Scavengers, Scouts, Tamers, Guardians, citizens and zombies, welcome to the Second edition of WORKSHOPPING THE COMMUNITY!
Since this project has always been about the community first and foremost I decided to have it published over here at the Die2Nite Herald. Azmael's is a wonderful initiative that deserves all our support and encouragement.
Decision's also been made to stick to one issue of Workshopping The Community per season. I believe it keeps it exciting and original enough and we can see what some of us think of each set of changes!
Of course, I couldn't possibly finish this introduction without thanking the lovely players who took part, everyone who's had the misfortune to see me die in towns where we were trying to last (going for a power nap is NOT a decent strategy!) - I am sorry and humbled by this, and those who got to see me after a few mineral waters on IRC (no no, it wasn't me I swear, it was my brother's racoon's girlfriend!).
Oh and yeah, I got to interview Epoq. Heard of him? ;)
EPOQ
Workshop: Where does your name come from? It's most intriguing.
Epoq: A mixture of French and English (epoch and époque) for time/era. My arrival at Motion Twin heralded a new era not only for the playing community but for me too. This fits quite well with my generally "Carpe Diem" outlook.
W: How did you end up working for Motion Twin?E: I studied languages at university, then studied Interpreting and Translation and was looking for something new and exciting (in that line of work if possible) so when I saw the advertisement online, I jumped at it - taking a gamble on moving to Bordeaux but figured it couldn't be the worst move... It turned out to be an awesome move.
W: Are you a twin? Do you have twins? Do you like Motion? XDE: Nope, I am neither a twin nor do I have a twin (although can one really be one and not both?). Motion depends on what is causing it... 2 hours on CoD Black Ops makes me queazy... rollercoasters, however, are awesome!
W: How do the team fend off zombies when they go in the desert to fix things in the game or install new Seasons? Do they actually have those ever so mysterious bullets we heard about?E: With great difficulty! Once, during a version upgrade, the team were set upon by a gargantuan horde of 183 zeds in a zone adjacent to the main game database. To avoid the horde coming back through the interwebs, the team on this side had to implement emergency protocol "idkfa", and raze the universe to the ground and rebuild it. This event, now referred to as the "Armageddon" killed every living thing on the french server. Fortunately nothing of this magnitude has hit the Die2nite fan thus far, and long may that continue! Bullets are a rare and mysterious treasure - which may or may not become more "potent" in seasons to come... ;)
W: What do you like to do at the end of a stressful day at the office?E: I like to relax, play some pool, drink some beer, catch up with friends from back home... I'm also a huge movie fan and struggling self-taught guitar pupil (I blame the teacher, and he blames me).
W: If you could name a town, any town, what would you call it?E: The Epoqethary, a zone where the well is full of vodka, and twinoid is in your doggy bag when you wake up! Cheers!
W: Do you play any games? Which ones?E: I play all Motion Twin games, unfortunately I don't have much time to play them beyond launch date, as there's always a new project on the go. Outside of MT, I have been known to play Guitar Hero, Gears of War 2 and the occasional session on Kinect Sports. All-time favourites are Monkey Island, Emperor: Battle for Dune and the Rainbow 6 series.
W: Motion Twin introduced the infamous Meta Cap. Shortly after, riots break out across England. Coincidence?E: Erm... should I have a lawyer present before I answer that?
Spacekadt
Workshop: So, Season 3 has come and we've all tried a few towns now. What do you LIKE about it?
Spacekadt: I do like the shorter town length. 20 day towns were a lot. 30 day towns were too long. 40 day towns were pretty excruciating. So I really do like that we can still be competitive without hitting those last days of "well, we built everything.. what the hell do we do now?"
There's also something to be said for more possible runs at the leaderboard. Perverts got to make two runs (and were successful) last season, but some metas missed out because there just wasn't enough time in the season to get used to the changes and still make a decent run for a title.
W: If you were Epoq, what's one thing you might do differently? ;)
S: There's "if I were Epoq" or "if I were the person making decisions" - I'm not sure they're one in the same. I'd like to give Epoq a little credit for at least trying to listen to the community. But if I'm going off of the assumption that they really are one in the same, I'd do a lot different.
