Terence - Nemisis First person I ever met from Surinam. His first language was Dutch. He's a patient and loyal friend who gave me a harder time than anyone I worked with at Gamers.com.
They say of Terence that he came to Gamers.com when it was in Berkeley and there were only five employees. He brought his computer, started working on the PGL (a gaming league active at the time), and he never left. At least that's what Joel says.
When I interviewed at Gamers.com, I wanted to be the classic PC games editor. Well Terence was already the PC games editor, and they didn't need two, so I ended up as PlayStation editor.
Terence is an astonishing gameplayer. He can solve a game on its hardest difficulty level faster than most people take to get one-quarter through. Deus Ex, Baldur's Gate II, Gunmen Chronicles, Terence trucks through these games. He probably skips the side-quests, but I know he doesn't cheat. He's just focused. He doesn't load and save as often as some of the rest of us. And he doesn't try to collect and hoard all the powerups. He uses them liberally and keeps moving through the game. So in that way, he's the perfect player, because he actually takes the game headon, without using save and reload to artificially rig up an advantage for himself.
He also takes me headon at times, refusing to let me participate in PC games-related mailing lists. I started wearing a jacket and tie to work in November 1999, and then I drifted closer to the business / "suit" side of the office and Terence took every opportunity to rail on me for that. Sometimes when I come visit, he says, "Get outta here you fuckin' suit."
He still let me write about Tropico, for which I was grateful. And beneath all his profanity and hostility he's a genuinely nice guy. He exudes loyalty, to his PC gaming guys under him (not to me). A the company grew, he was among the most unhappy to see some of the more corporate changes come through. I'd already been through it once or twice so it didn't betray me so badly.
Terence was three semesters away from finishing a degree in chemistry at Cal-Berkeley. He used to say "I want to be a chemistry professor" which was somehow endearing. Now he says "Fuck off Justin, keep your hands offa my shit." For a while he rallied people in the office to watch wrestling. Maybe he still does, but not on the suit-side.
(note - he spells "nemisis" that way; it's his nickname)
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