[Renowned Pilot]
Dragon's Commanding Officer. Pilot License # 899287.
John is an old veteran who soon stood out for his qualities as pilot and commander, joining the planning nucleus of Commander Scott, with whom he left the Affiliation (AFF) to create Dragons. Since then, he has been member of the Dragons Staff, leading Draconian units such Emerald Dragons with a high performance and efficiency.
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| John's Protocol Bot |
His qualities are numerous and all positive, making him a capable leader, stable and always imbued by an undeniable good humor so characteristic on him.
He is well known for his peculiar "artistic" style of combat, where he makes his Mech dance across the battlefield to the rhythm of the last great musical hits, or some vintage piece of the old land, such as Richard Wagner and his "Ride of the Valkyries".
He is in charge of the prestigious editorial group "The Galaxy Gathering", which he directs after the retirement of Patrick Willis, who according to rumors, went to some heavenly planet of the Seven Heavens system.
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Mercenary Clan Membership Records
Dragons Eve
- Undead Dragons / Dracolich
Affiliation Eve
- Death's Campers Elite AFF
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Recorded videoptic archives.- Subject: Live Interview with John Ringo.
Date: July, 20, 3323
Location: A corner at The Plank, Cogwerk Port.
Mechanomicon - Greetings Sir. As an introductory envision of your origins as pilot, may you talk about your natal system and your first steps as a Mech pilot?
John Ringo - Greetings. I was born on the orbital platform Brimstone in the Vandis system. The Brimstone is a smelting and recycling station and I started working odd jobs at the age of 5. Over the years I learned how to build a basic battle Mech from parts I was able to scavenge or trade for.
After much practice and training I entered the local bar fight circuit on the Planet No Hope. No Hope is a small planet that is a base for Jim's Ravagers, a small pirate band that was not much of a threat outside of the Vandis system.
I lost most of my fights as my home built Mech was not much of a match for the proper Mechs the pirates stole and used. I never gave up and would repair my Mech and be back for the next fight. This impressed Jim who offered me a spot in his pirate band. I was mostly used as a Mech mechanic to keep the pirates Mechs going but over time I was able to get some combat experience against other pirate groups and when I was ready to move on with my life Jim gave me an old Warhorse as a parting gift for all my years of good service. I fixed that up and made my way to Cogwork Port.
M.- What were your business at the famous trade post of Cogwerk Port?
J.R.- I needed to find some work that was more legitimate than working with Pirates.
M.- And was there when you joined the mercenary clans?
J.R.- Yes after some time working as a freelance Mech mechanic and cargo trader I had enough money to get back into Mech fighting. I won a few KotM medals and was asked to join a newer independent clan "Robots Revenge".
M.- Let us know about your stance with Robots Revenge. What did you learn with them, how they worked, talk about your success in that time.
J.R.- I had made quite a few friends in the community from fighting in and hanging around the KotM arenas and they helped me learn the important first skills on how to be a good clan mate. So for me my time in Robots Revenge was less of a learning experience and more of putting some time in a clan to build up more credibility in the community. After my first Clan War with them the clan joined the {AFF} and I had a chance to learn what it was like working with a larger clan family structure. After a few more Clan Wars with {AFF} I proved myself a good enough pilot that I was asked to join Campers Elite {AFF} This was their Elite low-mid level combat unit.
M.- AFF, the so called Affiliation. What can you tell about your experience among the Death's Squadrons.
J.R.- I made many good friends in my time there. In Campers Elite I learned better formation building tactics from the more experienced pilots and we won a number of Gold CW Medals. It was from that combat experience and friendships I built that lead to Scott Abbott asking me to join his leadership team and help him form a new clan family the Dragons.
As most of my good friends were joining up with him and it was a chance to be part of something new at the ground floor I joined up and was given command of Dragon Training 2, one of our low level development clans.
M.- There is always ambiguity and controversy about the split of those who made the Dragons out from AFF. What happened there?
J.R.- Dragons was formed because a group of friends wanted to fight side by side and do our best as a group. The majority of AFF was becoming a more casual play style and we wanted to take it up a notch or two. We said our goodbyes and made a new home for ourselves so we could better play how we wanted as a group.
Like any large change there is always some people who think it is good and others who think it is bad. We had solid success from our efforts in our first war and have done very well for ourselves ever since. We will not win every war but we try to live by the motto "Evolve or Die" and if we lose a war we are quick to learn from that and do better next time.
