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Ok so here's an interview I've been waiting to do for some time. Everyone should enjoy this read a lot. The Gryffin is a well liked member by all who know him here on the site and is part of a major YouTube Channel called The OnlineKnights. Here's my interview with GryffinGuy: DD: "Alright GryffinGuy, where does the name come from? You like Gryffins a lot yeah? :lol:" TG: "Gryffins, Griffins, Gryphons... however they're spelt. Indeed I do. I tend to write stories often during English classes and examinations at school, and depending on the stimulus I will usually write about the same characters and plot; A boy named Roger, with his pet Griffin, in the hopes to find the Griffin colony and set his free. I actually have a teaser of what I wrote in an exam, buried somewhere in the "Offbeat items" section... Anyway, Griffins have played a major role in my childhood, to the point where I decided to change my GT to the known: "GryffinGuy007". The word "Gryffin" is now used in almost all of my usernames online. The obvious change of the "i" to a "y" was done because, well... I thought it looked cool. You'll also know I'm a... sub-fan, if you will, of the James Bond series." DD: "Yes I've noticed you mark your signature maps like Shipwreck and Airliner with your 007 suffix. Two great Infection maps. So is that what you like to Forge most Gryffin, Flood/Infection maps?" TG: "I like to call myself an Aesthetics forger. Although I don't forge a flat canvas with various aesthetic creations on it (not anymore), my maps are focused mostly on aesthetics. I'll be honest, I can't help myself. I can't forge symmetrical arena-style MLG maps with no aesthetics; I MUST have aesthetics. You'll see its very noticeable through my maps - I don't focus so much on gameplay (as I probably should), I just focus on creating a beautiful map where players are permitted to soak in the aesthetics. To answer your question, as of this day I believe I have more Slayer maps on my Fileshare than any other gametype. These aren't typical Slayer maps however - I like to call them "Aesthetic Slayer" maps. I do enjoy forging Flood because there's plenty of room for aesthetics, so be on the lookout for any Flood maps being uploaded, especially after I had my first watch of "Zombieland". *hint hint*." DD: "You just watched Zombieland for the first time?? Well I'll take those hints that you gave as a clear indicator that you're still thinking of ideas but ultimately have no clue what you'll be making. I wanna talk about the OnlineKnights if that's alright with you Gryffin. The OnlineKnights are pretty well known on YouTube and in the Halo Community and I think it's awesome that you're with them. There was a time when people thought the OnlineKnights had disbanded or gone on hiatus. Why did people think that? Was there inactivity or did you guys really stop and then get back together again?" TG: "Since I'm somewhat new to the channel, I may not know of this inactivity. However, when I did join, the channel was very busy with a variety of new series' being released and welcoming the few new channel members - including me. So no, I don't recall the OnlineKnights disbanding or re-grouping, but we were settling in with a plethora of new additions to the channel." DD: "Really? I'm sorry I didn't know you were new to it! Well that sparks up some different questions then! Firstly, how did you come to be a part of the OnlineKnights?" TG: "Haha well, it's a long story, so I'll keep this as compact as I can. Basically, I've been running my own small channel for a little while. I didn't get as many views or subscribers that I'd hoped, but I continued. After watching successful channels such as THFE and The PFL, I realized I had to join a group - be part of something greater. Therefore, there'd be regular uploads, more recognition and I could be part of a great community. Robius5991, the obvious leader, had provided me with great feedback on my maps, on this very forum. I too, had seen multiple of his maps; they looked amazing. Eventually, he uploaded a video with one of his map submissions. I had a look at it, then looked at the channel, explored it - I saw it had... Almost 1k subscribers if I recall. Not too small, not too big. After OnlineKnights featured a few of my maps, I realized I could offer myself to the channel as a member, and continue my trailers and content over there. He took it into consideration, I gave him a commentating demonstration, and we had some later discussions. Eventually, I read through some Terms and Conditions, signed them off, and I was in. I haven't done too much for the channel yet, and I do have to be discrete in describing what's coming soon, but I'll be hosting a brand new original series which I hope will attract a whole new crowd, as well as participating in the others. I suppose that block of text I just wrote isn't really compact at all, but I tried. xD" DD: "No it was not compact I'll say that but I loved every bit of it. Now that is awesome. The want to go out and be something and help the Halo Community in some way has drastically decreased lately so you're doing a great thing Gryffin. I actually know of Robius, he's a Dedicated Member here on the site and is one of the 2012ers. So a new series you say? I know you can't go into detail but is this going to be a machinima or a map feature series? Can you just give us the genre of what you'll be doing?" TG: "Oh okay, if you insist. Trailers. Where the community has the chance to submit their map for a trailer, made by yours truly. More information on the trailer-submissions will be provided on the channel VERY soon. That it mind, I've actually began to direct a Machinima using users of this site, but also recognizable forgers as voice-actors. However, I'd like the series to be a surprise to the community, so I'll keep quiet" DD: "Trailers! Awesome! I love map trailers they're so much more interesting than fly throughs and such. That's a really cool project you're working on Gryffin. So how many of you are there in the OnlineKnights?" TG: "As far as I know, currently we have 9. 