Space Marines or Chaos?
DOWN WITH THE FALSE EMPEROR. GLORY TO THE CHANGER OF WAYS!
Your opinion on capitalism?
It sucks, but I think as a general idea it's about as good as we're going to get given the current state of human evolution and social development. Just like communism, capitalism sounds great on paper, but when you take into account human nature pure capitalism is awful. A mixture of both capitalistic and communistic ideals is probably the best, with the "ratio" really being up to personal taste I suppose. There's just some things you can't trust the free market to solve (infrastructure, low/nonprofit medicine, etc), and then there's some things that the government really shouldn't have its hand in.
What do you think is your most defining trait?
I'm... not sure. I can't say there's one outstanding trait that defines me as a person.
Are there stupid questions, or only stupid people?
The only stupid person is someone who isn't willing to ask stupid questions.
One celebrity in particular you wish had never existed, and why.
Paris Hilton >_> She's so awful and she's basically famous for being born rich. She's got absolutely no redeeming qualities as a human being and is very aware of this.
If you had to make a webcomic, what would it be about?
I did make a webcomic, several in fact. One I did with my friends in highschool called Juan Bondo, the Mexican Secret Agent. It was basically just a bunch of really bizarre jokes involving cactuses and tequila. His car was actually a donkey. I'm sure I still have all the comics somewhere.
The one I made myself was called OS Wars. It was basically Star Wars except with Bill Gates being the Emperor (and Ballmer Darth Vader) and RMS and Linus Torvaldis as the Rebellion. I had jokes about dragging people into recycle bins (Vader force choke) and planes bluescreening as they attacked. I think I got through 3 comics before I got bored and gave up on it.
Favourite emoticon?
:smug:
What's the one video game you've played that's had the biggest effect on your life?
Descent. It's the one game I can point at and go "yeah, that's what got me into games and programming". I mean I played NES/SNES games and stuff before that, but Descent absolutely enthralled me. I played the shit out of the shareware levels, and the greatest day of my childhood was when I finally got the full versions of Descent 1 and 2. I actually had the strategy guide for Descent 2 and read it religiously years before I even got the game. I made so many levels for that game and my friends and I would play eachother constantly over dialup.
-A little over 1 year ago, the forum went under heavy changes: Community Fanworks became PSL and AAA; the game board got split into Akyu's Arcade and RPG, etc. One year later, what are your feelings on these changes and how the effect they've had on the forum?
Well the game board has always been split into Akyu's and RPG, it's just we made the decision to make RPG a main forum instead of a subforum of Akyu's. I wasn't pleased that it became the RP center (and I know I ruffled quite a few feathers when I said this) instead of its original purpose, a place for MotKers to share private server info, plan game nights, etc. But that's the direction the community went and it wasn't like that stuff didn't fit into the new RPG forum.
The Fanworks split was in my opinion probably one of the biggest and best decisions we've made after the reset. While fanfiction was never really a problem, the artists of MotK were definitely in disarray and it was hard to actually discover people's artwork. From an organization standpoint it just makes more sense. It makes it far easier for people to discover new artists and writers and there was no real need to keep them crammed together anymore.
-A well-known battle has been CPMC's role in MoTK, with numerous threads being locked, deleted, or moved into another subform. What would you like to see in CPMC, especially in comparison to Renko's?
Sigh... this discussion comes up constantly in the Staff forum and I'm actually kind of frustrated how people are taking it. It's great and all you've guys made CPMC your own little corner and all, but there comes a point where your "comfort" is coming at the cost of accessibility. Threads are moved out of CPMC not to punish you guys, but to make threads easier to find for people who may not be completely familiar with the nuances of this community.
