MonMarty

• In-game Username: MonMarty
• Public in-game Alts: MunMerti, KadeGod
• Departments: Lore 3 (lead), World 3 (lead), Direction 3
• Staff since: Before 2012-09-01 (probably a few months) The date is uncertain because the member history does not count that far back.

Hello! My real name is Martijn van Duijnhoven, 25 years of age, though obviously most of you know me by MonMarty. Or in some cases the Supreme Dark Overlord of MassiveCraft. I've been around MassiveCraft since a very long time (the actual date I first appeared I cannot even remember) after a friend of mine recommended this server. I applied for staff within two weeks of playing and racked up ranks after that, which would eventually lead to becoming the lead staff for two departments and member of the Direction staff. Nowadays I mostly overlook large projects like Regalia, Server Lore, Staff cohesion and cooperation and problem solution within the staff's communication channels. I am also responsible for overlooking the complaints section, and supervising the forum. Together with Babayonce I run the noble roleplay scene, am a world creator (notably for the worlds Kelmoria, New Ceardia and Teled Methen) and do a lot of building as well for the server. I usually float around the Massive Teamspeak in differing channels all the time, and mostly spend my time on the server working.

And now some more about myself personally. I was born in the Netherlands as a Dutch citizen and lived there for the better part of my life up until 5 years ago. I was raised bilingual (English and Dutch) largely due to early exposure to the computer at the age of 4, and I went to a local primary school, progressed onto high school and then moved on to college at the age of 17. That was admittedly the worst mistake in my life as I picked the wrong study at the wrong time. I did 2 years of IT study until I abandoned that education, before I switched to CMD which stands for Communication Multimedia Design, which I only did 2 years as well before I quit. Despite the fact that I never passed a bachelors degree for either study, they equipped me with the necessary skills within community and multimedia, as well as leading properties in a project oriented environment. When I quit my college education, I worked for TNT, the national Dutch Postal Service and a local fine pastry producer. For the better part of the period between quitting my CMD study and moving to Norway, I was also self employed at home as in-house nurse to my mother who suffered stage 3 terminal breast cancer. My mother passed away November 2012, after which I semi-permanently moved to Norway February 2013 to live with my SO.

I've been living in Norway since with a few periods of weeks in between where I travel back to the Netherlands to visit my family. In the past five years, I've seriously picked up artwork as a hobby and profession, most of you have probably already seen my art on the website/wiki/forum and my shop, and I plan to eventually set up a company here in Norway to support me with an income. I'm planning on getting a dog after I do, and then eventually strive for Norwegian citizenship to really permanently settle here. Nowadays most of my days are spent with working on massive in the morning, drawing in the afternoon, and relaxing with friends on smite or game later at night. I'm also self teaching cooking, most notably Asian dishes and bread baking.

Will accept questions: Yes

 

1. Havo with CM, Cultuur Maatschappelijke vorming. I think that system was done away with when I left high school so you may not be familiar with the "paketten" anymore, but it basically contained Frans 2, Aardrijkskunde, Engels, Nederlands, Rekenen A1, Duits 1 (alleen derde jaar), kunstgeschiedenis en *whatever word you use to describe art classes, I don't remember*, gym, natuurkunde, biologie (een jaar) and some other junk that I can't remember either anymore since it was nearly 6 years ago that I left high school.
2. Frikandel met Hela curry ketchup. Geen ranzige uitjes of mayonaise.

 

How to Marty Q&A
I decided to write a little stub because some people haven't gotten used to the more peculiar trends in my communication/behavior that some people ought to know to avoid getting a wrong impression.

