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How did you decide on your In-Game Name? What’s the backstory behind it?

It’s not as interesting as it could be. Back in the days of dial-up, BBSs, and id Software, more and more my name had already been taken, so I took to the dictionary and started flipping through it one page at a time looking for a word that was unique enough, but I identified with.

I landed on Eidolon, which at the time Webster’s Dictionary said something to the degree of “Phantom, apparition or Ghost,” and I’ve used it it a variant every since.

You have an esteemed role as Moderator on the War Dragons Forums! What has that opportunity been like for you?

I like that I can give back to the forums at times where I’m the only one online. It has been a bit different than I expected, but I really like how the whole group gets along and are so diverse.

It can be difficult at times to steer the forums in a productive direction. Quite a lot of folks are downright disrespectful, others constantly accuse everything as being some grand conspiracy against them. Some mean well but just can’t seem to not rub many people the wrong way. The vast majority of forum goers are problem free, so don’t get the wrong idea. I’m mostly just saying I was surprised by just how tricky it can be.

What have you most enjoyed contributing to the War Dragons Community by being a Forums moderator?

I enjoy that our group has cleaned up a lot of mess that had accumulated. I enjoy that we have worked to use new features and improve how we manage the forums. Mostly I just enjoy working with the group and being open and trying to make the forums a better place for everyone.

Who are some of the standout personalities you’ve encountered on the Forums and what makes them awesome?

Many people have contributed a ton to the forums. Its really hard to make a through list, so here are some folks who came to mind in no particular order and definitely not a even close to a complete list.

Gox1201 has always been a reasonable logic driven individual with balance and fair play driving posts. He has seems to quickly break most things down to their essence, and understands the intention behind most mechanics.

Tinsir has been someone who fairly fights for improvement to lower leagues of the game while respecting the top leagues. Also a very clever person, and well articulated.

Mechengg has dissected most important mechanics, and has shared his findings largely allowing a much greater collaboration with the community.

Lutrus knows a ton about flying. He’s also very skilled at flying complex dragons when he wants to be. Almost any odd bug of mechanic related to dragons or bases he knows about even when it’s as rare as the Kobe glitch.

What are your current goals within War Dragons? (Medal count, aiming for a specific dragon, etc.)

As a player, I’d like to improve my Ronin flying. I’m not terrible with Ronin, but I feel like I can do a lot better.

Progression wise, I’d like to max one elite (or better) offensive armor set of each element. In Atlas I’m close to hitting 1m troops, so I’m still pushing for that.

I honestly feel like the game could have some milestones for older players. It was kind of anticlimactic to hit 100m medals for example.

What are some things you wish you knew when first beginning to play War Dragons?

I’d have liked to know about the breeding tricks sooner. It was a while before I understood how backbreeding worked. Basically I’d have liked to have found breeding paths sooner. The ones I found on the old forums were nowhere near as good as what Red has created for us.

I’d have liked to know not to bother with ballistas, to build less fire turrets. I’d have liked to know how team play worked sooner. The game doesn’t really make a smooth transition from dragon collector to pvp and season branches.

I’d have liked to have been told how to work the war system. We figured it out the hard way. It didn’t take too long, but as the team had a lot of growing to do back then also, it could have saved a ton of agony.

You’re currently the leader of the Sapphire team, BridgeKillers! What’s it like leading a team in such a competitive tier?

It’s both more work than it should be, and very rewarding. I see my job as removing politics and keeping the game fun for the team. We spend a lot of time picking compatible players, and I find that everything else falls in place with the right people. My leadership is rather unconventional; I try to avoid micro-managing, and I believe players just want to have fun with people they like spending time with. I try to make that happen which means less control and more trust.

It has been very rewarding journey into Sapphire then Atlas shortly after. I first took the reins in low platinum and remember the recruiting burden we used to have.

As a guild leader, what are some challenges you encounter and how do you overcome them?

One of the biggest challenges has been dealing with long time loyal players who have always been there for us, but have become stale with the game. To me loyalty is the one currency that really matters in this game. When you have long time loyal players who are starting to drag the team down I find I have to have conversations which aren’t so fun. The key is to be honest and not wait for it to impact 49 other players.

There are always challenges in improving team progression in general. I personally prefer growing my own players rather than recruiting full-grown players. Bigger players (relative to league) are often high maintenance and have little or no loyalty. It’s especially tricky when a lot incentives are woefully inadequate compared to the cost.

Driving atlas participation can be tricky too. I think a lot teams over manage atlas and turn a fun activity into a drag. I’ve had a lot players who hated atlas tell me they enjoy it with us. When we first got atlas, we had many who’s devices couldn’t even load atlas, and thankfully that is mostly behind us. We prefer atlas battles to main game wars, but keeping poltics out of it is a huge challenge. I don’t have a good answer for this, the officers and I spend a lot of time keeping politics out of atlas a much we can. Joining one of the major alliances can help with targets to attack, but it’s also frustrating when you have a lot or rules to follow that nobody really cares about.

What is the best piece of advice you can offer to a veteran War Dragons player?

Don’t let the game stop being fun. It is very easy to turn a game into a job.

To you, what parts of War Dragons stand out beyond other gaming experiences you’ve had? Why is the game special to you?

I really appreciate only having a single world we all play in. Other games you had to either start over constantly or endure painful merges. Often end game content is rarely enjoyed except on servers where the population are severely low. I also really enjoy how league’s are intended to work. Some may like it, but I find the top tiers can get really nasty, and the posturing can get old quick.

I enjoy how this game doesn’t have million different troops. I enjoy how troops aren’t hidden in paid shields or sent on ghost marches to keep them safe.

I like that there are a lot of towers, and hope the game will return to its pre-dark flak days where there were multiple distinctly different tower choices of similar effectiveness, and different choices have different strengths and weaknesses.

I like that you can use dragons together to tactically achieve greater destruction synergy.

Basically I like where strategy still matters…

The game is special because it’s fun and I play with people who I enjoy playing with.

I also appreciate the lower (however steadily increasing) cost, and better game life balance than others I’ve played.

When you’re not playing War Dragons, what do you like to do in your free time?

I have a large list of hobbies but sticking to the biggest: I’m a big travel fan, I love photography, and I love hiking; whenever possible I try to do multiple together.

If you could design a new Dragon Rider, what would they look like and which Dragon would be the perfect fit for them?

Maybe some kind of ghostly rider. Originally I was thinking Nazgûl like on a wraith model, but maybe something more ascended and less decayed. Like the Ancients from Stargate perhaps. More ethereal, less decay. Perhaps it could ride a dragon similarly modeled to Ronin and Neptus. Maybe the dragon could also have a matching essence. Something not massive but longer with sleek matching armor. Maybe something like that. I’m probably not the best person to ask about art so much as mechanics.

If people want to connect with you, what is the best way for them to do so?

The forums are probably the best way. If someone would prefer to contact me in line or some other social media, message me in the forums and I’ll send you my id from there if you want.

Lastly…would you rather fight against 100 chicken-sized Chunks or 10 Chunk-sized chickens?

Haha. That all depends on if the chickens can bellyflop or not. I’m pretty sure I could win against 10 chunk-sized chickens, so if I wanted to survive, I’d have to avoid the army of tiny belly-floppers and pick the big chickens.