Broken
Legend
Hey everyone. Today on my first interview ever, I've got a very special guest with me. He's a veteran twink that's spent a lot of time involved in both 19 and F2P twinking, along with being an all-around great guy and one of my very good friends: Trickynick!
So, Trickynick, let's start with an introduction! Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello. So my name is Niklas, 22 years old from Sweden. Known as Tricky, Nik or simply Nick among friends both in real life and in game.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe you twinked in other brackets before playing F2P. Tell us about your history. How did your WoW tale start and eventually lead you to where you are today?
It all started about 10 years ago I believe. I was actually hired by my brother to level his Orc Warlock up while he was away at work. I'd get 1 euro for every new level I reached and at the end of the first day I had earned 4 euros - by killing quillboars. That's right, he did not tell me about questing. He simply ordered me to kill quillboars until he got home. I enjoyed it at that point however, so the next week I was killing quillboars on my own account.
My twinking career started off not too long after that. By the end of vanilla I was often playing on my 29 undead warrior on the server Frostwhisper. I had no idea what gear was BiS, so I just simply geared it with the best gear I could find on my own. Eventually during the start of TBC I bumped into this level 19 blood elf rogue in Thunder Bluff, and he truly amazed me with his gameplay. Sadly, I can't remember his name, but he inspired me to create my own 19 rogue, Puffs, which completely got me stuck in the 19 bracket and would become my "home" for the entire expansion and the next to come. In time I created my 19 priest, Portvakten, which later would become my main twink. I made a lot of friends in this bracket, and some of them are yet today close friends of mine.
As the XP-lock feature was introduced, the battlegroup Frostwhisper I was part of slowly died away, forcing me and a few friends of mine to switch servers in order to be able to play 19's.
Even though I had a good time at these new servers and made new friends, I never quite felt as home as I had felt at Frostwhisper. During the middle of Cataclysm I retired from all my 19 characters and started playing end game only. I made my return to the twinking scene during 5.1 after an old friend of mine from 19's told me about the 20-24 bracket, and not too long after trying 24 out, I was on my own f2p account.
You seem to have pretty nostalgic feelings for Frostwhisper. Do you still miss playing there? Would you have played there now if it was an active f2p server?
I feel like Frostwhisper is a closed chapter at this point. It's the server where I had my 19's and I don't think it would be the same playing f2p there. Besides, Twisting Nether reminds me of Frostwhisper very much considering the relaxed atmosphere and the friendly environment. I've gained plenty of friends there who I enjoy playing with a lot, just like I did at Frostwhisper during TBC.
Although you've been playing a good number of different classes at F2P, your skills on a mage are particularly well known among folks in the EU F2P scene, especially your ability to make the underrated role of supporting / CC'ing really shine. What's the cause behind your choice to play a rare role like that as opposed to a typical DPS?
We'll have to go back a few chapters to be able to answer that. Back in the 19 bracket there was this private 19 twink server called Hamcake Land which I decided to check out. At this point I was trying out mage at 19 and experimented with a very defensive support build (full stamina). During my time here I met a player called Ownaque, a druid FC skilled in jumps and with a very good sense of awareness. Whenever we got into wsg he would carry the flag, and I would peel off any player trying to reach him as we kited them around the map. The simple way it worked was: As long as he keep me alive, I will keep him alive. And this way of playing was just hilarious.
As the activity of the server died, I got back to my original 19's and leveled a new mage, but it just wasn't the same without a FC with the very same play style, so it was left untouched for a very good while after I left the bracket.
I eventually leveled my 19 mage to 24 as I found out about the 20-24 bracket. And one day I randomly bumped into this druid FC called Poledancer, which surprisingly enough had a strikingly similar play style to Ownaque (it turned out he had watched Owna's youtube videos and learned from them). So I was back in my support role and it was just as fun as I could remember.
We played the whole days for a week or two until the day my subscription was going to run out. He convinced me to try out F2P rather than P2P since I at this point only played in the 20-24 bracket anyway, and that’s when my f2p career started.