1) Having the software implementation background that I do, I'd have
NEVER released this season with the complete lack of testing it seems
to have received. I'm a firm believer in "sorry guys, I can put it
live now and have you all hate that x, y and z are missing/broken or
we can wait a week for us to fix and test the changes." Things like
the lack of private towns and the new profession that were mentioned
but never delivered fall into this category.
2) I'd have taken 30 minutes to actually think about the Architect
hero perk that was put into the season 3 release notes as it related
to a very crucial part of the game. If it's like everything else and
is directly out of Hordes, it's a perk you get around 2 years of hero
time. Since D2N hasn't been around NEAR that long, it's useless and
not at all an answer to the blueprint issues everyone is having in
this season.
3) Found a decent compromise for the meta cap. There are a lot of
solutions that were posted in the world forums that either as they
were or with a slight modification, could have made everyone happy...
including the new players.
W: How did you meet spartie? XD
S: When Perverts jumped into Valleys of Heartache at the beginning of season 2, we were 35 strong. Spartie was one of the randoms that landed with us. He very quickly proved himself to be a generally good person and was accepted as one of us. Lots of conversations and two serious towns later (not to mention the distinction hunting in between towns), he's one of the people I count among the awesome friends I've made from this game.
W: What other games do you play?
S: Are you really gonna make me admit this? Can I claim (honestly) that I don't play the game much anymore, I just hang out with some of my klanmates that I've known FOREVER?
Dammit. Fine.
I came from a site called ForumWarz. It's an RPG about trolling the internet. The game itself is still around and fun if you like tl;dr dark and perverted humor, but the community there has gone to complete and utter hell.
W: What's some of your funniest moments on Die2Nite?
S: The one that comes to mind immediately is my Black Widow status. In Valleys of Heartache, anyone that camped with me died while I just kept on living. I had some fun in an RP thread that Faceless started in the Saloon and I'm very upset that those are gone and that I never saved them. After Pustulent monolith of heartache was devastated, my reputation should have been restored to normal but Spartie decided that he needed to start the Black Widow chronicles and I decided to play along. That one is actually saved on the .net forums -occasionally I actually learn my lesson. ;)
W: Why do you play Die2Nite anyway?
S: That answer has changed through the course of me playing the game. After the first few towns, I damned near left the game. I happened to stumble into a town with some active players that were fun to have around and bought a month of hero time. I lost those players, unfortunately, but got sucked into the game and met a few people that we started the Perverts with. Bought 6 months after that and got damned competitive. In the meantime, I started hanging out in the quakenet #d2n irc channel and got to meet a lot of awesome people and have stuck around mostly for the community. If it weren't for the people here, I'd have been gone with the season 3 release with the meta cap and the blueprints.
W: Have you even been in space? Are you a cadet?
S: While I do have a huge obsession with the (now defunct) space program, that actually had no influence on my nickname.
Back in college (university for those that make a distinction), I had hurt my back at work and was given good drugs. Then I had a root canal and was given more drugs. So I was in the computer lab at school and hopped up on Codeine, Ibuprofen and a muscle relaxer when I had the nearly-irresistible urge to put my arms out to the sides and "buzz" around the lab like a kid imitates an airplane. I realized how spaced out I was and changed my online nickname at the time to "space cadet". Found IRC shortly after that and was hanging out in the efnet network where they had a 9 character nickname limit. It became spacekadt - which I've never had a problem getting on any site ever -
and it stuck.
W: If a zombie touches bobdisgea's butt in the desert and there's no-one around to take photos, what sound does it make?
S: LMFAO
Now that I'm finally done laughing, I hope to god you have brain bleach to deal with what you just made me process.
But I'm not sure bob has a butt... I know he has moobs though. (Had? He's managed to drop some weight lately and hasn't posted his moobs lately.) Ask him one of these days... my first introduction to bob was when he posted pictures. Somewhere, he's even got a picture of "spacey" (and another non-d2n friend) written across the moobs. But his moobs totally make a "schlorp" sound when zombies touch them.
