How old are you and what do you do in real life?

Hi, I'm Ajantis aka Ajant aka Ajan aka Jajantis aka Good Ol' Uncle Greg, I'm 28, so it's a pretty serious age right now. I'm currently a student and in spare time I'm trying to find a suitable employment, I also take care of my family matters.

How long are you in Diablo universum, what was your beginning?

I've installed Diablo 1 for the fist time in 1997 or something, but my first appearance on Battle.net came three years later, still in Diablo 1 times though. Oh, the memories of dueling on 1 lv of Dungeon are soo sweet :) Heh, I also remember clearly the struggle against Advocates in the deepest bowels of Diablo's lair, hard as hell, as they were immune to all magic :P

How your journey with Diablo clans looked like?

For the first time I encountered clans in 2000. My first clan, back in Diablo 1, was Full Legit Clan. Together we entered the realm of Diablo 2, but shortly after, due to differences in our opinion towards the open and closed game mode, we had to part. I was also a member of Magic & Sword, but maybe three weeks later I created War Masters with my fellow friend Striker. And somehow, the clan survived and is still active.

What period of your game you find the best, are there any special events, situations, which engraved in your memory for years?

When it comes to the game itself, I guess the times of classic Diablo 2 and years 2000-2001 were the most memorable to me. We used to play on private Polish realm called Forteca. Definitely, it was the golden age for my clan and myself. Great atmosphere, we all knew each other and even though we played with Open characters, where trainers were everyday problem, nobody dared to seriously cheat, as other players would immediately notice that.
However, when it comes generally to Diablo and everything related to it, the best times was definitely the rise of PCL and DiabloCentrum forums. Much work, but also tons of fun. We made some serious mistakes on the way, but hey, I'm a mere human ;) Apart from that, it is just nice to know, that our actions prolonged the life of Diablo 2 and that some people, who used to be related to the league were simply happy to participate.

Through all this years You probably had dozens of characters – what was your favourite one, what was his charname and gear?

Even though Ajantis used to play Diablo 2 for quite some time, he was never any PvP master and I have humbly have to admit that :) Nevertheless, some people used to get serious beating from my characters. My favorite char in Diablo 2 was paladin and sorceress. Back in the days of vanilla Diablo 2, I used to play mostly a necromancer, but later I abandoned him. I don't want you to see me as a show off, so I can tell, that one of my favorite characters, not necessarily the best one (and for sure not the best one in PvP), was a tank barb in hardcore mode. If I recall correctly, he got killed before he was done, but I had some great time with that char. It was only for fun, but hey, isn't that what Diablo is all about? :) His equipment was average, mostly aimed at maxing resistances, absorption and DR.

We know that on Diablo 2 you have established Polish Clan League, but probably not all readers are aware of it, can you describe for us that organization a bit?

When in the year 2003 Blizzard released the 1.10 patch for Diablo 2, it suddenly appeared, that the changes were much more far-going, than we had expected. At this time, admins of PvP leagues on Battle.net decided that there is no point in making tournaments on Battle.net anymore, and they said “bye bye” to official servers. After some time, a new idea was born in my friend's mind. Striker decided to organize a completely new league from scratch. We teamed up against this challenge and created PCL. The project was a complete success. Obviously, there were better and worse times. We achieved much, just to enumerate few successes: first Diablo 2 tournament with real life prizes, first tournament with live radio cast, first (and as far as I know the only one) tournament with live Internet TV cast, cooperation with Electronic Sports League, about 1600 uptime days of op pcl channel bot, etc. Of course, there were spectacular failures as well, but at the end of they day, the league was a great success.

Why you have spent most of your Diablo gaming on pvp, why not pvm?

When we installed the game for the first time, we all used to run around the map just to discover its every part, we opened every chest and we ventured to those two dungeons below the Bloody Raven's cemetery in 1 act :) Massacres of thousands of monsters with different means of destruction is a nice feeling, but after some time it simply gets boring. On the other hand, PvP has always been interesting. After all, we compete against other, real, players. The PvP mode was also more challenging. The game simply carried more fun. We also cannot forget about all the emotions, which come with all tournaments (just have a look at the „Mistrzostwa Polski w Diablo 2” on YouTube). That is exactly what PvM mode lacks...

Basing on all known news about Diablo 3, what do you think about the game itself, will you play and if yes, what character will you choose?

After all these years with Diablo 2, one just simply cannot evade Diablo 3 :) Although, I must admit, that some of Blizzard's decision are at least controversial and the simplicity of gameplay I barely accept. Maybe I'm just too much used to old Diablo 2, but I guess that Diablo 3 is aimed at audience finishing the primary school. Seemingly, there is nothing wrong with that. After all, there is about 12 years of difference between the two games, but still, some problems I would solve differently. But that doesn't change the fact, that Diablo 3 will be a huge success. After having some fun in Diablo 3 beta, I must say, that my favorite character will be most probably be wizard or demon hunter.

What do you think about Auction Houses? Will they have major impact on Diablo?

I guess that's a good solution, and for sure convenient. I didn't use d2jsp much, so for me trading in Diablo 2 equals sitting in the trading channel and spamming offers and needs over and over again. You gotta admit – that was pathetic solution. Now everything will be different, trading will be simple and safe. Real Money Auction House is even more interesting, as Blizzard decided to conquer the sector of trading in-game items for real money. That's good too, because both sides are now protected.

How have you become a member of D3CL crew?

For several years I have been running PCL with some of my friends. I have also organized other projects, which rotated around the league. In Diablo 3 the PvP mode will me more complicated, so the activity has to be continued. My humble person can thus help in organizing D3CL. After all, D3CL was partially born from my PCL :)

What do you think about D3CL’s future, do you think that’s it’s possible to create Diablo 3 community gathered around pvp?

Obviously, YES! There will always be a group of people interested in tournaments. As an example, let's have a look at Diablo 2, which didn't have any facilities related to dueling. Arenas were supposed to be part of the original game in the year 2000, but Blizzard eventually decided to remove them. I guess we cannot expect any serious support from Blizzard in case of e-sport in Diablo 3, but at the same time I'm sure, that the community will be larger, than in Diablo 2. Also, people who organize D3CL have been in this business for years and they for sure know how to run such projects. I'm convinced, that the league will be a success :)

At the end, few lines for You – You can, for instance, say hi to your family, share some deep thoughts with our readers or just wish world peace to all of us.

Remember, guys! Lane splitting IS NOT AN OFFENCE*! :)
*At least in Poland

2012-05-02 20:49