People approach life with varying levels of intensity, and engage in experiences that tend to satisfy their needs, wants, and desires, including those in our virtual world. This week's Wednesday's Who's Who is no different, except that her level of intensity is so dynamic, that it's incredible, infectious, and inspiring. A Natural Progression It all started 12+ years ago while playing FPS games. "I needed a nic," says Nadie, "and proceeded to look around the house for inspiration." It came in the form of a video called LadyHawke, which she felt would do nicely, but never thought she would still be using it all these years later. The middle name "Nadie," which is actually pronounced Nay-dee, "to rhyme with Lady" says Nadie, "came about from my spot-on grenade throwing in another game." As a result, Nades + Lady became Nadie. She was named by a Swedish clan mate, which she says accounts for the spelling, and also says that most people who know her in Entropia call her Nads for short. "This becomes an amusing situation though when on a crafting run and I see 'Go Nads' in chat," laughs Nadie. It was on October 21, 2006 when Nadie first stepped foot into the Entropia Universe. For 10+ years, she had been playing FPS games with a squad called the Anti Infantry Army (-=AiA=-), and a few of the Swedish members had been playing Entropia. After talking her into downloading it, she entered Port Atlantis, and claims that she was totally hooked from that first night. Anti Infantry Army -=AiA=- It seemed a natural progression of course to join the -=AiA=- society once she became a citizen of Calypso. However, her soc mates began playing less and Nadie found herself on her own the majority of the time, so decided to become a Freelancer. She claims that most of the -=AiA=- members are back playing again, and one in particular who goes by the name Kristoffer Larethania Strom is still very active. A chance encounter with Neodav and Sorg at Jamhots Club 3G on her birthday led to an invite into the Vampires HQ (VHQ) society. "I made some great friends in this society," shares Nadie, "and still chat with them in-world and real life." Oki Teddy Dokie was the Leader of the soc at that time according to Nadie, and one of the funniest people she knows. "Amore’ Ted if you read this," says Nadie. She found it a hard decision to leave VHQ, but felt it was time to move on. She joined the society Nomads of the Apocolypse (=NotA=) for a brief period of time, and while there were great and memorable people in the society that she still speaks to, they too were not quite as active at the time as she had hoped for, and it was time to move on to yet another society. In January 2008, she met Ben Cobra Boner at the Treasure Island Central Trade Center, which led to them going on a few fun hunts together. It eventually garnered an invite into the Dark Knights society where she has been a member since February 2008. "Dark Knights is a great society," says Nadie, "and we have fun team hunts, and even more fun in society chat." Influences Nadie didn't have a mentor, but says she has met so many people in-world that have influenced and helped her. She would like to mention them all, but there would be far too many and has chosen just a few to acknowledge: Zero Zeozose Zone – whom she met when she was exploring Amethera one day, and says he was the first person to ever come to her rescue with a FAP. She shares that, "His good deed was immediately repaid by him getting a mining global," and "we've been friends ever since and chat now and then." Slapnuts Slapnuts Smith – "With a name like that, I just had to meet Slappy," says Nadie. It finally happened when someone suggested to him that he go see her for some coloring. They hit it off straight away according to Nadie, and he was the one who advised her as to what gear she should upgrade to, as well as got her to go to Club NEVERDIE to participate in all the events. She shares that, "He was also there for me at a crucial time in real life, and for that I am forever grateful, so a huge thank you goes to him for that!" Skam – "for her extensive wardrobe and inspiring me to become a fellow clothes collector," says Nadie. Etopia and Sorg (see above) – "for their patience with fixing my body, hairstyles and coloring," Nadie says as she smiles. Professions From day one, Nadie claims she wanted to be a hunter. However, "After looting some materials and successfully crafting a pair of Basic Pattern Pants on the first click, I rather liked the idea of crafting," she says. The pants needed to be colored, and as others had realized, there weren't many colorers at the time, so she decided to give it a go herself. It eventually became her main profession, as well as texturizing when it was implemented. She also kept up with crafting, mainly clicking amps. At one point, she had a shop selling OA and MA 101's-103's, and says she ended up clicking 8+ hours a day to keep it fully stocked. It was "very very hard work," she says, especially on her wrist which was already suffering with Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). She has since learned that others within our community suffer from this injury as well. However, in spite of the hard work, it was thanks to all those clicks that got her the 3 crafting ATHs. Nadie now only crafts on the odd occasions when she has materials, and no longer does coloring or texturizing. Sometimes she will take a trip to CND for a few days of mining when she feels like a change. While hunting is now her main profession, she also does taming, and has unlocked handling and taming of 5 pets at one time. The Events Circuit Over the years, Nadie has taken part in various events, and like so many others, started off by participating in the Longumania and Ambulimania competitions that are hosted by the Hunters Unlimited society. She claims, "It made me become a bit of an event addict," because "This then led me into Pink Saturday and Global Madness (no longer running), which then turned into Champions League (CL) and World of Firepower (WoF)." She shares that she's been fortunate enough to win a few events, and made it to a 2nd place position in Champions League so far. She has completed two full seasons of Champions League where she finished in 6th and 8th place over all, and as the 4th highest female avatar in the 2008 season, it resulted in her avatar being made into the Queen of Clubs for the Champions League deck of cards. Last year, Nadie took part in her first WoF event, and was selected to represent England in the Main 12 team. She shares that it was a real honor to be chosen by England's Captain at the time, Oracle Kev FountofWisdom to lead England's Main 12 team in the Final. She said, "It was a great privilege, but also the most pressure I’ve felt in any competition in-world or in real life," and further states, "I was just so relieved after it was over, and even more so that we won!" She definitely has the WoF bug, because she also participated in three rounds of the WoF Pro Series (WPS), and came in 1st in Round 2 as team "Sex on Ice" with Jenna Star Mercury, and 2nd in Rounds 6 and 10 as a solo entry. Nadie also enjoys team hunts with her soc mates and others on Daspletors and Spiders, as well as the odd Beacon Mission. She was also absolutely delighted that she placed 3rd in the 2009 Miss Entropia Universe competition, which is now sponsored by MindArk. Lending A Helping Hand On occasion, Nadie engages in rescue missions that include running people out of a location when they are stuck, or if there are too many mobs, she will wormhole them back to safety. Her most recent mission was to kill a spider in the Omegaton West Trade Center. And speaking of wormholes, Nadie is known for helping new players get from one place to another as witnessed here and here. "The locations vary from Sweat Camp to Twin," says Nadie, and "the Rig if requested," but also includes Nea's as a point of travel, as well as getting people new teleporters. "These are always great fun to do," shares Nadie, and "I always try to help people out if they are in a sticky situation, or just need some advice." Nadie thanks the wormhole receivers as well, because without them, she wouldn't be able to do the wormholes. Other Activities Nadie has a few favorite mobs, but among them can be counted the Scipulor, Phasm, Hogglo, Aurli and Atrox (especially at the Rig). She shares that Kingfisher, Kreltin, and Sumima are definitely her nemesis when it comes to loot, and the ones she tends to avoid. Oh, and says she should also add the Furor as a favorite since her 15.9k HoF. And speaking of favorite mobs, it seems she also has a periodic love affair with the almighty Spider, and ... I’m not talking about the itsy bitsy kind either based on her most recent birthday hunt on Tuesday, March 17th with fellow Dark Knights soc mates and other friends. The initial team consisted of the following members: Left to Right Ter (Warants) – Lorfat (DK) – Lady Trisha (DK) – Nadie (DK) LoneWolf (DK) – Blood Moon (JSA) – Analina (DK) I tagged along to get video footage and can attest to the fact that the herd of Spiders harassed were of the higher maturity up to Stalkers. We all shared in the birthday spankings, but I left that out of the video of course. Throughout the hunt, many joined when they logged in, such as Mac (DK), Sorg (LFB), Princess (M2S), CG-63 (Freelancer), and even Jenna Star Mercury who popped into TeamSpeak with Nadie, Blood Moon and me, and gave the event a bit more flavor with his commentary. I can't tell you how much fun that was. No really ... I can't. During the hunt, it seemed a couple of mobs got wind that it was Nadie's birthday, so they wanted to drop in to sing Happy Birthday to her. However, while the Tripudion didn't do half a bad job, the Foul's version was just … well, foul … and Moonie (Blood Moon) made short order of that to save our ears from the excruciating pain. . . . . Happy Birthday TO You ... Haaaappy Biiiirthday TO (splat) The birthday hunt turned out to be a wild adventure, as I'm sure you can imagine, and not without a few