We have been able to forge alliances over the years and have had many good battles against many good foes.
M.- We noticed you fell in the temptation to allow the creation of some clones with your DNA years before the Clone Purge. How you and other AFF and Dragons used them?
J.R.- Bob Goetz was a major believer in clones so it was there in AFF where I was taught how to clone myself.
At the time there was no rules against it and it was a way for free players who had time to run many extra clones to better compete against the players who could afford to invest money into their accounts. I personally watched as many ad videos as I could on my clones so the Craftsman did make money off those accounts.
I am not going to get into a debate on if Clones are a valid combat tactic or if it is cheating. There were lots of opinions on both sides in the community on this. I will say though that the time it takes to run many clones well is tremendous and if I had the extra money I would have been very happy to pay it and invest it into only one account to save me all that time.
In time the rules changed and the clone purge happened. It was frustrating but I moved on.
M.- Do you keep any remnant clone after the purge?
J.R.- I am currently working alongside two clones. One is for a friend pilot to help keep it up well trained and the other is one I use to keep the homework and administrative duties, letting me focus on the tactical tasks. It will never be a serious contender. I am putting all my focus and efforts into myself, the real me (blink).
I keep bounds with only a couple clones now. One was assigned to support a friend and the other is keeping my homework and some assistance in my duties... You know, no one likes a cold coffee... But he is not a serious pilot and I'm afraid he will never be a serious contender. Anyway I am putting all my focus and efforts in my tasks as pilot and as Dragon officer, so not much time left to keep feedback with those clones yet.
M.- What is your opinion about the influence that the Craftsmen made on the authorities of the Great Powers until they started the strict clone policies and later the Great Purge? Sometimes Mechanomicon keep receiving Inquisitors seeking if we hired any clone for the dangerous researching travels.
J.R.- I can see both sides of the argument that the Pro-Clone and Anti-Clone factions were voicing in the debate. I did think things could have been handled better in the events leading up to the purge though. Also we are starting to see the rise of clones filling up the combat rosters for Clan Wars and Kotm again so now that we have a rule in place those of us who are following those rules would like the Craftsman to hold everyone else to them and clean up those extra clones that are over the licensing limit.
M.- So you finally joined Dragons, your definitive Mercenary Clan and home. How different has been your experience among the Dragons and how far have you reached any success?
J.R.- Like I said before I have been able to make friends in my other clans but in this group almost everyone is a close friend. The way we fight together has more cohesion as a unit over my other experiences and as a result of that we take home Gold in most wars.
I have also been in a clan leader role and on the inner council this whole time as well.
M.- Let's move on a technological view and tell to us what are your three favourite Mech?
J.R.- Of all the Mechs I have currently I would have to say Sever, Dilophos and Inferno.
They each fill a different role in my lines but they do it very well and with authority.
M.- What about those BFM to come in your future squad, which one has hooked you?
J.R.- If I had to pick one I would have to say Ignis. I have been dying to get my hands on one and see if I can get it to perform like some of the foes I have fought.
M.- Well, Dilophos, Sever and Inferno are without any doubt Mechs for Champions at their weight. What qualities do you seek on them above any other?
J.R.- The basic things I look for are how much precision, dodge, speed and weapon slots a Mech can have for my pilot level. Everything beyond that is what role the Mech needs to fill and finding the best gear and weapons to support that role.
M.- You have told us about your origins, your past as smuggler, your start as mercenary and about your stay in the different clans. What else would your readers want to know about you?
J.R.- If you are a teammate or ally I have your back. If you are an enemy I will try to make sure it is I who is standing in the winners circle at the end of the war. After the fighting is all over we are all friends again and everyone is welcome back to my units barracks for the after party.
M.- A last thing... how would you describe John Ringo in your own words?
J.R.- I am a man with an affinity for mechanical things. This has allowed me to make the most out of the gear and weapons at hand and find victory in-spite of limited resources.
I am also known for my sense of humor and tease and play jokes on my squad mates.
I like to compose music from the sounds Mech, equipment and weapons and rock out in combat to find my inner peace with the universe while climbing over the broken Mechs of my foes to reach the winners circle.
And finally I want to add that I am the first to render aid or a helping hand to a defeated enemy.
M.- Excellent, thank you for your time.
J.R.- You are most welcome.
Entry and interview with John Ringo (899287) by GJ (685605)