As for thread locks and stuff, we have an upcoming change to CPMC that's going to help alleviate that. Basically after the next wipe, we're going to try switching CPMC to a 24 hour thread cycle. What this means is, when you make a thread, after 24 hours it will be automatically locked. After 72 hours - 1 week (haven't decided), it will be removed from CPMC. This is meant in order to break up the megathread issue that I think is a huge hinderance to participation from new people and lurkers. Instead of having to trudge through days if not weeks of replies to catch up, you have at most a day or so of posts to catch up to.
In exchange for the post change, we're going to loosen all moderation on CPMC. Basically threads will only be locked if they break a rule, and threads will only be moved if they belong somewhere else. We're going to trust the community to be able to moderate threads for "quality", if a thread sucks it's only going to last a day and be flushed away, and if it's good it'll get repeated the next day. Threads can be LS'ed immediately instead of waiting for a mad dash before a wipe.
Threads that are stickied will avoid the thread lock on age check, but will still get autolocked if they exceed 1k posts. This allows mods and IDs to pin topics of interest, such as contest threads, or maybe some big happening or discussion topic. We want ID to return back to a position of importance instead of just a fancy badge, and by allowing IDs to basically highlight topics that interest them, they can influence CPMC a bit more. It shouldn't be abused though to avoid the thread lock and keep perennial threads like the rage/happiness/etc threads alive, just for specific instances where it'd be desirable to keep a thread around longer.
Along with the thread change we're also considering merging all off-topic (serious or otherwise) down into the new CPMC, and replacing Renko's with a proper Audio/Video forum. Things like news posts and stuff make perfect sense in the new CPMC thread cycle (no need for a giant news post, just post individual articles in their own threads and after a couple of day they're shuffled out to reduce clutter). There will no longer be thread wipes in CPMC as the thread cycle effectively takes care of that. There will of course still be pantheon wipes.
-Who's your favorite character in the Touhou series? Favorite song?
Favorite character is probably a tie between Sanae and Satori. Satori is very close to me in terms of personality (I'm extremely empathetic and a big sister type persona), and I just absolutely love Sanae's character and design. Older favorites are Yuyuko (Dreamcast-tan!) and Youmu (gee I wonder which team I chose in IN), and Komachi is my kind of lazy.
Favorite song, I can't really pin. To be honest I don't really remember game music that much except in certain instances where it defined the game experience. Of course I'll always recognize iconic themes like Zelda and Mario and stuff like that, but nowadays I tend to mute in-game music and play other stuff instead. Like I'll always associate System of a Down with Diablo 2 because I basically played their albums nonstop during my big D2 binge. I'll associate TF2 with Lia because I was on a huge Lia kick when I used to play TF2 seriously.
Probably the only memorable game OSTs for me are from Starcraft and Total Annihilation. Total Annihilation has the most epic OST of any game ever, it is a masterpiece on its own and definitely shaped me towards a long love affair with classical/orchestral music. Starcraft because I watch Starleague religiously and I actually got the autograph (and Battle.net login!) of one of the violinists who did the SC2 and Diablo3 soundtrack.
Outside of computers and games, what is your favorite interest/ hobby?
Music by far. I am a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge band geek, I can play almost any instrument and I am enthralled by music theory. I enjoy listening to music that is "technically" rich because I will dissect rhythms and chords in my head. Another hobby of mine is film, especially stop animation. I made countless stop animation films with my friends as a kid, and for several of my English projects in highschool I submitted my book reports by making stop animation films. Like for Beowulf I made a machinima fake trailer using Final Fantasy Tactics (oh man figuring out how to hack positions and character names was awesome). For Tale of Genji I made a silent film era type movie describing putting the moves on girls Heian style.
And of course I love electronics. I've made countless little electronic gadgets, and my current project is a custom arcade stick that'll work on my 360 and PS2/PS3. I'm building and programming the PS2 interface myself using a microcontroller.
Main race on DoW2?
Right now it's Ork, but I've always had a soft spot for Tyranid. Just unfortunately the balance isn't exactly favorable towards the buggies right now
I've played the game so much that I probably have well over several hundred games in each race.
Favorite PC-98 touhou?