7 on our Halo team, and 2 on our Minecraft team. The 7 Halo members are: Rob, JKR, Tikitorch, Mimi, H2AKON, AbandondedData and myself. Some of us commentate, some record, some cover gameplay. In our Minecraft team, we have N1CK and 10chickens. There's also, however, a Pelican-load of players who have signed up for our Customs team. Although not 'official members', these people have first priority in our Customs. You can easily just ask to be signed up for this." DD: "You guys have a pretty close knit team of Knights! I think it's very cool that you are apart of this team and I love the idea of the upcoming map trailers. Is 343i.org your preferred Halo forum Gryffin? You will not be shunned if it is not :lol:" TG: "Oh, most definitely. I'm so glad you asked that question. Not only is this my preferred Halo forum, but my preferred website. This forum is unarguably the most amazing website I've ever been apart of. The community here is amazing, and surpasses all others: by being so kind and organized. This has been my most memorable and satisfying experience... ever...of all time. I've met incredible people, such as my big brother-from-another-mother Azaxx, and the moderators, such as yourself. I can't express my deep love for this forum enough; it's sparked almost all of my hopes and dreams. I first came here for THFE, but now I come here for the community." DD: " Excellent answer. Not just because you made this your home but because of the reason why it is your home. We fall into the same category there when we're talking about just over the top excellent members coming together to be a close knit community even though there's quite a bit of traffic coming on the site. So Gryffin would you say you enjoy Halo 4? Because Halo 4 has not only gotten a lot of flak from the Halo Community, it's been nuclear bombed. What are your views on it?" TG: "To be completely honest with you, Drizzy, I don't mind Halo 4. Sure, Halo: Reach's forge was sleeker, and more refined, but I guess we'll have to make do with what we got - and we got a fair bit of new nifty objects. I feel the Multiplayer is tighter, but lacking that teamwork touch due to the lack of Falcons available. Overall, I felt Halo 4's Campaign was utterly amazing; truly one of my most memorable gaming experiences. That aside, there's really no need for all this hate towards Halo 4. It's a relatively good game - not great, but not terrible. Some aspects are pulled off remarkably well, some not so. The fact that the Multiplayer is now dead, saddens me, as this may be the fall of a once brilliant and renowned franchise that has shaped not only my life, but I'm sure others' too." DD: "I love Halo 4 and I think the gameplay is great. I don't play it all that much but that doesn't mean I don't like it. I think you made very strong points and these are clear to the community. What do you think about 343 handing the Flood Playlist over to the community and using some of our maps and gametypes? Do you think they should do this with other playlists as well?" TG: "I very much appreciate 343i handing over the playlist to the community. My friend, Auxi Klutch, was one of the three whose map got into Matchmaking. Other friends are either having maps considered, or participated in the creation of the new Flood gametype, Hivemind. Handing the maps over to the community for other Matchmaking playlists, may not be so fantastic. For playlists such as Action Sack and Skirmish, community maps would be very beneficial. However, for playlists such as Big Team Battle and Team Slayer, the map list may begin to clutter with arena-style symmetrical maps. I'm not suggesting that's such a bad thing, but 343i's beautifully crafted maps may go to waste. I enjoy the beauty and aesthetic-appeal of the standard maps in Matchmaking, as they provide a sense of variety. I do, however, really get a kick out of playing other forgers' maps and seeing what they've created. Seeing some beautiful, asymmetrical maps in the other playlists would be a nice sight to see though." DD: "Astoundingly put my friend! And although I don't think it'd be so bad if they took out Settler and let in some more Community maps in BTB, I like the idea of maps being put into Skirmish and Action Sack. Action Sack has a lot of potential for minigames getting put into it and that would be AWESOME. So ultimately I agree with what 343 did here and it's pretty cool that one of your buddies got their map into the Flood playlist. Well Gryffin, it's been a hell of an interview. It's time to conclude and give the people what they want though: a published version . Gryffin, what's your advice to members of the Halo Community who wanna go out and do something in it like you have with the OnlineKnights?" TG: "There's a simple process you may undertake in order to be greatly involved in the Halo Community. YouTube channels or clans tend to be the best option available. Whether you're like to forge maps for the community, provide them with combat tips or just wish to provide entertainment, you may not know it but you're already doing something for the community. If you'd like to get recognition for your efforts, submit your doings to a channel. I can really only go into detail with FORGING in the community, so here we go: Start with submitting your best map to a small channel, that have moderately low standards and are willing to accept your submissions, however not too small to not get any feedback from possible viewers. Once your map review has been uploaded, your self-esteem fires up, at the feedback begins to roll in. Congratulations, you're already recognized, but don't stop there. Work your way up. Submit your maps to gradually larger channels, and be sure to ALWAYS soak in and consider any feedback given by viewers - even if they're not forgers. Uploading your maps on this very forum is a great way to request feedback and constructive criticism. Once you're recognized, as you'll quite easily discover, consider giving back to the community who raised you up. Either start your own channel, or join another. Commence reviewing others' maps. Doesn't even have to be on the YouTube channel either, simply chat to someone having trouble forging on XBL, and raise their self-esteem. That's really all the tips I can give you, as it's pretty much exactly what I did. Thanks for listening!" That's it right there guys. That was The Gryffin of the OnlineKnights! Shout out to Auxi Klutch in our interview. And you heard it here, 343i.org is his home! Thank you Gryffin you were freaking awesome and thank you members who read these and actually think they're cool. Without your support I would look like the biggest idiot ever! There's another on the way and it's as big as this one if not bigger. Stay tuned.