Stern

Other Names: Spitfire, Stealth

Notable Past Clans: LDS, DD, FL, TRoT, AOD, FOF, FE, MOC, AoN, LSJ, BOT

Notable Class: Sniper

Achievements: All-Star
(MVP)
3rd All BFC Team (seasons 7-9)




Bio:

2006: Bought SWBF2. Played offline on fat PS2 (11 years old).
2007: Bought an ethernet adapter, and eventually a mic. First person I squeaked to was -MERC-Iceman, recruited by LDS I_Am_Crazy. Ascended to high ranks. Recruited everyone in sight (including {BFC}CL_Poison). Managed the site. Hosted server. Became staff of BFC. Made shitty montages, first with camera, then with EasyCap.
2008: Became leaders with Bio-Storm and Weazle. Endured much drama, silly 'wars', and little support. Left after Weazle became intolerable (notably his HCL tag, using being founder as higher authority). Joined DD on the side as Spitfire. Formed FL. First ASG nomination.
2009: FL dies due to Forumarena crash. Joined TROT. Immediately CL with Maximus and Poison. TROT dies. Joined AOD.
2010: Ascended to high ranks. Became CCL with Bear under Frenzii, Howard, Starsky. Managed site. Left after TDH made AOD quit the BFC. Won Apoc's Challenge (1v1 tourney).
2011: Joined FOF after Delta shut down the BFC. First trip to playoffs, lost to LSJ in semifinals. Kicked out after talking shit to MTD.
2012: Joined FE. BFC delegate (no ranks) and site manager. Lost to LSJ? in semifinals. FE retires.
2013: Joined MOC. Ascended to high ranks. BFC delegate, paid-for server host, bookkeeper. Lost to ROR in quarterfinals. Beat ROR for 6v6 CS Championship. Second ASG nomination.
2014: Joined AoN. Still in DD on PS3.

In my early years, I remained as loyal as possible, invested as much time and energy as I could into molding LDS in my image, and tried to be nice to everyone. Our record was poor because I put recruits in of lower rank (in an effort to be nice, LDS was like a nursery with around 50 kids running around), challenged anybody and accepted all challenges, and didn't devote time towards pre-game strategy. LDS was the clan to get your foot in the door, not win championships (see Poison, Sweet Revenge, Pimp, etc). I made sure not to steal any members and ally myself with as many as possible.

I am proud of the fact everything I know now was all done through hard work, alone. I became familiar with these forums' HTML configuration by managing sites and testing. I became 'good' at SWBF2 by pubstomping for days, no training. When I hosted my non-paid for, I went through the process myself. I figured out how to stream and capture gameplay with my own money and own time, no direction. I was always happy to direct others, though. These were all fairly challenging to myself as a 12-year-old.

I contributed to the BFC in every way I knew how. The only ways I could not contribute was with GFX and with server code, things I regret not learning. I also regret not devoting enough time towards pre-battle strategy in my early years. I put too much faith in the meta opening directions for classes on maps and in people's instincts/skills/teamwork. Perhaps it was lack of practice, perhaps we sucked skill-wise, perhaps our record was poor because we were never afraid to challenge anyone (that's how you get better!), or perhaps we just had shitty opening strats. LDS for me was like early LSJ; we kept playing the clans far better than us so we had practice for later. A good coach plays towards the team's strengths, which I tried to do as my playing career progressed, but at some point you cannot exceed the potential of your hand. I don't believe an extensive battle prep would have offset our collectively poor skillset, but in retrospect, it was worth a try. Indirectly, another regret I have is not training our recruits. I did not try hard enough to enforce training sessions and inner clan scrimmages, as I believed you could get better by solely pubstomping. While it would have been time consuming, we were like a small market sports team. We did not attract the high-priced free agents, we built through the draft. Unfortunately, once our draft picks became skilled enough to be considered good, they left to join clans with said free agents and better reputations.

Over time, my patience dwindled. While I had no problem with being the head of the LDS nursery, Weazle was in my way. I no longer was willing to be internet nice/immature, and I became more focused on winning and surrounding myself with maturer people. I also have slightly more shame than I did before, and while my shit-talking and trolling has exponentially increased, I will still be silly for the sake of humor, disregarding my self-respect (see the shitterdog BFC COD com), and try to make friends before enemies. I'm proud of the fact I can take a joke and not rage, that I willingly stuck my neck out for people, I was loyal, I was committed, I was open and honest I have (some) self-respect (which I am willing to put aside depending on the situation), and I put the needs of the clan I was in before anything else. SWBF2 drama was taxing, but I always dealt with it, though at this point I tried to distance myself before it began. If there was an issue with a clan, I made sure to voice my opinion and try to resolve the problem at hand. I never outright dodged it. My philosophy in every clan was the same; democratic resolution, everyone is equal. I brought that to whatever clan I joined, and that type of maturity led me to becoming a higher up (I think). While I am admittedly somewhat 'power hungry', I pursue leadership because I'm more of a leader than a follower, but I will follow if the leader is ideal or willing to work with me. I'm an active contributor to tasks at hand, and sometimes I think my insight isn't taken seriously enough.