W: I see you're quite helpful on the Help Forums! Thanks <3 You're quite the encyclopedia Deadnitalus. Does in come in handy in every day life?
S: Totally! I walk around all day every day telling people that if they take one more step, they'll dehydrate! I get constant appreciation for my efforts, too.
So yeah, um... I don't mind helping out when I can... and I'm one of those obnoxious people that wants to know as much as I can about everything so I do a lot of figuring things out on my own.
W: Is there a specific title on D2N that you're after?
S: Whatever comes after Nate Fortu. I'm hoping there's another title at 10... I need 3 more chests! Here's hoping I get them soon... I've gone entirely too long without one. :\
Bobdisgea
Bobisgea: A ton of things. For one I think workshop is respectable enough to answer his silly interview questions.
W: Why are you still playing D2N anyway?
B: Because I don't know anyone playing civworld on Facebook. I like having a free browser game to occupy a few minutes when I get bored. But since season 3 I have lost a lot of interest in the World Forum. Such a huge decline in quality.
W: What secret heroic power do you wish you had in D2N that no-one else would have or know about?
B: I wish that Defensive objects still mattered when I picked them up.
W: How is Season 3 treating you?
B: Pretty awful. I personally cannot find many positives about it. It did bring the community together with his whole megameta jump thing but other than that I hate everything. I was a huge supporter of not capping metas and honestly the 3 weeks playing random towns were the worst time I have ever had in the game. I have been trying to teach noobs since Pustulent monolith ended but honestly people do not want to learn. I do not totally blame them I did a ton of stupid things just learning the game in season 0.
W: fodgycakes, Pumpkintits, Annette and R3dd3r are on a boat with your excellent company. Who pushed you overboard? XD
B: Fodgy and I are pretty chill I think(hope?), pumpkin I have not spoken to and r3d and I barely talk. I know that I get on Annette's nerves sometimes so I am going with her.
W: What other games do you play?
B: Well I tried out civworld and that didn't really take with me just yet. Hopefully after beta it will catch on. I play a lot of league of legends(feel free to add me its the same name). I have also been trying out the new humble bundle games and loving them. Also Cthulhu saves the world is a great little thing. Currently patiently waiting for Mass effect 3.
W: What's some of your funniest moments on Die2Nite?
B:
 |
| Bobdisgea :Easily one of my all time favorite moments. |
The things that Andrewman has said have been pretty hilarious and retarded also.
W: If you could come up with a new building, what would it be and what would it do?
B: Hmmm I would love a building similar to the workshop where you could make bullets. It would have to be like 6ap per bullet stack with maybe 2-3 in each stack but it would still be cool to have.
W: Is there a specific title on D2N that you're after?
B: I have been working on the cannibalism one while I have not been playing serious lately.
W: Did you have the slightest interest in anything zombie related before playing D2N?
B: Oh yeah. I have always enjoyed Zombies. I played Left 4 Dead a lot (warning NSFW language). I have read the zombie survival guide and World War Z (I really hope they dont ruin this movie). Romero is one of the great cinematic genius'. I love love love love the walking dead comic (the show was trash) but that is due to it being so much different from most zombie scenarios and how people deal with it.
W: What else do you do in your free time?
B: I'm currently reading A dance with Dragons (spoil it and I will hunt you down).
iDare
.
Workshop: How did you hear about Die2Nite and did you play the French or the German version before giving D2N a go?
iDare: It was my RL friend who has showed it to me in the beginning of December, so just after beta testing ended. I`ve never played in browser games before, but was impressed by the cooperation of some of his town mates and their running the town abilities and knowledge, basically I was learning the game even before I started to play myself, so the beginning was somewhat easier for me (later it turned out that some of them won S1 and S2, so I had good teachers I guess;)). I`m leading all my towns since then actually.
Never played in other versions.
