Fallout 76: Community Spotlight: XREDDER2

Deep in the Appalachian Mountains, on the edge of the Savage Divide, sits an extravagant bar.

It overlooks the world around it, and while it seems secluded in its location, it is far from lonely. Inside the El Gato Pub a crowd gathers, restless and ready to fight. It’s Saturday night, which can only mean one thing: Cat Fight Night.

XREDDER2, the owner and proprietor of the El Gato Pub sat down with us recently to talk about the Cat Fight Nights.

“I’ve been into anything that is a game or a puzzle since as far back as I can remember.” XREDDER2 says. “My first game was when I programmed Pong for my parents tv set. My brother and I were the only ones playing it…but it was awesome! From there I spent every quarter I had at the local candy store on Asteroids, Defender and Tempest with the occasional Tron.” From there, she became a gamer for life and spent her college years addicted to PC games like Unreal Tournament and DOOM. Now an active Xbox player, she spends most of her time on Fallout 76.

Fallout 76 isn’t XREDDER2’S first Fallout game in the series. She found herself hooked on Fallout 4 after a college friend suggested she try it. She sank in hours of gameplay, often staying up until 3 am. When Fallout 76 was announced she knew she had to jump in. “I had no idea, no clue how this world would change me and my life.” she says.

XREDDER2 bonded with a group of players early on, who gave her a legendary weapon that she still uses today. “I decided from that day forward that I would pay it all forward… however I could. That the FO76 Community was something different, something special.”

“I play XREDDER (Shredder) the proprietor of the El Gato Pub at the southern edge of the Savage Divide in the Wasteland. A green haired, fez, patrolman glasses wearing, Mr. Fuzzy and Mr. Pebbles loving Bartender who came out of Vault 76 looking to set up a cat themed bar in a picturesque location in the Savage Divide.” Now Shredder has a crew of friends that host events at the El Gato such as Taco Tuesdays and Bingo Fridays where patrons (Twitch chat viewers) can walk away winners.

Of course, there is also the legendary Cat Fight Nights as well. “Cat Fight Nights at The Litter Box - are a set of sanctioned championship fights that take place quarterly. It’s limited to 12 contenders with a group of six that move on into the finals. Each contender receives a Loot Crate with goodies and instructions on what comes next.” XR2 says. The El Gato has referees, announcers, press events, sponsors, purses, betting and everything you would imagine a real-life boxing match would have- right down to the blood in the ring.

There is a list of rules and requirements to be a contender inside the ring. Combatants are kept from using weapons, armor, chems, take Rad-X every 10 minutes and more. If you manager to survive all that, winners receive a legendary item and Atoms. Not just the contestants win, however. The Cat Fight Nights are live streamed on XREDDER2’s Twitch channel where she hosts in-game giveaways and betting.

“Our contenders take it very seriously and there are some really great matches…there are even trainers out there that help the fighters adjust their perk cards according to strategy and fighting style.” XR2 says.

The Cat Fight Nights started after XR2 was looking for something pub adjacent in game, Something she could do with friends and the community at large. After starting a scavenger hunt “The Wasted Bone Collector” she realized she wanted something more. That's when the idea of boxing popped up, and it grew exponentially from there. The Cat Fight Nights now operate with 3 weight classes. XR2 received help from friends BeardedIAm and Wasteland Brews with the fine tuning on what perk cards would and wouldn’t be allowed. From there, XR2 built a boxing ring and named it The Litter Box.

To join in on the Fight Nights log onto the El Gato Pub’s website and register. Or if you are more of a spectator yourself, head over to XREDDER2’s Twitch channel and drop her a follow!

Thanks for talking with us, XREDDER2! We can’t wait to see the next Cat Fight Night.

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See you next month!