I don't really have one tbh. To me the PC-98 games are like a completely different era. I've never played them and the characters and stuff seem so foreign compared to the Winhous.
On average, how much does it cost to actually maintain MoTK?
We just paid our yearly bill and it came out to ~230 for Triela and ~260 or so for Henrietta. We used to actually pay more in the past, but now we don't have to pay for the IRC side (we hitch a ride on Suzuran's box) and we didn't have a game server for a while.
Do you believe piracy of games or other products is justifiable in cases where they're strictly unavailable through any other means? I know this is beating a really old horse but it's a question I forgot to ask you earlier okay (for clarification, I'm talking about cases where legitimate copies don't simply exist anymore, etc.)
I think that's the only case where you could make the call where piracy is justifiable, and that's for archiving. If the system is long dead, then in my mind it's ok to make backups of the original carts because the developers literally cannot see another penny from you, all sales will be second hand. Now, if there's rereleases made I think morally you have an obligation to get those since they can trickle royalties back to the original developers. I understand though that oftentimes rereleases aren't as good or have things changed from the originals, so I'm not exactly heartbroken if a purist prefers say, the original FF6 on SNES from the various rereleases on PSX and GBA.
How did you get into gaming in the first place?
I was born a gamer baby. I'm not kidding when I tell this story. I was born the night my dad bought my mom Gradius for the NES. So you could say I was wired from the day I was born. I was banging on keyboards in my high chair before I could talk and I definitely wasted many a day playing NES and computer games.
Who's your most hated touhou?
Nameless fairy #24513456, kills me everytime
What is your favorite book or book series?
To be honest I haven't read much in a long time, but growing up I was absolutely enthralled by the His Dark Materials series, specifically The Golden Compass. I actually have a hardback copy signed by Philip Pullman himself. When I was really little I loved the Redwall series but in retrospect it was kind of childish and absurd but whatever I had fun. I'm definitely a fan of JRR Tolken's work and Dickens and other contemporary authors (love Tale of Two Cities and Les Miserables). I really enjoyed Beowulf and Tale of Genji because they were so completely foreign from the stuff I grew up on and it was very refreshing seeing things presented in a completely different literary style.
Do you have any skills with Adobe software?
I use Photoshop and Illustrator all the time for my freelance work. I was really into vector tracing when I was in highschool, but unfortunately I don't have much in the way of artistic talent for drawing. I mean, I have good concepts and I can visualize stuff but I can't translate it to a physical medium very well. Perhaps I just need to practice it I guess. I've got some minor experience in Pagemaker as well but almost everyone uses Quark for typesetting.
Yes, I did say if you were able to understand. You still have that tiniest bit of Filipino vocabulary in you.
I'm actually kind of sad I know so few foreign languages nowadays. It's actually pretty limiting to be monolingual.
If given the chance, I'd allow you to crash here and eat some of our food if you wanna. It's a Filipino Mom's specialty to create great food.
Yum yum yum <3
Do you exercise your second amendment? Do you have any proficiency in their use?
I don't own a gun but I've shot a .50 cal before. That was awesome. As for proficiency, does Quake count? :derp:
In the event that America had to have a Draft, how would you feel to be selected?
If it ever comes to a point where America has to revive conscription, we're fucked simply put. We have one of the best volunteer militaries in the world, bar none, and if we're forced to have to draft civilians then shit has really hit the fan. I'd definitely be scared out of my mind.
Favorite Naval craft?
Ironically despite my dad being in the Navy, he only spent 2 years of his entire 22 year Naval career on a boat, and it was an aircraft carrier. So I'm definitely biased towards those. Although the raw power the WW2 era battleships commanded are a sight to behold.
What do you study at school and do you enjoy it?
Right now I'm not in school but I plan on going back to finish my Electrical Engineering degree and either minor in Nuclear Engineering or take it as a second major. When I was in school I didn't exactly enjoy it but that was a different time and I was going through a real dark period in my life.