W: You've got one of the most impressive souls in the game! So many titles, so many distinctions combined with a great number of soul points. Most sincere and envious congratulations there! What's your secret?
i: First of all I can`t ever catch your soul, with some of your distinctions and titles (beta, community companion), so I`m the one who`s envious:) But thanks and congrats to you too. I`m not sure I have any secret. For most of the time playing I was on my own gathering decent players after I saw them, to go with me to next towns and then part of half meta team later, after collecting that many. The thing is I`ve never really rationed water, we had constant troubles with scavenging - which I always thought is the key thing to do in die2nite, so I basically tried to be outside of town everyday for 22-23 hours, killing zombies and autosearching. Those distinctions are much easier to gather when being outside and active, that`s all. It is great test for me in S3 to do rationing in mega meta towns, where almost everybody wants to scavenge if only possible.
W: If you could pick 10 players you'd like to have in your ideal town, who would it be?
i: Most certainly Ayon and Quent - I can honestly say they are my friends in die2nite world, I`ve met them 6 months ago and I`m happy I started to play just because of that fact. We were leading our first towns together and usually were the only guys at expedition everyday, providing most resources (before zombie zoo kind of clearing was possible for us). I also miss Species5618Omega and Azador, their good mood everyday, rp and casino threads, hoping to do a town with them soon again.
And the rest is easy: Annette, Spacekadt, Fodgycakes, Tamle, Snowstorm565, Subutar, Workshop, R3dd3r. Oh well, it`s 12, not 10, hope you don`t cut last 2 from the list =P I could name 39 easily as well.
W: If you could pick a real life celebrity to play Die2nite with, who would it be and why?
i: Hmm, Robert De Niro maybe? He`s my favourite actor and movies are my life:)
I would be pretty happy to give Pavel Nedved (former football/soccer player) some advice too.
W: How's Season 3 treating you? Liking the novelties much?
i: I`m having pretty good time in S3 for now, enjoying discovering new possibilites and tricks. Probably I`m going to meet all the players I put on my list 2 questions above, thanks to meta cap and I`m looking forward to it (I have some in my current town, that I always wanted to meet actually). But I`m waiting for other towns to be introduced as well - without meta cap rule, I don`t like to be limited for no real reason. Fortunately there`s chat, where I can talk to my meta members everyday.
W: is there a player called iTruth? Should there be one?
i: Truth or dare don`t come together I guess, you have to pick. But I wouldn`t mind probably.
There isn`t any player called iTruth according to die2nite searching engine, if you meant this game only =P
W: Why did the zombie cross the road?
i: Because he thought they give distinctions for that...
W: What's your pet hate that drives you nuts when you see someone do it in a town?
i: I try to be polite and don`t get mad often, but I`m not happy when I see not reading forums and building/doing random stuff when agreed plan is at the board and Construction Sites thread. Also spending 18 AP (or more if AP boosters are available) by going outside, making all steps around in circles and returning after 2 minutes with decor items, logs, scrap or empty sack slots.
W: What's your favourite title?
i: Twinoid is taboo - it doesn`t have a chance to progress for me, so I had to get used to it;)
It`s from my titles, but if I can pick from all - title for 2 top towns definetely: I am legend.
Anti
Workshop: Hi Anti! I'm happy to be interviewing one of the most famous self-confessed "Selfish Players". I must say that I quite like the fact that you are playing this game the way you want to and how much you go against the grain of most World forums posters. How did you find out about the game, and why do you play Die2Nite?
Anti: I came from hordes and dieverdammten. I play since one year hordes& dieverdammten and have 3 ways to play:
- hordes: On hordes I camp very much, but I mainly support my coalition
- dieverdammten: On dieverdammten I'm hunting distinctions, grief and play selfish. But I don't do it like here, on DV I have only 6 shunnings...
- die2nite: Well... you know me. Anti just wanna have fun.
Oh - And don't try to look for me, I don't use the name "Anti" on hordes/ DV
W: What's a typically successful day in D2N for you?