Poledancer became my FC partner for a good 18 months or so, with a few breaks here and there, until he mysteriously disappeared about 6-7 months ago.
As you mentioned I've been trying out quite a few classes in this bracket, but I kind of stop playing them as soon as I've finished gearing them. Right now I'm in a progress of grinding honor on my guardian druid which I never really finished in MoP, but after I'm done with that I'll probably be back on mage for 90% of the time again.
It's hard to explain why I'm so attached to that class, it's just the only class I never quite get tired of. Sure I sometimes play a game or two on an other class for some variation, but at the end I always end up back on mage again.
Suppose you never bumped into Poledancer that fateful day two years ago; do you think you would still be twinking on your p2p account or would you have still eventually ended up where you are today, playing f2p on Twisting Nether?
I'm not even sure if I would play this game right now if that was the case. The only reason I keep my subscribed account active right now is to help out with grouping, achievements, gearing and such. As I started my f2p mage on Twisting Nether I intended to play with Poledancer only, since he was the only one I knew over there. But I quickly got along with most of the people who were playing there and these people have kept me interested in playing this game for all this time.
I noticed you signed up for the upcoming Arena Tournament. How're you feeling about that? Excited? Anxious? Do you have a lot of experience with twink tournaments?
Yeah, so this is pretty exciting. Even though I can't say I expect to end up at a high placement, I'm sure the whole experience will be awesome. My teammate has become a good friend of mine during the last couple of months while we've been playing arenas and I think we coordinate well. Hopefully the latency won’t be spiking too much.
About earlier tournament experiences - I can only think about a few 1v1 tournaments that I attended back in the 19 bracket and they were arranged by a player called Rástámán.
Are you a fan of BG's or Arenas (skirmishes) and what's the reason behind your choice?
If I were to pick my favorite it would be WSG for sure. I really enjoy the close and competitive matches that sometimes occur and this battleground is where I've held up since late vanilla. I don't dare to think about how many hours I've spent in there in total, but for some reason it never quite gets boring.
I've grown fond of arenas as of late also, but it's nothing compared to how I enjoy pugging very much. Lankypuss helped me discover the joy and beauty of the priest/mage composition and we occasionally play that on both EU and US.
With this current patch, which classes do you love or hate? Are there any class changes you're particularly happy or unhappy about?
Well, obviously there are some classes that I find frustrating to deal with. I guess I wont be surprising anyone by saying druid here. Ferals (or boomys for that matter) haven't just been annoying since 6.0, but they have been my hard counter since forever, just because the fact that it's not possible to control them in any way as mage. As WoD hit they became even more deadly, so I try to avoid them whenever I can.
Classes I like to face are the ones I can kite properly, like rogues, warriors or rets for example.
I’m sure you have probably heard about the upcoming Veteran Accounts. What are your thoughts on how it’ll affect you and the 20-29 bracket?
I've seen quite a few threads regarding this on Twinkinfo as of late and it appears to be a hot subject to discuss. I have not reflected over this feature very much to be honest and the reason for that is because I keep my p2p active. Therefore, I've got the option to create a level 20 character with p2p enchants and guild heirlooms whenever I want, so nothing will really change for me in that matter. I will however keep my f2p characters with the current restrictions.
I'm sure we'll see quite a few f2p's taking advantage of the battlechest offer to upgrade their accounts and spend a month on obtaining guild heirlooms and p2p enchants for their veteran characters. How large on a scale this will affect the bracket is hard to speculate in, but I guess time will tell.
Assuming Veteran Accounts have the ability to lock their XP, will we see you return to 19’s or will you continue primarily playing F2P?
I'm almost sure I will not return to playing 19's actively again. I don't think it will ever be the same as what it was during TBC and WotLK. Also, all of the close friends I had in that bracket do not play it anymore and I feel like the f2p bracket is where I want to keep my focus right now.
Do you have any unforgettable memories from your time playing WoW? Something like a really happy memory or perhaps something that makes you mad?
