15 Minutes of Fame: Star Trek's Nog talks with WoW.com
15 Minutes of Fame is WoW.com's look at World of Warcraft personalities of all shapes and sizes -- from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, from the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.
We continue our conversation this week with battlegrounds fan Aron Eisenberg, who played the youthful Ferengi Nog on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. With five level 80s, two WoW-playing sons and an insatiable appetite for mixing it up in BGs, Aron's a WoW player to the core.
"I noticed that people want to say hi or something in BGs," he emailed us after last week's interview, revealing the name of his main level 80, Vasuna. "Maybe we should tell Allies to /salute if they see me -- then let the fighting begin. Might be a fun way to give a nod and let the game begin, so to speak." So here we go: /salute, and let's talk more with Aron about what he's doing professionally these days, plus his thoughts on what lies ahead in Cataclysm.
Read Part 1: Deep Space Nine's Nog gets his BG on
15 Minutes of Fame: So we understand you're spending more time behind the camera than in front of it these days, running your own videography company. Tell us about your new emphasis.
Aron Eisenberg: Basically, I did that because I wanted to make movies some day. But I couldn't go to film school because I had two boys that I needed to raise. So I thought I would do this so I could learn more about editing and using a camera and going behind the scenes, so when they're older and out of the house, I can then push myself into making films and movies. It's a plan; I don't know how well it'll come to fruition.
Sometimes I think you do the things you think are best at the time for what you need to take care of, and then just one thing leads to another thing. And one day you're there going, "How did I get here? It wasn't my ultimate plan, but I'm here." I think you just do the best you can to follow the dreams that you have and to make the most out of what you enjoy out of your life. That sets the road in front of you. And then if you can keep your eye set on the things that are really important, and keep making sure that's your main focus ... At the end of the day, if that's what you're doing, then you're doing the best you can.
... But World of Warcraft takes up too much of my time at night. (laughs)
It doesn't sound as if you're ready to stop any time soon, though. Won't you be sticking around for Cataclysm?
Most definitely. I wish there were a new class coming. I really loved when the DKs came out. When it was new, and you'd go into Warsong Gulch and there were like 10 DKs on each side, that was some of the most fun in battlegrounds that I've ever had. I want to make an all-'lock team or one with like all rogues and a healer or something like that. I want to do those crazy kind of teams, because (those all-DK teams were) so fun. Everyone's flying all over the place because of Death Grip. And everyone's all mad, "Ohhh, overpowered, overpowered!" (laughs) Aw, you just gotta learn how to deal with it. It was so fun.
That's what I think sometimes people miss in the game. That -- you guys! -- it's supposed to be fun. ... Like in raiding, when everyone's getting all pissed and mad and frustrated because someone's not standing in the yellow or something. It's like, "Guys, this is all supposed to be fun, too. It's not just work. We're not getting paid for this. I know we all want our gear. Eventually, we're all going to get the gear, and eventually all the gear's going to become useless. And then you're going to have to get more gear." It's like a perpetual carrot in front of the donkey, and we're constantly chasing our tail in the game, constantly chasing our tail.
So you're looking forward to some changes, then.
I'm looking forward to Cataclysm. I have to be honest: I think one of the things that I worry the most about in the game is the homogenization of the game. The balancing has got to be the toughest, toughest order for Blizzard. They've got a tall order there. And with the 10- and the 25-man (raids getting) the same loot, I'm on the fence. I have to (with) a lot of the people say it's not good because everyone's just going to do 10-man. I think they're right. I think the majority of people will always take the easy route first. There's got to be an incentive somewhere in there for people who want to do to feel like they're getting something for the work that they've got to put out for it. I think we're just built that way, especially in a capitalistic country. If you work the hardest, you reap the most rewards.
But Blizzard really has to find a balance between the hardcore players and the casual players. I think as a company, you've got to think of it in a business sense. You want to make money, and Blizzard wants to make money. And I don't think the argument, "Well they're making plenty of money" -- you can't say that in our society and write them off: "Well, you've made enough money, so you don't need to make more money." They're a company. ... So you've got to appease all of the players. You're going to have to keep people joining, and you've got to keep new people coming, and you've got to keep people staying all the way. So you've got to make everybody happy. So that's the biggest question: How do you make everyone happy?
It's a big question.
That's (an issue) in the guild, too. I have a problem with that; I always want to make everybody happy. One of my officers when I was guild leader would say, "You can't make everybody happy." And I was like, "Dammit, I'm going to try." It's a difficult and a very tough endeavor. If you have a guild, it's really hard to keep all the PvP people happy and all the raiders happy. It takes a lot of sacrifice, self-sacrifice, to do that. I think it takes a lot of integrity in the officers to be able to do that and put the guild members first, before themselves.
And then where's that balance? Because if you don't also move up with them, they will look to the person who does have the highest GearScore or who is raiding all the time or who knows everything about the game, rather than the person who necessarily tried to make it work for everybody. I learned that as a guild leader, and that kinda happened to me -- that constant battle for your own stuff as a guild leader or officer, and then taking care of your guild at the same time. I think that the people who can do that are quite amazing and should be patted on the back for that. That's a lot of dedication and work to do that.
I think they're making the game a lot easier. I think if they keep doing that, they'll end up shooting themselves in the foot, because people do like a challenge. They do want to climb to the top of the highest mountain and say, "I did this," and I think you need to make those things available.