A: A successful day is a fun day. A day I meet nice people or many distinctions. My best day on my 'career': It was Day 6. I was alone in the town. On Day 5 I was alone, too. That was my second LMS ^^
W: I see you're part of a coalition? How does that make any sense for you?
A: Sure. They are followers or friends. We support each other, most are distinction hunters.
- "B." is a nice guy I met on the german server...
- "M." is a follower. He always have an "Anti-joke" to post like "This thread is so anti-social!", if there is an "Anti"-thread with an appeal to shun me or something...
- "X." is my "roleplay-boyfriend". He don't have much time for die2nite, so he just supports me a little ^^
- "K." is very kind girl, who always keep us happy. ^_^
They all just want to have fun in every town and want to play as they want, so we fit together!
Atm they are in another town and have fun without Anti 
W: What would be your soundtrack to Die2Nite if you had to pick one?
A: Not to die2nite, but to all my towns!
FGFC820 - society
I don't need their condescension
I don't care what they do to me
I won't conform to their conventions
In this fucked up society
W: What other games do you play?
A: hordes, dieverdammten, kadokado, carapass, alphabounce, dinorpg... mainly MT games. Ah, and Guild Wars.
W: What's some of your funniest moments on Die2Nite?
A: In one town were very much ... 'unpolite' people. They started a flamethread and it ended with many warnings.
In my current town I was shunned 3 minutes after joining the town. That was funny
W: If you could come up with a new building, what would it be and what would it do?
A: "Chains of slavery"
Effects:
shunned can work in the workshop, but only:
All items from the town's garbage go immediately in the bank.
W: Is there a specific title on D2N that you're after?
A: The LMS-title!
Fortis
Workshop: Where and when did you hear of D2N and why are you still playing it?
Fortis: I saw D2N advertized on Urban Dead about 176 hero days ago. I am still playing because I enjoy the interaction, strategy, and watching the story unfold.
W: What's a typically successful day in D2N for you?
F: Coming back to town covered in gore with a full pack including at least my food for the next day. I knock down about 8 zombies per day. Helping someone get back to town is icing on the cake.
W: What's your pet hate in the game?
F: When the first can opener the town finds gets broken on a zombie. I would like to see it removed from the weapon category and placed in miscellaneous. Or how about risking infection if you miss and cut yourself? People that take can openers to fight zombies should die horrible in game deaths.
W: How is Season 3 treating you?
F: A 3000+ zombie welcoming committee showed up in my S2 carryover town while all the buildings got scrapped and we could hardly begin to rebuild them. You and I then had a fairly good town after that. My current town is from the Mega Meta jump. It has been great fun. I am really enjoying the mix of people and the blueprint requirements.
W: A tough one: if you had to pick a movie to symbolise your own personal experience of Die2Nite, what would it be?
F: Seven Samurai: poor village under attack by zombies recruits seven unemployed meta heroes to help them defend themselves.
W: What other games do you play?
F: On the computer, I enjoy turn-based strategy games with high replay value like Chess, Colonization, X-COM UFO Defense, and Alpha Centauri; also love RPGs like Wasteland, Fallout, and Planescape: Torment. I avoid blinky shooters. Left 4 Dead made me want to hurl.
W: What's some of your funniest moments on Die2Nite?
F: 1) Someone built a Hovel and everyone started raising a big stink and wanted blood. The hovel builder proceeded to build a lock and fence to block the gallows. He later held a jerry can hostage out in the desert and threatened to use a water purification tablet on it if anyone attacked him.
2) Someone came up short getting back to town. I found a can of food and could eat it back in town and drop some alcohol for him. The only can opener turned up missing. He had taken it outside. See pet hate above.
W: If you could come up with a new building, what would it be and what would it do?
F: Fargo Traders. It would allow you to have caravans to exchange goods between established towns. You want water and I need a lawn mower.
W: Is there a specific title on D2N that you're after?
F: Trusted Neighbor. I’d like to get on the boards at least once.
MichealRein
Workshop: What is your screen name all about?