• I routinely ignore player messages when I am building unless it is urgent.
  • This has nothing to do with the players in question, I just really hate taking my hands off the building and writing down a message. When I am drawing or building, I want to finish my work in one sitting, and I hate constantly being interrupted from my working flow because of a conversation. This may often seem obvious on a stream, but I tend to do it to everyone equally, so don't take it personal please.
• I hate questions that start with "Can I ask you a question"
  • My first internal response is always: "Bitch didn't you just already ask me one". My external response is: "Please ask your question straight away". I'm staff, I'm here to help you where I can, and life becomes easier for both of us if you don't have to wait for confirmation to ask your question and I don't have to give that confirmation before I finally receive the question you need. I know it's courteous to ask beforehand but fuck courtesy. I want efficiency.
• You can speak to me either in Dutch or English.
  • I speak both with native fluency. You can additionally also talk to me in Norwegian or German and in some cases even French, the former two I can speak relatively well and read almost perfectly but much with French, my ability to respond is minimal.
• I love hearing comments about my artwork/buildings.
  • I get the general notion people are intimidated by me and don't want to come off as ass-kissers by complimenting my work, but that often causes my work to exist in a bubble of isolation where I see other artists receive lots of love and comments and my art threads are usually barren. I don't consider compliments or comments on my artwork or buildings ass-kissing.
• I don't really do personal requests on anything anymore.
  • I sometimes build for friends or do free artwork for them, but that's friend service. Don't take it personal if I reject you or ignore your request, I just don't have the time.
• I usually hang out at the Mithril Teamspeak but I keep myself tabbed into the Massive TS as well.
  • The Mithril Teamspeak has an "open door ; we ban you if you annoying" policy. You can usually get the contact deets from most Mithril members and we are pretty open to newcomers there. Just try to be courteous with microphone usage and insertion into an established friends group, but I am reachable for most people on either Teamspeak. BE AWARE! I have notifications turned off on Teamspeak. I may not see your message if you PM me.
• I often forget Skype messages.
  • One of my biggest weaknesses. I receive updates on about 24 skype chats per day, some of which have hundreds of messages. People asking specific things can sometimes be washed away. It is no crime to remind me. I am never annoyed at anyone reminding me to do something I promised to do.
• You can usually ask/inquire about anything over Forum PM.
  • I get stingy when it comes to replying to lore implementation requests and such when they happen in public but I'm a lot more open and expansive in Forum PM purely because I believe the public eye is used to impart social pressure, which I am totally not a fan of. You can discuss most server related topics with me over forum PM and I will always endeavor to give a response within a few days.
• "Marty hates me".
  • I hear/see people say this a lot. It may sound cruel, but the reality is more like "Marty barely notices you exist". I'm a fan of the life quote: "The secret to being happy is to delight in the absurd, repress the irritating, and keep good wine close at hand." - a quote from Civ: Beyond Earth, Elodie (wonderful screenwriting). What that basically implies is that I don't have time for irritating people. I want to keep my mind on doing productive things and regressing into a state of irritation towards people who supposedly do wrong is not my cup of tea. You may occasionally catch me bitching about X Y Z, but we all do that. The end point of the matter is, if you think I actually go out of my way to make your life difficult or to acknowledge someone as a problem, you're probably overestimating your own presence. I forget names as quickly as I forget "crimes". Again don't take that personal. I deal with hundreds of people.
• "Marty rewards his friends with privilege and those who he dislikes never get anywhere."
  • Shortly said. Yeah. Totally. And, woah, "But what about corruption minimalism marty!!"!!!xdD". Well here's the thing a lot of people conveniently ignore when this equation comes to light: context, context, context. I believe fully in the holy principle of meritocracy, the idea that good things befall to people who can prove experience, dedication and work ethic over people who do nothing, or do the exact opposite of sabotage. I like to surround myself with competent people, people who are reliable, people who are effective and productive and spend less time wallowing in self pity. It just so happens to be the case, as such, that people who are deserving of rewards and legs up, happen to become my friends, or vice versa, become deserving as they become more productive by being my friend. If I see a person provide a role play service that entertains 40 people, I will easily within a finger snap grant that person a special building or right that others do not have that will allow them to double or triple the amount of players that benefit from their entertainment provision. It just so happens to be the case that the majority of people who do this tend to gravity around my presence, because I choose to be in their presence. Alternatively, I encourage and try to mentor people around me to become ambitious and to move up in this community, thus becoming deserving of that leg up when they do turn in work that benefits everyone. Good things happen to Marty's Friends? Well maybe that's because Marty inherently likes to make friends with helpful, competent people, or encourage his existing friends to strive for self improvement and ambition. On the subject of people that I dislike: I inherently have no real dislike of anyone. I may find specific individuals irritable or intolerable to be around, but I never really go out of my way to bar anyone from anything, as long as I do not assess someone as a risk or a problematic individual. Bad things befall people Marty does not like? Well maybe that's because Marty has an inherent dislike for incompetent, lazy and self serving people. That one also applies to staff in some many ways. But I know of a staff member marty took a personal dislike to, right before they were banned/removed! Actually, just look into the service logs. Every single staff member that got removed or banned either fucked up horribly with some sort of nasty PR stunt or action, or didn't do anything productive for the server for months while still raking in the benefits. I have a special burning passion for Staff members who don't contribute but still rake in the benefits of being staff. When assessing this situation it is always recommended to take a step back and objectively evaluate the individual qualities of people. Especially when it concerns your friends. You are not a bad friend for constructively criticizing the behavior of your friend, and you are not a bad friend for disagreeing with them. For lolz, you should take an opposing stance to something your friends feel very strongly about. It's always rewarding to see who are really your friends, and who are just making use of an unspoken social contract to substitute internet isolation because of introversion.
• I do not have any speaking front men or secretaries.
  • If anyone ever says "Marty told me" or "Marty told me I could do this" or "Marty approved this" ALWAYS, ask for confirmation from me. I've been used as a carte blanche before in situations where a player was confronted or told off. I don't use proxy speakers, and I am always open to give you a simple reply to a confirmation request.
• I hate small talk from strangers.
  • I don't mind people trying to start an actual content counting conversation or talk about subjects that I care about, but don't come to me about the Olympic games if I didn't ask for it. I am generally quite chatty unless I am building, just keep in mind that I am generally always doing /something/ so my replies may not always be fast.

