Interviews with History

August 21, 2014

Hello everyone, Tankers, and welcome to the first out of eight episodes of: "Interviews with History"!
Every Monday, starting from 25 August 2014 to 13 October 2014, we will publish a new episode.

The aim of this project is to share, with all the members of this great Community, information and histories of the historical - the oldest and still active - Staff members.
They started as users many years ago, and step by step they made the English Community a great place for everyone thanks to their effort, we all should be grateful to them, and enjoy our time reading all what they have to tell us about themselves and about what Tanki Online means for them!

List of interviewed Staff members:

The place to share your opinions, give feedbacks and ask questions about Tanki Online can be found here: Let's discuss "Interviews with History".

August 21, 2014

CHAT ADMINISTRATOR - @Shar0n

The user we are going to interview today is @Shar0n, EN Community Chat Administrator.
You will be able to view his own Garage items from this link: shar0n - Tanki Online Garage.

Q: When did you start playing? How were your first months in the Game?
A: I started playing about 3 years ago, it wasn't more than just a game for a long time. I didn't know that there was a huge community behind it. Once I took a closer look and got to meet it, I couldn't help not to take interest in it.
As a player I was more about just playing than anything else, simply enjoyed the game, wasn't even using chat much and I've never been active much on forum up until recently, since it's also a part of my current job.

Q: How and when did you join the Staff? How was your climb up to your actual position?
A: I had a long way and many jobs during those 3 years, at first, as I said before, I wasn't interested until one day I've decided to apply for consultant's job and started working in March 2013, and short time later I've been asked to help with cybersport (TOF organization), Facebook, and to work as a translator for creative league which were short side jobs, At the end of January this year was accepted as a candidate mod after working for almost a year as a consultant and then at first July got to be a chat mod Admin.
I always liked being a part of the community, we sure have a great community here and it just gets better :)

Q: Which goals did you achive as of now? Which one you still want to try to achive? Which goals have you failed to achive so far?
A: I guess that being helpful and actually make necessary changes was and still is my goal.
I don't consider different jobs as an achievement, every job in tanki is important and needed.
It was never a goal, but an interesting fact is that I had the biggest number of special paints :P

Q: Which is your best combination?
A: One combo that was always addictive for me is hornet and rail, generally I like almost everything.

Q: What is your preferred quote?
A: Have many that I like, depends on the mood and the situation :D

Q: Do you have any advice for players?
A: Enjoy, play fair and remember that this is just a game :)

August 21, 2014

CHAT MODERATOR - @UwH_BPL

The user we are going to interview today is @UwH_BPL, EN Community Chat Moderator.
You will be able to view his own Garage items in the video below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxPWN4AboAo

Q: How did you find Tanki Online? How were your first months in the Game?
A: I came to Tanki Online at the end of 2011, by following an advertisement made by a player in a game I previously played, Minions, which was a 2D multiplayers tank flash game.
I found this game nice, especially because I did not have anything to install on my computer. I tried many turrets and hulls, and spent a lot of time with Wasp-Railgun or Hornet-Isida combinations. I always found the CTF mode interesting because I like the teamwork.
I was playing alone since the friend system did not exist yet, but then I met other French players and went into the clan I'm still in.

Q: How and when did you join the Staff? Which are your thoughts about moderating an Online Game?
A: I applied to become a Chat Moderator one year after starting to play Tanki Online.
I've been a Moderator for 1,5 year now.
I love to play Tanki, this is one of my hobbies, but I don't want to spend all my time moderating. That's why I did not become Admin or other functions in TO. I'm just a player who loves seeing that everybody is able to play fairly, with respect for the others.
That is my main motivation to stay as a Moderator. The Moderators' team of the English Community is made of nice people, definitely. All the Moderators have something to say to a candidate when he finishes his/her candidacy period: that insures the team is happy to work together.
Working and/or playing with so many different people from different countries is an incredible experience. I do not have many contacts with Russians, except Semyon, but it could be nice to have more relationship with them.
Unfortunately, some of them do not speak English, and I do not speak Russian.

