[2022] Community Focus - PRONE

Happy Friday, Guardians! This week we are just knocking it out of the park with Community Focus, ya? Earlier in the week Bruno interviewed MitchySlaps, and today we have another super fun Community Focus with PRONE. 
Hello PRONE! We are so stoked to have you here so let’s get started with who are you, where are you from, and what got you into gaming?  

My name is Brian. When I started on Twitch, I went by ideaprone, but since getting Partnered last April I go by PRONE! I'm from the corn fields of Southern Illinois near St. Louis, Missouri where I live with my wife Liz and our four children. 

I'll be 42 this month and the first gaming console I had was a black and white system with two dials for controllers that only played Pong! After that, my brother and I delivered phone books (remember those?) for a summer to earn enough money to buy an NES that we shared. I hopped around from console to console until I nestled into the PC gaming world where I've spent my time ever since.

I was exclusively a stay-at-home dad for eight years and spent a lot of time around babies and, if it wasn’t for my awesome wife, I would have gone days without being able to speak to another adult. Then I found Twitch and a whole world opened up for me. I could have streams on in the background and listen to all sorts of cool people and feel like I was part of a community with other like-minded adults. I found myself thinking a lot about what I would do if I were the one streaming. Then I mustered up enough courage to give it a try and here we are! 

 

I was a stay-at-home parent for a bit and I remember how lonely those days were sometimes. I love that Twitch and gaming really opened a space for you to thrive! So how did you find Destiny and when did you start playing?   

 

I found Destiny through Leopard. (Yes, this is your fault, Lep.) When he decided to start streaming Destiny again at Forsaken, I decided I had better check the game out if I was going to watch him play it. I made some great friends through his channel and we started building a community. 

Leopard is a kind bean in general and gets even more points for inspiring you! Now, what type of content do you like to focus on?    

My content mainly consists of mediocre gameplay and me laughing really, really, loudly! I love trying different/weird/underused weapons and loadouts and having fun with them. I don't do raid helps or Trials carries because I'm not good enough at the game, but I would like to think that if you stop by the channel, I can help brighten your day. 

  I love that! I know the time I have spent in your channel has been filled with laughter and (in my humble opinion) pretty solid gameplay. And speaking of gameplay, what class do you main and what is your absolute favorite loadout?   

When I started the game, I literally only played Warlock for the first year. I was too intimidated to try learning other mechanics. Eventually I branched out and started playing Hunter  — which is my main for PvP content  — and Titan which I main for PvE. Recently I've been really enjoying Warlock again, especially with Stasis and Void 3.0.  

 

As a Fusion-main, my favorite weapon of all time is Erentil, and I had almost 19,000 kills on it when it got sunset, which I think is pretty good for an old man! Since then, I've bounced around between other Fusions but currently I'm vibing with Zealot's Reward, Snorri, and Deliverance. (I've been waiting so long for a Kinetic slot Fusion, it opens up so many fun possibilities.) 

 

I did manage to go solo Flawless once with a Khepri's Horn/Jotunn/Sunspot build and I'm pretty proud of that silly loadout. 

I mean, solo Flawless on a super fun loadout seems like a pretty magical time! So, what kind of vibe does your channel maintain?     

If I had to pick one word to describe the channel it would be "authentic." I value honesty and integrity above all else. I always wear my heart on my sleeve... for better or worse. What you see is what you get with me. We talk a lot about food, beer, games, pets, and because our community skews to the older side... our kids! Our main objectives are to have fun, to support each other, and to contribute to charity. I truly believe we have the best, most kind-hearted community on Twitch. 

  Anything fun coming up or any events you are particularly excited for?   

We love to participate in charity events, but I try to space them out. Recently we were able to raise $5,327 for Game2Give which I'm incredibly proud of given the relatively modest size of our community. The next event we participate in will probably be Bungie Day in July. 

 

Other than that, I've been preparing a barn on my property for streaming IRL and VR. Also, this fall we're having a community meetup at my house which I plan to stream! 

  Heck yeah! Raising money for the kids is a really rad way to spend your time and Bungie Day is coming up soon! Where can people find you?   

You can find me on Twitch most weekdays from 8 AM to 2 PM Central. I also have an editor who posts clips daily to Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. I'm also on Twitter! 

 
Love it! Anything else you want to add?     

Thank you, Bungie, for making one of my favorite games of all time and thank you to the Destiny community for supporting so many amazing content creators. I'd also like to say that none of this would be possible for me without the support of my amazing wife who has let this old man live out his dream. Thanks, dear! Thank you to my amazing mod team, many of whom I have been lucky enough to meet in person over the last few years, who keep me on the right path: Weru, Kday, Nottyl, Ken, Battalion, Soup, Pedro, Cab, Lucky, Cal, Commando, and Evo. And lastly, thank you so much to my community who has supported me and lifted me up through everything over the last three years. As I often say... I'm not the most important part of the channel. People stick around and find a home because of all of you. 

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Heck. Yeah. I just love this community so stinking much. If you missed last week’s Community Focus with Liana and Omni Props, please go check it out. And also, don’t forget to tag Liana, Cozmo, Dylan, or myself with any and all Guardians you would love to see featured, we are always looking!   
*high fives*  Sam