 

I know I may be committing an error in good faith now, but I wanted to give this social experiment a try. A lot of people have questions for me they don't dare ask in person, so here is a poll that provides you with the ability to ask it anonymously.

Also there is a chance to win a free piece of artwork for usernames added to the end of the poll.

https://goo.gl/forms/O2lKBulb1DxBTMQ52

 

Turns out this is a lot more popular than I thought, so here is the first round of questions:

• How long have you been building? And any life tips for artist of any kind.
  • I have been building for about 3 years. Before that I used to just provide criticism for the other builders. As for life tips, don't be afraid to reference, trace, imitate or otherwise try to re-do something someone else already did. The best way to get the early foundations of learning in is by doing as others do and discovering how they do things.
• Why do you bother continuing your work with Massive when you receive so much negativity from many of Massive's players?
  • Negativity is often selfish. A player expresses anger because they didn't receive something they think they deserve and someone else did, who they think does not deserve it. That is what 95% of all negativity on MassiveCraft comes down to, at least in the roleplay community. I am utterly convinced that my method of management is both the most ethically sound, and proven in fact. Negativity aimed towards me, unless it is actually constructively founded in fact and something I can open a dialogue with, is just pesky background noise of people who can't accept their own inadequacy so they shift the blame to others, and who is easier to blame than the source of the highest authority and most outspoken voice.
• What is your stance on allowing players to write wiki-articles for massive and how would one go about doing so?
  • We only accept limited lore writing assistance. Anyone willing to help writing should first check their writing skills (although we also do some testing ourselves) and then contact me on Forum PM if they feel they are able to write to our standards.
• How long did it take you to learn 7 languages?
  • I grew up bilingual, Dutch and English. In between High school and Primary school I learned German from my grandparents and some from my High School. In High school I learned French, while after High School I got together with my boyfriend and started learning Norwegian and parts of Swedish while I cultivate an interest in Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, Italian, Estonian and Japanese. All in all I would say I never stop learning languages because it interests me, but I learned up to 7 in about 20 years.
• Do you plan on becoming more active with Alexander or Cedric now that nobility rank is more focused on the Emperor's favour of someone rather than lines, IC competence and OOC behaviour?
  • I am planning on phazing them back. Since iMcMuffins stopped roleplaying I had a dry spell for a month after which I summarily "kicked off" roleplay. I don't have any interest nor urge to roleplay at all, so I just do it on request now for the sake of helping others along, not for my own self interest. I find managing the community and building regalia more pleasing now.
• As it currently stands (in my sort of lame perspective of things at the moment), nobility seems to be in one of those slump phases. How would you reccomend working to fix it? If even possible.
  • Choosing to achieve something. We staff provide the opportunity. That being said. I have some story progression events lined up that are bound to result in a lot of activity again.
• How long have you been taking drawing seriously?
  • Since I was 17. When I was a child, my mother encouraged my artwork, but around High school I developed other interests and I just started drawing as a side hobby. Around 17, I got my first tablet and it just took off from there.
• Have you ever tried to bungee jump from a high distance?
  • No. I don't have a fear of heights but I have a fear of seemingly unstable surfaces that are actually stable, like say, a metal staircase with grated steps. Freak me the fuck out. I'm not one to think bungee jumping is all that interesting.
• What's your favorite color? And I mean go into detail. Like, really detailed.
  • Prussian Blue.
• Do you like the Portal series?
  • I love them. Just yesterday I picked up Portal 2 with my boyfriend again.
• Do you ever insult/tease other players based on their actions on the server, intentional or not?
  • Absolutely all the time. I am not perfect, nor do I pretend to be. I am a very vocal person who instantly says what they think, even if no thought was put into the concequences. Even with higher frequency towards my friends. I am a firm believer of the idea that insult humor is 75% of the basis of friendship. Beyond that the saying around me tends to go "the more Marty insults or sends quips your way, the more comfortable he is around you". If I don't communicate with someone in a similar way, it means I am not comfortable around them. That being said, sometimes I also vent frustration in unproductive way by sending insults towards players that are completely unintentional, or intentional in the moment and regrettable later. Even more often, I forget I ever said anything, but others tend to get very hung up on what I said. As a bottom line though, I think it's important to remember that I don't inherently go out of my way to try and hurt people by the things I say. I often underestimate the weight of my own word (I get told on the daily about how little my opinion matters by some players) so I often make the erroneous assumption that counts for everyone. The only time when there is actual spiteful intent in what I'm saying is when the target is actually attempting to undermine or sabotage MassiveCraft as a server/institution that I work very hard for.
