I am writing this, not as a memoir, but rather in hope that some other people will read this and perhaps better understand my profession. I have approached at this point, 19 days and approximate 19 hours in-game as my Fixer, Ofos. I feel that at this point, it is appropriate to share with you what I have learned from this experience. Believe this all or not, I hope this may change a few things about how you all view Fixers. By the way, I post this on the World of RK forum not the Fixer forum, as I'd like other professions specifically to read this. No, this is NOT my life story.
I should start this off with some honesty. I originally created my Fixer and named him Ofoz with a Z, as a joke. I thought it could be a deal of fun to goof around. Hang out by the NPC Ofoz and maybe confuse a few people. Just muck around. Well, I did have my fun. A few people actually sent me tells when I was in missions, talking to me like an NPC. Quickly enough, GM got ahold of my scheming and my name was nerfed to Ofos with an ugly S. At this point, I sort of thought that my fun was over, as I no longer possessed the name. I might have deleted old Ofos right then and there and most likely quit the game, if not for a rather life changing event......
......I really had no idea that day, that there was going to be a "Fixer Convention". I was just aimlessly wandering Borealis. Bored out of my skull. Then I came across a crowd of people, all of them Fixers. At that time, I thought all Fixers were the same. Twinky alts wearing Love Armor. But when I saw this crowd of people, Omni/Clan/Neut, all gathered.... I realized my mistake. I was quite shocked to see all these people of all different factions. They were wearing everything from Nano Armor to Nadir to Elite to The Blue (GA). Some carried Chironis', some MCS, some Sleeks, some even had MTI Riot Shields. I hadn't ever seen such a diverse group enjoying themselves so immensely, all conversing and ignoring the obvious lackings of their mates. All of them completely disregarding faction and organization. Well, except for the Mockers... Those boys and girls seem to stick together fairly well
Attending the FixerCon completely changed the way I perceived the community. While there I met some of the greatest people in-game. I even found a few old friends who had escaped to Fixer alts. These guys were like gods and celebrities to me. I met Argulace, Trellame.... I think Fiix, Hydeo, Gogliostro and more were in attendance. Speaking specifically of the aforementioned 5 and of a good deal of others as well, these are some of the most wonderfully sociable people on the planet. Many of them more well-spoken and intelligent than I thought possible for RK. I'd like to specifically cite Hoops and Stromm here. But it wasn't just seeing these people come together for each other that I was so amazed by. It was also watching as they accepted my little phix0r toon into their arms, simply because I was a member of the same profession. By all means, it was a beautiful thing.
That was more than enough to convince me. I decided that this was the profession that I wanted. After almost a year, and 11 other professions played for long hours, I had come to the one which I'd always avoided since it had been branded a GIMP. It was a real blessing, but something I almost felt I had to make work. If this wasn't the profession for me, the game was over.
At this point, I think it best to make it clear that I wasn't making a twink. I don't have and never have had some rich high lvl mule. To date, 1 year and 3 months of play, my lvl 85 Fixer is my highest level. I'm not ashamed of it, because level means absolutely nothing to me. I've accomplished all of my goals in this game without having to break the barrier of 100. And I think that says a lot more than some 2 month player who's lvl 110. The reason that I'm so amazed by this, is because it isn't just me who built this character. It's really the entire Fixer community. No other profession helps their brethren to a higher degree than the Fixers. Time to give a few examples.
1. There I was, Omni Fixer, hanging out in Tir's Happy Rebel. I took a seat, wishing I could get trashed because I was broke as hell and I needed a new gun bad bad bad! Now, as I sit here sulking in my own anger, I'm joined by Slaggermulps, a clan Fixer who'd just gotten his GA MKIV. We got to talking, and it was obvious that he like many others didn't care he was talking to an Omni scum. I eventually mentioned that I needed a new gun, so he asked what kind I used and what ql. I gave him the appropriate info and he said that he would get me a new gun. I tried to be courteous and tell him no-thanks, but he refused to see another Fixer in plight. I was practically forced to accept his generosity, and at that point I expected him to leave and go blitz for a gun. Well, that wasn't the case. It seems that a certain girl owed him a favor. He used that favor to have her blitz me a gun. Rather than save that bit of help for when he might need it, he gave it to me without a second thought. Now, that was nice, but what he did later was even better. See, I had accidentally miscalculated what QL Kerans I could use, so the one I was given by him was a bit too high to equip. When he asked how the new gun was, I told him it turned out to be too high, but that it'd be fine. Well..... let's just say I had another new gun an hour later. Thank you, Slaggermulps.
