This week sees the return of the once loved articles known as the 'Behind The Name' series. An article in which we discover a little bit more about some of the Bootleggers community other than who they like to shoot and what crime they like to commit! In this weeks edition we spoke to crew hopper and Help Desk Operator RatFaceRay and busting addict MentallyStableCarrot (Skeggi).
We start our journey with the tale of MentallyStableCarrot. On a personal level, I was glad when he was randomly selected for this article, as I was instantly drawn to the name and intrigued to find out more. Introduced to the game by his best friend seven years ago, Skeggi has been a self-confessed addict ever since. A relatively off-the-map player this year other than busting, Skeggi's aim for this round is clear, as he told us, "My long term goal is to get 20k busts this round (I have over 5k so far)." As anyone who is a regular or even irregular buster will tell you, this is no easy task!
But what of Skeggi's past? "The achievement that I am proudest of is I was one of the best busters last round and hopefully I'll also be one of the best this round. Also S&M where once always killing me and I got my revenge when they came to the stats. Wiped the whole crew in few mins. I know many have wiped whole crews but for me it was special cause they had killed me so many times for no reason." This the answer we received when asking Carrot what his greatest achievements have been in his Bootleggers career. Not to shabby you have to say!
The company you choose to surround yourself with it key to any Bootleggers players, influence is key! So who does Skeggi feel have been his biggest influences while playing the game? He told us, "I can't really answer this question with only one name. There are so many that have helped me and made an impact on my playing style and also IRL. Balli is my friend who brought me to the game and he did teach me all the basics. A lot of old ODL members I still keep in contact with. It was the first crew I joined, first as ug shooter and then a member. In the busting area I have to name Accu and ansteem. They where fantastic busters last round and I had great time busting with them when we all where Don+."
Every player has their opinions on the game and things they would like to change, right? Well actually, no! Some people are happy with Bootleggers as it is, as Skeggi answered our question on what he would change if he could by telling us, "people are always crying for updates but personally I think BL is great and does not need any huge changes."
We finished our look into Skeggi's background with a random fact, and discovered that he does not actually like bacon. I have to say that at this point I was in such shock, it was a good stage to finish!
So we move on to RatFaceRay. The current Help Desk Operator (HDO) was first brought to the game by his son in late 2004. Having played through since then he now finds himself sitting on the Help Desk, enjoying life in yellow!
But while pretty in yellow is all very nice, we wondered what RatFaceRay enjoys most about Bootleggers, to which he answered, "The one thing I like and have always like is, being able to talk with people from all over the world. And you do not have to leave your home to do it." With a growth over the years of cultural diversity in the game it has to be said it is amazing to think you have probably done an Organized Crime with people from every continent on the planet!
Away from his life in yellow, what does RatFaceRay like to get up to though? He told us, "My son and I have a hobby farm. That takes a lot of time. Also like fishing, hunting and trying to get my 1967 Ford truck put back together." All hobbies of a man I would suggest not to be messed with, so don't be taking your Help Desk Ticket to his house!
We then turned our attention back to Bootleggers, asking, given the opportunity what would RatFaceRay change about being a Help Desk Operator, to which he replied, "Give the HDO a limit power to temporally ban people for posting or sending porn or advertising another game. And the ability to remove same from profiles. Until A Moderator comes on to handle it." Perhaps a suggestion that would be worthwhile implementing, with the Moderators often busy or not online, surely it would make sense to delegate some duties to the possible future Elite Guard in training? Continuing on our theme of changes, we asked what RatFaceRay what features he would like to see modified in the coming weeks and months. He told us, "The kill system needs to be redone. One person should not be able to shoot and wipe a Crew or kill people like it was over this past weekend. It is not good for the game. About 400 accounts killed by 3 people. All so these 3 can have fun. It is not fun for the people killed. Also the Crew update needs to be implemented." An answer which I think many of the Bootleggers community will agree with. Updates are on the forecast, but when will the forecast come true?
At this point we wondered who had made major impact on RatFaceRay in terms of his development through the game to his current position. He told us, "Oh my, we would have to go way back, to MrHannsamann and Miss ran/owned Two Weeks Later. They took the time to explain how crews and the game was run back then." Continuing, "Fast-forward to the present time, I would have to say the Game Staff. All of them have shown me a different insight to the game." A tribute-like answer to the people who both started and continue to support the player in question!
That brought an end to our interviews. We would like to thank MentallyStableCarrot and RatFaceRay for their time and answers. We hope you the reader have enjoyed the return of this article, and who knows, next week we may be getting behind your name!