There are countless memories to choose between here and to be honest I can't quite think of any memory that particularly stands out that much from the rest. But I'll pick the 19 bracket during TBC as a whole, since that's what pops up in my head first when I think about the greatest times I've had in WoW.
Related to F2P twinking, what one thing do you really wish for? Something on a personal level or maybe at a larger scale? It could be about PvP, PvE or something else entirely. Basically, anything out there you wish you could improve, remove, add, replace, or do whatever you want.
I'd actually like to see what would become of the bracket if F2P's queued into XP-on BGs. I personally believe most p2p twinks would roll f2p (unless they would want to remake their twinks as they hit 30) and I think it would result in a more balanced bracket. The community would possibly grow bigger due to 20-29 levelers could be taking interest in the bracket as they pass through there. Just an interesting scenario that would be fun to discuss from both f2ps' and p2ps' points of view.
Moving on from all that twink-related stuff, I'd like to know a bit more about you if you're up for it. What do you currently do? Are you a student, employed or both?
Right now I'm on a break from work. I'll be getting back during the start of march. I plan on getting back to studies as soon as I decide on what I would like to do in the future.
I've heard you've written music. Which genre(s) would you classify your music under? Was it a solo thing or were you part of a band? Do you still create music?
That's right, I did write some music earlier. I studied music in high school and during the "Arrangement and Composition" class my final project to create my own song. I'd classify it as video game/movie music. And yes, still playing with friends and writing at a hobby level.
Do you have any pets in real life? Would you tell us what they're like?
Yes, currently I do have two dogs. One is a three year old Golden Retriever with a very energetic and curious personality. The other one is a mix between German Shepherd and Labrador. He’s eight years old by now, very clever and a bit more cool-headed than the other one.
Before we end this interview, do you have any final words for the readers out there?
Well yeah, in this interview I haven't been able to mention everyone out there who I've happened to come across during all the years in my twinking career so far. I would gladly do, but I'd need to write a book if I were to fill in with everyone's present and/or past roles of my twinking history (teammate or opponent). I'd like to finish this by giving everyone who made an impression on me during these years a honorable mention. I'll cya around in game.
So, Trickynick, let's start with an introduction! Tell us a bit about yourself.
Hello. So my name is Niklas, 22 years old from Sweden. Known as Tricky, Nik or simply Nick among friends both in real life and in game.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe you twinked in other brackets before playing F2P. Tell us about your history. How did your WoW tale start and eventually lead you to where you are today?
It all started about 10 years ago I believe. I was actually hired by my brother to level his Orc Warlock up while he was away at work. I'd get 1 euro for every new level I reached and at the end of the first day I had earned 4 euros - by killing quillboars. That's right, he did not tell me about questing. He simply ordered me to kill quillboars until he got home. I enjoyed it at that point however, so the next week I was killing quillboars on my own account.
My twinking career started off not too long after that. By the end of vanilla I was often playing on my 29 undead warrior on the server Frostwhisper. I had no idea what gear was BiS, so I just simply geared it with the best gear I could find on my own. Eventually during the start of TBC I bumped into this level 19 blood elf rogue in Thunder Bluff, and he truly amazed me with his gameplay. Sadly, I can't remember his name, but he inspired me to create my own 19 rogue, Puffs, which completely got me stuck in the 19 bracket and would become my "home" for the entire expansion and the next to come. In time I created my 19 priest, Portvakten, which later would become my main twink. I made a lot of friends in this bracket, and some of them are yet today close friends of mine.
As the XP-lock feature was introduced, the battlegroup Frostwhisper I was part of slowly died away, forcing me and a few friends of mine to switch servers in order to be able to play 19's.
Even though I had a good time at these new servers and made new friends, I never quite felt as home as I had felt at Frostwhisper. During the middle of Cataclysm I retired from all my 19 characters and started playing end game only. I made my return to the twinking scene during 5.1 after an old friend of mine from 19's told me about the 20-24 bracket, and not too long after trying 24 out, I was on my own f2p account.