• How did you discover massivecraft, and what was it like then?
  • I discovered MassiveCraft through a person who was in Alamut, Dott, getting a friend of mine on the server, JasonG5, who then asked me to join when my old server PuttyNet went down. I never took Minecraft seriously before MassiveCraft though, these friends all came from the BSU clan on Gary's mod where I ran the UK's 2nd largest roleplay build server. MassiveCraft back then was pure cancer. There was no roleplay world or rules or lore, the PVP'ers had no limits to bullying others off the server and all worlds were in a permanent state of grief. The staff were infested with self serving assholes who used creative for themselves, refused to help players and often even treated each other like trash. Even Silveredge was a testimony to staff self serving by the fact that staff members owned all the high value shops near spawn under the guise of "helping players", but becoming filthy rich in the process. They were all scrubbed clean and now we're pristine.
• How do you view yourself in regards to work? Is it a critical analysis, casual or a mixture of both?
  • This question is a bit ambiguous, but I will try to answer it as best I can. I am critical of my own work, but very critical of other staff member's work as well. I often apply unrealistic standards to others that I myself can't even meet, simply because of an inner perfectionism that cannot be achieved. That being said, there is always room for casual work and communication between staff and players also in extension. I don't always drive a heavy bargain when it comes to work quality.
• From a staff perspective, what makes you passionate about working on the server, and its community?
  • The "ant farm" feeling. It's the crazy idea that I pioneered something together with a group of talented and awesome people that literally hundreds to thousands of people around the world log onto every day to find their entertainment in. The idea that, out of a fictional universe sprung from my head, whole discussion groups are discussing the hidden Easter eggs that I put in place, arguing about the correct interpretation of my words. It appeals to my slight megalomaniac tendencies to know that I've had an impact on so many people's lives around the world, especially when they spend most of their free time immersed in something I maintain and help run.
• How does it affect you to see notable players come and go?
  • I don't think I've ever made it a secret that I try to treat every player as a number. I feel if I associate too much personal contact and investment in players (which in a way also extends to staff) then I will be emotionally drained and destroyed come year three. I inherently believe the only thing that is eternal and everlasting on Massive is the Direction Staff and the server itself. In order to keep "sane" I have to treat everything with a certain expiry date. Still. It does hurt often when a person who I did eventually consider a friend departs one way or another. You feel like you lose part of the identity of this server. That being said, the internet is full of people. It'd be naive to think any friend or group is special, and any of those can be replaced if given enough cultivation and time.
• What is the best art piece you've created in your opinion and why?
  • The chains on this, nuff said.
• What do you think of Canada?
  • I think it's okay. I'm a fit of a Francophile so I adore the idea of Quebec, and I love history, and there's plenty of it to find in Canada with the colonial era, but if I were to look at equatorial distance countries, Norway is much better.
• You seem to know a ton about nobility, wars, economy, and all sorts of historical subjects. How did you come to know all of it? School? Books? Wikipedia reading?
  • Reading wikipedia. Whenever I am bored, have a long trip, have a flight, or just have a long time spent in the bathroom, I have my tablet with me and I just read wiki articles jumping from one subject to another. I also love watching histodocu's, documentaries, historical dramas, court dramas, listening to historical narratives and play historical games and I also adore history in general. It's my main field of interest.
• What was your first character like? At all gary stue/mary sue-ish (as is very common)?
  • I don't really think so. I think my first character was very bland and disinterested in the concept of roleplay. I sort of went into roleplay as I went out of roleplay, as a background character that just occasionally showed up to assist with foreground characters. My first real serious character was Moriarty Kade. He didn't have much of a personality to speak of, just came about every now and then to offer to words of life advice to his son Thomas Kade, or to set the scene for a gathering of Thomas's friends. He had no abilities, no special anything. He was just. A politician dad.