I talk a lot because I consider myself a somewhat knowledgeable individual and I think most of what I say is constructive. Input in general is important as it introduces new ideas, options, etc; save silence for death. Speech is the greatest weapon a human has. Besides, everyone needs a devil's advocate, and I'm willing to play it, that's how you improve. Also, I never talk at social gatherings, so this my outlet for subconscious compensation. I guess I feel more comfortable over the internet for some reason.

I was always in the starting lineup of whatever clan I joined, mainly because I joined clans that needed me. To this day, I join clans more for the people in them and need for that extra piece, rather than get the easy ship (I was in DD and AOD in 2010; DD won the championship that year as many predicted, and I could have rode the bench for the easy ship, but I decided to play with AOD for the challenge).

I am still loyal to DD and one of the few active members still with them from SWBF2. Spud is one of my oldest friends and we play NHL 14 together often. Eventually, due to the drama of FEAR/TLL and them leaving DD (I am still friends with TLL/FEAR members, I think), Spud made me an unofficial higher-up in the army, admitted me in the DD HoF, and made me site admin (and subsequently seeing all the dirty shit-talk in the DD admin only forums that made my respect plummet for quite a few old DDs, but I digress). I stuck with DD through all the CODs, SWBF2, the drama of people coming and going, and I knew if I bode my time, I would rise to 'power'. Though I initially joined DD for the ELITE tags (and I saw those much less qualified gain them), I stayed in DD for all this time because I knew Spud was too invested in it to let it die, ever. He is the main reason I am still in DD today (and the only DD I still play video games with, since I'm not buying a PS4), though I feel I owe my loyalty to DD since Apoc provided my PS3.

Being in college now, I say my best and worst times in life were in the SWBF2 community. Good times and bad times. I have made friends and I have made enemies. I have learned more than I could ever think through interacting with all the people in the BFC and SWBFII.COM (SWBF2 being the first online game I ever played). I also probably invested more time in SWBF2 (and SWBF2 related things) than anything else I've ever been apart of. Being admitted into the Battlefront Community Hall of Fame, however fleeting, is somewhat of an accomplishment and a testament to the time and effort I put in to helping the BFC as best I could; which is why the last time I got legitimately angry was when Delta rage quit the internet/BFC, deleted the topic when everyone was voting for me for the BFC HoF, and banned me from the Forumwise BFC for taunting him, where I am still banned to this day. But this is ultimately a video game and I must forgive everyone over the internet, because, it's the internet, nothing personal. While the BFC is not 'mine' per say, I have been an active ingredient and committed staff member, and I am grateful for the recognition that my contributions and efforts will not go unnoticed. I tried to put in as much time into SWBF2 things other than the game itself.

While the Hall of Fame is primarily based on skill, and it is apparent to me I am being admitted more as a prerequisite than as a talent, I always thought I was as good as anyone to play this game. For whatever reason, to others, this is not the case. Regardless, I have to think I'm the best (which explains all my shit-talking, though most of it is sarcasm/trolling), or else I've already lost the battle. You need the unbeatable mindset to have any chance of winning against someone who may actually be better than you. I feel SWBF2 is my game, one that I could claim was my favorite to play, on any console. Perhaps it's because of the easiness in which I pubstomped that I thought I was elite, perhaps it's my constant surroundings of non-elite players that I looked non-ASG worthy during this game's prime, perhaps I'm just straight up not as good as I think I am. Maybe it's because I don't have any championships, or that I used lock-on, or that I was never sniper consistently because my team needed me at another class. In my prime, when I won Apoc's Tourney, I took it as a validation of I'm one of the best and people are just blind. Now, I frankly don't really care how good people think I am; I can only say for sure, that I always tried my heart out to do the best I possibly could on SWBF2 and all SWBF2 related ventures. As I see I may be the least skilled in the Hall of Fame to my peers, that then validates my investment as a BFC member may be taken into account after all, even subconsciously.