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Here is the first of the 2 interviews in our second Stars of the Community Double Feature. This was one of my favorite interviews I've ever done and I really hope you guys like it. I give you DocSpartanO07: DD: "DocSpartanO07, what's the story behind that name?" D07: "Well, back when I created my live account, I went by txdandit911,back when the original Xbox was out. When Halo 3 was released, I dropped the 'bandit' and replaced it with 'Spartan', I pretty much only played Halo, so it fit. The 'Tx' was there because, well I'm from Texas. The O07 was added because the first random service tag Halo 3 generated was O07, I thought it was funny, so on it went and its been my service tag ever since. My first username here was 'TxSpartanO07'. After I enlisted in the US Army as a combat medic, everyone called me 'Doc', so after some suggestions from AD and the other long time members of the forum, the TX was dropped and Doc was added, I also changed my GT to reflect 'doc'. So, pretty much every part of my GT/username has at least some meaning." DD: "It certainly does and that's pretty awesome. There isn't one bit of your name that doesn't have meaning to it . Ok Doc, being a long time member I know you have tons of memories and I've seen you post in SykoWolf's Forum Memories thread some of them but do you have a favorite memory on the site? If not could you just tell us one that really sticks out to you and why?" D07: "Well, my favorite memory? That's a tough one, my time here has been full of great ones. But one that really sticks in my head was while I was deployed to Iraq, I had a really terrible day, lost a soldier that day and had been working for at least 14 hours. I remember walking back to the tiny little room I lived in and just couldn't stop thinking about my day and how out right mad I was at EVERYTHING. When I got to my room, I changed out of my dirty uniform, laid down on my bed, opened up my laptop and logged on to 343i.org, and to my surprise, my username was purple, I only had like 75 posts at the time so I was kinda confused. Then AD chimed in on the shout box and said "Hey, we promoted you to trusted, to thank you for your service to our country". I was shocked, at that moment, AD nor anyone on the forum knew about my day, and at that moment, the thoughts of my horrible day went away. I remember feeling a tear roll down my face when I read what AD said in the shout box, to have someone appreciate what you do, even on a really bad day, when things don't go right means a lot in my line of work. It was that moment when I knew I belonged here in this community. The support I had from AD, SJ, and the other long time members during some really bad times made a huge difference in my life, and I can't ever do enough to repay the community for it. Since that day, I have been around. After deployment I took a break cause I spent lots of time with the family, but popped in from time to time. I will be here till the end, period." DD: "That's incredible Doc. That's nothing short of an incredible story, truly. And just so you know, we do all appreciate what you do. 3 of my best friends are going into the Marines or are Marines so I very big respect for them. And your dedication to the site is uncanny and it's to no surprise that you are a Community Moderator here. Doc what's the biggest difference in the community from now and back then when you joined the site in 2011?" D07: "What's changed? Well, the obvious stuff for sure, looks different here then when I joined, there are way more members, things are a lot different in that aspect. However, to me, it still feels the same. The community has grown, and grown better. There have been some shenanigans in months past, some members not around anymore that I thought would be here forever. But I feel like the community is stronger now than ever. Its an even bigger part of my life now. I've seen the community grow from a small group of buddies that love Halo, to what it is today, and I love every minute of it. Its like having a family that keeps getting bigger. The way some of the members pulled together to help me get this Minecraft server up really shows how close we really are. I've grown also, I love being a Community mod, I'm very honored to hold the position, I'm still surprised everytime I log on and see my name in blue, lol" DD: "What a fine answer . And we love that you're a Moderator too Doc, you do a great job. Now speaking of the Minecraft server you guys just put back together, who do you work with and why go through all the trouble that you guys did to get it back up?" D07: "Ahhh, the MC Server...well, we almost had the thing ready to be opened and the host did a server upgrade and they screwed it up and we lost a month worth of work. I then swapped to a new host and we got right back to work. We felt the project had to be finished, it was a no fail mission at that point. My son, who is a member here, ThomasScott02, wanted to build a server. I had never done one before, so we decided to build one for the community. I thought it would be a good way to show how much I appreciate what the community has done for me. Its my gift to the community. So, I paid up the host for a full year, posted up in the forums asking for some help. As of right now, the people working with me are skummgummigubbe, HaloGeek, ThomasScott02, Azaxx, DoctorB77, Zaguroth, Church, and D-38 Boss. I can't