In a first of a series of player spotlights we hope to bring to you comes one of the participants in our May 6v6 PvP tournament!
A brave soul for entering the PvP tournament solo, Nataraja is best known for his philosophical outlook as well as his calm demeanor on the forums as well as in game.
Read below to see our questions and his answers!
1) Who are you outside of Jade Dynasty?
This is a difficult question as it requires me to attempt to pin myself down with a lasting identity and that goes against the experience of life as impermanent and changing.
To try for something somewhat adequate: I feel names to be temporary connotations of our perceptions of being; however, I was named Cory at birth but many friends call me by the acquired nickname Bob. As "Cory" traces, somewhat intimidatingly, to some sources and meaning "the Chosen One" I tend to opt for Bob in as many situations as possible. Grandeur makes me feel weak inside. People tell me that "Bob" makes for a good "everyman" kind of name; apparently it suits me for casual gatherings where I am told I am fun and relaxing to be around.
I suppose I define myself as somewhat of a "wandering" spirtualist; however, in interest of providing something relatable, I could be defined as a University student with a love of Life in spite of chronic health conditions. I am doing a prolonged bachelor's degree through McGill University (based out of Montréal, Québec) as it is something I would like to accomplish for myself. I am provided with a few helpful provisions due to my health conditions that I am sincerely thankful for in their aide to my completion. I study Religions and East Asian Culture as I found them to be the most compelling subjects offered.
I've been removed from work due to my health condition and have to deal with various government organizations in disability-related payments. It often leaves me feeling very disheartened toward my ability to make what feels like some form of contribution to society and I seek out alternate methods of expression.
I am registered with Health Canada as a medical cannabis patient; this provides me with some psychological intimidation in my day-to-day as it leads me to deal with various uncomfortable stigmas as I attempt to cope with health issues.
2) How long have you been playing Jade Dynasty?
I started sometime around the start of October 2010. I left, with some other players, a previous MMORPG when a massive server reset/update took everything I had worked hard to earn on my characters except for some sparse fashion items. I was among many to lose rare items, accessories, bonuses and pets.
Rather than allowing it to leave me feeling too scorned I have felt it best to embrace it as a blessing of change.
3) What server do you play on?
My main characters of focus are on Wildlands PvP server and I have a low-level Skysong whom I occasionally log onto on the Billows PvE server.
4) What faction and affinity do you play as and why?
I choose Athan as I like an element of escapism and see miniaturization of being as a powerful psychological tool for potential betterment of oneself. Drawing upon beliefs from certain Buddhist, Hindu and Daoist traditions I decided that making a character who had celestial qualities would aide in encouraging an adequate real-life meditation schedule.
I started as a Celan and a Rayan because I enjoy magic-caster classes and invisibility. I ended up maining the Celan when I discovered I was able to provide buffs to the players who had joined the game with me which was something that was not provided for in mage classes in my previous game. My Rayan got put on back-burner when I discovered my invisibility would only affect players a low-number of levels higher than me and those lower than me.
By the time I had unlocked the Celan Skill Moon In The Mirror I found myself facing some issues with the class. Moon In The Mirror was a skill that left players of significantly higher levels running from me if I attempted to fight them. When I would return from being pk'd on-map and cast Moon In The Mirror for damage reduction (Celans are incredibly squishy without it) and pop the reflection bonus I would find, to my dismay, those same players teleporting to town and safe-zone camping. I also have some issues with the AoE system requiring you to have a target to cast skills and eventually decided Celan was not the best class for me.
When I neared ascension I had brought my options to ascending Rayan, Balo or Arden as I had come across a forum thread requesting the submission of unknown skill descriptions and the only one accounted for at the time was Celan-->Celan.
Shortly before I ascended another Celan on our server went Rayan which narrowed my choices (until I ascended and later found him completely unwilling to post the skills) to Balo or Arden. Tank classes have never suited me and playing an Archer class that was effectively more like a mage than Celan became very appealing to me.
In terms of affinity I have opted for Fuwa. The affinity seemed most "suited" to the skills that Celan-->Arden provided for me as well as being most suited, in my opinion, to the class itself. Though I would not argue an Arden as a highly effective tank the Fuwa affinity provides survivability. I have come to innerstand that Felkin is the "popular" affinity for Ardens and I presume/am told this has to do with the raw damage capacity of Flame Stream II coupled with the ability it affords lower-level Arden players to kill many of their targets. However, as I am also told that other kills still come from the use of tier 5 factional skills survivability for an easily killed class becomes an issue for me.
Sometimes I regret not starting out Felkin and changing to Fuwa for PvP later; I have come to notice a variety of features in the affinity skills for Felkin Arden that incline me to believe they would function in a superior way for PvE and earning gold.
Fuwa affinity also allows me to provide blessings to my party despite no longer being a primarily buff/debuff class.
5) What clan and alliance are you in (if any)?
I am leader of a Clan called Moksa that I made shortly after beginning playing. Moksa is a term used in Hindu traditions to denote liberation from the cycle of Samsara.
Normally I lead an alliance named Yogin; it is comprised of three clans consisting of myself and some friends. Currently the alliance is under the care of my Skysong alt OldenMonk and the rest of us are supporting Deyanira alliance comprised of a variety of good-natured people whom I have leveled with during my time on the server and in realm 7.
I may opt to return to Yogin alliance as is needed relative to what I feel I can do to best aide a positive playing community on my server. The factors that decide my coming and going from Yogin are tied into what I observe occurring on the server.
6) Any advice for those starting out in PvP?
Honestly this question horrified me to read. My policy with PvP is that if it reaches a point where I am actually in combat with an opponent then I have already done a number of things wrong and am seeking desperately for solutions.
My advice as best as I can muster it is have fun but be respectful; remember, anyone who can be bold enough to be compassionate and respectful should be treated the same and that includes you yourself. Learn to know yourself and how your character can best bring you personal joy; figure out what is best suited to your own self rather than give in to others telling you the way you should be handling yourself. Honest advice is good and should always be heeded appropriately but only you know your personal capacities and how to work with them.
Any activity can be for fun or can be for competition. I am more in the avenue of fun so I can provide little advice in "beating" an enemy. To that end I suggest: don't sweat the small stuff and be brave enough to let your pixels die. You can learn a lot by allowing yourself to be killed three or four times when you face someone. Sometimes what you can learn is even more useful than simply how to fight.
If your computer supports it, record yourself and study your own playing. If and when you feel you are able to do so share it with others and open yourself to what you can learn from their insights.
7) What is your favorite aspect of Jade Dynasty?
That is another difficult question. My primary instinct is to respond that I enjoy the community aspect. I meet and communicate with a number of interesting people through the medium of our game and its associated forums. Simultaneously, however, I also often feel like I have not been a member of the community long enough to say for certain and that others will chastise me for even suggesting it.
I don't know if I have any more of an answer than that and I cannot provide feedback for why I should hold favour or this community over others. I apologize for my lack of meaningful input but I am simply appreciative of my place.
8) Do you have any shoutouts or final words to make?
I do not think there could be space for me to provide shoutouts for all the individual people I appreciate as I feel appreciative of my interactions, or of lessons learned despite lack of personal interactions, with each member of the community that I have come across. As such I would simply like to give my respect and appreciation to any individual who reads this and many who will not do so.
Thank you to anyone and everyone who has reached out to me, interacted with me or who is supportive of my being in the community. Thank you, also, to anyone who does not feel such as you, as well, provide me with very deep teachings which I am grateful for.
Know anyone who might deserve some time in the spotlight? Send an email to
jd.community@perfectworld.com! Thanks for reading our first installment of Jade Dynasty's Player Spotlight!