• What is your favorite type of MassiveCraft magic?
  • Bone Magic.
• On a scale of 1-10, how much do you adore making art that isn't one of your characters, or friends' characters?
  • It has absolutely nothing to do with whether the character is mine or my friend's. Rather, I love certain character designs, the bridge type of the muscular masculine bearded man. My friends often allow me extra leeway to re-design their characters in a way that I like, and I can often also better portray their characters based on their personality as opposed to how they envision them themselves. I can't rate this as such. I don't care whose character it is, as long as I will enjoy drawing them, it's always a 10.
• What did you do with your time before massive? Like, before massive and after moving to Norway
  • I was a home nurse for my mother who suffered third stage cancer. I also managed the BSU clan, the Gary's Mod community, and played a lot of Europa Universalis III with the Paradox Interactive community.
• Do you think the server -can- continue to grow exponentially, or do you think there's a ceiling as to who we can reach?
  • This subject came up with Cayorion a while back. I think the server can always continue to grow, but from the roleplay scene perspective, we've sort of hit a ceiling. We are, as it stands, pretty much the largest roleplay server out there, highest rated on server lists with a strong roleplay presence and highest player count during prime time concentrated in one world. Maybe Herocraft can compete, but their experience is more aimed at the class based MMORPG sense, less about the strong continuity like Regalia offers. If we want to grow, we want to appeal to faction survivalists.
• Has any one player impacted your life enough to second guess your time on Massive?
  • Admitting that would be admitting doubt. I don't think I have doubt. There has been a couple of players who have seriously made me pull out my hairs and question the future of humanity as a whole, but I think I've adequately overcome pretty much all of them within a week. I am really impervious to players's attempts to destabilize my morale if that wasn't already obvious. The great thing about being arrogant is that you can quickly dismiss people who want to tear you down as greedy self serving fruit flies that you can just swat away with one swoop. It's sort of like these people who just come to the server to irritate people who are still here, have shits and giggles, then get banned and fade into obscurity. Everyone fades away eventually unless you actually put the effort in to be everlasting, and I did that effort on MassiveCraft.
• What is your favorite Artist other than yourself and who inspires you most in your recent drawings?
  • Nesskian
  • Uretnik
  • paexie
  • silsol
  • and some russian artist whose name I cannot remember.
• Do you like to travel?
  • Yes. I love flying on a passenger plane.
• Have you ever listened to the Hamilton soundtrack, if so, what's your opinion on it or the musical as a whole?
  • I've never really listened to anything musical related aside from the obvious musical movies from pixar/disney and "I had a dream of time gone by".
• What allergies do you have?
  • None.
• Which two characters, any characters at all dead or alive or whatever, do you ship the most?
  • Shipping has never really been in my interest in any way. But I think the most interesting ship would have been Freya Lo and Alexander Kade as a political power couple.
• What is your favorite season?
  • Anytime it is not winter, my favorite season is winter. When it is winter, my favorite season is spring.
• What is the special permission on edge to be "overpowered" or used to powergame/god role-play?
  • I think most of them have been purged, but I would say the Viridian Order is pretty high up there right now. The theory behind it is pretty sound, but I often find the execution to be very poorly done by the players. The code of Charlemois which in theory holds back the most excess of the powergaming is often just tossed in the wind.
• Is there a model you base your characters on? Characters from a different media or perhaps even yourself?
  • My characters are all fragments of my personality shifted in certain ways. I think Alexander was most of all a self-insert. Cedric appealed to my more dormant side at the time of his creation, whereas now he apeals to my more critical side. Xeradon appealed to the part of my personality that just wants to be a dog, and sazz the fab cat appealed to my side that just wants to sass at everyone.
• What is your overall personal goal when it comes to Massive?
  • To make money. I can support my life style with Massive and artwork without having to take a 9 to 5 job. All the social care, entertainment that I get from it is just added benefit.
• Have you ever considered going full out Survival?
  • It doesn't interest me and I think I would get unfairly targeted by everyone who wants to kill me just so they can screenshot the message and parade it around.