Q: Which goals did you achive as of now? Which one you still want to try to achive? Which goals have you failed to achive so far?
A: Well, my main goal was, and still is, to have fun playing Tanki. The hardest goal is to build a good team to win some tournaments with the Clan.
The French community is growing, and some players succeed in staying and train to be as good as players of others Clans.
Probably failed goals… well, I would be happy if, one day, Moderators would become useless and everybody could be able to talk to each other with respect, and nobody would try to steal accounts… but this is utopia.

Q: Which is your best combination? Which is your favourite map?
A: My best combination is hard to define because I like Isida, Shaft, Railgun, Firebird, Wasp, Hornet, Viking, and of course Alligator paint :D
My favourite map is Kungur, because I ranked up to Generalissimo in it.

Q: What is your preferred quote?
A: My preferred quote is a sentence from Raymond Devos, a French humorist/poet : "ce qui n'arrive qu'à moi n'arrive qu'aux autres" (What happens only to me happens, only happens to the others).

Q: Do you have any advice for players?
A: Have fun, only fun. This is a game, stay classy.

August 21, 2014

CHAT ADMINISTRATOR -

The user we are going to interview today is , EN Community Chat Administrator.

You will be able to view a great introduction in the video below, showing past and present highlights of its Tanki Online career:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bio-5QBhm2s

Q: Why did you join Tanki Online? Which were your first opinions? How were your first months in the Game?

A: I joined the game because I found an idea of Flash 3D game, playable in browser without any additional downloads or payments pretty interesting. Graphics left much to be desired, but the game had its charm from the start. I wasn't hooked immediately, and wasn't playing regularly at first, but after some 6-8 months into a game, when I bought m3 freeze, I did start playing every day, and for hours... that really hasn't changed for years! I met most of my Tanki friends in those days, years ago - I admired their skills and attitude in the battle and I really learned a lot from them. Among other things, they taught me Russian :)

Q: How did you join the Staff? How was your climb up to your actual position? Which are your projects as an Admin?

A: Applying for a mod was almost done on a whim - I saw that moderators are needed, and at that time I was fed up with players that were selfishly joining battles just in order to collect crystals. I wasn't even aware of the chat at that time, I was spending hours in the battles and I expected that my job will consist only of monitoring them. I guess I overlooked a word “chat” in the position title :D And since chat itself was a completely new "battlefield" for me, it took me first 4-5 months just to get used to it. It was interesting, getting to know players and talking with them - that was the time when I start getting a lot of feedback about our job plus an idea about how players perceive moderators, what they generally think about moderating and how we can improve the quality of it... those are still shaping the way that I work. As an admin, I'm trying to make a friendly and relaxed atmosphere not just among my mods, but also between mods and players. I prefer to consult with others before I make a decision, I do not have an attitude of a boss, more like the first of the equals. I’m trying to let players know that we're interested in their opinion, we want their feedback, and we'll try our best to meet their needs since we (the staff) are players as well. We just have a lot of responsibility - mostly to make gaming on Tanki as fun and as enjoyable for others as we can.

Oh, and I didn’t know anyone from EN staff when I applied for mod. I played and socialised only with Russian players by then, so I really didn’t know that there is such a thing called EN community. Older mods used to laugh about it – I remember that Miz teased koolwalky that I never even heard of him… Someone might say that it was a disadvantage, but I prefer to think that it gave me a fresh look and an unbiased approach to moderating.

Q: Which is your best combination? Which are your favourite maps?

