On The Hunt is an interview series where I talk with various Borderlands fans who are participating in The Hunt. We will dive into their experiences with the event and what it means to them. This article will feature Mystique Siren, Paskaroni, and MoonBaseTom.
Table of contents
- What is the Hunt
- Interview
- Can you give a quick introduction of yourself?
- What is your history with Borderlands 2?
- What does the Hunt mean to you?
- Do you have any expectations for the hunt?
- Are you a competitive person and participating to win or is it for fun?
- Is this your first Hunt or are you regular?
- Any exciting things during your last attempt?
- What is your most feared item to loot during the Hunt?
- Are you adding any “mayhem modifiers” to your stream if you hit certain donation goals?
- Do you have a quick tip for new players who are new the the Hunt?
- Final Words
What is the Hunt
For those who don’t know what The Hunt is, here is a quick breakdown. The Hunt is a Borderlands Community-Led charity event. The goal is to have fun and have a positive impact on people’s lives.
Participants of The Hunt will challenge themselves in a Borderlands Scavenger Run while also raising money and awareness for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital. During the challenge, players will start a new character and collect specific gear. The person that manages to collect the most points or completes the farm list in the least amount of time, wins the event.
So join the fun and have an impact on people’s lives as St. Jude is leading the way the world understands, treats, and defeats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
Interview
Can you give a quick introduction of yourself?
Hi my name is MystiqueSiren and if you can’t tell by the name, I love Borderlands! I’m a full time variety looter streamer, pretty much every game I play involves looting. I have been playing video games all my life, getting all my brothers hand me downs and then finally getting my own OG XBOX which really got me into gaming. I’ve been streaming for 8 years and have amassed an amazing community around all types of games.
I’m a Semi-retired graphic designer/full-time streamer that loves making people laugh within the streaming community. I love promoting fellow streamers (big or small) in order to strengthen our circle of friends.
I’m Tom, I started streaming a few years ago. I was losing my mind during the pandemic and recovering from some medical issues. During this time I developed an awful anxiety disorder so streaming (for me) was a way of connecting with people and pushing back against the anxiety.
What is your history with Borderlands 2?
Mystique Siren: I’ve been playing the Borderlands game ever since the first. I happened upon it on the self at gamestop, tired of all my other games and decided to give this different looking game a go. It’s been the best decision I ever made because the games and the Borderlands community is my home.
Paskaroni: I’ve played it from launch, but mostly with IRL friends during its infancy. Now more of a casual player than a hardcore, farmer, or speed runner. (I mean, I’ll still Sham farm from time to time)
MoonBaseTom: I’ve been playing Borderlands from the start, I started with Borderlands 1 and pretty much played the game non-stop until the day Borderlands 2 released. Then, I played Borderlands 2 almost to the release of Borderlands 3. It’s one of my absolute favorite gaming series. I never really got involved with the larger Borderlands community during this time. I just sort of played in a vacuum, occasionally picking up tips that I saw online or in YouTube videos. Never really reached out or got involved. That wouldn’t happen until the release of bl3.
What does the Hunt mean to you?
Mystique Siren: No matter if you win, lose, finish or not it’s all about the kids at St Jude and making sure a child never goes without the care they need. The Hunt has always been about raising money and every year the community continues to blow it out of the water! But also maybe to beat K6 😉
Paskaroni: My wife and I were lucky to have raised two healthy children. Participating in The Hunt gives other families the fighting chance to raise their kids towards a promising future.
MoonBaseTom: This will be my second hunt that I’ve competed in, having previously competed in the “Hunt in the Shade” for Borderlands 3. I wouldn’t say I’m a competitive person but I am a determined person. I entered the BL3 hunt to see what I was capable of and I wanted to see how far I could push myself. I ended up placing 8th!
Do you have any expectations for the hunt?
Mystique Siren: To crush what we raised last year and to beat K6 💜💙
Paskaroni: My goal is to raise awareness and support for St. Jude PLAY LIVE with some good laughs along the way with my community. I would like to surpass last August’s final donation total of $4,567.89 (yup!)