If you *ever* raged at Touhou , what kind of damage did you do because of that?
I've never raged at Touhou but I've raged at other games before. Pangya has claimed about 6 keyboards and 4 monitors, but I don't blame Pangya for that as much as well, it was during the same time I was going through bad stuff in my life so I was just angry period. I don't get angry at games or really much of anything anymore. I'm not a naturally mean person.
Is it worth paying a total of ?27,000 ($44,000) just for University tuition fee's?
Is that per year or overall? Because after 2 years of school (with nothing to show for it orz) that's about my current student loan debt .________.
Do you know how hard it is to ask you good questions about your moderating style like I would usually do when you're so goddamn above board with everything in the staff forum?
I can't help I'm that awesome :smug:
What got you into RTS? What is your favorite, and why?
My friends definitely. My best friend got me into Starcraft and Total Annihilation. I played TA constantly, I would definitely say it's what started my long love affair with it. I didn't get into Starcraft that much because on the surface it felt too limiting. TA though, was like playing SimCity with bombs. The scale it played at was absolutely astounding. The economic control it demanded made me crunch numbers for hours. And it was just downright satisfying to pull off an amazing flank or a long range bombardment of someone, or getting that ONE unit out and being able to crush your opponent. And above all, it lead to some amazing mindgames growing up with my friends.
Above all, games are escapes and I think RTS and 4x games provide the escape I desperately needed. I go home every night and play the shit out of DoW2 and I love it. I get to go from IT peon to general of an elite strike force. It's actually pretty liberating and relaxing to me to go from being bossed around to calling the shots and being able to dictate strategic maneuvers. I really got into Pangya not as much because I enjoyed golf, as much as it scratched the mathematician itch in me with its deceptively deep physics calculations. It also didn't hurt I could play dressup and not get in trouble >>;
Why am I your favorite?
That would depend on you being my favorite in the first place :derp:
Have your younger siblings been less irritating lately compared to the tales you used to tell us?
My sister's still a bitch, my brother still disappoints me with how much of a waste he is compared to what he could be, and I still love my two little brothers to death. All in all it's a mixed bag, there's definitely some people in my family I won't miss when I move out and there's some that I sincerely enjoy being around and I'm going to be absolutely devastated when I go away :\
What is the last good book you've read?
I honestly can't recall, but it was probably the last book in the His Dark Materials series, The Amber Spyglass. I wouldn't say it was amazing, it definitely got very preachy at times, but it closed out a series of mine I've held dearly since childhood.
Where or from whom have you learned as much as you have about history?
Knowing your history is knowing where you come from and how you got here. To not know history is criminal, noone should ever be ignorant of their past, lest they wish to repeat any of the follies made along the way. I have to say I'm just fascinated by knowledge itself, and I will endlessly study everything I can in order to know more. From whom specifically I learned so much I would have to say one of my childhood friends. He is a huge history buff, and to this day I talk to him daily. He talks all the time about obscure historical tidbits and stuff, like the hats of all the great dictators. Also being a huge 4x nerd (so is he, gee wonder why) I tend to get exposed to games set in specific historical settings, and it helps if I learn the history of the era I'm trying to immerse myself into.
You know those "What I wanna be when you grow up" questions that were required for you to answer when you were very young? Can you still remember what you wrote there? If you do still remember, compare and contrast to what you really want right now.
I put down I wanted to be a ballerina (not kidding) one time. I'd have to say that's pretty accurate lol. Seriously though I've always put down sciencey type jobs, it just depended what my current love affair was at the time. What I want now really isn't as much important as what I can do with what I become. I want to give back to humanity in a meaningful way. I know I've been gifted with a great intellect, and I want to do everything in my power to advance the pursuit of knowledge.
Apples or Bananas?
Oh god I love bananas. Give me a banana shake any day. I like a good apple too, but I tend to like baked more than raw. Bananas I will devour in any form though.
