Vengeance on EverQuest--not to be confused with Primal Vengeance on EQ2's HoF--hailing from the E'ci server, which later became Tunare. We originally met during public Plane of Hate raids, and eventually ended up guilded together. I've known my guildies since about 2001, have met up with them many times at Fan Faires, and even attended a wedding between two of them last October. Suka:Do you have any decorating tips? Cyliena: Yessssss? Kind of. I recorded some videos of how I made several unique decor bits for the 2014 Hardcore Decorating panel, and they've sat unlisted for the past two years on YouTube. I don't think there's any audio, but hopefully they're easy enough to follow for the interested: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCZfP23XrDfjFjMLuxt-qXgcyyAWAsIql Suka:Are visitors welcome to your homes? How can other players find your homes in-game? Suka:Any links to where your pics are published? Cyliena: Visitors are welcome! The Crusaders of Neriak guild hall is open to visitors (that I split-decorated with a guildie, it's at the T2 hall in Freeport on Halls of Fate), and I have several published homes; their addresses and some pics of them can be found in this post: https://forums.daybreakgames.com/eq...s-and-creations-everfrost-server-img-heavy.44 -- if anyone wants to see any of my in-progress, feel free to shoot me a PM! (Suka's note: the forum noted above is so complete and awesome that we encourage you to go there to see her pics and read the details of her houses)
Now for my review: Cyliena and Trimia are the ones with completed homes. I also went to the guild hall. This may take several replies Cyliena: Cyliena's Art Gallery (lol my pet thinks he is supposed to be in every picture) Creepy Estate (NOTD Themed) Frostfell Shopping Retreat
the following is the Crusaders of Norrath Guild Hall- a T-2 hall in North Freeport. yeah that little robot loves to kill other pets, in case you didn't know lol.
Grats Cyliena! I loved all of your holiday write-ups on zam and still use them even if they are no longer updated. You have been very good to me, helping me get house items I really want in my houses/guild hall. You not only helped me get the items but you tour my places and it always meant so much to hear your comments. You are amazing!
lol ttobey- well, i find her fascinating. she is so multitalented and has done so much to help Norrath
I can't post what I actually replied out loud after reading that. So just believe that I love you in a completely platonic way, Tom Tobey. I always love hearing from you and getting to see what you're working on! I've been moving my holiday write-ups over to EQ2 Wire.. I think only Tinkerfest is missing now, and Frostfell may not have been fully fleshed out because I was busy with an end-of-semester project. But check out over there now too for holidays!
Fantastic write up, suka! It's nice to 'meet' you, Cyliena, and I would personally like to thank you for all the wonderful guides you have made. I have utilized many of those guides time and time again, and can honestly say you have saved me a lot of aggravation and time in completing many many quests. I tend to get frustrated very easily when I can't figure things out, and the guides that you and others take time to write up have helped to alleviate a lot of my frustrations. I am glad to hear that your guides are being moved to EQ2 Wire, so they don't become 'lost' in the vast world of the internet.
Getting Cyliena hired on at ZAM was the smartest thing I ever did. Even when our ZAM-paths separated we worked together and kept the EQ2 site rolling on top of our other stuff. I miss working with you! <3
Kudos to you Suka for this well deserved shout out to such a great contributer to a game that has brought so many many hours of fun to all of us . Cyliena I think many of us might have thrown up our hands and given up in defeat if not for your ever helpful Zam guides you have my undying admiration and thanks for the shear volume of work you put into them . Looking at the screenshots posted here shows how versatile your talents are When you add in how busy you must be with the care of your wonderful family I have to ask how on earth you manage to do everything you do and still keep your sanity ; ) Thank you again for all the work