thank them enough for their help and dedication to the project. It couldn't of happened without them." DD: "That's just awesome Doc, really. And I hope you guys get a lot of members to join your server. Now jumping from Minecraft to Halo Wars, I know I know what you plan on doing with it but could you tell everyone else what your plans are for Halo Wars Play Dates and anything else involving Halo Wars on the site?" D07: "Well, I wanted to host a weekly or monthly play date for HWs. It is tough to host a play date every weekend though, with all the kids and work and stuff going on, lol. What I would like to see happen with the play date is gain some demand for it. To be honest, I would like to see more members participate. We had a decent turnout last time, but for it to really take off, there has to de a real demand for it. My plans from the start were to run a few play dates and judge interest on HWs, then at some point, host a competition, something like a simple elimination, games of 3v3, 2 competitors fighting it out and the 3rd player being the host that is just there to observe and judge the contest , and the last man standing advances to the next round of the competition the following week, this would continue till we run out of players, last man wins. Give prizes to maybe the top 3 from the competition. I think it would be fun, and something fresh for the community that hasn't been done before here. But the bottom line is, members have to come to the play dates for it to really get going. It will also take more than myself hosting, If we have a few members in the first round, it will take a few hosts to get all of the matches played in a reasonable amount of time. I believe I will post up soon about the next play date, so stay tuned for another announcement on the forum!! I also have some ideas for a Reach FireFight competition, but that's a whole other conversation, lol." DD: "Another conversation?? Nonsense you're being interviewed my friend! What are your plans for the Firefight Play Date? :D" D07: "Well, I thought about putting on a firefight tournament at some point. I think it would be simple to do. Have 3 competitors and a host that observes. The three competitors play for points. At the end, the player with the most points wins. I come up with these crazy ideas because I like every aspect of halo, and I believe the more we tap into the areas of the games that we tend to forget about, the more fun we will have over all and it will bring the community closer together and offer something for just about everyone. Keeps the excitement of just playing with our buds going strong." DD: "Absolutely, I totally agree with you. It's like we forget about the things we used to play that were fun at the time and we think they wouldn't be fun anymore but if we gave them a try again we'd remember why we loved them. What's your favorite aspect of Halo?" D07: "Well, what got me into Halo when C.E. was released was the story of the Chief. To me, he's one of, if not the best character ever created in a video game. The Master Chief is one of those rare people that when you put him in motion, he will not stop, no matter the cost to complete the mission, period. In the Army, we follow what we call the 7 Army Values, they are Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, and Personal Courage. Among these, Selfless Service is what motivates me, and the Master Chief is the definition of Selfless Service, in all the Halo titles, and all the books, the Master Chief does whatever it takes, and he does it for those around him, he puts himself in harms way for those that cant. Its the same thing that motivates me when it comes time for me to do my job. So, in a nut shell, the Master Chief is what got me so into Halo. When the times comes to do a soldier's job in the worst conditions and situations, you have to fight like you are willing to lose everything to complete the mission, or you WILL fail. I learned that from the Chief, that's how he does it, and it works for me. :)" DD: "And everyone on the site can see your selfless service Doc don't think it goes unnoticed, we all appreciate it for sure. I don't think a lot of people know however that you're in the US Army doing that in real life as well. Can you give the readers a brief history of how you joined the Army and juggled that with life on the site?" D07: "Sorry in advance for the long answer, lol I appreciate everyone's support from the community, you guys are awesome. Lots of times I feel I am unworthy, I'm just a soldier doing my job....the best I can. Well, I enlisted when I was 33 years old. Before I was in the Army, I had had several different jobs, I worked in California for a while building racecars, was a truck driver for a few years, I even did a little time in Law Enforcement in my early 20's. I had lived quite a life and done lots of things, even been a real race car driver, owned my own car and everything. After driving trucks for a few years, work started to slow down and I was feeling the need to do something bigger, as in bigger than myself. Me and the wife walked by a Army Recruiter's office one day in 2009 and I said 'Babe, I should join the Army' and she said 'Go for it'...so in I went and got some info and told the recruiter right then 'Put me in the Army, Sgt. I need to do this' I refused any job but Combat Medic, its all I wanted to be. I wanted to live for others, as so many had lived for me in the past. I had