MichealRein: When I was 13 or so, I had to come up with a name for some RP thing that I had joined. While I loathe what I did with the name originally, it's just a nice name that I use for (almost) every single account that I have. Though this has lead to problems, I've seen many "MichealRein"s on sites I've never been or want to go to.
W: Have you ever met an attractive zombie out there? Be honest!
MR: Sorry, not into that kind of stuff. I have other means of pleasure.
W: What's it like sleeping on a piece of cardboard or in a tent next to friends and strangers?
MR: It's actually rather comfortable. I can sleep, or at least, I can lie down and get comfortable, in almost any place. It's pretty useful for camping.
W: Why do you play Die2nite anyway?
MR: I think it's fun, and while I do think that fun has severely diminished during Season 3, it's not totally gone. I don't think I could really explain why I think it's fun, though.
W: If you had to pick an artwork to represent your experience of Die2nite, what would it be?
MR: 
W: Isn't Season 3 pretty good after all?
MR: There's a few good things, but they messed it up big time.
W: What's your favourite item in the game and why?
MR: Pocket Vibrator, or as it's now called, "Big Rubber D***"
Because that kind of stuff, I am into.
W: Do you play any other games?
MR: Quite a few.
For facebook games I play mousehunt and occasionally mafia wars.
For browser games I play Kingdom of Loathing near-religiously.
For full games I play Killing Floor and Team Fortress 2
Quent
Workshop: Now that we've all been able to give Season 3 a fair go... What do you think of the meta cap?
Quent: The idea of meta cap isn't bad itself. It follows the idea of the game: 40 strangers trapped in a town. Not "40 friends trapped in a town" and in fact being allowed to take 19 friends with you should be considered as a luxury.
The problem is the timing of when Meta Cap was introduced. We had beta, we had season 0, season 1 and season 2 - people got used to play in meta coalitions. People had enough time to make friendships and allies. And suddenly Motion Twin says STOP THAT.
The real question is: why didn't Motion Twin learn from French and German versions, which were released way before our version. Why did they allowed meta coalitions in the first place, if the already knew they didn't like them?
I feel like nobody would make any problems about meta cap if it was in the game since the beginning of English version.
As for me - personally - I have mixed feelings.
On the one hand I miss my friends from my Royal Flying Mowers meta. On the other hand - I've finally met some of the other great players from other metas that I always wanted to play with.
W: And of the new constructions and the whole blueprints thing?
Q: The idea of blueprints is great!
I must admit, the game in season 2 was becoming very repetitive, very predictable.
WT, ST, Def Focus and start collecting DOs as hard as you can - an ultimate recipe for success.
Now everything has changed. Instead of DOs we search for plans of buildings. Builders in town have a whole lot more things to do too.
Some people complain game has become just too much random. No way! It's random, sure. But think about it - isn't that a great way to prevent game from being repetitive? I mean it's random in a good way. It's not a coin toss: win/lose. It's about randomizing circumstances, varying starting parameters. It forces creativity, it forces new ideas for strategies.
People get some buildings, they don't get other buildings. And they have to adapt. That's right! Face an obstacle - adapt and defeat it. What's wrong about it?
W: What other games do you play?
Q: Wait, you mean there are other games besides die2nite???
I'm not really a gamer type, at least not anymore (Heroes 3 or Fallout 2 were my timeframes).
But most certainly I'm Flash games freak. And a big fan of independent developers games (like Machinarium or Penumbra).
Out of "big" games I like Star Craft 2, Team Fortress 2 and Left4Dead.
Currently I don't play any other browser based games besides Die2Nite. In the past I played postapocalyptic game with vampires, called Blood Wars - I stopped when I realized I was waking up at 3 AM to join my clan's siege...
Out of other Motion Twin games, I briefly tried My Brute and - a bit longer - Dino RPG, which was fun at first but the interaction with other players was virtually none. But thanks to an add on Dino RPG I've found Die2Nite, so I can waste even more of my time!
W: What's some of your funniest moments on Die2Nite?
Q: Hey, there is NOTHING funny in being eaten by zombies over and over again!
