Member of the Month September 2014 (Smrnov)

Well a new month means a new Member profiled and I am particularly excited to bring you this one, though he's not been a member for that long he has garnished enough interest and some would say a celebrity type of following, why, well he's one of the very few gamers in the world to surpass the Million Gamerscore mark! With as much fanfare as I can muster. I'm happy to bring you a little more info on this humble gamer.




Name:
Stephen Rowe

What do you do for a living?
Database consultant.

Tell me about your Gamertag?
Smrnov
The gamertag's origin is not very exciting. When Xbox Live was released on the original Xbox, my friend John told me that you could get a month free every month, but you need to get a new tag each time. My initials are SMR, and it was November... so SMRNOV was born, with SMRDEC impending, but I never switched and just bought a subscription and have kept it active all that time.

When did you start playing?
Video games have always been a hobby, and I briefly considered a career in video games and had a few interview opportunities after completing my university degree, but the pay was not as good as the financial/database market. So it ended up being the best of both worlds, being able to afford video games instead of designing them. I started early with an Atari 2600 and constantly had some sort of video game console in my household. I had preordered the original XBox and have been a fan of the Microsoft systems ever since, especially the controllers, hands down my favorite controllers from all the various console systems.

What's your play style? Ex: booster? Completionist? How often and long do you play?
I considering myself a completionist but not of the type that cares about percentage. I will start pretty much any game on my tag, even if it has glitched achievements or ones I know I can never finish (i.e. some Japanese shmups). However, I will usually not part with a game unless it's very rare exception until I have 100% in that game, as I always have intentions to go back. So for that reason, I own a very large number of games, probably around 2000 which includes all platforms. I play a few hours a day on weekdays, more on weekends.

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 most memorable experiences is probably when my wife, my friend and I spent 3 solid days camping journeyman boots in the Ocean of Tears in EverQuest 1 to keep killing a spawn over and over to get a rare drop. We actually slept in shifts over the 3 days to get it done. But we were all extremely happy when we got these silly boots for all 3 of us. And of course getting the 1 million gamerscore live in Toronto in Microsoft's booth was pretty huge and is probably going to go down as my best gaming milestone, everyone was so fantastic about it, I was nervous something would go wrong but it went down as perfect as possible.

What's your favorite game genre?
Role Playing Games, pretty much any type.

Whats your favorite game on 360? ONE? Of all time (any system)
Favorite Game on 360 = Bioshock
Favorite Game on One = Titanfall right now but probably tied with Diablo III Ultimate Evil Edition and will definitely change in the next year with all the new releases coming out. I've played Evolve a couple times now at Expos and think that will be high on the list.
Favorite Game of all time / any system = EverQuest on PC

If you were a Video Game or game character who and why?
Aidan from Watch_Dogs because I'm a technophile.

Are you looking forward to any new releases?
Evolve, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Tom Clancy's: The Division, probably could add a whole lot more to this list.

Do you collect or not so much?
I have no problems getting rid of games once they are completed, but I don't part with them before that. I do get quite a few special editions if they are nice, i.e. Skyrim Dragon, Tomb Raider figure, Assassin's Creed figures. I do collect every limited edition consoles. My prized one is a custom purple Taco Bell slim 360 that was from a Canadian Contest and I believe only 30 exist. I play most often on the Halo Reach 360 and I'll probably put the new CoD: AW One on my desk. I did get the Sunset Overdrive console early from Microsoft Canada yesterday, so once I do an unboxing my daughter has requested it goes in her game room.

What's your favorite feature on GTN?
The badges are really cool and fun to try to obtain. I like the custom collections as well.

What would you tell people about GTN if you were trying to get them to join?
The community, everyone seems super nice here.

Is there anything you would like added to the site?
I'd like if the series would show my progress. i.e. if all Bioshock games from all platforms/regions would be in one series/collection if I could see my overall progress. That would be really neat.

Congrats on the 1million smrnov

One of my most memorable experiences is probably when my wife, my friend and I spent 3 solid days camping journeyman boots in the Ocean of Tears in EverQuest 1 to keep killing a spawn over and over to get a rare drop. We actually slept in shifts over the 3 days to get it done. But we were all extremely happy when we got these silly boots for all 3 of us.

Originally Posted by B8TINGU

Oh so many memories. I'm sure others feel the same way about WoW. Did you ever get paged for Nagafen runs? Amazing times.

What's your favorite feature on GTN?
The badges are really cool and fun to try to obtain. I like the custom collections as well.

Originally Posted by B8TINGU

Well being #1 was fun while it lasted, Smrnov loves getting the badges too!

Oh so many memories. I'm sure others feel the same way about WoW. Did you ever get paged for Nagafen runs? Amazing times.


Well being #1 was fun while it lasted, Smrnov loves getting the badges too!

Originally Posted by Kaens

First rule of badge club, geesh...

Nice writeup smrnov and B8ting. I didn't know you were a DBA.

Nice writeup, nice read!

Congrats, Again....

Hah, I assumed smrnov was just a variation of Smirnoff; funny that it's sheer coincidence.

Hah, I assumed smrnov was just a variation of Smirnoff; funny that it's sheer coincidence.

Originally Posted by Obsidian Tides

Ditto!


Great read...well done!

congrats on the one million and being member of the moment!

Congrats again on the 1M! Impressive how many completions you have done in the process while still scoring so much.

Great interview,

Congrats again Smrnov!

Nice interview. Great to read a little inside one of the legends.

Congrats! Great choice of favorite all time game. Everquest was the best.

Excellent read!!!! I too, have always thought that smrnov just really liked vodka, lol.

Hope he can grace us with his presence at AF15

Thanks for all the comments and congrats!

I have already planted the idea of going to AF15 next year with the family so I think it should work, as long as we do some other stuff along the way. I think I'll try to schedule something with stops at Cedar Point and Chicago. But if anyone has any idea of cool stuff to do between Detroit / Chicago and Terre Haute, please let me know.

Thanks for all the comments and congrats!

I have already planted the idea of going to AF15 next year with the family so I think it should work, as long as we do some other stuff along the way. I think I'll try to schedule something with stops at Cedar Point and Chicago. But if anyone has any idea of cool stuff to do between Detroit / Chicago and Terre Haute, please let me know.

Originally Posted by smrnov

There is this awesome little town nestled on Lake Michigan called Holland, MI

There is this awesome little town nestled on Lake Michigan called Holland, MI

Originally Posted by pTartTX

I've never been on that side of Michigan before... I do go to Frankenmuth, MI somewhat frequently. At least one weekend a year.

I've never been on that side of Michigan before... I do go to Frankenmuth, MI somewhat frequently. At least one weekend a year.

Originally Posted by smrnov

I spent last Christmas in Frankenmuth. My in-laws took us there as a present.

If you've never been to the west side of Michigan, you truly are missing out. The view of Lake Michigan is just breath taking. Most of the lakeshore cities offer a lot to do, but I am a bit biased to Holland since it is my home and all

Nice read, Congrats Smrnov.

Those boots were camped for many hours along with the FBSS in Guk, Fun days.

Nice read, Congrats Smrnov.

Those boots were camped for many hours along with the FBSS in Guk, Fun days.

Originally Posted by MarvzMitts

What was your server Marv? I was Povar.