You’ve Been Canonized!: Avernite
Good evening , everyone and welcome once again to our weekly interview segment here on Timelines ! Usually we interview patron authors who’ve been to the thread ! However , today , we have a special guest today . Today’s guest is Avernite , one of the best Werewolf players on the boards ! We’ll have a wonderful time seeing this facet of the boards as well as the usual questions we’ll be asking ! If you’re new to the programme , I’m your host canonized author of
Timelines: What if Spain Failed to Control the World? Let’s get to the questions !
Part I: The Man from Avernum … (Or is he ?)
Avernite and I have a little talk about himself !
canonized: First , welcome on being on the programme on such short notice ! Could you introduce a little bit about yourself and how long you've been on the forum ?
Avernite: Well, I'm a Dutch poster from the renowned 2003 group, although admittedly early 2003. I joined after having read a bit earlier forEU1, but then joined for EU2 eventually. I don't know why anymore; think it was a bug report
canonized: Haha , I see . How long have you been browsing AARs ?
Avernite: hmm.. I think almost since the beginning, although when I started reading AARs, the Timurid Scientists were already finished, but I don't actually remember when that was
canonized: As someone who's been here for about four years , how would you say AARland has changed or evolved ?
Avernite: Heh, well, not too much. CK, Vicky and HoI all added a new group of AAR writers, but the EU3 AARs are remarkably similar to the EU2 AARs when I joined. Except that there are many more writers, so also many more good AARs to read. One change is also the length and speed of updates. EU3 definitely upped the pace of updating...
canonized: Have you yourself thought of writing an AAR ?
Avernite: Yeah, in fact I wrote in several Multiplayer AARs, among them the Olympian Rebirth AAR which I think was pretty good. I also once started one together with ForzaA, but we got bored of the game, so the AAR died too
canonized: As someone who also dabbles in other activities of the board , how do you think AARland fits into the organism that is the Paradox Community ?
Avernite: I feel it's the most interconnected. Sure, EU2 and 3 are connected, Hoi 1 and 2 to the extent that HoI1 still exists, and the OT has some links to other forums, but only in the AAR forums is there actual linking between the games. Although it is as open as the Off-topic, it's a lot more connected to the games, so much more linked to the other forums
canonized: An interesting insight ! I know that you're an avid supporter of different writers and also have sampled your own fair share of AARs . How would you rate AARland's literary contribution as a whole as far as entertainment and also as literary works in themselves ?
Avernite: Well, almost all are good entertainment, if they manage to finish the story... Which I'm not particularly good at. Still, I think only few reach truly the height of literary works. That's only logical, with authors writing in their spare times without editors, so maybe I should say it's amazing that some reach the level of reasonably good books.
canonized: What kind of message would you like to leave the writAARs you’ve subscribed to out there ?
Avernite: ehm... Do I get bonus points for answering harder questions? Well: think about the story, and be sure you have some course for it, some deeper reason why you should finish it than 'just because'. That way, the AAR will almost certainly be a success.
Part II: Avid Reader
Avernite shares some thoughts about Timelines.
canonized: So you've read through Timelines and we've just ended our first season . What're your thoughts so far ?
Avernite: Your mind has more twists than mine. Do you even keep track of what you are doing, or do you simply have five complete books that you are just weaving together? Sometimes, it's extremely hard for me as reader to follow what’s going on, yet somehow the story always ends up coherent again. It's almost miraculous. Also, I think the dual-time concept works very well to give cliffhangers, and a lot of depth in the story
canonized: Haha well it's almost felt like a miracle going on for this long . How are your thoughts on the length so far of the work ?
Avernite: I love it. At the rate you keep updating, the story can't be long enough for me
canonized: Over the course of Season I , we've seen many characters in many different areas of the world . Do you have any favourites among the current cast or places they've been to ?
Avernite: I felt so sad for poor Antonio. But really, I like those guys like Renault and Isabella best, the ones solving the problems rather than the ones getting into trouble
canonized: As you also know , we have a plethora of added bonuses which include pictures or other works by myself and by other authors although this is a primarily narrative AAR . How do you like the bonuses added on ?
