Fallout 76: Community Spotlight Article: JessicaStar

JessciaStar is someone who wears many hats.

A podcast host, live streamer, C.A.M.P. builder, roleplayer, mod and more. Jessica spends most of her time being active in every Fallout community she can gets her hands on. In many of these groups she’s more than just a bystander, she's become a leader. Let’s take a moment this month to get to know the woman underneath the hats.

JessicaStar is a lifelong gamer playing mostly RPGs, Strategy/Sims, and Adventure games. Having started her adventure with Fallout 3, she’s no stranger to the Fallout universe. While she has a hard time picking a favorite in the series, she “adores” Fallout 76. Outside of gaming, she gravitates towards hanging out with friends and has spent many years playing music. "Of course, in 76 I can do both!" she exclaims. Naturally, Fallout 76 has been a perfect fit.

When asked about her character, Jessica says, “I play multiple characters with their own backstory and builds due to the podcast and trying new things. That being said, I’m known for my main, I’m the type of player that plays as themselves on their primary character and we’re interchangeable to some. In game terms she’s a high agility/luck shotgun build, no power armor, and switches to unarmed pretty well too. Loves the Mistress of Mystery, stuffed animals, and long walks along the Toxic Valley.”

Like many others, Jessica holds the Fallout community near and dear to her heart. “The Fallout Community as a whole has become a home--full of joyous, fun, & inspiring people that I’m so thankful to know. I appreciate so much that they’re a part of my life and let me be part of theirs.”

Jessica then shared with us a post on her twitter account from October 7, 2020. “One year ago today, I lost my husband after a horrible pneumonia and organ failure... Losing him was a shock and surprise. In this loss of my best friend, my future, I will admit I also felt as though I'd lost my way. What do you do when everything changes and everything is sad? In my case I threw myself into something else I love: Fallout, Gaming, and People... While escaping into a fantasy world is not always healthy--having people to share with: my podcast family, Fallout Fam here, and our [extended] community has kept me grounded. Given me purpose when mine was lost. I know it's just jokes, art, camps, and silliness, but that's perfect... Today especially I still wonder how I'll get through things, like many of us in painful circumstances and difficult times. But I've made it this far in no small part to the outpouring of friendship and support here and in-game. Words can hardly express but thank you all. Truly.” Our hearts go out to Jessica and her family, both in real life and in game. The loss of a loved one is devastating, we’re happy to know that Jessica has such a supportive circle of friends, family, and community.

Jessica takes her love for the Fallout community and channels it into different mediums. One being podcast hosting, where she hosts two podcasts on the ASAPodcasting Network: The Fallout Feed and Dames who Game.

“The Fallout Feed is a weekly community focused podcast that covers everything from gameplay & builds to storytelling & listener feedback.” Jessica goes on to explain, “Our main project is the Roundtable where we contrast Fallout experiences by playing through the same quests with characters who have been randomly assigned drastically different attributes. Roundtable Season 11 is just starting with a new Fallout 4 playthrough and we recently passed 300 episodes.”

Dames who Game is a quasi-monthly show about general gaming and nerd culture topics. “I started it with other women from the community who podcast or love BGS games, so we still talk a lot of Fallout!"

On top of podcast hosting, Jessica also handles the general management, scheduling and hosting on group projects for the The United Wastelanders Network, which is a twitch channel and umbrella network for a group of Fallout 76 content creators. The UWN hosts C.A.M.P. showcases, talk shows, C.A.M.P. building, tutorials, sketches and events. Parties interested in seeing what the UWN has to offer can typically find entertainment on Tuesday’s, Wednesday’s and Thursdays around 9 pm ET.

Additionally, she hosts an in-game talk show called Appalachia Tonight (also on the United Wastelanders Network). “I wanted to blend my love for podcasting & streaming into one thing and bring on some of the Wasteland’s finest to talk about what they do in Appalachia. We’ve had a lot of great guests over the last year! It’s an informal but structured interview format with multi-media components. Like Unfiltered or Nerdist, but in-game with avatars and occasionally mole-rats.”

As if all that wasn’t enough, JessciaStar also is deeply embedded into the C.A.M.P. building community. “Like many of us I just love building. I’ve innovated a few things and love to figure them out but I see my ‘role’ as promoting knowledge and sharing throughout the different groups that make up the community.” Jessica explains. “Teaching techniques, sharing blueprints and encouragement, and promoting exceptional C.A.M.P.s and creators. So many people stay in their own lane, their platform or smaller group, and I’m blessed to be able to bring some of them together.”

With C.A.M.P. Slots incoming in Update 26, JessciaStar will have a lot more space to create. “Most of my building is for art projects or in workshops because I keep my CAMPs several months at a time.” She says. “! I do a mix of realistic and fantasy builds. My two fav CAMPs are the Party Terraces at New River Gorge (built into the walkways) and the Tightrope Bridge (spanning the chasm and reaching both sides). Both are things people didn’t think could be done well at the time—but they also came out really colorful and fun!”

Finally, JessicaStar somehow also finds time to mod in a few different gaming communities. “I mod or admin a couple gaming groups on Facebook. The Fallout 76 C.A.M.P. Building group is a great place to share pics, videos, ideas, and questions about building. There’s an ASAPodcasting group for our channel, and a bit unrelated but I also do IGN’s Podcast Unlocked fan group.”

It’s hard to tell how JessicaStar has time to do everything she does, but we’re happy to see all the content she creates.

To keep up with everything Jessica Star is doing, be sure to check out her social media pages.
Twitter
Instagram
United Wastelanders Network Twitter
United Wastelanders Network Twitch
Podcasts:
The Fallout Feed
Dames who Game
ASkyrimAddict

Thanks for taking time to talk with us, JessicaStar!

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