globals and two hofs. A video is presented at the end of this profile, and highlights some of the action that took place that kept the intensity level high. An Entropia Perspective It was around the time of VU 7.5 that Nadie began her Entropian life, and says that "There have been some good improvements, as well as some not so good additions." She shares that she was originally worried about the new avatar look after having spent so much time perfecting hers. She does say however, that for the most part, she prefers them now, commenting that, "I miss the facial expressions, and why can the men almost speak, yet the women haven’t seemed to evolve that far?," and further states that she would love even more emotes, "A ‘slap’ one could be really handy sometimes … lol." She's also quick to say that the masks are great fun as well, and "can be used to give avatars some individuality so we don’t all look like Barbie and Ken … bring on the tattoos and piercings!" There were good and bad elements with VU 9.0, and Nadie shares that the bad "almost made me quit EU, as overnight I went from having the 4 big colors left to unlock in coloring (dark wine, red, white, and black) and had to skill all over again on umber." It took her well over three months to re-unlock dark blue, which she had already unlocked once. She states that the good part of VU 9.0 was the adding of textures that give a new dimension to clothing and other things. And speaking of clothing, Nadie has quite the wardrobe, and shares that her Storm and Centurion coats are her pride and joy. You will be able to see many of her ensembles in the one woman fashion show video presented at the end of this profile. Nadie admits that it can be a struggle at times to keep playing, especially when on a losing streak, so she can certainly understand why people get so frustrated with the loot. In times like these, she takes a step back and does some eco hunting, or turns to a different profession for a while. There are quite a few things she would like to see implemented or improved, such as a much larger and better Friends List, as well as private messaging system. She says perhaps something along the lines of MSN where you can have groups, appear offline, and with other features. "There was nothing worse than when I was a colorer and got 20 PMs before my avatar finished rendering." Nadie continues skilling taming, as an upgrade has been promised since before she joined EU in October 2006, and would like to see a usefulness for pets. She would also like to see farming and fishing introduced, as well as having special areas to hold events such as Capture The Flag (CTF) and Search & Destroy (S&D). Improving the event system is also on her list so that the Top 3 in an event is updated quicker, as well as being able to see the whole list of people in place order. She would like to see mining, pairs, and team hunting events, not to mention having a built-in screenshot capture that shows the time and coordinates. Then there's the improvement in the (L) FAP skill requirements. She has quite the wish list. In the meantime, Nadie is looking forward to seeing what the CryEngine2 brings to Entropia, and hopes that "with all its prettiness, it won’t still be the same old grind." She says, "The Planet Partnerships look interesting," and "the Next Island video clips here and here look absolutely stunning with some things being offered that look quite intriguing. She would like to see MindArk start doing some serious publicity with all the major gaming websites after all this is implemented, and "not keep relying on the ‘word of mouth’ of the player base." Nadie loves the fact that she can log into Entropia and have a multitude of things to choose from, "be that hunting, mining, crafting, pet taming, or even sweating in newbie undies at PA Sweat Camp," she says. She enjoys that she can just stand around and chat with friends and have a laugh without any pressure to do anything, but the main thing that keeps her involved in Entropia, "is the hope that MA/FPC will make EU what it can and should be by now," she states, but also shares, that above all else, it's the friendships she's made that keeps her coming back. Advice To New Entropians Most Entropians who have been around a while seem to have some sage advice for new players, and Nadie has quite the interesting list: Be polite and respect other players. Find a good mentor and/or society. Register at Entropia Forum and find out as much information as you can. Check item information and stats at Entropedia, which is a decent guideline. Don't rush into anything. Keep your goals and aims achievable. Diversify – if your profession isn't going well, try something else! Spend PED wisely. Most of all – have fun and enjoy yourself! Her own newbie experiences include: Never wore armor as I couldn't see the point of it, but at least I got lots of evade. Thought Atrox Youngs were the meanest, badest mobs in EU. Thought turrets were MA watching us on cameras. Got stuck at the outpost West of Fort Troy with the Bots