MoonBaseTom: For this hunt, I do plan to have a little more fun with it, more of a focus on raising funds and engaging with viewers.
Are you a competitive person and participating to win or is it for fun?
Mystique Siren: I always go in to 100% have fun but I do what to say I’ve completed a BL2 hunt since I was able to complete the hunt in BL3! Also if I beat K6 then well ya know that’s fun.
Paskaroni: I’m striving on a decent showing (Top 50) but leaning more so on bring the fun to the BL community. Ultimately, its #ForTheKids
MoonBaseTom: I wouldn’t say I’m a competitive person but I am a determined person. I entered the BL3 hunt to see what I was capable of and I wanted to see how far I could push myself. I ended up placing 8th!
Is this your first Hunt or are you regular?
Mystique Siren: This will be my 7th hunt! Three took place in BL2 and three in BL3. This will be my fourth BL2 hunt and fingers crossed the first BL2 that I will finish.
Paskaroni: This will be my 4th Hunt and will give me a balanced 2 for each version.
MoonBaseTom: This will be my second hunt that I’ve competed in, having previously competed in the “Hunt in the Shade” for Borderlands 3.
Any exciting things during your last attempt?
Mystique Siren: Honestly getting to play the hunt with so many amazing creators. Also in one of my BL3 hunts (before annoint rerolls) I got a shield I had been grinding for since forever, it felt like, and my first run of the Valkeries it’s drops! I thought I was dreaming!
Paskaroni: Breaking out the clippers and shaving my head live on stream was… liberating!
The last few hours of last fall’s The Hunt became a music party in chat. Stopped hunting for loot and just celebrated with some amazing fellow Hunters and viewers while the tunes played on – good times!
MoonBaseTom: For the previous Hunt, the most exciting thing for me was how many friends from the community came out and supported and donated! It was a truly humbling experience. I went from being on the outside looking in, for so long to being part of the community.
What is your most feared item to loot during the Hunt?
Mystique Siren: I think everyone’s most feared would have to be the Cobra. Not looking forward to that farm.
Paskaroni: The item (any) that I missed claiming. [INSERT any raid boss drop]
MoonBaseTom: Most feared item? I’ll say Interfacer, I do NOT have a good track record against Vora!
Are you adding any “mayhem modifiers” to your stream if you hit certain donation goals?
Mystique Siren: So my chat really love to watch me die in games so I’m thinking if we hit a certain goal we will play our first souls game on stream. I usually do some bigger single donation incentives like delete my backpack, drop my current weapon, stuff like that. I’m up for suggestions though. 🙂
Paskaroni: Maybe… there’s some potential fun to be had!
MoonBaseTom: I don’t plan on having any modifiers for donation incentives, I think I’m still in my timid streamer phase. Need to break out of that LOL.
Do you have a quick tip for new players who are new the the Hunt?
Mystique Siren: Speed speed speed! Know your route and also plan on what missions you are going to do during each run. Some mission are pointless and will only cost you time but you still need to do some side quest here and there so you are not under leveled. You don’t need absolute perfect rolls, any rolls will do you just fine specially during NVHM and TVHM. Don’t forget you can go back 1 playthrough, so you can always farm in TVHM even if you’ve entered UVHM.
Paskaroni: The Only Rule to Remember: HAVE FUN!
Showcasing your skills to the Borderlands community AND helping kids in need is a WIN-WIN scenario.
MoonBaseTom: Biggest tip, practice. Practice the game, practice clipping and highlighting. The clipping part was something I didn’t really think about on the previous hunt and I ended up wasting a considerable amount of time getting into the rhythm of it.
Final Words
Thank you Mystique, Paskaroni, and MoonBaseTom for this interview. Good luck and have fun during your run.
The Hunt is held from February 2nd to 11th, 2024, and is open to anyone who wants to participate. You can sign up at BorderlandsHunt.com
Also, check out the interviews I did with:
