The Voices of Gameplay: A Series of Interviews

[Kogvuron]

Very interesting read, can't wait for the next one to come out

[Oliver the Mediocre]

I'd say you should interview me, except I'm kind of boring to interview.

[Belschaft]

I'd say interview me, but I'm probably too much of a Unibot-henchman to be independently interesting <_<

I mean, a high level henchman, maybe even the dragon, but still a henchman. I need to upgrade to independent supervillian superhero <_<

[Crushing Our Enemies]

If I interview someone from the UDL, it will likely be someone less vocal than Unibot. Among the goals of this publication is to hear voices that aren't heard through already existing news organs. So who knows?

[Crushing Our Enemies]

It is my pleasure to present the 2nd issue of

The Voices of Gameplay

A series of interviews, published monthly.

This edition features the words of Drop Your Pants, the current delegate of Lazarus and four year veteran of the Founderless Region Alliance. Beloved by raiders, defenders, and neutrals alike, DYP has agreed to share his story with us this month.

The following interview took place on Saturday, February 25, 2012, beginning at 7:59 PM and ending at 8:57 PM Eastern. It is unedited and unabridged. Enjoy!

Q: Good evening! You’re on the record with The Voices of Gameplay. Thank you for agreeing to this interview.

A: Thank you for having me.

Q: Let's start off with some ancient history How did you get your start in NationStates? What would you call your first home region?

A: Hmmm, let’s see....I started NS because a friend told me to play it. Took me a week to get the right web address. After that I sat in a small region for a month. That was nearly 7 years ago, I think. [DYP was founded April 17, 2005 -ed.] I'd call The Youngworld my first and main home, even now. I was recruited by TG from a pacific and decided to check it out. Back then TYW was a 600 strong region with a bustling member base. They welcomed me with open arms and I never looked back. I learnt a lot in those days. I started getting into government positions, mostly FA. Eventually was MoFA then I had a spell as delegate when the region was at 200. If these answers look like copy and paste then they are, I hate lots of typing.

Q: No worries. So, what's The Youngworld like nowadays?

A: Dead as a doornail. The remaining members are there for the chats, we've our own facebook group that we spend more time on.

Q: I see. From there, how did you get involved in defending? Did The Youngworld have a defender military?

A: TYW was big into the warzones so I learned a lot about the whole raider/defender thing from that. I knew how to sneak raid a region well before I started to defend one TYW has been a defender group since forever (minus a brief invasion of TRR, CG will know all about that). After a lot of poking, TYW joined the ADN and then the FRA. Then merged into TITO. We had a fine tradition of defending when we were alive.....now we have a fine tradition of defending with other people Personally though, I was never big into the defending. The single update days meant really late nights or early mornings. My bed was more important. I was there more for the community.

Q: Despite that, you do have a four year service award from The FRA. How would you describe your role in that organization?

A: Unassigned community manager, part time spammer and all round diplomatic nightmare. I held a few positions in my time and had Global Mod for a while...no one was quite sure why I kept it. And the 4 years thing was because I wouldn't leave. I stopped recording my defenses once I got to Sergeant....I do that a lot. If I defend I do it because I want to. Not because it’s "the right thing" or for a petty ego boosting badge.

Q: Looking back, is there anyone you see as a mentor or a role model?

A: There's two, actually: Sir Lans for his father-like ability and general leadership, and Gateborg for his Foreign Affairs skills. Two of the greatest players I've known and I'm proud to have been able to play the game with them. But not BKB, he's a boring old fart

Q: Haha. So, obviously you haven't defended for a while, because your WA status seems to be tied up being delegate of some small unknown region. How did you get involved there, and what events led to your becoming delegate?

A: I got involved there because i knew half the members from my region whoring days. I was originally there as an ambassador and decided to get citizenship for the craic. 5 years later and I've done every job I could do......for one term I did all the cabinet positions when they all went inactive. Now I'm admin and serving my second term as delegate. And I owe it all to chatting to people And being a really dirty player during elections. If I want something I'll go for it and take the piss out of my rivals till they break.