always wanted to join, but real life always got in the way, but I felt it was time to just go for it. I always felt like I owed a debt, my Grandfather served in the Army and Deployed to Normandy during WWII and landed on the beaches on D-Day. He was in an Armored unit and rolled up the beach in a tank, his tank ended up being destroyed and my grandfather was badly wounded, he told me a medic saved his life that day, he told me he never had the opportunity to ask the medic's name, because he got him out of there and ran back into the storm of bullets and explosions to get more soldiers out. My Grandad said he wished his whole life he could just tell that medic 'Thank You', but he never saw him again. This happened years before he married my Grandmother and before my mother was born. So, if it wasn't for that medic, doing his job, no matter the cost. You guys wouldn't have the Doc around. I owe that Medic my life. That's why I serve, that's why I do what I do, to give someone else what that one medic gave to me. My Grandfather passed away when I was 15, he was 74. He lived a pretty good life, too. Juggling the Army life, a family, and being a part of this community is no easy task. But I love every minute of it. When I first put on the uniform I knew this is where I belong. This is what I was meant to do. I found this Community while I was Deployed to Iraq in 2010/11. And I belong here, I don't think my life while deployed would have been bearable with out this community, and I think I am a better part of this community because of the army. Soon I will be talking with all of you from beautiful, sunny Afghanistan, and I wouldn't have it any other way." DD: "That's a truly incredible story through and through and I hope that everyone who sees this reads that answer fully. You live a very fulfilling life and your wife sounds really supportive of everything you do which is just awesome. You're so ambitious Doc which is a great quality because you don't take it to the point of arrogance. You never feel like you're owed something and that's beautiful. You have my utmost respect. So is there any goal that you wish to achieve here on the site?" D07: "Goals? Um, to not get destroyed on every play date!!! LOL. Seriously though, I don't know where I'll go from here in the community. I like things to be a surprise, being a community moderator was more than I ever thought I would get to do around here. But, if I had a goal, I would like to somehow get us all together in real life for a chance to shake your hands and play some Halo together via LAN party. I think that would be awesome to do like once a year. I can't think of another way that things around here could get any better for me. Its been nothing short of amazing to be a part of this." DD: "Wow that would be ASTOUNDING. Doc, it's really been more than a pleasure to interview you honestly. Can you please give some words of wisdom to our newer members who are reading?" D07: "Well, to the newer members...Welcome to the best Halo Community on the net. Treat others how you would like to be treated. Take your time, don't get in a hurry to make a name for yourself here, respect in the community is earned and that takes time. Be yourself, I promise you we will like the real you better than anything else. Most of all, remember, every Halo title is different and each one had its strong points and weak points, look for the strong ones and you'll continue to love Halo as I have. One more thing, us mods are not here to make your life hard, we are here to make the community the best it can be, for you guys, cause we love the community and its members." That's it guys! That's part 1! I hope everyone who read enjoyed it and now understands Doc a little better. He's a truly great and dedicated member who only wants the best for this site and all members should strive to be like him. Thank you DocSpartan for doing the interview and thank you again for being patient and waiting for it to be posted. Part 2 coming soon.

Wow it's been a while. I haven't been taking a break actually from interviewing it's just that with transferring, work, and homework for classes I just transferred into, things got kind of busy. So I've been doing the interview process verryyy slowllyyyyy. That was my slow motion typing. This time we've got DocB. He actually gave it away in the shoutbox about a week ago but not too many people caught on , he's been my friend on here since a little after he joined pretty much. Me, him and Adam would spend hours trying to decode messages from 69086 AC while he was still posting (that lying piece of trash..). Anyway I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I did: DD: "Doc, what's the reasoning behind your name 'DoctorB77'?" DOC: "Well the name DoctorB stands for Doctor Brendan. I originally tried DoctorB as my gamertag to find that it was already taken. So I added 77 on the end. The reason I chose 77 is because when I was 3 I started playing ice hockey. When we were choosing numbers I chose 77. I don't know why but that is what I picked. Anyway for the next 12 years I have always been the number 77 in my recreational leagues. Now the reason I chose DoctorB is in 6th grade I was forced to do a science fair project. However it ended up being the one thing that I enjoyed that year. Me and my partner decided to video tape us doing our experiment while I who was named DoctorB explained and performed. I am also interested in becoming a