Real Life First Name: Known by my friends as J.
Forum Handle: XElite
Main Character Handle: XElite
Main Character Bluepill Name: Hamish McLeod
Server: Syntax
Organization: Merovingian

Where in the real life world do you live?

I live on the west coast of Scotland, around an hour or so from Glasgow.

How long have you played The Matrix Online?

I have been playing The Matrix Online for around two years.

What other MMOs have you played?

Before I started playing The Matrix Online, I was active in Star Wars Galaxies as a Rebel and Imperial inquisitor. I have also played a variety of other MMOs secondary to MxO, including 9Dragons and Perfect World. Every now and then, I like to re-sub to the RL MMO, though sometimes its a lot of fun to duel client it with MxO.

What type of work do you do?

I have been engaged in University learning for the past three years, on and off; with varying tasks in conjunction, such as event planning and soccer coaching. Having been invited to the United States or Canada on a scholarship, I am currently studying a full time degree, majoring in Sociology at Aberdeen in Scotland.

What got you into gaming and what sort of games do you like the most?

I first started gaming with the release of the Atari home gaming system in the UK. I was around eight or nine years old when I first became enthralled with the concept of computer gaming. Following the Atari, I then moved onto the Sony PlayStation - which for me was a revolutionary piece of hardware. No longer were you required to spend around half an hour inputting lines of coding in order to kick start your selected game and another half hour once loaded to keep it running. For this console, my favorite game was by far the original Tekken. My console of choice is now the PS2 with classic titles such as The Bouncer, Hitman 2, Freedom Fighters and Need for Speed: Most Wanted. As for PC games, my first game was a gift called "Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego?" for an old '95 machine. My current configuration is a custom built and modified HP running on XP; along with a laptop on, grudgingly, Vista.

What other hobbies or activities do you take part in, other then playing The Matrix Online?

Other than The Matrix Online, my, favorite activity by far is visiting my friends and family in Canada and America. Next to that, my favorite pastime is relaxing either at home or in the Universities' halls of residence.

What is your highest character level in The Matrix Online?

My highest level character would be my main, XElite, at level 50 on the Syntax server.

How or why did you choose your main character's name?

My characters' name came about in the pursuit of something distinct, well rounded, and individual. I wanted something which no one else would have and would also hold relevance, no mater how I decided to develop my character within the game.

What Branch (Coder, Hacker, Operative) and ability tree is your main character?

For quite a while now, my main branch of ability has been the three gunmen trees, in particular the Duelist. This was inspired in large part by an operative named Vinia of the stringently machinist Tetragrammaton faction.

Why did you choose the Branch and ability tree that you did?

I find the combat trees, along with everything else in the Matrix, very metaphorical and symbolic - both of ideas and of the individuals which wield them. For example, duelist being very indicative of focusing one's actions on pretty much one target at a time while at the same time, holding the capabilities, strengths and weaknesses of other targets in mind - the ones which you may wish to move onto once the first has been neutralized. This is very representative of how X has come to consider his surroundings and his approach to the individuals within it.

Is your main character in a crew, if so, what rank is the character?

XElite is Captain of the main House of Forseti crew within the House of Forseti faction.

Is your main character in a faction, if so, which one and what is their faction rank?

XElite is a Rank 1 Captain of the House of Forseti, a Merovingian aligned faction which was created by an old Exile named Betty aka Bouyancy.

What was your favorite chapter?

My favorite chapter would have to be Nightfall. Though I was not present for its duration, there is still a lot of storyline with its basis in it - its consequences still felt and alluded to, if not always directly, even today. The sheer depth of the vampire and lupine mythology of the Exiles within the Simulation has always appealed to me on a very personal level.

What is your favorite neighborhood?

Rather than limit it to a single neighborhood, I would have to list a variety. My favorites are Tabor in Richland for its richness of history, Magog for its view of Westview and the Mjolnir statue (a kind of branch to the outside from within the Matrix), and Westview itself for how it presents a very natural, chaotic and almost dilapidated (dis)order.

Who is your favorite NPC?

My favorite NPCs would have to be the Guillotine girls in Westview because of their history with the spectrum children and Mr.Black, as well as their motive behind what they do. Also, their fashion sense is pretty hot. Ahem.

What is the most $info you have ever spent at one time and what did you purchase?

The most info ever spent from XElite's budget was $100,000,000,000 x 10 on an info transfer and currency exchange.

Do you have an item you no longer use but keep around for nostalgic reasons? If so, what is it and why do you keep it?

I have lots of items I keep around for nostalgic reasons! I have 10 of each snowball from the winter event, an orange biker jacket, an agent tie clip, one of each party hat, more than a few Oracle cookies, Smith's End Brownies, Halloween masks, and some Smith's Rage Pills. Each of these items comes from a stage in XElite's development, growth as a person, and character. As well as being fond personal memories from my time within the game. Most notably, I also retain an Oracle Cookie (the kind handed out by the old fortune teller herself) and a blue pill given out from a Cypherite event, each of which were handed to me as a reward from other players within the game. It's an odd mix, to be sure.

What do you like best about The Matrix Online?

What I like most about The Matrix Online is how absolutely everything (to a larger extent than the movies, in my opinion) is an allegory, metaphor, or symbol which fits so neatly into everything else. The more you investigate, the more questions are raised; and the more sense it all makes…The never ending rabbit hole.
Also, I enjoy the players and staff. I have yet to find a cooler, more intelligent, and valuable group of people, collectively anywhere and some of the people whom I have met through MxO are some of my closest friends.

How would you describe your best experience playing The Matrix Online?

My best experience in my time of playing so far would have to be between the Demiurge role-play in game with Eleutherophobia and 0taku; and redpill hopscotch with Betty at Merovingian Park West. Also enjoyable was dancing endlessly at the same place for sets of Lizard Lounge and Pyromania. I also remember a time when after a Merovingian meeting, a group of operatives and I attempted to infiltrate a meeting with Agent Gray; which ended up with us dieing in mid air outside of the government building in Downtown and then being teleported to another district. The mix of characteristic cheekiness and how the bugs and glitches within the game do nothing more than to enhance the experience was simply epic.

Do you run or work for an MxO Fan Site or Radio Station?

I was previously an Administrator for the Exile Exodus project with Sephr1 and RedRedRayne in which I helped to construct, however following Sephr's departure from the game, the website is now used for other purposes.

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