• What would you consider your fondest Roleplay memory over the past 3 years?
  • Most long term interactions between Cedric Kade and Percy Ravenstad.
• What do you do outside of massivecraft, in terms of work?
  • Art commissions and house work for my boyfriend. We live together and our house arrangement is that I take care of the household chores, cooking and shopping while he works a 9 to 5 job to pay for it all, so he can come home and kick back and do nothing while I take care of his every whim.
• Your worst nightmare/fear?
  • A recurring nightmare of my mother that I occasionally have. It's like my dream is semi-aware my mother is dead but tries to force her into existence, and then out of it again. The worst one I had was one where my mother spontaneously caught fire while she was doing her hair in the bathroom. My mother died 6 years ago and it still deeply affects me.
• Do you believe in aliens? Any more to say on the subject, like why or why not?
  • I believe the chance of sentient life existing in the universe beyond our own is very probable due to the likelihood of life existing in ways we cannot currently fathom. That being said, I think the likelihood of aliens ever having visited earth is pretty much zero because that goes under the whole "the thought that your soulmate just happens to live near you in the same country is naive" thought.
• Favorite book genre?
  • Geographic/nature : D
• Did you always take an interest to creative writing and artwork such as creating lore?
  • Never. It was a born necessity because the roleplay community needed to be set up by someone who wanted to put effort into it. I started the project that eventually gave birth to the lore and regalia, with the help of other amazing staff members, but this wasn't originally by choice. It was simply because a poll early on, like 5 years ago, pointed out our roleplay experience was terrible and something needed to be done to improve it.
• Do you feel Massivecraft has enriched peoples lives away from the screen, or has it simply proven a fun distraction?
  • It absolutely has, and will continue to do so. Even among staff, some of them move on in life and find that later in life, they can use things they did on massive to advance their own career, or they have simply crawled out of their shell and become more open and daring to achieving their dreams. I believe MassiveCraft has always had a positive impact on people who open themselves to it as an entertainment source and a way to connect with people, though leave all the interpersonal drama and teenage politics at the door.
• How would -you- change the server or what edits would you make if you were Massive's sole owner?
  • Nothing really. MassiveCraft is the way I want it to be, because I worked to get it there. My ideas were supported with valid arguments, documentation and case studies. As such, my ideas were accepted, and I accepted the ideas of others in return as well when I agreed with the premise, or it was properly supported. I wouldn't change anything simply because I already changed it.
• What is your deepest secret?
  • My sole insecurity. Which I also won't share.
• Do you have any degrees?
  • Technically I have bachelor credits, but no official degrees. Just a high school diploma. It's never bothered me though. I have the practical skills that certain employers need that no diploma can prove you have.
• When you're drawing, do you ever have the.. odd urge to draw a mustache on things? I'm just wondering, because I see a lot of people with this strange 'issue.'
  • Absolutely not. though I do often feel that a man with a shaven beard and moustache area looks "incomplete". That's just my preference for facial hair though.
• What's your favorite physical texture? Like rough, smooth, squishy, etc.
  • matte glass.
• What's the funniest thing that's ever happened to you in roleplay?
  • I'm gonna be a bit unpopular for thinking this, but I think most if not all roleplay is inherently unfunny. Most players have the humor sense of a wooden chair, and engage in really mundane and inane stupid jokes about genitals and urine/feces. The occasional "write your character's one liners!" thread is also always filled with stupid shit that isn't even funny, but somehow everyone thinks they are hilarious when they make some stupid nonsensical pun that isn't even applicable or just grammatically wrong. That being said. Most funny roleplay I ever did was play a dog with an offensively pink anus pixel who went rabid and peed on Aethelred Coen's leg when he tried to remove it from the noble lounge.
• How long did it take for you to reach the level of artistic skill you are at currently and what drove you to pursue it?
  • My adoration for the male physique drove me to persue it. When I feel pressured or moody, drawing men makes me feel better. I adore the male physique, I think it drives on borders of fascination for the functional machine that is the Human body. Plus I can earn my living with it, which is like a double bonus. I can express ideas in my head to people. It took me about 5 years of intensive self schooling to get where I am today.
• If not Massivecraft and Art, what career would your pursue?
  • History Teacher.
  • Translator.
  • Community Manager for some Company.
  • Something Manager for some company.