and Atrox for 3 days before being rescued by a soc mate. Got stuck at the Umbras near PvP3, and it took me 2 days to get out, but I did it without being rescued, so a huge achievement, or so I thought. Asked my team if we should stop and FAP someone with our FAP-5's who was taking on a lethal Maffoid. She shares that the funniest thing that ever happened to her in EU (not as a newbie though) was this, and says, "I was literally crying with laughter when that happened." On A Personal Note Nadie turned 41 on March 17th, and lives in Somerset in the South West of England with her dog, a Springer Spaniel named Todd, a cat, 2 tame sheep, 1 horse, and 3 ponies. It seems that Nadie isn't the only one in the family who likes to hunt. Horses are her main passion in life, and is not only a qualified riding instructor, but competes all over the UK in County Show Classes, which may account for the level of competitiveness she shows within Entropia. In the past, she has represented the South West Area Riding Clubs and Pony Clubs at the National Finals in Dressage, as well as coming in 5th in the Riding Club's Dressage to Music National Finals. She has also competed successfully in Show Jumping, Eventing, and Side Saddle classes. With over 30 years of riding experience, Nadie has had a total of 10 ponies, 7 horses, "some good, some bad," she says, and the first pony she owned was with her for 22 years. Her first horse was with her for 21 years, and claims that "He was my horse of a lifetime." His name was Charlgrove Bezique, or Bezi (pronounced Bizzy) for short. Nadie says, "He was an incredible horse, and he is dearly missed." She shares that, "He was an absolute star and total gentleman, but he very sadly had to be put to sleep at the age of 26 in 2006." He traveled all over the UK with Nadie, and was always in the ribbons at the top shows in at least two different classes. There's another activity that Nadie enjoys when away from her horses and EU, and that's fly fishing. It was her father who has since passed that used to take her fly fishing and teach her the best techniques. Her best catch was a 16 pound Rainbow Trout which she still holds the reservoir record for after three years. She also enjoys playing cards … "for money of course," she says, and "am in a card school." Seeing shows in the West End of London is fun, and claims that she's a collector of DVD Boxsets. She used to run her own website design business for about 8 years, but has given that up to concentrate on the horses and Entropia. You can see her signature designs here. Nadie would love to travel more, but finds it a struggle with all the animals. However, she has been fortunate enough to travel to a few countries such as Barbados, Bermuda, Corfu, Cyprus, Spain, France, and Italy, not to mention two long trips to the USA where she traveled on her own by planes, trains and automobiles. She was also able to meet up with 18 of her -=AiA=- Squad mates in Sweden (photo included earlier). Last year, she attended her first Entropia meet-up in London, and shares that she "was incredibly nervous about walking in and meeting everyone, but luckily, DannyO found me wandering the streets, so I didn't have to arrive alone." She states that she had a terrific time, and it was great to meet so many people both from the UK and abroad. There's an opportunity coming up in late Summer, and "All being well," she says, "I shall be at the London meet this year in August, so I hope to meet a few more people there." One thing is for sure, Nadie is quite the active individual, both in real life, as well as in Entropia. She enjoys many things, including chatting at Twin Peaks with an occasional "quick shoot in the ring," Nadie says, but one PK HoF left her sprawled a little unlady-like in the aftermath. Whether Nadie is hanging out in some of her favorite places, like Oshiri, CND, Treasure Island (City and Central), or Twin Peaks, she at least knows how to relax when it's time to get away from it all, and has a special place where she goes to unwind. Although she says ... "It's probably not so good for my pale skin." You can visit Nadie's Blog here! * * * * * * * * * Nadie is an avid Entropia clothes collector, inspired by Skam as mentioned earlier. Here is a one-woman fashion show of just a portion of her wardrobe, and she continues to add to it. > On March 17th, Nadie celebrated her birthday by inviting soc mates and friends to join her in a Spider smack down. These were the monster Spiders that must have known that it was her birthday, because they were not discriminating in handing out the birthday spankings. Of course, being Nadie's birthday and all, I couldn't very well show those. Lorfat demonstrates his "run in place" skills, and there's an interesting interlude between Nadie and Star ... not to mention some nasty-ass Spiders meeting the business end of some pretty impressive weapons. (after video begins, click HQ at bottom right to view the video in a higher quality) > Special Thanks To ... MK Design once again for graphics assistance.