Doctor or be into a position in the medical field. So I hope to be called Doc online and in real life soon enough DoctorB77 has been my little superhero identity on the internet for the past 5 years. Even though I get an occasional Doctor877, most people just call me doc." DD: "That's an excellent aspiration, but a tough one. I hope your ready for many years of school . So if you don't mind me asking, what made you want to become a doctor?" DOC: "Well, I was born into a family of medicine. My parents are both pharmacists and they seem to enjoy what they do. I have always wanted to help other people and there are always people who need help. If I ever do go into the medical field and become a physical therapist or possibly a different theraputic profession I also want to study and try to do something to not just help patients but the world. I would study genetic mutations along with different forms of pyschotherapy. My family line on my fathers side unfortunatly has alziemers. My grandmother thinks I am a girl. I do enjoy science and anatomy and I hopefully get the chance to help hundreds or even thousands of people. But it helps to know that I can have a way to understand myself down to a cellular level." DD: "Wow that is truly amazing Doc and I think everyone reading would have to agree with me. You have very high goals and you sound confident in reaching them and I think that's a very admirable quality. Let's talk about your aspirations on here now though. Do you ever hope to assume a position of Staff on the site?" DOC: "Staff on this site would be quite amazing for me. I had recently tried to join the art department because both drawing and image editing is one of my good hobbies. I do not think that a moderator position is really suited for me right now so I do not really have any aspiration to become a mod. I hope that opportunity could come up in following years when I am around 17 or 18 and I am heading to college. So around when halo 5 is coming out I might try . My current goals on this site currently are - Win a Forge Contest - Beat Mr. Biggles in an MLG Match - Get the Absolute Dog award with a slice of pizza from My main goal though is to become friends with all on this site and try to be looked up to by a few :)" DD: "I would think that you are already looked up to already in a big way. I mean the DGL was not easy to get started am I right? Could you tell us the story of the DGL? Influences and progress and such?" DOC: "Thank you. That was a very nice comment. So for the DGL... I for a while saw Undead's tournements that he has been hosting and it seemed that people who were participating were having a lot of fun. I have always had a history of going balls out whenever I do something. So yes you could call me a bit of a try-hard . I wanted to run a tournement like him as well. But I never wanted it to end. So I came up with the idea of forming a league. The name just came to me I guess But I created the website over 2 days and worked on the rules, setup, and requirements for the league and the forge contest. After those two days I worked on the announcement thread. I had a couple people say they were interested and that excited me. I then released the forge contest sign-ups hoping tjat I would get to see some really good maps. I was very fortunate to catch the eye of one of our prestige forgers, Donut, who submitted his very unique map called Astonished Arch. After seeing his map I grew very excited to see what everyone else had. Then right before the buzzer skuumigummigubbe submitted his map as well as Absolute Dog saying he would contribute a map. After coming out of the forge contest I asked for sign-ups. Now at first a couple people jumped on the chance. But not enough to form a season. It really sucked to have gone through all of that work for nothing. After the failure of the DGL I went to try to see if I could host the Sig of the Week contest. That dropped like a rock as well. Then a few days later I see that Choot em had replied in the sign up thread in the most enthusiastic way I have ever seen. I messaged him amd said that the DGL was unfortunatly cancelled due to the low sign up count. Despite me telling him it was over he went out and sparked peoples interest by updating his status to talk about the DGL as well as to talk to people in the chatbox. Then I start tp see more members post on the closed sign up thread. I was then able to restart and recruit 12 members to play in a short 3 month long season 1. I want to really thank Choot for the support he gave. Without him I would have wasted hours upon hours of time spent on my computer setting up the DGL. Thank you so much Choot for keeping the DGL alive I also have to thank Absolute Dog for providing admistration and moral support to the league. The of course thanks to Donut and Skumm for making maps as well as Quantum who helped me judge them. Then of course thank you Dan for allowing me to do this in the first place along with the support you have given throughout. Sorry for the novel :P" DD: "Not a problem, that's all important info up there Doc! I've always supported your idea of the DGL since you first pitched it to me and I'm glad to see the way it's going. Me and Choot just had our match the other day actually, hello Choot 'em . And so with all the hard work you've put into the DGL, are the participants cooperating well enough for the league to progress? How are the matches going?" DOC: "The league