Introduction:

Some have known me by a number of names over the years. Ryujin, J’seth, Jeseth, Ryutek, Byaghro, “that guy over there,” and even some far less acceptable names when speaking in social contexts. One thing has remained the same across all of those iterations, however, and that is my penchant for becoming involved in the community surrounding the games I play, whether in a mainstream role or on the sidelines.

This project is an expansion of Casual WoW in a lot of ways. While I still enjoy World of Warcraft and have no intention of leaving the game anytime in the foreseeable future, I also feel as though it is the wrong place to explore a number of the other thoughts and topics I would like to write about. I will not be taking Casual WoW offline, but new content will be posted here instead of there from this point forward. I also have no intention of alienating those who enjoy reading my material by changing styles and focus. This is purely an expansion on the range of topics I will write about, and an attempt to provide you, the reader, with better organization, an outlet to build a community and interaction around even if we aren’t playing the same game at the time, and bringing exposure and collaboration among various content developers (artists, writers, podcasters, video creators, etc.). We all share a love for the games we play and yet rarely get a chance to be able to come together and chat that often.

Some Gaming Background:

My first real foray into any gaming community started with Star Wars: Galaxies, prior to which my involvement had been purely localized by way of LAN parties. With Galaxies, however, I spent a lot of time on the forums as well, and eventually became a part of the Correspondent program implemented by SOE. While I am truly happy to have had the experience and engage in interactions within the community on various levels, the experience also created a very strong distaste… alright, let’s be honest, I despise SOE as a result, whether it be them directly or LucasArts… for the way some companies handle their communities and development.

When WoW launched I played on Stormrage, and intentionally avoided practically all interaction on the forums. Over time I started reading various blogs, though, and finally decided to create one and see where it took me. Originally I just posted random BS to be honest, but over time my interest in the blog grew as did the content I provided. Now, a number of characters and servers later, and after growing to truly appreciate and respect the work and contributions of bloggers and the community created surrounding blogs, I want to take things to another level in both my writing and the topics I explore, and in the interaction among friends, guest contributors, readers, and anyone with whom I share an interest.

Some Personal Background:

After, roughly, a nine-year hiatus I have returned to college to finish out my Baccalaureate in Psychology, after which I will go straight into pursuit of my Master’s Degree. It is simply a field of great interest to me, and although I have no specific plans to use the degree there really is no telling what may present itself in the future.

I work in the Information Technology realm, specializing in network and systems design, implementation, management, and security. In addition I founded a small photography and video production company that, in all honesty, is really still just a hobby.

Basically, I simply tend to stay busy and often lack a lot of spare time either due to work, classes (now), or just trying to get some time in with friends and family. It truly is a good thing that I normally do not require much sleep at all. It is primarily for this reason that instead of maintaining Casual WoW as a separate entity I am making the transition here exclusively. Of course, it also doesn’t make much sense for me to write about WoW both here and there.

So, why Diabolical Minds?

Well, a few reasons. First, it is a catchy name and certainly plays off of the intent to add some content that pertains to gaming and psychology/philosophy. Second, those involved as of right now could certainly be thought of as diabolical in a sense, be it a character they play or are known for, or simply that there is a certain flair involved when thinking of one as diabolical that piques curiosity. While it is true that my focus as a healer in WoW isn’t really captured in the name at all really is no different than Casual WoW, so why not choose a name that has a nice ring to it?

Beyond that, well, you’ll have to wait for some more posts to make their way here and judge for yourself. The only things that seem “diabolical” might be in RP posts, but that sarcastic edge and the general rants that I’m sure will continue (after all, I’m not going to quit posting the type of content that attracted people to Casual WoW originally, it will just be categorized better and some content will be on a regular schedule for a change) will mesh with the name nicely!

Closing Thoughts:

I hope everyone enjoys this approach, the range of topics and interaction promoted, and the new look and name. I sincerely want your feedback on everything as well, whether through comments, email, the forums here, twitter, smoke signals… you get the idea. My hope is that this site grows into a community of friends who enjoy similar topics, and not just a place where the occasional comment gets posted. Further, if there is something specific you would like to see appear here please don’t hesitate to speak up.

There will still be a number of “tweaks” going into the site over the next few weeks. I plan to set up game-specific feeds as well in case someone really is not interested in anything other than the same content they were receiving on Casual WoW. I’m sure some adjustments will be made to the look of the site also.

And if you want to contribute to this site as a writer, artist (be it illustrations, music, or video), moderator for the forums, or even as a guest contributor please send me a message.