You seem to have pretty nostalgic feelings for Frostwhisper. Do you still miss playing there? Would you have played there now if it was an active f2p server?
I feel like Frostwhisper is a closed chapter at this point. It's the server where I had my 19's and I don't think it would be the same playing f2p there. Besides, Twisting Nether reminds me of Frostwhisper very much considering the relaxed atmosphere and the friendly environment. I've gained plenty of friends there who I enjoy playing with a lot, just like I did at Frostwhisper during TBC.
Although you've been playing a good number of different classes at F2P, your skills on a mage are particularly well known among folks in the EU F2P scene, especially your ability to make the underrated role of supporting / CC'ing really shine. What's the cause behind your choice to play a rare role like that as opposed to a typical DPS?
We'll have to go back a few chapters to be able to answer that. Back in the 19 bracket there was this private 19 twink server called Hamcake Land which I decided to check out. At this point I was trying out mage at 19 and experimented with a very defensive support build (full stamina). During my time here I met a player called Ownaque, a druid FC skilled in jumps and with a very good sense of awareness. Whenever we got into wsg he would carry the flag, and I would peel off any player trying to reach him as we kited them around the map. The simple way it worked was: As long as he keep me alive, I will keep him alive. And this way of playing was just hilarious.
As the activity of the server died, I got back to my original 19's and leveled a new mage, but it just wasn't the same without a FC with the very same play style, so it was left untouched for a very good while after I left the bracket.
I eventually leveled my 19 mage to 24 as I found out about the 20-24 bracket. And one day I randomly bumped into this druid FC called Poledancer, which surprisingly enough had a strikingly similar play style to Ownaque (it turned out he had watched Owna's youtube videos and learned from them). So I was back in my support role and it was just as fun as I could remember.
We played the whole days for a week or two until the day my subscription was going to run out. He convinced me to try out F2P rather than P2P since I at this point only played in the 20-24 bracket anyway, and that’s when my f2p career started.
Poledancer became my FC partner for a good 18 months or so, with a few breaks here and there, until he mysteriously disappeared about 6-7 months ago.
As you mentioned I've been trying out quite a few classes in this bracket, but I kind of stop playing them as soon as I've finished gearing them. Right now I'm in a progress of grinding honor on my guardian druid which I never really finished in MoP, but after I'm done with that I'll probably be back on mage for 90% of the time again.
It's hard to explain why I'm so attached to that class, it's just the only class I never quite get tired of. Sure I sometimes play a game or two on an other class for some variation, but at the end I always end up back on mage again.
Suppose you never bumped into Poledancer that fateful day two years ago; do you think you would still be twinking on your p2p account or would you have still eventually ended up where you are today, playing f2p on Twisting Nether?
I'm not even sure if I would play this game right now if that was the case. The only reason I keep my subscribed account active right now is to help out with grouping, achievements, gearing and such. As I started my f2p mage on Twisting Nether I intended to play with Poledancer only, since he was the only one I knew over there. But I quickly got along with most of the people who were playing there and these people have kept me interested in playing this game for all this time.
I noticed you signed up for the upcoming Arena Tournament. How're you feeling about that? Excited? Anxious? Do you have a lot of experience with twink tournaments?
Yeah, so this is pretty exciting. Even though I can't say I expect to end up at a high placement, I'm sure the whole experience will be awesome. My teammate has become a good friend of mine during the last couple of months while we've been playing arenas and I think we coordinate well. Hopefully the latency won’t be spiking too much.
About earlier tournament experiences - I can only think about a few 1v1 tournaments that I attended back in the 19 bracket and they were arranged by a player called Rástámán.
Are you a fan of BG's or Arenas (skirmishes) and what's the reason behind your choice?
If I were to pick my favorite it would be WSG for sure. I really enjoy the close and competitive matches that sometimes occur and this battleground is where I've held up since late vanilla. I don't dare to think about how many hours I've spent in there in total, but for some reason it never quite gets boring.
