B.T. "CRISIS" Robertson BIO

I was born on July 21, 1977 and was raised in Turtle Creek, PA until my family moved to Belle Vernon during my 8th grade year. I graduated from Belle Vernon Area High School in 1995 and began college shortly thereafter at Penn State University in McKeesport. During my first semester, I learned that I was going to be a father, and nine months later, my daughter, Brittany, was born. I transferred to the University of Pittsburgh to fulfill my Pre-Med degree but discovered the field of Information Technology while taking elective courses there. It was a long process, but eventually I transferred back to Penn State McKeesport and earned by Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Science and Technology and graduated in May 2006. I currently work for Bank of New York Mellon in Northpointe, PA and live with my wife and dog in Natrona Heights, PA.

I started playing paintball in the late Summer of 2005. A good friend of mine at the time had some wooded property, a Spyder Vector for himself, and a cheap Walmart special for me. He begged and begged for me to play some one-on-one with him, but the idea of being pelted with paintballs while he used me as target practice wasn't very alluring to me. Fortunately, however, I took the chance and went over one day. I was hooked immediately, not just because of the rush and the thrill of the hunt, but also because I beat the pants off of my friend - he was shocked and I've never looked back.

During my paintball career, I've played both woods- and speedball. I was a member of team Fight Fire with Fire (F3) and played a couple of small tournaments at Smart Parts' All American Paintball Park. While I loved the intensity and competitive nature of speedball, my age and late entry into this realm played against me in big ways. I was slower than my teammates, though I learned to be fearless in the face of paintball markers in such close quarters. The high point of my speedball career came when I "ran the field" during a couple of matches, taking out every player and bunkering several. There's something valuable in learning the skills taught in the arena of speedball that can't be taught in the woods. My style of woodsball has morphed into a blend of speedball and woodsball tactics. I prefer to hover around the middle, taking back positions and using my strength of "one-balling" my opponents from afar (I've discovered I'm quite accurate at long distances), but also being able to lead a charge around a flank or through the front spearheading an all-out assault. Being able to constantly change your style to fit every given situation is not something that comes naturally, I had to work at it and I'm still - as "Cuda" stated - trying to find my groove. He's right.

I started working for Mission Masters in 2007 alongside Karl "Jackson" Koleck, one of the brightest then-High School students I've ever met. Little did I know, but when I'd posted feedback on Mission Masters' website about my experience with the Resident Evil game of both 2005 and 2006 (RE 2005 was my first ever scenario paintball game, literally a month after I'd gotten into the sport), Dean "Cuda" Allen researched my website after I'd provided the URL in true shameless-promotion fashion. Apparently, me being a writer and a published novelist - not to mention an avid video game and movie buff - shuffled around in Cuda's mind quite a bit. He approached me in late 2006 about coming on board with his company for the 2007 season. It was hard adjusting to the concepts of mission design, a feat we as players take for granted far too much when we go to those games. However, throughout the 2007 season, it became easier and easier for Karl and I to assimilate the teachings of the wizened Cuda and develop better and better games. Each and every scenario brought with them vivid memories that bring me back to the wooded lot of my friend's nearly two and a half years ago. In addition to the gift Cuda gave me in helping creatively with designing his precious scenarios, he also hooked me up with some international paintball magazines. In 2007, five articles found there way into magazines such as Face-full Jungle and Paintball2Xtremes. I'm looking forward to the 2008 season and playing shoulder-to-shoulder with my Mission Masters brothers and all the awesome players I've met and played for or against during the journey.

B.T. "CRISIS" Robertson
Mission Masters Mercenary
BTRobertson.com

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FAVORITES

Dinner: Steak, medium-rare (is there any other way to eat a steak for Pete's sake?)

Drink: Nothing beats a glass of cold, skim milk; love Long Island Iced Teas as well if going for an alcoholic beverage

Candy: I love any kind of dark chocolate because it's semi-healthy, but I don't eat much candy

Movie: I am a fan of so many movies it's hard to pick a true favorite, but if I had to choose, the Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended editions, of course)

Channel: Discovery, History, G4 (I'm a Network Administrator and a gamer - best channel ever created in my opinion), Spike (for the car shows)

TV: 24, Everybody Loves Raymond - honestly, I don't watch much TV

Book: I'm a writer, therefore I read a ton - anything by Terry Brooks, George R.R. Martin, R.A. Salvatore, David Farland; the Harry Potter series (just finished book seven in February 2008), and lots more fantasy/sci-fi books.

Mag: Honda Tuning, Face-full Jungle,Paintball 2Xtremes, DTuner Import Mag, Electronic Gaming Monthly for gaming

Console: I'm not a PC gamer, I have a PS3 and a Nintendo Wii. Favorites for the PS3 include Call of Duty 4, Rachet and Clank: Tools of Destruction, Oblivion, Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero 3 (beat Hard career and now working on Expert), Folklore, and Devil May Cry 4. For the Wii, Resident Evil 4, Mario Galaxy, Legend of Zelda, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Music: Bullet for my Valentine (Scream, Aim, Fire album currently), Disturbed, Metallica, Korn, Lifehouse, Linkin Park - yeah, I love a mix of music, just not hip hop/rap