Avernite: I like the pictures, especially the ones giving tiny clues to decipher. I prefer book series that are dozens of books long, that foreshadow in book 1 what happens in book 7
canonized: Speaking of foreshadowing , the end of Season I left some mysteries still yet to be solved . After over 50 chapters , how effective do you think has the suspense been so far ?
Avernite: IT IS KILLING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also, it's been pretty good, the right amount for an internet AAR. It'd be a bit on the low side or a book, but the internet has different standards
canonized: As you know , this interview segment has been part of Timelines for a while and , including your interview , we're continuing to expand and reaching out to even non-writers so that we can showcase the different personalities of the board . What might your comments be on the interviews we do here on Timelines ?
Avernite: Well, they are pretty nice. Especially the ones for relatively known people, who I had read about earlier. I admit I skipped a few by people I don't know, just not as interesting
canonized: Lastly , as we round out season I , do you have any guesses on what the Timepiece is or what it does ?
Avernite: Well, something with antimatter in it seems a bit conservative, but a black hole sounds silly. SO I guess it's exotic matter, maybe the type that opens wormholes, or bends light so you can see nothing in it. Maybe even 'dark energy'...
Part III: Lycanthropy
In his element , Avernite and I discuss his board past time.
canonized: It's actually kind of funny because the first time you came to say hi to us on the thread , a few days later I released a chapter where Jakob invited the game of Werewolf amongst his friends , haha . Tell us how you got into the WW scene on the Paradox Forums , please .
Avernite: Ehh... I joined the second ever WW game on the OT forums, because it seemed a bit fun, and heck. No one needs to be in anything to join, you just post saying you join. And since I did that a lot, I got to be part of the scene
canonized: WW and WW Lite seem to be some of the more enduring games played on the forum ; I remember when I looked into it , the gameplay reminded me a little of the psychological games played in Diplomacy . What makes WW fun for you ?
Avernite: The treachery, the backstabbing, and the horrible mistakes you figure out at the end. Especially the horrible mistakes that you could have prevented, like someone saying 'HE is evil, not I!' and then, after you kill him and later lose the game, you find out that said he was in fact evil
canonized: You yourself have been quite notorious in the game as having won the most out of anyone . Could you share with us some of your secrets for success ?
Avernite: Not being notorious. I myself was a bit surprised when the rankings came out, I had simply acquired that score by simply being around a lot. After the scores were published, I promptly got killed early a lot of times, the same as had happened after I blew up the village from the evil side and won that way. Notorious=dead in WW.
canonized: Do you have any particular opponents that you consider rivals ?
Avernite: YAKMAN! ARRR! We both slew each other dozens of times, to both our detriments. But I usually won out, because he was nuts
canonized: Do you also see any WritAARs participating in WW games ?
Avernite: ehh... I think some of them wrote AARs, especially among the more casual WW gamers who play 1 or 2 games, but most are off-topic junkies
canonized: Although there is usually a divide between the OT games and AARland , what can you say to WritAARs and ReadAARs out there to encourage them to participate in other Paradox Community activites ?
Avernite: Don't join the OT! It kills your life, sucks up your time, and is generally much less relaxed than AARland. Though it's a fun place to be, and has some really cool discussions too. If you think you can stomach it, do hop by
canonized: And lastly , as a forumite , what might your future plans be ? Perhaps an AAR is on the horizon or are you going to be an eligible readAAR for a good while longer ?
Avernite: I keep planning AARs, I once had a nice idea for terra universalis (a discontinued EU2 mod), but somehow I never quite manage to get something done or keep it going. But maybe, someday, I will figure it out and make one.
canonized: Well we wish you luck in the future ! Thank you once again for being on the programme today ! I wanted to thank our readers for tuning in again for this week’s interview ! We hope you all enjoyed it ! We hope you all tune in again next week when we’ll have our newest friend English Patriot on the programme !