Well I guess it will have to be a recent event when we started a town with mega meta jump and a player with reputation of a griefer was shunned in 2 minutes after showing up.
It was also quite funny when I was trying to leave a random town and while I was walking into the desert I've found a large chest (the rare one). I had to travel all the way back to town to survive the midnight attack and get the distinction for the chest. I've barely made it alive, stupid chest found a perfect moment to show up!
Oh I've had lots of funny events, they happen all the time. It's hard to remember all of them.
W: Is there a specific title on D2N that you're after?
Q: I've always been after Distant Discoveries distinctions and every title that is connected with them. Currently I'm ranked 2nd if you look at number of Distant Discoveries. I could possibly have more but I'm not trying to get them at all cost, especially if my town would suffer. This is also the reason I still lack Expert Expedition which is incredibly hard to get - and it's not a good idea to try to get in coalition towns.
W: You've been a regular on the World Forums since the start. How do you like them?
Q: Well not since the start, to be exact. I joined the game in late December but I didn't use global forums much for first couple of weeks.
As every Internet forum, World Forums have some pros and cons.
The most noticeable are of course technical difficulties, like lack of search function or edit button - which seem like a basic standard functionality on every forum on the internet.
For me, die2nite forums users are divided in 3 groups:
1. Newbies, people starting the game and having lots of questions on how things work. They use the Help forum.
2. Advanced players, people who already know the game. They don't have to ask questions and have lots of ideas and suggestions on how to make things even better. They use Discussion forum.
3. Die2Nite addicts, veterans who don't have to ask newbie questions in Help forum. They also already know there is no point in posting on Discussion forum, as nobody reads it anyway. So they just sit in Saloon and spam all day long!
OK, seriously - d2n world forums is a great place full of great, helpful people. And if some aren't helpful, they are entertaining at least.
W: If you had to pick a celebrity as a symbol of your D2N experience, who would you pick and why?
Q: The Crow. Definitely The Crow.
Andaho
Workshop: How did you hear about Die2Nite and what did you expect to find the first time you had a look?
Andaho: I used to play a browser game called Ikariam, and I kept in touch with a few people from that on msn... One of them told me about the Die2Nite beta and sent me an invite... I loved the idea of getting involved in a game from the very start (The friend who invited me quit playing before it even came out of beta lol)
W: What made you stick around?
A: The community and the people
W: Do you think it's a game you can win or finish or beat?
A: I always thought how if the game was single player (and you controlled 40 people yourself) it would have no replay value and be easy to beat... It's the involvement of the town working together that makes Die2Nite a truly unique and original game.
However, having said that, Season 3, with having to find blueprints and so many new buildings, would even be a challenge if it were single player... I still find it disappointing that a 40-person alliance cannot meet the new challenges as a complete team.
From how Season 2 was, I understand the reasons for MotionTwin to implement a cap... But I think they solved the issue of 'unbeatable teams' by the random aspects added by Season 3, and I feel the cap is unnecessary and takes away some of the core value of the game that makes it unique...
Sorry, I had to say something about the cap somewhere
W: You are the creator of die2nite.net. Congratulations as it truly looks wonderful and is a wonderful addition for the community. Was it hard work?
A: Thanks
I'd never created a forum before, or made a website for several years... When I saw the domain die2nite.net was available I thought it was the perfect opportunity, so I registered it and learned how to set up a forum.
As a learning process for me (and feeling like I'm an old dog trying to learn new tricks), it was a lot of work!... If I was going to set up another forum now I could literally do it in a fraction of the time, so I've learned a lot and had fun doing it.
I still don't think it's quite a success yet... I've got loads of ideas to make it more functional and give people more reason to visit, but I've already been pushing my limit on technical expertise...
One of my most ambitious ideas is to create a die2nite app which would record daily stats and progress of your town by automatically posting in the "Town Gazette" forum... I think it's only natural for people to like to see, in detail, how their competition is doing, and also brag about how well their town is doing.
But ultimately, it's the people that make a forum successful.
W: Can you please share a fond memory of playing the game with us?