Moe or not?
What, you got a problem with Curly? Seriously though, I'm not a fan of moe. The whole doormat thing it tries to portray is really unsettling to me, and the fans of moe are even creepier in that respect. A spineless blob who's happiness is totally reliant on someone else is not something anyone should aspire to be or want someone to be. You can be cute AND have a mind of your own, they're not mutually exclusive.
Why are :bzzz:, :colbert:, :justasplanned:, :matsuri:, :matsuri2:, and :flowerpower: not listed in the "Additional smileys" window? (They all have smaller dimensions than :dealwithit:, which is listed in the window.)
When they get added they're hidden by default. Probably just an oversight.
What's your current living situation like?
It's not bad but I wouldn't say it's ideal. It used to be a lot rougher, but once I got this job my parents definitely eased off on giving me crap. I definitely have to hide parts of myself though from the family and it's still a big conflict internally for me. I don't know how much is going to change when I move out.
What's your current relationship with your immediate family like?
Mixed. I get along with my siblings for the most part and I'm not having any big conflicts with my parents but we do spar from time to time. It's nowhere near as bad as it used to be. There's definitely some personalities I can't get along with and some behaviors I definitely do not approve of though, but above all they're my family and I can't bring myself to outright hate any of them or willingly choose to divorce myself from them.
How far along on your TS transition are you (if you don't mind talking about it)?
Unfortunately nowhere right now. Being at home has pretty much put any thought of that to a halt. I'm hoping I can start as soon as I move out but that's all dependent on how well I can secure a job and financial stability.
Are you often on any IM clients?
I'm always on Steam and lately I've been on Skype but for the most part I'm more on IRC than anywhere else. I always have MSN open if you're looking to get my attention if you don't have those two.
What's been your biggest struggle stemming from being shy?
Meeting people. I'm usually deathly afraid to be in social situations. It's not bad if I'm at say, a stranger's house or around random people for work, but if I'm there for a social gathering I usually freeze up and feel really awkward and acutely self-conscious. I've never really had many friends growing up, which was exacerbated by the fact I was moving all the time.
What do you believe to be the greatest invention thought up by mankind?
Probably electricity and the printing press. Electricity is essentially responsible for every single feature and comfort of modern life, and has advanced scientific discovery in ways unimaginable. But this is only a smidgen compared to the advances the printing press created. Suddenly literacy wasn't just in the hands of the elite, now everyone could read and write at a fraction of the cost. The explosion of knowledge afterwards shaped our destiny as a species.
What's your favorite part of Gensokyo?
Concept wise or actual physical location in Gensokyo?
As a side note, I still don't have anyone for sure renting the last room in my house. Got a bus stop for DC's bus service within walking distance, and there's a nice little park within walking distance of here, too. I hear DC is good for looking for jobs. There's plenty of us here, so you won't have to worry about being alone (also one of my greatest fears). Oh yeah, and the Internet here is fast, and I could always get a faster service if needed, so if Maryland still appeals to you... :3
I'll think about it, a big reason I want to be in that area is there's definitely lots of you over in that general vicinity. NoVA/MD was definitely one of my more favorite places to live.
your thought on the current state of the world ?
I think it's going through troubling times, but when hasn't it? Every generation has a struggle to overcome and a major event defining their mark on history. I think we're no better or worse in terms of DOOM AND GLOOM than any previous generation. The big thing though is, I think we're on the edge of another major evolution in human society and history. After over a century since the start of the Industrial Revolution, we're becoming the first truly globally connected generation.
Sure we've had international trade prior to this, but never in human history has communication been so easy and within the grasp of so many people. Barriers are being brought down and borders breached in ways that have never been done before. You can see the old guard of nationality, race, and class starting to crumble away. Whether this results in a complete erasure of divisions between peoples, or just the development of new ones to supplant it waits to be seen, but I hope we may end up giving birth to the first generation that will not know of prejudice and racism.