 

Second round! Still accepting answers as long as the poll is open.

• What advice do you have for young, aspiring artists? I've always seen having artistic on a level with that of yours as some sort of unattainable goal, but I want to try and improve my own skills.
  • Watch videos. Get a tumblr and subscribe to 100 artists that you like. Watch tutorials. Watch other artists, try to imitate them and take aspects of other artists to create your own style. Don't create a messy style and call it "your style". Calling inadequate work "your style" is cheating. DRAW EVERY DAY!
• Have you ever met a massivecraft player IRL? If so, who?
  
  • I was very close to once meeting one, I was about 5 minute walk away from him, but no, in the end I've never met anyone from Massive.
• What is your favorite word in any of the languages you speak?
  
  • French: Aujourd'hui , It means "the day of today" or "today".
• Who are your biggest fantasy influences in the creation of the MassiveCraft lore? (GoT, Lotr, etc.)
  
  • Dragon Age, Mass Effect, The Banner Saga. None of the above. I always get trilted when anyone compares Aloria to Game of Thrones Universes.
• What's your favorite race on MassiveCraft?
  
  • Orc
• How do you feel about role players who are content to just play 'background characters'
  
  • As long as they don't complain that the server is having a "dry spell" or that it is "boring" I'm all a-okay with them. Sometimes I find them irritating, but this often comes when a background character becomes a source of criticism of those who actively pursue plotlines and provide the roleplay that they are background to. If you don't provide anything for anyone, you don't have the right to critisize imo.
• What is your overall personal goal when it comes to Massive?
  
  • To have 800 players online in Regalia, roleplaying.
• What was your best/favorite thing you've ever written? Doesn't necessarily have to involve Aloria or MassiveCraft in general.
  
  • My religious essay in first year high school in which I wrote a creation theory based on a homeless man.
• What types of music do you listen to? What bands do you like?
  
  • Classic, Vaporwave, Funk, Electronic, Pop, Folk Music, Jazz, Soul, Ballads, Indie, Alt Rock. I don't have favorite bands, but certain singers always get me in the groove, like Adele, Florence and the Machine, Sia.
• What was your favorite subject when you were in high school? You mentioned having a couple bachelor credits, so what was your favorite course in college/university?
  
  • My fav High School subject was French. We had a small 10 student class and a super exciting teacher who loved his work and the French culture. My fav in College was nothing. I hated both the bachelors degrees I did.

 

More questions!

