Hello everyone and welcome back to my parlour! Today’s guest doesn’t need an introduction because you all know her and love her but I enjoy it too much! Please welcome the queen of pvp, the very definition of “badass”, the one and only, Jenesis! Thank you for accepting my invitation!
What an introduction. I’m honored by that and to be chosen as a guest for this great series. Thanks for having me!
As always we should start from the very beginning. What are your first memories involving videogames?
Wow… thinking way back haha. Well, the original Nintendo was released in the US when I was 5. I remember my dad getting us one and playing Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out!! and Ice Hockey with my little brother, and ofc Super Mario Brothers was our most played NES game but I’d say the original Legend of Zelda was my favorite from that era. I actually still have my NES and most of the games. Of course I went through all the consoles as a kid, but I also remember building a PC with my dad when I was about 12 and he got me DOOM and Wolfenstein as my first PC games.
What was the first game that made you fall in love?
That’s a really tough question! I’d say either Halo or my first MMO which was Everquest II.
What is your all time favorite game?
WoW. 1000%. It’s kept my interest for what… 16 years now.
How did you end up playing it?
I was really into Everquest II. I was actually ranked number 2 in the world at my class and I came up with the strat for the world first kill on the game’s first contested raid boss and at the time I’m sure I thought I’d end up playing that game forever, but then WoW was released and people started migrating and EQ2 started to die out, so I followed my friends over and that’s how WoW became my forever game. As long as they keep releasing expansions I’ll be here.
What keeps you so passionate about the game?
It’s always been the social aspect. In early expansions it was my guild and how close we all were, then I took a little break during MoP and WoD when I had my son. When I came back I discovered the Instagram community built around the game, and all the people I’ve met here that come to play with me keep that social aspect going strong, and now I have a whole new family that is present across both mediums. I can’t say how much I love these people. Definitely the reason I look forward to logging in every day.
As I said at the beginning, you are the queen of pvp! Do you have any tips for the people that are at the beginning of their pvp journey?
I really don’t deserve such praise haha but thank you. My biggest advice is just play! Yeah it’s scary. Yeah you’re gonna lose. Yeah it’s hectic and overwhelming but the first step to improving is to overcome that hectic feeling which will only happen through experience. Queue queue queue. Find someone you enjoy spending time with and can laugh with and just go play. As far as actually getting better, find a streamer or YouTube creator that plays your class and watch. Read the guides. Follow the talent advice. Get the addons. And just go play! Nothing will teach you more than getting killed the same way a dozen times.
Are there any other games you play at the moment?
Occasionally I play Overwatch. My son likes to play it with me but really no, I dedicate nearly all of my free time to WoW. I know it appears from my IG page that I do nothing but arenas, but the DH actually isn’t my main and I spend a ton of time on my Pally who has been my main since the day BC released. I used to exclusively raid tank but now am more focused on Mythic+. Who has time for anything else when there’s so much to do in WoW!
I think if I ever decided to check out another game it would be FFXIV because I see all the gorgeous pictures people take there and it looks really interesting, but as long as WoW has content and all these amazing people I can’t see spending time anywhere else.
What does gaming mean to you?
Family!
We’ve talked about the gamer but who’s the person behind the monitor?
I really am not sure how to answer this one without being too lengthy. I’m just me. Most everyone knows me as Jen. It actually is my name. I’m just your average working mom gamer I guess. I’ll be 41 in June /gasp lol. My son is 8 and he’s my everything. I work full time and have custody of my son half the time so my game time is sort of limited. Admittedly I don’t sleep enough because I’m always staying up too late squeezing that extra play time in. Outside of gaming I really enjoy cooking. I don’t talk much about my personal life or who I am on my gaming page but really do spend a lot of time with my son. He loves outdoor stuff like parks and hikes and also art and crafting stuff. He’s also a little gamer and a super smart kid. I’m very proud of my son. Overall though I think I’m pretty boring and don’t really like to talk about myself so I’ll leave it at that.
Thank you for sharing this little piece of your personal life with us! Speaking of friends, so many people in the IG gaming community love you! How did you end up joining this crazy place?
As I mentioned before, I took a little break from WoW after my son was born. When he started school and I wanted to come back to playing, my ex-husband had suggested that I start streaming and find a social media community for WoW in order to build up a follower base. What actually happened though, was my Instagram page became my love and the reason I met so many amazing people, and my stream is just a minor side thing. Someday I might have the free time to really dedicate to streaming, but with a full time job and the kiddo it’s hard to also come home and play with the camera on, although I do my best to continue sharing my love for the game on Instagram and really enjoy making new friends because of it! Instagram is what led to me creating the current version of my guild as well. So many people I came across on IG, whether it was comments on posts or messages I got about people not enjoying playing the game solo, or dealing with high expectations in group finder or wanting to cancel their subs because they didn’t have any friends to play with just broke my heart. I found so many great people to play with thanks to Instagram, so it led me to create Squall as a place for all the people who were really looking for a home in game. And now a few years later I couldn’t be more grateful for this family!
Do you have a message for the community?
Be Kind. It’s a game – by definition it’s meant for fun and relaxation. Don’t allow it to cause you stress or become a job. Always do what makes you happy and play how you like regardless of what others say is best or required. You don’t have to compete with anyone. You don’t have to be top tier. If you are and that’s what makes you happy, then great, but what matters the most is that you enjoy what you’re doing and it makes you want to keep coming back. Play what you love, share what you love, be who YOU are and the joy will outshine all. It’s not about how many people like, follow or share your content… the one or few that you inspire or have a positive impact on make it all worth it.
What do you hope for WoW’s future?
Many people have expansions they don’t like or cite reasons to quit the game but I honestly don’t. I’ve enjoyed every tier I’ve experienced in this game. Ofc there’s things we all have little issues with, but overall I really can’t look back and say I wouldn’t have played the game for any of them. So what I hope for is simply that the game continues. New patches. New expansions. New content. Because as long as there is content for us here, we get to continue sharing a common love and finding the connections we long for as human beings. One thing I can wish for, but know is near impossible, would be a region unlock. If the day comes that we can all play together regardless of location then this truly will be one united game and community. But that’s just the dream.
How about real life dreams and expectations?
I think the only thing I’ll say about that is my main focus is to raise my son the best I can. My only goal is his well being and happiness, which is what determined nearly all of my decisions and what I’ve sacrificed to this point. He is a remarkably intelligent sweet caring young man and if I can help him grow into a better person than myself then I’ll consider my life a success.
And I’m sure all the community will join me in wishing you and him the best in life! Now as a last thing, the most difficult question of all, who are three members of the gaming community you would like to see as my guests?
You’re right it is the toughest question. I’ll choose @nazmirian @thewarcraftmom and @mortis_undead.
I so appreciate you having me as a guest. It’s an honor. Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you very much and once again thank you for accepting my invitation! Please keep being the amazing woman we all appreciate and love!
And as always thank you all for reading this interview and for joining me while we got to know better such a wonderful and special soul! See you all next month for another interview with another absolutely amazing person!
Kylara's Gamersations 