About

I have no idea at ALL why you might think to find anything interesting in here, but since we are all here, let’s do it…

Ancient History

I was born.  That happened.  I held on a bit, apparently I didn’t want to get out of bed even back then.  Then some years went by, all a blur to me really.  The bits from there to about 14 years of age are dull and boring, so I forgot them mostly.

Dad was out of the picture by my 5th birthday.  Mum got married again, but that didn’t last thank god.  Never found or heard from Dad again, but I found my family despite him, thanks to the amazing effort of my lovely wife.

The Dark Ages

Or as I like to call them, my teenage years.  I landed in Melbourne when I was 13, and then Canberra when I was 15.  I went to Melrose High School in Canberra, and eventually left in 1987.  When I got to Canberra I joined the Naval Reserve Cadets and got to do some AMAZING things.  In 88 I was at College, and started my short lived career as a raging alcoholic.  So this made me almost 17.  Lasted till I turned 20.  Not even enough for long service…

Modern History

After I left college, I ended up moving first to Geralton in WA where I worked a cray boat for a season, before the wind and some vomit showed me a change might be in order.  I went back to Canberra, bummed around for a bit then moved to Queensland.  Shortly after that I met my now wife.  We have been together now for 26 years.  Not together for all of that, but a bit of it.  We got married in 2000, so we have been married now for 17 years…and we have a son.

Work History

My work history has mainly been in IT, either directly or consulting.  I started working in a shire council on a on the job training program, and wound up helping build a help desk.  From there I worked in tech support for desktop, network and servers, for clients and employers like the federal government, and large outsourcing companies with massive contracts (Defence etc.).  I ended up moving out of technical to management, and eventually into Service Improvement, specifically around process management and improvement in customer service.  Basically I go in and look at how fucked up someone is doing something, and make it not stupid.

The Present

It’s not a gift, no matter what the t-shirts say.  At the moment I am not able to work due to health, so this is where I get a bit depressing, tune out if you want.  I have an illness called Fibromyalgia.  A chronic central nervous system pain disorder where my brain does not get signals from my body right, so what should feel like one thing, invariably feels like torture.  It also causes fatigue, weight gain and a lot more, but I am on a new path so I am going to discuss that too.

The Future

How am I going to know anything about the future….read along and find out!

Tabletop Gaming History (Brief)

I have been gaming for a long loooong time. I started playing the choose your own adventure style books, moving onto D&D when I was 13. I played a couple of games, and then after moving to Canberra as a mid teen, got into some other activities… ahem. Anyhoo the upshot was I got back into gaming, and when I moved back to Queensland, I got back into it again more heavily.

At the time I was back in Canberra we played many different systems, AD&D, Judge Dredd, Car Wars, Paranoia, Palladium, Traveller (incl Mega) and had a blast. When I moved back to Queensland, I started gaming especially in AD&D 2nd Ed, and other systems like World of Darkness, Rolemaster, Rune Quest, and more.

During this time, last of the 80s, beginning of the 90s and through to mid 90s I went to conventions playing and running AD&D 2nd Ed games. I actually joined a group called “Lolth’s Loving Legion”. They were a north Brisbane gaming group with the intention of winning at the conventions and needed another player. They played 1st Ed at home, and then 2nd Ed at the cons, and wondered why the lost. In the end I got 2 awards from that convention (best characterisation, and best roleplayer of the convention). They didn’t invite me back after that.

I moved to Canberra and D&D dried up a bit, but several years ago I found out about Adventurers League and did some digging to find a store running it, and I got back into D&D, and more. I ended up taking on the role in AL as a “Local Co-Ordinator” responsible for getting stores running AL, and make sure things are being done by the books. In my time there I got the D&D group up to a significant number, actually filling one store, and by the time I left had filled one other store, and working on the third.

I have since moved back to Queensland, and am now playing online. Using Roll20 and Discord I GM a game, running 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off, and playing in the game on the off weeks. Now and then one of the other players (when work isn’t owning him) also GMs a game as well and basically the three GMs switch around. I am purely playing 5E D&D now, and have a complete homebrew world called Tir Avalon. I intend to start writing up the adventures of my group as well as recording them because some of them are nuts funny. I also intend to have Tir Avalon done to the point of being able to be downloaded and used.

A brief history of me gaming.

I have been playing a LONG time online. Actually before there was a viable internet in Australia I was playing what now we would call an MMO, or near-MMO. Baron Realms Elite. I played on the Goose’s Nest BBS, which I believe is still running. Not that I have a modem to make that lovely whining sound that let you know you were connecting to something bigger.

I started more serious game play then, starting with serial networks, upgrading to token ring / BNC networks, then eventually we got a 24port 10mb HUB and we were off. Playing games like Doom, and then moving onto Tribes. Starsiege Tribes was a FPS game that revolutionised FPS game play by having multiple classes, but multiple roles within each, and team work was mandatory, and then you add transitioning from inside to outside on one map. Was amazing when it came out, and while now it seems pretty week, this was the start of a gaming thing for me.

I ended up trying out for a position in the Clan Regeneration (Clan Regen) who eventually went on to become AusGamers. but I learned a lot, though I never got in, I did go to a LOT of their LAN events. Then in 2000 I got a new job, and hired someone I knew could do the job, and he turned me onto TOG. The Older Gamers. And I was introduced to Battlefield. And while now I will never give them another cent. I spent a LOT of time shooting in Battlefield versions. I have them all. Every version. Now I am playing a mix of games, which you can see on my Games I Play page.

Game Names

I have not always been Warbear.Prime. And some games, you can have multiple character names, but here are the main ones I am known as and play as, and some history on the Warbear part of my name too.

So before I was Warbear, my first online name (internet only) was Maestro. As in Italian (or something) for Master. And was a name given to a master of fencing. I thought it sounded cool. Then a modem company came out called Maestro, and I had to change it. So I changed to Minstrel. Another name for a bard. And I went by that for 12 months or so, till I went to a RegenLan. One of the young kids there (probably a dad by now (HOLY SHIT!)) could not say my name correctly, and it came out as Menstral. So that had to go.

We were playing a lot of Quake at the time, and a lot of it in DM4. So I took the name Lava_Lord. Because that’s where I died, again and again and again…. 12 times in a row in one game. Was brutal but funny. But it was temporary while I came up with something more me. I wanted bear in it somehow, because that’s what most people call me IRL, so it worked, but I wanted it to be a cooler name than just bear, and so at the next LAN, I changed and became Warbear. Then WOW came out, and fifty other pricks all stole the name. Someone took warbear@gmail … I felt robbed. More recently I added the .Prime to the end to signify that I was first. But I do have other games, and other names:

Current Game Names

• Warbear.Prime

Past Game Names

• Maestro
• Minstral
• Lava_Lord
• Warbear
• Thunder_Tw0nk (Battlefield 3+)(See Image Right for where this comes from)
• Alvar Ursidae(EVE Online)