A: Back then, at the beginning, it was all about viking+thunder for me. At some point, around the rank of Major I switched to freeze, and started playing mainly in Kungur, Iran, Hill, Combe, Highland, Fort Knox and Serpuhov. Since my style of playing is aggressive and I was always going for the flag, viking was slowing me down and as soon as I could, I replaced him with a hornet. Since then I'm playing with the same combo, even though freeze is nerfed beyond recognition now… And I miss the old maps, especially the way Kungur looked and felt, but even though it went through a lot of changes, it's still my favourite. Apart from Kungur, these days I mostly play in Sandbox, Red Alert, Fort Knox & Edinburgh, Iran, Bobruisk and Serpuhov.

Q: What sort of gameplay do you normally get involved in? What do you normally look for when you join a battle?

A: I always preferred non-drug battles. On my home server Russian players never drugged, not even when they could – except in Iran – so I’m used not to drug during the battle. I never learned how to drug properly, and I’m a noob at it even now :D And yes, I’m mostly playing pro battles.

As for the battles themselves, I’m picking those where my friends are – I know their way of playing, their way of thinking, their weaknesses and strengths, so I know what to expect from them and we make a good team. We are playing for years now, anyway :) Sometimes I like to join the battle where the weaker team is struggling and losing heavily, I want to help them turn the tide.

Q: Is it true that you never had a rail in your garage?

A: Yup, completely true :D It was always too slow of a weapon for my liking, since I want an instantaneous response. I admired my friends’ skills and their abilities with it, sure – that was the time of Mosquito battles – but I was never tempted to buy it, even after the rebalance. The same goes for shaft.

I did play with the rail though, twice in my Tanki career, on my alt acc... but that is another story ;)

Q: What is your preferred quote?

A: "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it" - Terry Pratchett

Q: What type of hobbies do you like? What do you do in your private life? Where are you from?

A: I already replied to those questions in various forum topics and interviews, for example:

Q: So you like to cook/eat? What is your favourite type of food?

A: I love pastry, in all shapes and sizes! In everyday life, I prefer sea food, pasta dishes, fresh herbs, creamy deserts (like tiramisu)… but generally I love food and I’m always willing to try different dishes. The only food I really cannot digest is spicy (hot) one.

Q: Do you have any advice for players?

A: Most players already found their interest in this game - whether it's playing with friends, building rating, going after the full garage or something else, they already know what they want, so I really do not see what kind of advice I can give them. The only thing that I can suggest is that they should play, the more the better, over and over and over again. I mostly miss playing, since I do not have much time for it these days, so maybe that's why :) Chatting can be all fine and dandy, but battling is what this game is all about.

Q: What would you like to see in Tanki in the near future? What would you like the community to be like?

A: I'd like to see more representatives of EN community in the office of TO, one day – that would be interesting :)

The thing I like about EN community is that it's in fact not English at all - it’s a multicultural, multinational, multilingual community… I wish it’s more unified, that more work is invested in the community as a whole, I wish to define its best traits and put them in the foreground. I wish to see more understanding between staff members and the players - it would be ideal if they are able to talk and work together more, to bring the community closer together. Maybe I sound too much like a dreamer and a utopian right now, but I don't know, we’ll see…

August 21, 2014

Interview deleted - sorry for the inconvenience, but there were not enough arguments to be posted.

August 21, 2014

REPORTER - @Tommy60

Q: Due to the person I'm going to interview and his long story to be told, I preferred to keep an open format - he will speak about himself freely, without following the Q&A format.

Hey! Thanks for having me – I’ve never been interviewed before :)

Like I’ve said in other places, I joined Tanki after a little hesitation in early 2010. I saw a banner for it on a Lego fan forum I used to frequent in February of that year, and I poked around the site for a little while, and finally decided to make an account after a week or two. At first, I was like any novice- just trying to figure my way around everything. It was easier then, though, since there were just 200,000 players at the time, most being Russian. The English community was tiny and close-knit, and the forum only had a General, Rule, and Violator section, and later an off-topic one as well. The game itself was fun, though I remember never being able to find a battle that did not have M3 Dictator-M3 Railgun combo on the opposing team, and that they could somehow shoot through walls on the very common Fort Knox map. So, that was a nuisance. I socialized with whoever I could, but that wasn’t much, seeing as there were no separate English speaking game chats, so most of what I read from other players were in Russian. I already had a taste for the culture and language, and my exposure there just helped me push my desires along. Later on, I joined the first actual English clan, PhantomMeat’s, and later, I started a poll which ultimately led to the creation of the English contest section, so all of you winners are welcome for that ( ;) ) . And I also made the first article for the English Newspaper, and started that off, too. So, I was able to get a few things going, which have all ended up shaping my position in Tanki today, and I’m not regretful of anything I’ve done.