Q: Region whoring? Can you elaborate on that term?

A: It’s something you don't see that much these days. It’s basically players in multiple regions. There's a few about, but back in my day (Yes, I'm playing the old card), there was a core group of about fifteen players who'd actually follow each other around regions getting jobs. In my case, I went to a region as an ambassador, gained citizenship and became an ambassador to another region and so forth. Got confusing near the end, I was ambassador to a region from another region where I was an ambassador from the first region. Made updates really interesting.

Q: Wow, sounds like it. So, how did you "take the piss" out of your rivals in elections? Tell us your best election story.

A: Ah don't make me remember detail, I'm useless at that. It’s a miracle I can remember TYW. I'd like to consider myself as a blunt, care-free individual. I don't take anything too seriously and if I get a reaction I'll keep going till I'm warned or banned. And anyway, if I enter an election I can normally count which users will vote for me from the start. The rest is just making fun of my rivals so people see I'm easy going and a good person to elect.

Q: During your term as delegate of Lazarus, the Pan-Sinker Security Pact was signed. Some of our readers may be unfamiliar with the Pan-Sinker Security Pact. Would you mind detailing what exactly it is, and what your role in it was?

A: I don't know what it is, it seems to change depending on the sinker you’re in and who's reading it. My role was limited in its creation. I was against Balder joining for awhile, much to the annoyance of NES and other government members. I changed my mind eventually and I just nodded when I had to. It’s only a stepping stone however, I see great things ahead.

Q: Out of curiosity, why were you against Balder joining?

A: I didn't feel their community was stable enough to make a decision for the region. I was currently being flamed by a government member and there was some unfavourable characters floating around. It took a lot of poking for me to change my mind, especially since I like getting reactions.

Q: Ahh, I see. So, you described the pact as a stepping stone a moment ago - care to elaborate on what the sinkers are stepping towards?

A: Closer relations and hopefully a powerful bloc of regions....one that will retaliate against threats. The other sinkers might not know this yet but it'll happen

Q: Interesting...enough about that for now, I think. Recently, Lazarus was targeted by a Condemn proposal. Initially, you expressed support for it, but later campaigned against it, and have even posted publicly that you will ban recruiters from regions that supported the resolution on sight. What factors led you to support it at first, and what made you change your mind?

A: I'd love to say something funny here but really i was just trying to troll the SC. I wanted the badge for Lazarus, what an achievement it would be!!! Especially for something so petty as a Spanish theme. But after a bit of sense (mostly from Krull) I changed my support and asked all the people I'd asked to vote (there were more than I thought there'd be) to remove their votes or vote against it. I loved every second of it. And the banning, well that’s true. If you don't like the Lazarus rules concerning adspam on our RMB then ok. Just don't expect to be welcomed with open arms. If GGR can conform then so can you!

Q: Haha, I think the SC makes itself a pretty easy target for trolling. So, while the proposal was under debate, several game-created regions required that all recruitment advertisements to be posted in Klingon. Was there any coordination behind the scenes between GCR delegates, or did it simply catch on?

A: Earthie came up with the idea, I believe. An act of GCR solidarity. All the GCR's that changed their recruitment rules to show support have my thanks. It was nice to see Lazarus has friends out there. Personally I loved it, my next choice was Greek but Klingon was better.

Q: On a lighter note, it seems like every time The Black Hawks raid a region, one of your puppets happens to live there. What’s with that?

A: Region whoring again. I used to have puppets scattered across NS, mostly in founderless regions. I knew some of them would be raided. When influence was introduced I was over the moon. Some of my puppets are the oldest nations in some regions...Including LWU till I let it die last week

Q: May I inquire as to the significance of the sheep?

A: Everyone needs a hobby. Mine is getting close to nature. So I might as well have a warm wool coat when I do it. That answer took 5 minutes to come up with. I'm a little sad.

Q: You get close to nature...by being a sheep?

