Meet the Staff: Adam G [AG2297]

You’ll probably know Adam as ‘that guy who gives out free stuff and sets out competitions’ or as Kris dubbed him ‘AGtoomanynumbers’. Well, he’s our very own Community Manager which means we’ve stepped up from last week, when we interviewed our Assistant Community Manager. Sorry Tef!

[drop2]Name: Adam Garrett
Age: 19
Birthplace: Near Birmingham
Living now: Same as above
Gamerscore/Trophy Level: 11
Random fact about yourself: I’ll be even more random and give you two. I was written in as a character in a fantasy book called Destroyer of Worlds and ironically (due to a glitch) I’m the most banned member on TSA.

What was the first spark that started your love of gaming?

I was quite late to gaming I guess. The first gaming device that I had was an original Gameboy which was great for car journeys but I didn’t use it that much when at home. The first home console I owned was the PS1. It wasn’t until my dad brought home Metal Gear Solid that I found love for gaming. Despite being relatively young when that game was out, I adored the story and love how tense it was while trying to sneak past guards. I remember the ending particularly well as I used to destroy the Metal Gear, then my Dad would fight Liquid hand to hand and then my sister would do the final Jeep fight as we each were better at different parts. After the PS1 I moved on to PS2 and finally PS3.

When you’re not gaming or setting up competitions, how do you like to spend your free time?

Well at one point I was into power kiting and reached the point where I’d be tying the big ones together so that I’d get some big air time from it but it was always a pain to find somewhere windy enough. Then I went on to shooting with airguns (not to be mistaken for airsoft) which didn’t last long, but not before it had left me severely out of pocket. My hobbies change quite a bit. I like a fair few TV shows such as Sherlock and Spooks. I used to be a big reader but I rarely read anymore and when I do it’s usually the news! I am very interested in current affairs and you can often find me talking about them in the forum.

You seem like someone with a few tales to tell. So, go on, tell us your most embarrassing story.

I’m more used to family embarrasing me rather than myself. My sister is known among some in the forum for an incident involving Olbas Oil for example. When I embarrass myself it’s usually through things like making a mistake or getting something wrong rather than anything funny. I’m always falling asleep on public transport though which can be embarrassing if my friends try and take a picture or draw on me. I really need to learn how to sleep properly at night rather than on transport!

Do you work in the real world to fund your gaming?

I’m a student in the real world, half way through a degree (in Computer Games Technology and Interactive Media). I don’t put half as much effort in as I should, apart from the areas that I enjoy, and I always moan about it there but I get decent grades and the job(s) that I’d love to do once I have completed it all require degrees so it’s a necessity really. It’s alright though, it’s just I’ve always felt the education system is too scripted and really behind the times in its way of thinking with such a “one system suits all approach” that doesn’t really work very well. That’s probably why I enjoy what I do on TSA so much, because I get complete freedom and get to try out new ideas all the time.

I’ve had a few part time jobs before including places such as Homebase and Game but for me it’s 100% about having a job I enjoy, or at least don’t dislike, rather than the money which is why I’ve never stayed in a retail job for long. There are a few jobs I’d love to do but finding one that works around my studies is really difficult so for now I’m enjoying not working and I also have no idea how I’d manage to fit a job in without sacrificing something else which I’m reluctant to do. I did go for an interview at a place that rhymed with grey and nation though.

I’m not too fond of names with numbers at the end. Do you have any better nicknames in real life?

Well I’m not too fond of you Blair so that makes us even :P! [Ouch, I just meant your name… – Blair] Mostly people just call me by my last name but at one point a fair few people used to call me Gazza. I don’t really have any other nicknames.

Do any of your family join in with the gaming fun?

In my house, I’m the only one. Some of my cousins and other family play games but I don’t often get to see a lot of my family so I don’t game with any of my family. Usually I’m gaming with friends or TSA people.

How did you find TSA in the first place?

Well I have quite a long history on TSA, longer than my “member since” status would suggest.

I think I was looking for LittleBigPlanet news (this was a few months before the game came out) and somehow came across TSA. I quite liked TSA because of the mature comments on there from readers and the quite positive and friendly atmosphere which I hadn’t experienced on any of the other sites. I lurked for ages but one day eventually took the plunge and signed up (possibly with the bonus of there being a competition on, I can’t quite remember) but didn’t comment all that often, only when there was a particular story that interested me.

It wasnt until a lot later that I started to become involved with community stuff on TSA. I think it started when I was talking to Jas-n and I was suggesting a few ways in which TSA could make better use of its community. He suggested that I email nofi (Al) with them so I did. A day or so later I got a reply from Al asking if this was me offering my services which to be honest it wasn’t, the thought hadn’t crossed my mind, but Al had performed Inception on me and the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea so I said yes. Little did I know that Peter (this was before he was the owner) was setting up a community team behind the scenes to help out Colin. To cut a long story short, eventually me and Teflon became community coordinators and then I became the community manager and Tef became the assistant community manager.

Considering my current role, I’ve not been the most trouble free member in the past. Firstly there was an incident very early on that caused my college IP address to be banned by TSA, although that wasn’t my doing I’m happy to say! There was also an incident on TSA back when the website had a chat room that involved some well known members and myself messing about in there having a laugh (I cant remember if alcohol had been consumed) but then taking it a bit too far and ending up visiting another website that looked a bit similar to TSA and wrote a few messages on there saying as much as a prank. It was all very silly but at the time we all found it hilarious. Unfortunately they took it very seriously and I believe it caused a mini shit storm on Twitter which was a shame. I also vaguely remember DayWalker (now known as “Liam”) pretending to be a girl whenever Andy Torr was around which went on for a while until he found out that he was actually a teenage boy so it’s no wonder that chat room wasn’t around for long!

What’s your favourite game of all time?

Wow this is difficult. Games from the Metal Gear Series spring to mind due to the family memories and the epic storylines, each of them having their own personal charm. In terms of fun though I used to really enjoy playing with friends on COD4 and playing with TSA people on Left 4 Dead 2. If I have to choose one though I’d have to go for a Metal Gear Solid, but I cant pick which one of them so I’m going to risk getting into more trouble and choose the series.

Would you like to say anything to the community, Mr. Manager?

Just to encourage them to get involved! You’d be surprised how much gaming there is within the community. On PS3 GT5 is currently going strong with regular, popular meets and on Steam, Dungeon Defenders is a current favourite. Previously there have been groups playing regularly together on BF3, Motorstorm:A, Resistance 3, Left 4 Dead 2, Bioshock, Uncharted, Killzone, F1, Red Dead and many more that have created many great memories and gaming friendships (and more serious friendships). All you have to do is make a meet and register your interest in what you want to play in the forum. You might find that you’ll end up with a bunch of people that you end up gaming regularly with and I’m sure many members on here will vouch for that.