2. One of my major goals as a "post-love phix0r" was to really just NOT be one. In my opinion, that's not what I was or am. I never had some rich alt funding me and farming me Love armor. I also thought it was important to show that you didn't have to use a high lvl alt to strengthen your character and get some Grid Armor, despite the astronomical prices. While I was on my quest to find or buy Grid Armor, I met many snags in the road on the way there. There were one or two occassions when I was in teams who found it and the looter ninja'd and sold it. That sucked. I've also had the most unfortunate experince of being made to believe that X person was going to sell me Grid Armor for a cheap price. Those people sucked. I killed so many bosses solo, died so many times, killed so many plants and claws, horded away so many credits.... But still I couldn't get GA even after many many months. It was quite a depressing thing. I have to say, when you're a rapidly evolving character who needs constant imp/armor/weapon upgrades to stay in the game, saving for a 60m+ item is nothing easy. As many of you know, I made my precense and non-stop demand for Grid Armor well known on the boards. I was determined to get it. And if I couldn't afford it, I was determined to drive that damn price down to what I deemed suitable! Rar! Well, I never single-handedly killed the inflation.... but I tried. Fast forward a bit, as to keep this short, to an auction last month. MrHaga was auctioning off a shiny new MKII. At that point I had accumulated about 10m of my own and I had friends who were willing to donate a good bit of cash to my cause. All in all, I was free to bid up to 70m. So I thought that might buy me some GA if I was lucky. Well, as it happens, MrHaga gave me a little bit of that luck and closed the auction, and named me winner, even though I had been outbid. Thank you MrHaga. However, troubles later arose when said donating friends mysteriously disappeared along with almost all of my GA money. I met with MrHaga, told him/her my situation and I was given one day. I had 24 hours to come up with approximately 60 million creds. Something I thought was nothing short of infathomable. I wasn't high enough to blitz any good items, so that I dea was out. I didn't have some rare stockpiles, so no big clean-out sales. My org bank had a very dormant 35-36m in it, but for some reason I wasn't even allowed to BORROW any of that money. There was only one option left.... and that was to go "door to door" asking my friends and acquaintances for loans or donations. It was a task I very much loathed, as I hate begging for money. It made me feel very inferior, but it made me realize just how lucky I was to be a Fixer. Many unsuccessful attempts were made and in the end it came down to three people. 1. Hydeo 2. Corgan 3. Zendog.
First up, I talked with Zendog, a very kind and optimistic Fixer buddy of mine. I stressed to him that it would be just a loan and that I hated to take cash from him. He offered to give me 20 million. That seemed like too much from one person, I told him. I refused to just take it. So, he bought a q200 Manex off me for 20,000,000c. Best deal I've ever made. Thank you, Zendog.
Next, I talked with Corgan, who I really didn't know and still am not very good friends with due to unfortunate circumstances which I hope to soon remedy. I had met her before and she was pretty cool, we were really just acquaintances. Corgan was most gracious considering the situation and how late it was. She was so kind to loan me 20 million, which is soon to be repaid. I'm a bit late on payments due to a few large-scale RL issues. I do apologize greatly. Thank you, Corgan.
Finally, came the real curve-ball of the affair. As I was lingering at the NLC grid considering my situation and relaying it to Corgan, one of my Fixer idols gridded in. Hydeo. I thought, 'Cool, I never thought I'd meet this guy. Only seen him on the boards and heard about him by word of mouth.' It was all good things I'd heard. But, being the timid haxor I am, I left him to talk to whoever else was hanging around. Well, in a most unexpected turn of events, I suppose Hydeo overheard me say that I still needed to borrow 20m to buy my GA. I had nearly forgotten he was there, so I was a bit shocked when he sent me a tell simply saying "Hey man, are you good to repay that 20 mil?"
/me's jaw drops as his Fixer idol offers hima large-scale money loan O.O
I explained to Hydeo that it would definitely take some time, but yes, I would be reliable in repaying my debt. Once again, I am late on this repaying due to the aforemntioned circumstances. In all my experience, I couldn't fathom someone just approaching me and offering me that much money.
While I was thanking Hydeo a thousand times, he just told me to relax, because "it's what Fixers do". He told me that people did the same thing for him. He used to need help from higher lvls, and Fixer brothers and sisters were always there to help him. I couldn't believe it! My toon could grow up to be just like Hydeo! One of the people I thought it was impossible to match to! I was told that most of the greats started off that way, and that's why our community is so tightly knit. It's not because we share creds and equip, it's because in the Fixer community, we all start off as broke ass little toons. Having Hydeo tell me all that was such a huge booster. I got to thinking, if I could be like Hydeo and get a Rookie title and be a respected community member, what was stopping me after that? What would stop me from becoming a Neophyte and being president of a powerful org, just like Argulace?
The answer is nothing. In the Fixer community anyone can become a king among hackers, because we are all brothers and sisters. We all help each other. We aren't constricted by faction like all the other professions! Get real, people. When was the last time you saw any really successful org made up of one profession, other than The Mockers.
And that is the true beauty of the Fixer. We don't just help fix other people's problems. No, above and beyond that.... and first and foremost, we fix eachother's problems first.
I am Seto 'Ofos' Kaiba. I have played for approximately 19 days and 19 hours as my Fixer. Due solely to the help of other Fixers and community members, I am level 85 and barely rising and I have accomplished every one of my goals for this 'life'. I have and always will help the people of Rubi-ka and fix what they need fixing. But above and beyond that lays the duty of helping other Fixers.
~Alone, I am a Fixer. Together, we are a family.~
This is for Argulace, Fiix, Hydeo, Trellame, Neff, Zendog, Gogliostro, Slaggermulps, Hoopspro, Stromm, Nucleic, Ollli, Slyyam, Nettie, Gene13 and for every Fixer who thinks that they're alone.