is going very well. About 3/4 of the games are being played and that is a lot better than I had first expected. Mr. Biggles seems to really enjoy the DGL and was eager asking me when I was going to put up the third match list for season 1. He has completed all of his games almost immediately and destroying the competition while doing so. Gazzy Mill Mill and Skummgummigubbe also seem to be enjoying the league as well as Bullet and of course Choot Em . I think that we could have a lot more games being completed if we all would add eachother on our friends list for Xbox Live. But everyone who has signed has to know how much I appreciate them participating. They all really made me want to participate on this site more and I hope I am able to get them an award for doing so ." DD: "Doc let's get off the topic of your wonderful DGL and go deeper into DoctorB77. How did you come across the site and what made you become a member?" DOC: "Well, before I was on this site I was involved in a clan on Xbox Live called the 251st. I enjoyed my time there on the forum they had as well as with them online. However the group started to fall apart and I bailed out before it blew up in my face. Currently the group is in 3 pieces and I have decided not to get involved. After the failure of the group I was in I was talking to one of my friends about how cool it would be to have a halo game feature every single map ever in the halo franchise. Now I wanted to share this idea so I went over to the bungie.net forum. Now since they do not have discussion about Halo anymore I was given a link here by a bungie.net member. Now I asked around here and met Bullet. I asked that question in the Halo 4 thread and I am glad that I stayed. I stayed because I found that everyone was very kind and there was SO much information. I have been here active since. If you want to see that thread go here : http://www.343indust...hl__+halo +maps" DD: "I remember when I first joined. I felt like I belonged here from the beginning haha. What's your favorite game or game franchise besides Halo?" DOC: "Haha. My honest answer to that would be halo, but if I had to choose it would definetly be Assassins Creed by Ubisoft. The game is very fun to play and it is amazing how much work is put into it's creation. I have always been stealthy in video games and that is definetly my tactic in Halo reach. I may not be as good at shooting as the next guy but I will add on a few more assassinations in a game, whether it be some sprint from behind or a ninja in a stairwell. Assassins Creed also is fun to me because I can mess around a lot. In RPGs I tend to just do what entertains me. Assassins Creed can ensure that for me. :)" DD: "I love the Assassin's Creed franchise and I think Ubisoft does an amazing job at improving it with each game. Great choice . This is an honest opinion question now: What do you think of the site's new home page, the news hub?" DOC: "I love it. It is a really quick way to get all of the news that you want without sorting through opinional topics. The set up is very attractive and it is one of the greatest additions to the site. Whoever thought up of this wonderful idea should be awarded a medal. And thanks to all of the people who set it up to work. It has made this site seemingly more professional and more informative." DD: "I have to agree with you, I think it's great and convenient. Recently, 343i has made a HUGE collaboration with The Halo Forge Epidemic. What do you think overall of this collaboration and what it could mean for both of our communities?" DOC: "Well at first I was unsure about how I would feel about the THFE. I thought that it might just be some site that is just recruiting members and putting ads on the site. But after the forums and subforums were made I was very excited for the epidemic. The THFA has brought so many more members to our site and a lot of them have great talent in forging. I myself love looking at pictures of user-made mapd. The epidemic has not only brought new members but has inspired other members from our site to forge in the epidemic." DD: "Wonderful! Though I haven't met any of the new members from THFE I'm also a great supporter of our alliance with them. Now as someone who's made quite a name for themself by starting the site's first league of gaming, what advice do you have for members that look at what you've done and want to make a name for themselves as well?" DOC: "Thank you for the compliment. For all of those who want to make a name for yourself you dont need to do something huge like me. Just be a good member. Be active on the forum and in the shoutbox. Make friends and play with them online. If you do want to do something for the forum make sure you enjoy it and that you will not grow bored of it. Don't lone wolf it either. Have friends help and support you. But just make sure to enjoy yourself and try to make others happy as well. All in all, just be the best member you can possibly be :)" And there you have it! It took forever but this is back up and running and I'm currently working on two others as you read this! Two amazing other members on the site! Thank you Doctor for being awesome and having the patience to deal with my lateness and business, thank you 343i for being a second home to me that I don't think I could ever give up. And last but not least, thank you internet for being the internet. Watch out for the next ones, they might come out within the week!