I've grown fond of arenas as of late also, but it's nothing compared to how I enjoy pugging very much. Lankypuss helped me discover the joy and beauty of the priest/mage composition and we occasionally play that on both EU and US.
With this current patch, which classes do you love or hate? Are there any class changes you're particularly happy or unhappy about?
Well, obviously there are some classes that I find frustrating to deal with. I guess I wont be surprising anyone by saying druid here. Ferals (or boomys for that matter) haven't just been annoying since 6.0, but they have been my hard counter since forever, just because the fact that it's not possible to control them in any way as mage. As WoD hit they became even more deadly, so I try to avoid them whenever I can.
Classes I like to face are the ones I can kite properly, like rogues, warriors or rets for example.
I’m sure you have probably heard about the upcoming Veteran Accounts. What are your thoughts on how it’ll affect you and the 20-29 bracket?
I've seen quite a few threads regarding this on Twinkinfo as of late and it appears to be a hot subject to discuss. I have not reflected over this feature very much to be honest and the reason for that is because I keep my p2p active. Therefore, I've got the option to create a level 20 character with p2p enchants and guild heirlooms whenever I want, so nothing will really change for me in that matter. I will however keep my f2p characters with the current restrictions.
I'm sure we'll see quite a few f2p's taking advantage of the battlechest offer to upgrade their accounts and spend a month on obtaining guild heirlooms and p2p enchants for their veteran characters. How large on a scale this will affect the bracket is hard to speculate in, but I guess time will tell.
Assuming Veteran Accounts have the ability to lock their XP, will we see you return to 19’s or will you continue primarily playing F2P?
I'm almost sure I will not return to playing 19's actively again. I don't think it will ever be the same as what it was during TBC and WotLK. Also, all of the close friends I had in that bracket do not play it anymore and I feel like the f2p bracket is where I want to keep my focus right now.
Do you have any unforgettable memories from your time playing WoW? Something like a really happy memory or perhaps something that makes you mad?
There are countless memories to choose between here and to be honest I can't quite think of any memory that particularly stands out that much from the rest. But I'll pick the 19 bracket during TBC as a whole, since that's what pops up in my head first when I think about the greatest times I've had in WoW.
Related to F2P twinking, what one thing do you really wish for? Something on a personal level or maybe at a larger scale? It could be about PvP, PvE or something else entirely. Basically, anything out there you wish you could improve, remove, add, replace, or do whatever you want.
I'd actually like to see what would become of the bracket if F2P's queued into XP-on BGs. I personally believe most p2p twinks would roll f2p (unless they would want to remake their twinks as they hit 30) and I think it would result in a more balanced bracket. The community would possibly grow bigger due to 20-29 levelers could be taking interest in the bracket as they pass through there. Just an interesting scenario that would be fun to discuss from both f2ps' and p2ps' points of view.
Moving on from all that twink-related stuff, I'd like to know a bit more about you if you're up for it. What do you currently do? Are you a student, employed or both?
Right now I'm on a break from work. I'll be getting back during the start of march. I plan on getting back to studies as soon as I decide on what I would like to do in the future.
I've heard you've written music. Which genre(s) would you classify your music under? Was it a solo thing or were you part of a band? Do you still create music?
That's right, I did write some music earlier. I studied music in high school and during the "Arrangement and Composition" class my final project to create my own song. I'd classify it as video game/movie music. And yes, still playing with friends and writing at a hobby level.
Do you have any pets in real life? Would you tell us what they're like?
Yes, currently I do have two dogs. One is a three year old Golden Retriever with a very energetic and curious personality. The other one is a mix between German Shepherd and Labrador. He’s eight years old by now, very clever and a bit more cool-headed than the other one.
Before we end this interview, do you have any final words for the readers out there?
Well yeah, in this interview I haven't been able to mention everyone out there who I've happened to come across during all the years in my twinking career so far. I would gladly do, but I'd need to write a book if I were to fill in with everyone's present and/or past roles of my twinking history (teammate or opponent). I'd like to finish this by giving everyone who made an impression on me during these years a honorable mention. I'll cya around in game.