My staff and team positions are as follows: Reporter for the Tanki English Newspaper, SLTV English News Translator and Proofreader, Tanki Online Tutorials English translator, and manager for NooBest’s official Facebook page. I’m also assisting in training a hired English commentator, who will be popping up in the English SLTV streams in a few weeks or so. My oldest position was in the role of Reporter. There, in the first few issues, I clashed with my direct administration a few times over varying matters. Those eventually sorted themselves out though, so no matter. I never tried ‘raising up on the ladder,’ because of my time commitment to things offline (which was and still is a great deal). I resolved only to accept or offer to take a new position that could somehow teach me to think in a different way, experience new people, or just give me an educational and intriguing experience overall. I’ve taken the initiative in getting many of my current roles helping the project, and so far, it’s only been a positive experience for me- I love working with the people I do. It’s truly a privilege I cherish and am very thankful for. (And oh, I also starred for about 10 seconds on the 1.2 + million – view Russian rap video for Tanki Online – you can find it on the official (non-English) Tankionline YouTube channel, under ‘popular uploads.’ I look a bit different now than I did then, mind you! :) )

Most of my work deadlines are fairly lax, so fitting them in with my schedule turns out well unless I get ‘sort of’ backlogged, which admittedly does happen every once in a while. The only concrete deadlines on my agenda are those of the paper, with its being a monthly publication and all. It’s fun though!

Upon joining Tanki nearly 5 years ago, I can confidently say I had no goals whatsoever when I made this one and only account of mine- I was a bored kid in front of a computer! So, when I started realizing all the opportunities open me in this developing community, I strove to do the best I could with what I could handle, and try to do them in ways that would help me become a better person. A bit lofty for an online game, but not impossible. :) I am always learning new things here on my jobs, and making new acquaintances is always a highlight of my day. In terms of failed goals, I’d have to say learning fluent Russian- it’s rather difficult to be taking the school schedule which I do, which includes Spanish classes, while trying to cram another tongue from another continent down my throat. I’m learning the beautiful language slowly, though, so it’ll work out in the end. I want to study it in a university, and earn a minor in Russian Language and Culture. So, that was more of a postponed goal than anything else.

Before the rebalances of a few years ago, my favorite combo was, by far, Viking and Thunder, on mostly any map. It was a versatile and powerful combination, especially when used with a nice set of drugs)) However, after Tanki HQ has done everything they have to the game, I believe my favorite tank combination nowadays is Wasp and Hornet, and occasionally Thunder and Dictator; the former for XP-BP battles, which I spend most of my in-game time participating in.

I don’t have a particular, favorite quote- the sum of human intellect and truth gathered for thousands of years is far too much to be fairly summed up into a sentence or two, so I won’t try to.

My advice to readers: So often do I encounter people who wish to talk to me solely because of my position in the staff and connections with the upper levels of the Russian community. They all want to take a picture of me in some paint or another that I’ve earned through my work, and promptly ask me how they might begin to ‘follow in my footsteps.’ Just don’t. Don’t do that, please- I’m a real person, not just a tool. Though I’d love to help anyone in any way I can, I am not going to ‘give’ anyone anything. This is a capitalistic community here in Tanki- what you want, you must earn, by some manner or another. Just keep it legal, and don’t be upset if things don’t work out for you- it’s all just a game here anyway. Keep it like that, and don’t get addicted. This is an amazing cultural privilege, guys- don’t miss the chances you have to socialize and learn about peoples, cultures, and ideas that you never would have had the chance of getting to know without this wonderful gift of the Internet!

