Featured Gamer: Mon Macutay / GM Tristan III

If you play online games, chances are you've met our featured gamer online or offline. He's the GM (Game Master) of Perfect World, Rohan and Ragnarok Online, the most popular and most successful MMORPG in the Philippines. Aside from doing GM jobs, he's also the head of MMORPG Marketing of Level Up! Games Philippines.

Know more about our featured gamer, Mon Macutay, after jump!


Could you tell us something about yourself? How old are you? Where are you located and what are you currently engaged in?

I'm currently the Head of MMORPG Marketing for Level Up Philippines. I handle games such as Ragnarok, Perfect World, Rohan and the other MMOs. I'm based here in Manila.

When was the first time you actually played a video game? What's the name of the game and game system? What or who made you play?

My first video game was Combat for the old Atari system. My cousin let me play at his place. After that, the bug hit me.

Do you own a video game console? If yes, what system? Was it your very fist console? What video game platform do you prefer? (PC, Consoles or Handheld)

I currently own just a PS2. I planned to buy an Xbox 360 a couple of years back. But my friends didn't suggest it because of the damn "3RL" issue. This year, for Christmas, I might get myself a new PS3 (the slim one with the 250GB HD.

My first console was the Colecovision which my relatives from the States gave to me as a gift. There was only 1 game that came with it - it was called Zaxxon. I loved that game. After that, it was the Nintendo Familycom and then the SNES.

As to preference, I actually prefer the PC. The graphics are better and you really get to have a lot more options with mice and keyboard (say for an FPS) rather than just the gamepad. But for fighting games, it's gotta be the console. So I guess it's a matter of the "type" of game that would make me think about what platform to play it in.

What is your favorite video game? Why?
Diablo. It changed the way I thought about video games. It was the first game that I was truly immersed in the story... didn't sleep for a week. Diablo revolutionized the industry too.

Nothing compares to the original Diablo and I'm glad I experienced it first-hand.

How about a particular video game character, who's your favorite? Why?

It's gotta be Kratos. Standing up vs. zombies, aliens or monsters is one thing but actually standing up to a god! Now, that's epic and super cool! Kratos is also an anti-hero, an archetype that I admire and like.

Do you play online games? What are your current and all-time favorites? Are you part of a clan or guild? If yes, can you give us some info about your guild?

Of course, my first online game was Ragnarok. It was love at first sight (or should I say, first log-in). This was back in 2003. RO is still a favorite of mine. Although I've tried all our games (Level Up!) and some from the competition, RO remains close to my heart. It's here that I got to meet a lot of friends and also it was because of this game that I got a job and a career.

As to the guilds, I was the guildmaster of the guild called Fellowship in RO. We initially played in the Chaos server but transfered to Odin due to over-population. We were a simple guild. Only won once and claimed an Agit for a week. Our goal was to grow new friends and get to know them better. I organized events and even had our own EBs and parties for Christmas and other holidays... ahh... those were the good ol' days.

If you were to convince a friend or co-worker to play video games, how would you do it? Would you do crazy stuff just to convince him or her?

Nothing crazy I think. I guess I'd immerse him or her first in console games. The Wii is good at this since Nintendo actually focuses on the game element and not on the eye-candy.

Did playing a video game make any difference in your life?

Yeah. Look where I am now. Thanks for video games, I have a great job. Lots of friends and now I'm a member of growing industry that's set to revolutionize entertainment as we know it. So, yes. THANK YOU video games. My mom now thinks that games are cool... as opposed to my high school and college couch potato-gaming days! haha!

Do you have any personal video game related story that you can share with us?

I publish "MMOments" in my blog, www.gmtristan.com
The most funny story is this one...

 This time it's about a pRO player who went to the office to ask help from me because he was hacked. This was sometime in 2004, at that time you can still input your own Secret Question to secure your account, of course.

The player, who in his early twenties, was teary-eyed as we met in the infamous "6.5" (a smoking area between the sixth and seventh floors of Pacific Star Building).

And our conversation went something like this

Player: GM, kailangan ko ng tulong niyo (hikbi)

Me: Ano problema, faps?

Player: Kasi, na-hack me.... e wala naman nakakaalam ng sagot sa secret question ko.

Me: Hmmmm.... ganon ba. Okies, ganito... wag mo sabihin sa akin un sagot, sabihin mo lang sa akin ung TANONG.

Player: Ah okey

Me: o... ano ang SECRET QUESTION mo?

Player: Pramis talaga! Ako lang may alam nun... wala nga akong pilot e... tutulungan mo ba ako, GM Tristan???

Me: yung tanong nga muna (grrrrr)

Player: Ang tanong e "SINONG GWAPO?"

Me: Hulaan ko ang sagot - "AKO"

Player: WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! Bakit mo alam????? Ang galing mo naman!!! Amp!

Me: Tsamba lang (hehehehehehe)

Any last message you wish to impart to our readers?

My message would be to stay in school and DO NOT neglect your studies for video games. Too much of anything is bad. Studies should come first. Also, I think that video games allow us to challenge the hardest opponent of all - ourselves. It gives us goals and makes us perform better. But others treat it TOO seriously... hey, it's ONLY a game. Remember that and you won't get lost.

Any greetings and link-love to your friends?

Yeah. Thanks to all my loyal readers of my blog http://gmtristan.com for those who haven't been there, drop by. Read the cool articles and drop me a couple of comments. You can also click on the SNS links and we can be friends in facebook, friendster, Twitter or the others, k?

Rok On!