Aldarion, firstly, thank you for taking the time to allow The Buzz to have this interview with you. Now, we know there have been interviews with you in the past, regarding you as you, but we want to find out about Aldarion the Moderator. Majority of the community will notice when they log in, check the Users Online page and see that one green player, sat in the top corner, mostly on his own. Your a very active moderator for the Elite Guard, and very active within the Forums. What do you do on the forums every day? Hey there! First of all regarding my activity and being alone quite often and being online quite often online, that is for the most part down to the situation where I and other members of staff are currently in. The things I do right now allow me to be online and spend time, but I expect this activity to decrease in a couple of months. I think the forums are my favourite part Bootleggers, and essential too in creating a stronger community. I like to help out people, I like the discussions going on, and I think some of the discussions can yield very useful results for the game. Several forum suggested changes have been implemented already. The first thing I always read is the crew forum. I usually read the topics on the first page of the Game Forum when I log in, before I briefly check Off Topic Forum and classifieds. Finally I'll also check the Buzz and High Rollers Forum for updates.
Another aspect of your job as a Moderator is a huge contribution to The Buzz. Have you always had a passion for supporting The Buzz? I was Buzz Editor when I got promoted to Help Desk Operator and Moderator. I did quit as a Buzz Editor once I got promoted to moderator as the editor job is time-consuming and much harder to combine with moderator than Help Desk Operator duties. I've always kept an eye on the Buzz although the intensity to which involve myself in Buzz duties differs over time and differs on what I see and read on the Buzz forum. I would definitely not call my contribution huge, I provide some statistics now and then and sometimes voice my opinion based on what I know and based on my past Buzz experience. I think another reason for more Elite Guard 'involvement' is the accessibility of the Elite Guard nowadays. Although definitely not perfect, the current Elite Guard can be found on forums and is usually easy to contact through bootmail, which makes it easier to ask for information or other moderator involvement (such as providing statistics).
You said you contribute to The Buzz by producing statistics, is this something you enjoy as getting statistics seems to be your thing when we write the articles. What is it you enjoy about the Bootleggers Statistics so much? I guess it's personal interest in meaningful statistics. For example, the number of users online, or peak number, during an event (such as the recent 10 year anniversary event) compared to the rest of the month provides very useful information. I would definitely be interested in those numbers and I reckon others would too. Some of them are a challenge to find, combine or list too. It's pretty hard to explain other than that I'm usually quite interested in the enquires received with regards to statistics. Knowing I can find the information I then set off to do so.
Now we all know you like your games, whether it's a Russian Roulette, thanks for killing me in your last game by the way, but what have you the idea for Aldarion's Taboo and can you explain it to the players out there who are unsure? No problem for killing you. I applaud whenever a Buzz writer or Help Desk Operator dies. On a serious note though, barely organize any Russian Roulettes, I only two this round; one before I left on my trip and one to celebrate the ten year anniversary which was requested to me by BSF2000. I guess I just like games, I suppose it all started back in 2010 when I started hosting a few. Eventually I was appointed to organize the 2010 Christmas events in collaboration with BSF2000 (I was Buzz editor back then). That was great fun. I host bust competitions from time to time because I really like busting. As for the other games, some are related to Bootleggers and some aren't. One of them is Taboo which we used to play on the IRC channel. One person draws a card with one word (for example: sun) and five forbidden words (for example: star, burning, sky, yellow, hot). The challenge is to describe the one word (sun) without using the five forbidden words (star, burning, sky, yellow, hot). First to guess the one word wins a prize.
You said you organize a few Bust Parties, but what are your thoughts about the fact that busting is such a big part of the game, while it should only be a small part of the game play experience? I think that's alright especially given the current circumstances and low player base. It's something most players enjoy and I don't mind the number of bust parties that are currently in the game.
Do you think you will ever resign as Moderator? Yes, I'm pretty sure I will resign at some point in time. Right now, I have quite a bit of free time but that will not last for more than a few months after which my activity will drop significantly. I'm yet to experience whether I will have time / motivation for Bootleggers at that stage.
We asked Mika so we must ask you, tell us your most embarrassing moment in your real life. No idea really, but something I can think of right now is complaining to three people on French people in general who then pointed out the two people sitting next to me were French.
Ouch. How did you get out of that situation? I'm not sure if they noticed, so I (quickly) finished my plea against French people and we swapped subjects. I guess I just don't like the French.
Now, we have heard about your funny encounter with the wild dogs in Asia, glad you made it out alive, but is there something funny you can tell the readers about 1 of your fellow Elite Guard? This is not about one fellow Elite Guard member in specific, but the old game characters had a nude version too, so BSF2000 once changed our characters to nude females during an Elite Guard meeting.
What is the funniest bootmail you have ever received?
On 2013-09-17 16:51:22, Sweex wrote:
We'll see how BSF2000 will judge this complaint.
If he doesn't take the appropriate action then this game is lost and I will leave forever.
I guess you two just have issues in real life. No girlfriend? No car? No job?
Aldarion, you can talk to me buddy, tell me what's wrong in your life. Were you bullied on? Are you still a virgin? Drunk dad? Orphan? Mum was a drug addict?
I'll be your Dr. Phil tonight.
What kind of in-game goals do you have? There are a few changes I'd like to see, I want to get those through.
Such as? Economy tweaks, banking is way too powerful (and gained in relative power throughout the Bootleggers rounds). I'd like to get rid of some of the rules we have too (such as the holder rule). And most importantly (but also hardest) I wish for a change in the way we deal with bans. Some of the penalties are ridiculously have compared to the offence and I think that has cost the game a number of players in the past years.
If you could be any vegetable, what would you be? A tomato, just because half the people would think I'm a fruit.
When we caught up with Mika he informed us that you were both yet to go visit Sky in his closet. Have you been to see him yet? I think this information was only partly correct as I'm definitely not going.
OK, and finally, what round so far have you enjoyed the most, and why? That's a tough question. I guess I don't really have one specific favourite round, but I loved 'the old days' of The Gambino Family crew, back in 2004-2007. Those were great times, the game was so much fun, so many nice people. That was fantastic, every now and then I have a chat with someone about 'the good old days'. Almost seems that everyone has some sort of similar experience.
Well, there we have it. It seems like Sky will only be getting the one visitor in his closet, as Aldarion is adamant he won't be turning up, and with Aldarion liking his privacy, which is understandable, there is very little we can learn about the man behind the green writing. However, we have learnt that despite what players from the community think, Aldarion wants to see a change in the punishments which are handed out. Would this ever happen? Perhaps a question to introduce to BSF2000 if he accepts an invitation for an interview. It also seems that Aldarion's love of statistics is more than we could have imagined, and we look forward to seeing what other statistics he can bring to the game. Next, we will be approaching, with caution, the Janitor's Closet at the Elite Guard head office.