My only personal plea is pointless to make- I wish the game would return to how it was 4 years ago- the usual, loveable game graphics, good game balance, and enjoyable play for everyone. Only once in these past 2 years have I seen a 4 X 4 DikoRelya battle on Sandbox- those used to be more common than XP battles will ever be.

Thanks for having me!

See you in the battle!

- Tommy60

August 21, 2014

CONSULTANTS' AND FACEBOOK ADMINISTRATOR - @FederalBureauFBI

Today's interviewee is none other than @FederalBureauFBI, often called just FBI or Feddy. He's been in the community for as long as most players can remember, and has contributed much to our community.

Q: How did you discover Tanki? What were your first months in the game like? First impressions?
A: I still remember that day, a friend told me about Tanki and kept pushing me to create an account. He was actually the first one to explain me how things work, how to rank up, get crystals etc. while he didn't stop repeating how high rank he is (he was a WO3 at that time but to me it was a lot :D). At the end I decided to check the game and the first thing I noticed was that it had a specially dedicated site - all the other Flash-browser games I've played were all in one site and were usually really simple and not really something you'd want to play every day. I registered and went to my first battle, played a bit with my green Smoky-Wasp and left. Later, I checked the homepage again and saw the gameplay video which at that time was this one - that actually showed me that the game is way more than my first battle - there are many more guns, maps and so on. So I decided I want to get Thunder, it was my dream. So I kept ranking up, saving crystals, even bought some with SMS (which was my first money-spending for a game). Then I discovered the forum and the awesome community and its members (some of the best of them have left, sadly). I kept playing and browsing the forum, took part in some contests, later joined the staff..and here I am now :)

Q: When did you join Staff? How was your journey to your current position? What do you do most of?
A: Alright, I usually prefer to be accurate, I know it may sound boring, but fact is I just love numbers. So here are the numbers concerning my staff journey:
It all started in summer 2012, most of you probably remember our first Cybersport channel - it was originally created for the start of the Tanki World Cup and was based on Livestream. The channel itself was embedded to a special page in the Tanki site and players were watching the battles played for the World Cup from there. An interesting thing is at that time spectator mode was not yet available and Bruce was just running with a white Hornet-Shaft across the map to follow what's going on :lol: - and this is what was being streamed on the channel, together with some commentary done by him or other selected players. When there were no battles, the channel was having radio shows with DJs playing music and chatting with players who are watching (there was a chat under the channel) - that's actually where it all started for me, on 24.May 2012 I was made a moderator of this chat.
Some months later, after spending much time in forum helping players and answering questions, on 4.September 2012 I was asked if I'd like to become a consultant candidate, and I accepted. At first it was a bit difficult, but I managed to pass the candidacy and become a full consultant. On 22.October 2012 I also became a moderator of Tanki's Facebook page, where I had to remove offensive posts and help players. After a long time, I decided that I'd like to do something more in forum, also at that time there was critical need for forum mods, there was only Nick who was active enough, so I applied and 3 days later, on 16.August 2013 I became a forum moderator. Later there was also need of a new administrator of the consultants group, so on 25.September 2013 I was given this chance. After some time as Consultants' admin, I realized that the current chat mods who deal with consultants' reports are overworked and they need help, i.e. I asked if I can get chat powers to help with reports and on 17.February 2014 got them. And my most recent attempt to help the community and the staff team was on 11.March 2014, when I became Facebook mods' admin. What do I do most of? - I'd say admin work, afterall this is my main task, I'm checking consultants/FB mods' needs daily, check applications submitted by players, deal with reports, etc. I'm left with a little time to moderate forum, but I'm doing it when I can, aswell as help forum mods when needed. That's my "staff" story in short, I wish any player could experience that since the feeling is great - to work with awesome people, while helping the community. So if you want to be a part of it, you meet the requirements, and you're sure you can handle it - just apply and we'll be happy to work with you :)