A: Not exactly. It’s a traditional Irish pastime which only sheep farmers would know. Can't say anything else.

Q: OH. ANYWAY, BACK TO LAZARUS. Will this be your last term as delegate? If so, what do you plan to do next?

A: Yes this is my last term. I always intended to only take on term but I thought, “Why not do it again?” So I'm aiming for a year and then that’s it. Out of sinker politics. I'll keep citizenship. As for the future, well it’s not exactly a secret. I'll be trying out raiding for a bit. I've been considering it for a few months now...could have been all those raiders I've talked to about treaties with Lazarus I've got a list of regions to raid. So if you've ever harmed Laz or annoyed me check your founder nation because I'll be coming soon *insert evil laugh here*

Q: Well, on behalf of The Voices of Gameplay and our readership, I’d like to thank you for telling your story. I hope your voice finds willing ears in the community.

---

That concludes Issue #2 of The Voices of Gameplay!If you have an idea for an interview subject, telegram Crushing Our Enemies with a link to their main nation and why you think their story should be told. Look forward to our next issue, to be published on March 31!

[Fischistan]

Nice one, good choice for a interviewee. *rambles on about how much he REAAAAAALLLLLLLYYYYYY wanted Condemn Lazarus to be passed* Maybe one day I'll be interview-worthy.

[Klaus Devestatorie]

Pretty much all of what ^ said.

[Drop Your Pants]

Was a fun interview, pity about the timezones

[New New York]

Next time you should interview somebody who's not switching sides. Who's next: Falc?

[Drop Your Pants]

Can't get more neutral than someone in the middle

[Crushing Our Enemies]

I actually didn't know he was switching when I scheduled the interview, haha. That was pure sweet sweet coincidence.

[The Blaatschapen]

Hurray for sheep delegates! Nice interview

[Drop Your Pants]

I actually didn't know he was switching when I scheduled the interview, haha. That was pure sweet sweet coincidence.

No one knew really I wasn't even intending to come out of the closest till i was done in Laz

[Crushing Our Enemies]

Woo-hoo! I got an exclusive!

[Cinistra]

Nice interviews . Good initiative.

[Mahaj]

Two interviews, two raider-switchers. XD

[A Million Voices]

Good stuff.

[Spartzerium]

Obviously COE needs to do these more often. Each time he does, someone switches.

[Fischistan]

Obviously COE needs to do these more often. Each time he does, someone switches.

Yes, interview lots of experienced raiders.

[Crushing Our Enemies]

This month's issue will be delayed, as I have MUCH more important things to write at the moment. Expect publication on or before April 6th. Thank you for your patience.

[Mahaj]

This month's issue will be delayed, as I have MUCH more important things to write at the moment. Expect publication on or before April 6th. Thank you for your patience.

Understandable.

[Tramiar]

Obviously COE needs to do these more often. Each time he does, someone switches.

Yes, interview lots of experienced raiders.

I'm torn between saying he should interview Uni (I think the idea of raider Uni is hilarious), or being glad that he won't (it is also terrifying).


*waits for the newest one*

[Crushing Our Enemies]

Yes, interview lots of experienced raiders.

I'm torn between saying he should interview Uni (I think the idea of raider Uni is hilarious), or being glad that he won't (it is also terrifying).

Likely subjects of interviews will be players [...] who do not often post long comments or public statements.

[Tramiar]

I'm torn between saying he should interview Uni (I think the idea of raider Uni is hilarious), or being glad that he won't (it is also terrifying).

Likely subjects of interviews will be players [...] who do not often post long comments or public statements.

Don't you quote things at me. I said you won't.

[Noirdetoile]

Yes, interview lots of experienced raiders.

I'm torn between saying he should interview Uni (I think the idea of raider Uni is hilarious), or being glad that he won't (it is also terrifying).


*waits for the newest one*

Unibot Interviewed before the inception of the UDL
It might be interesting to see how his viewpoint has changed, if at all.....