Destiny Community: SyntaxSe7en

I’ve raved about many different figures in the Destiny community, but perhaps none have done more for those who still call Tower home than SyntaxSe7en. Put simply, he’s a Twitch streamer who will help anyone and everyone through end-game PvE content. The numbers prove it; take a look at these numbers:

Skolas (Prison of Elders, Level 35) – 107 Kills
Atheon (Vault of Glass) – 80 Kills
Crota (Dark Below) – 80 Kills
Oryx (The Taken King) – 223 Kills

To put that in perspective, my total for all those activities is below 10, and I’ve played this game for over a year. I was drawn to SyntaxSe7en’s Twitch stream because he has a laid-back personality and regularly engages with those in his chat. He also has a really fair system of deciding how will be able to raid with him: You can cash in Synmetal (accumulated by spending time in the stream) in two different kind of raffles that caters to both regulars and newcomers. After spending a few hours in the stream, I knew I wanted to get a Q&A going with SyntaxSe7en, and he was kind enough to take time out of his schedule to answer a few questions of mine.

Q: What pulled you into Destiny to begin with, and when did you decide to start helping people in your streams?

I have a long history with MMOs (10+ years of Final Fantasy XI, World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV) and a ton of awesome memories involving Halo LAN parties. Destiny kind of lands right in the middle of both genres. It satisfies the MMO itch for me and provides the best gunplay I’ve ever experienced in an FPS. Being between both genres is one of the reasons Destiny has been the only game I’ve felt like I needed to play since it launched.

The stream was originally started as a way to find a reliable raid team for Vault of Glass and then quickly evolved into helping viewers complete the hardest current content in the game.

Q: It must be difficult to constantly incorporate new players into a coordinated team activity like a raid. How do you remain patient and bring everyone together?

The patience I have with new raid team members comes from being able to remember how I might have felt during my first Destiny raid. I always give them the benefit of the doubt, especially if they are new to the game. My day (and night) job forces me to work well within a group. I frequently lead teams at work to complete various tasks (without a Gjallarhorn unfortunately). I’m also 33 years old and married with 3 young children.

Patience is required for success and this is also true when leading raid teams in Destiny. My love for this game and community helps me to have patience with those that struggle to find decent raid teams. In the end, all of the thank yous and nice compliments make the stress of being a sherpa worth it. I lead by example and in return, our raid teams perform to the best of their ability. They make me proud.

Q: Your wife, Legendary Lisa, has been a big supporter or your stream and passion. How much has her support helped sustain your efforts?

Lisa is my #1 second to none. Without her, there is no stream. She will tell you it is her stream anyway! She handles everything behind the scenes, including green screen setup, OBS adjustment, moderation of the Twitch chat, giveaways etc. The list never ends. She fills raid spots and scouts other streams for us to support as well. All of this while being an amazing wife and mother of three.

There is no way I could do any of this by myself. As far as Destiny goes, she could barely run her character around the Tower last year. Any controller with dual thumbsticks used to be a challenge for her. Wanna know a fun fact? The stream currently has 223 Oryx kills and she was in my fireteam for the very first one. Yep, she’s a badass.

Q: What are your short-term and long-term goals for your stream?

Our short term goals are to continue to do our own service to the Destiny community and help the players that are keeping this game alive during content droughts. Streams like ours are the reason the Destiny directory on Twitch is still strong. By helping new and existing players through end game content, we will continue to build the stream in the short term. Eventually, this will lead to partnership with Twitch. I have no doubt in my mind about that.

As far as long term goals go, we plan to be the largest, partnered raid help stream in the Destiny directory. We aim for the stars. What can I say?

Q: In your opinion, what does the next Destiny DLC need to contain in order for many players to feel re-energized?

For the majority of players, the next Destiny DLC literally has to only do one thing: deliver more content. It doesn’t have to be earth-shattering new gameplay mechanics. They don’t have to think way outside of the box to make it happen, either. We just need MORE. With that being said, most players have never completed a single raid. Believe it or not, the content that is available is overwhelming for the majority. Shocking, I know.

Luckily, I haven’t continued my grind because of content. I love the Destiny lore and universe (MORE story please!). Of course the next DLC needs to deliver new weapons, armor and a power increase. But you wanna know what I want to see? More players. I hope the hype is enough to draw in a complete new group of players to the game. As far as content goes, I’m actually content right now because I’m lucky enough to have so many people that still need help. I grind Destiny for the players. For the community.

WE are Destiny.

And for those that follow the stream,

WE are SynCity.

Again, I want to thank SyntaxSe7en for answering a few of my questions. Stop by his stream to help support this beacon in the community and help make him a Twitch partner, and be sure to follow him at the following places:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SyntaxSe7en
Twitch: twitch.tv/syntaxse7en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCx9TBYUXHfLL4qfcbvfiLmw (I will make more time for this in the future.)
Stream schedule: https://t.co/9SfWoadES6