Q: Which goals have you achieved, and which are you still shooting for? Any failed ones?
A: My dream has always been someday to get a real job in AlternativaPlatform and help the game more than I do now. Though it's not going to be easy, if possible at all, I'm still and will always be aiming for it.
Failed..well, long time ago I swore to someone that by the end of this year I'll be Generalissimo but..I guess I've failed :lol:

Q: What is your combo? Your map?
A: My favorite combo has always been Thunder-Viking, even after the rebalance and the physics update. I love Thunder's splash damage and its ability to self-destruct without pressing Del, as for Viking, the design is just epic. For paint - well, it's from case to case, depending on what bad guys are there in the battle, for example, I really like Picasso and it has good protection against several guns, and MUed it's awesome. Buuut I'll always think that Thunder-Viking-Microchip is best :ph34r:
Map - Silence, Monte Carlo, Boombox (my first battle :wub: ), Sandbox, Kungur, Madness. If I have to choose - Silence, even though the original Silence II was better to me, I still like it even today and it's my favorite.

Q: What is your preferred quote?
A: "A man who wants to do something will find a way; a man who doesn’t will find an excuse." :)

Q: Do you have any advice you'd like to share with the players?
A: Risking to sound banal and possibly get some more haters - my advice is: Follow the rules. 95% of them exist in real life too and we follow them, so let's do the same here. We just need to, there's no other way.

Play Tanki, be nice with eachother and have fun - and things will be great :)

August 21, 2014

FORUMS ADMINISTRATOR - @Yele

This time we are interviewing @Yele, the undeniable source of energy behind the forums and many other aspects of Tanki.

Q: How did you discover Tanki? What were your first months in the game like? First impressions?
A: I discovered it accidentally - I saw a banner and entered. At first everything was confusing; what are these falling boxes? Sometimes I would pick them up, but I would always avoide Double Damage, as the image of the skull was rather frightening.
For a long time I could not understand what "drugs" were, and why players keep saying "leave mult", I think I stayed because I always want to understand things completely.

Q: When did you join Staff? How was your journey to your current position? What do you do most of?
A: I had many questions, but few answers - I would write to the the Moderators but never get a reply (neither Russian nor English ones), and so I submited my application, and was accepted as a candidate in August. Slowly I was gaining experience, and soon became a Moderator of the Violators section. Two years after that I became the Administrator of the English forum and the Administrator of the violations (Game violators group)

Q: Which goals have you achieved, and which are you still shooting for? Any failed ones? What is your combo? Your map?
A: There have been many changes in the game, and I didn't set any goals to reach some position or status. I always wanted to help players; if someone would have to be punished to achieve that, I would do so with the sole intention of allowing the other players to participate in a fair and even game. We are doing a lot to reach that goal, but have not reached it fully just yet - to insure that the game is fair for everyone.

My combos change a lot; I play with pretty much all hulls and turrets, but I prefer Viking and Smoky, though I like Thunder as well. Lately I've really started enjoying Hornet Rail battles.

Q: What is your preferred quote?
A: I've already grown out of the age where I worry about what others think of me... Now I can let others worry about what I think of them.

Q: Do you have any advice you'd like to share with the players?
A: I would like to remind everyone that this is a game - be kinder to noobs, respect your opponents, smile more and enjoy yourself in chat, and the time you spend in TO will become truly fun and positive.

September 22, 2014

Sorry, this interview won't be posted after all, since both the interviewer and interviewee are too busy with their duties in Tanki and in real life.

Stay tuned, maybe we'll come back to it eventually...

Challenge	Start Date	End Date
1	15.08	29.08
2	29.08	05.09
3	05.09	12.09
4	12.09	19.09
5	19.09	26.09
6	26.09	3.10
7	3.10	10.10
8	10.10	17.10

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