A: My favourite memories of the game were when learning it... the discussions and arguments... proving people wrong, and being proved wrong myself dozens of times
Menacing Prairies or Coast of Autumn, both in Season 1, were my favourite towns... we had everything, loads of dramas, massive arguments, people threatening to suicide, but overall, we came out being a very successful town and hilariously strange people like Vhirvela made the experience very memorable
W: When should [residents] be hanged?
A: Never. I think shunning grievers is enough... if someone wants to play the menace; talk to them, convince them this is going to be an awesome town, get them motivated to help again, and forgive and forget their silly moments.
W: Do you think English players should get a new, special "riot" button in game?
A: LOL
I went to pick up my free laptop at PC World the other day, but apparently the offer was only available in Tottenham last weekend.
W: Besides die2nite.net, what is your proudest achievement in Die2Nite?
A: Trusted Neighbour x4 - being a part of those towns was awesome.
W: Who would you never camp with?
A: It seems like I'll never camp on my own! LOL... I still haven't had the oppertunity to try out camping yet!
Annette
Workshop: How does it feel to be amongst the top of just about every citizens list in every town you go to? I'm used to being at the bottom and I like it a lot. Less conspicuous...
Annette: It's handy! The less scrolling the better! I've always been at the top of these lists, my surname starts with a 'B'. No sneaking in late to class for me!
W: You have been pretty much in charge of one of the greatest Metas in Die2Nite (you finished 2nd in Season 1 and 3rd in Season 2!). Was it just an excuse to make up more spreadsheets?
A: The meta is great because of you guys. Thank you for your support, always.
While I adore spreadsheets I don't make that many. I am Fodgycake's and Spacekadt's protege spreadsheet princess they are the queens!
W: How is the meta cap treating you? I heard you've had some charming encounters in your "MegaMeta" town?
A: Charming is one way to put it. It was fun to meat locker our first victim! Almost as fun as our first hanging in Ghoulish Inn, that was very exciting. There are not many games you can play with someone is totally frustrating and one of the solutions is to kill them off!
I am enjoying the random aspect of season 3, the luck, and mostly I enjoy meeting the new people. We all became so insular in our 40 person metas, only letting a chosen few each town, it wasn't very conducive community building and was very exclusive.
W: Speaking of which, you were also one of the leaders of the MegaMeta things. Congrats, you must be proud of the results. What's the most exciting thing about it for you?
A: Thank you! I wanted to help the community make season 3 work. What's been exciting is learning from Fodgy and Spacey and getting to know them better. I think the jumps have mostly resulted in an interesting experience and if they've not been interesting or fun for some, our towns only live around two weeks now so we can try again very soon! It's not a given any longer that the same 120 people will take the top spots, I find that exciting. And, I don't expect my team to win! I always learn more when I lose. But, I won't give up trying!
W: What other games do you play?
A: I love Resident Evil 5! It's all about teamwork and it has that quirky Resident Evil humour and dialogue - it's so bad it's good. : ) I really enjoyed Red Dead Redemption and Borderlands as well.
W: What's some of your funniest moments on Die2Nite?
A: It has to be some of our IRC chat conversations. My favourite being Rulesy describing how disgusted he was after scraping cat poop off of his lawn mower and Taalen patiently arguing the nature of cats. I have that conversation saved for safekeeping and will cherish it. It goes right back to the people in the game, the relationships we build. Even when we act like married couples and bicker back and forth.
W: Is there a specific title on D2N that you're after?
A: My new favourite is Guinea Pig!
W: You've been a regular on the World Forums since the start. How do you like them?
A: The World Forums have changed quite a bit. They are warmer now than in the beginning. There's a bit more joking around and not so much serious trash talk. So, I like them! Our oracles really help make it a nicer place to be. The Crow too is showing its humorous and playful side.
W: If you had to pick a song as a symbol of your D2N experience, who would you pick and why?
A: Caged Elephant's Ain't No Rest for the Wicked because in a serious meta town I don't rest but I still love it.
Thank you!
Bobdisgea 
iDare
