Member of the Month May 2016 (PalmettoBling)

May we begin a new month? I say yes, it's not like we can stop it right? Just like we can't stop this next gamer...hailing from the not so far east, just south of north...where south always seems to be. This gamer may not have hotline bling, but he certainly shines a different way...nope I haven't been drinking before I started to write this, just read on and you may find this intro a little more amusing after the fact...but the facts are here is your newest Member of the Month:


Name:
Merrick Moss

Where do you live?:
I live in Charleston, South Carolina and I can’t imagine living anywhere else. We are spoiled with good food, I’m a few minutes’ drive away from multiple beaches, we’ve got good history, museums, and as a tourist centric town everyone is really nice and in a generally good mood most of the time.

What do you do for a living?
IT, I was in the Army for six years after a false start with college, and then moved on to doing some contract work with the Government. After that I did implementations for company’s IT upgrades and purchases, and I’ve recently moved into cloud migrations and I’m working on an exciting new software based in Microsoft Azure that will offer free WiFi to larger venues and events.

Tell me about your Gamertag?
PalmettoBling came from my wife and I brainstorming. Palmetto Bling is what we call some of the stranger fashions around our area of pastel plaids, seersucker suits, bow ties, garish golf attire, etc, and thought it was a good shout out to the city we love while making light fun of some of the more stupid things we do.

When did you start playing?
I’ve been playing games for a long time. I remember when I was a kid and my dad bought our first computer, a 386 based system, and learning how to boot the floppy up to play Root Beer Tapper had me hooked on computing and video gaming. I had an Atari 2600, later a Sega Genesis, and then played PC games up until my first deployment where a gaming PC is not as practical in a combat zone, where I got my first Xbox 360 and have been hooked on achievements ever since.

What's your play style? Ex: booster? Completionist?
I’m more of a generalist. I’ll play all sorts of games across the board, but for a long time I didn’t do it for full achievement completion; that was until my wife learned about these stat tracking sites like TA and GamerTag Nation. Now my house is more of a completionist house and we’re now creeping up towards 70% completion percentage under my wife’s ruling iron fist.

How often and long do you play?
My gaming time has diminished considerably in the last five years because I have a five year old daughter and a three year old son that take up most of our time, but I squeeze in two to three hours of play time after they go to bed at the end of the day

What is your current gaming set up like?
What is your current gaming set up like? Simple setup a TV over the fireplace hooked up to the Xbox. Nothing fancy, just a chair with an end table to put the beer or whiskey, and, most of the time, a cat in my lap.

Tell me a good gaming story or experience? ex: Epic win/fail, marathon, accomplishment, a time you visited a game convention or met someone...or anything.
One of my favorite gaming experiences is going to PAX East in 2012 with a group of friends. We drove up from Charleston, SC to Boston, MA, which was a trying experience with all of us trying to keep our devices charged and figure out where we are going and wondering why New Jersey smells so bad. My friend was chosen to be an Omeganaut that year and he made it three rounds in before getting knocked out in a game of Banana-grams by spelling “Nade” instead of “Grenade”. We still give him shit for it to this day.

Do you have a special shout out to anyone in particular in the gaming community?
The list is long. I started on TrueAchievements, and when I found GamerTag Nation, I loved the community here and quickly signed up for a premium account. The forums here are what really keep me coming back, even if I’m not the most active poster around. People around here are always willing to help, and I like the personal touch this site brings over other gaming sessions which most of time end up feeling like a hodgepodge PUG.

What's your favorite game genre?
Action Adventure is the most boring answer, but I find myself enjoying games like Quantum Break (so good) and Tomb Raider the most, though I did go absolutely crazy over Titanfall (best game ever in my book). I also enjoy puzzle games and RPGs, but my wife is much more of an adventure gamer, so I leave those to her.

What’s your favorite game on 360?ONE?Of all time (any system)
Titanfall. It is the first multiplayer game I went all the way (Gen 10) with and I still find myself wanting to fire it up. On the 360 my favorite game was Bastion.

What is your worst game and Why?
There are some real stinkers on Windows Phone I’ve played, but those are mobile games, and I almost just discount those from the ranking altogether. Fracture was probably the worst game I’ve played, though I think RAGE was the most disappointing for me. I’m answering these quickly, as I could probably spend days thinking about what the absolute worse game I’ve played is.

If you were a Video Game or game character who and why?
I’d have to go with Rico from Just Cause or an Agent from Crackdown where I have a city that can’t stop me from doing all sorts of crazy stuff.

Are you looking forward to any new releases?
I was hotly anticipating Quantum Break and I really enjoyed that, so now on the burner for me is Titanfall 2, and with giant mech swords? Forgetaboutit.

Do you collect or not so much?
In a game world, I am all about collectibles. One of our favorite together times together is my wife helping guide me to collectables in a video game; we make a pretty good team. In the real world, my wife nixed my collecting tendencies when we needed to make room for a kid.

What else do you do besides gaming?
I drink, I row, I drive Uber when I need to get out of the house or make a few extra bucks. I also record a podcast with my friends that you can check out if you need something to listen to at MACAddressPodcast.com

What's your favorite feature on GTN?
The badges are my favorite, forums come in second, and the badges clinch a close third place spot.

What would you tell people about GTN if you were trying to get them to join?
See above, the badges and the forums.

Is there anything you would like added to the site?
Other than more badges? Hrm… recommendations? Maybe a schedule of when you’re usually online to find other people that play around the same time you do to possibly party up. Huh, I should put that in the feature request forum… brb.

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Excellent read. Congrats, PalmettoBling!

Great read, congrats!

Congrats PalmettoBling! This was a great interview and well deserved.

Nice read, congrats!!

Welcome to the MotM club, my friend! Great read. Let's play Titanfall together!

Thanks. Now that you know me so well, I will be making awkward requests of all of you, such as asking for money, or inviting you over to meet my mother.

Thanks. Now that you know me so well, I will be making awkward requests of all of you, such as asking for money, or inviting you over to meet my mother.

Originally Posted by palmettobling

I already know your mom very well.... maybe some 12 year old Call of Duty fans do too...

Congrats PalmettoBling!!

Congrats!!