FAQ
Didn’t you go by a different name?
I’ve been known by several alias/nickname things in the past, but one stuck with me for quite a while. Velious was my clan tag and old website name, which I went by for several years until I drifted away from the competitive PC gaming scene. People always asked me if I liked EverQuest when they’d encounter that name. I’ve never played the game, and in fact ‘Velious’ is actually a reference to the game Final Fantasy Tactics. The original Playstation release had a character who was manifested by ‘the devil,’ which was “Velius” in that case. Velious was simply a misspelling of mine, which I just stuck with — little did I know it was a continent in EQ.
The funny thing is that later in life I found out that Velius was actually a mistranslation for Belias. That doesn’t sound nearly as cool, so I suppose I’m glad it was a typo. To this day whenever I have a run-in with my former clan mates, they always call me Vel. So for them, I will still garb the name from time to time.
What does “loltima” mean?
I’m not sure exactly how it started, but as most of you may know, most if not all of my online-prowess is synonymous with my alias, LordofUltima. I think that whole thing started as an AIM screen name, one I still use to this day. It just carried over into every other username/account possible — and now it’s impossible to forget. I fear ever changing it, because then people might not realize who I am.
Much like Velious, lordofultima garners a fair amount of misconception. People assume that I love the game Ultima, and am maybe awesome at it (the lord might give them that indication). The truth is that I’ve only briefly played those games, and couldn’t really care less about that whole franchise. I like Final Fantasy, and there’s a spell that’s carried throughout a fair number of them. Ultima. That’s pretty much it, nothing really special.
So loltima, how did I get to this point. Maybe it started as an inside joke, and if it did that really only EightBitWarrior would understand it (that’s how these things usually work). For the longest time LordofUltima had been abbreviated to LOU, which if you call me that I have no gripes — I’d actually prefer you call me LOUIS, since I can say “Bill! Pills here!” in response. If you didn’t get the Left 4 Dead reference, just forget about it. But yeah, loltima is just a shorthand for lordofultima at this point, combining “LOL” and “ultima,” but without the U. Maybe it’s because I do it all for the lulz. But really I just clung to it because I like a shorter way to refer to myself, and seven letters is much like Velious. Nice and short.
What happened to Vel.net?
I used to fancy web designing, and I suppose my infactuation with it started in 7th grade or so, when I discovered all those web template hosting sites (goplay, tripod, geocities, etc.). Velious.net was basically a website for myself, much like this. The difference is that it really didn’t have a purpose. I went through 8-10 versions of it (I can’t remember exactly) and most of them were short-lived, or short-updated I should probably say. What was there to really do with a website after I put all the information about me on there? Nothing. The pretty imagery and layout was fun to create, and writing my auto-biography some 200 times over provided plenty of time wasted. I think more than anything I just liked saying that I had a website.
My interest/use in domains died down once I jumped on the GameSpot bandwagon (current video game blog thing resides at Giant Bomb), because I realized that all I really wanted to do was write about random shit — mostly video games. I also realized that there were communities that I could get involved in, and then as a result of that actually have followers that read the content that I posted.
Why the return of a website?
This isn’t like I’m abandoning all my friends and content over on other blogging sites. It’s really that I just have more of a reason to have my own website. I make a lot of original content nowadays, I’m involved in some music projects (Eternal Champion, Blaster Master), I shoot and edit a wide variety of video projects, I dabble in photography, and I love writing about things.
You can think of this is my own personal hub, where all the pieces of the puzzle come together. You can think of this as my portfolio, a place where I can refer people to and not feel awkward or embarassed that I’m a part of (no offense to video game blogs/myspace).
What you’ll find here is a collection of all of my music and videos, catagorized nicely — as well as anything else I feel like doing. With Squarespace there’s quick and easy ways to expand, so if I start up the gears in my head and write worthwhile material, all I have to to is add a “writing” page. What the future holds is uncertain, but it’s good to get my foot in the door here somewhere — whatever door that ends up being? Your guess is as good as mine.
What video equipment do you use?
Camera: JVC Everio
Tripod: MX2000
Game Capture: Dazzle
Software: Adobe After Effects CS4, Adobe Photoshop CS4, Sony Vegas Pro 8, Cyberlink PowerDirector 6
What music equipment do you use?
Guitar: Ibanez RG2EX1 (stock)
Bass: Yamaha RBX765A (stock)
Midi Keyboard: Creative Prodikeys DM
Guitar Effects: Line 6 Pod XT Live
Amp/Monitor: Epiphone Studio Bass 10
Picks: Jim Dunlop Nylon .73mm
Guitar Strings: DR Pure Blues .10-.46 / .9-.42
Software: Propellerhead Reason 4, Adobe Audition 3, Acid Pro 6, Sony Vegas Pro 8, Cakewalk Sonar 7