• What's your opinion on the PvP scene?
  • Ooh. Trick question. I'm going to reply with a diplomatic answer by providing a comparison statement. The PVP Community is often very self damaging, where the RP Community is often very self deprecating. The PVP Community can, like no other, insult you to your face and ridicule you, while the RP Community can, like no other, insult and ridicule you behind your back. It often comes down to whatever you like best. I work for the RP Community, but I would honestly prefer to work for the PVP Community. AT least their hatred is direct and not subversive.
• Do you speak to the other Direction staff in English or Dutch or some other language? Somewhat related, which language do you feel most comfortable in? Which language is your favorite/do you think is the most nice sounding?
  • I speak English with the other Directors, though I sometimes speak snippets in Norwegian and Swedish to Thortuna and Cayorion respectively when it's funny or appropriate. My fav language is Swedish or French simply because of their melodic sound.
• Opinion on religion?
  • Religion to me is like state support, a social institution. It can help people through tough times, and some people need it when their spiritual needs are not met. For that it cannot be criticized. As with any ideology or idea however, it becomes a problem when that social institution is being forced onto people. Then I have a problem with it. I also firmly believe children should be separated from religion. I personally don't believe children who grow up in a religious household truly have a choice to explore the other options, making for a narrow minded raising. That goes deeper into the concept of what rights parents have to imprint their children, which is a subject I will not get into.
• Has your boyfriend ever taken an interest in Massivecraft?
  • He played on MassiveCraft with me and my other irl friends. He however quit years ago stating "This server is filled with assholes". In reference to the raiding/behavior some people display. My boyfriend is a very peaceful "nice guy" who likes to do his own thing and not bother others and not be bothered. It irritated him that he could just be killed in the wilderness without any sort of meaningful interaction because some 13 year old decided that he could kill the noob for the lulz.
• What is your favorite nation to play as in the Europa Universalis series?
  • Sweden, The Netherlands or The Ottomans. All represent some field of OP-ness, Sweden has OP traits because Swedophile devs, the Netherlands is all up in my alley because of the OPness of their trade power and the ottomans have the most glorious conquest missions.
• What sort of animals do you like?
  • Dogs Dogs Dogs Dogs Dogs. And Dogs.
• How do you deal with stress? God know's that being to top dog in two departments comes with it's fair share?
  • This may sound terrible, but I remind myself that I'm a better person than the people who are giving me stress, when it comes to a pure measurement of skill, worth to others, knowledge and overall impact on people around the world. My way of dealing with irritation is by placing myself above it. My way of otherwise also dealing with stress is cooking, drawing or building. I find the other best way to deal with passive stress is to make myself useful and to work to disprove instead of to argue and disprove.
• Opinion on "tumblr feminism" and SJWs?
  • I am a pro-equalitarian. I believe Feminism is self-destructive when it is referred to as feminism and when specific social groups are prevented from participating in said movement. The issue is often hard to relate to for me because sexism barely exists in my native country, or where I reside currently. Both these countries have pro-gender equality quotas otherwise referred to as "positive discrimination" where women have to be elected to certain positions even if a male equivalent with higher qualifications was available, just because of the gender quota. I dislike such aggressive egalitarianism however. Down to earth I'm a pragmatist. I don't see a difference between a woman and a man fulfilling a certain role, as long as the most qualified individual does it with the highest production value. Otherwise I just sometimes tumblr search certain tags to just giggle at the pretentiousness of it all. True progress and social equality is achieved lobbying in the parliament halls, not by screaming about oppression on the internet. It's all preaching to the choir to me.
• I just want to say, no matter what anyone does, MassiveCraft really will last forever under your leadership, won't it?
  • I'd like to think it will. But it probably won't. We have to remain realistic. In my current position, I imagine MassiveCraft lasting forever, but we are subject to Mojang, Microsoft as well as Cayorion's finances and my own lot in life. I won't pretend like I can go on living like the way I do forever since I need to worry about retirement at some point. Art gets me good cash, but not good enough not to keep me employed beyond 50. As long as I lead the lore department however, the Alorian universe will last on, and Roleplay will continue to happen in Massivecraft, no matter how large or small.
• What aspect of roleplay do you enjoy the most? I.e. nation building, combat, political etc.
  • Just watching other people live out lives in a universe that I helped give shape and largely dictated.
• What country would you enjoy visiting that you have not been to before?
  • CHINA
• What is your favorite archetype when creating a new character?
  • A politician, though I often have a predisposition to burly types.
• Favorite reptile? Dinosaurs also count.
  • Komodo
• What historical period do you find to be your favorite?
  • P. much anything between 1700 and 1800.
• What is the happiest moment you've ever had in your life?
  • The last time me, my boyfriend, my dog and my mother were together. We were on a grass pitch in the forest near my hometown. My boyfriend and my dog could always get along really well, They were running off in the distance chasing each other while me and my mother sat by a fallen tree at the other end of the pitch, just enjoying the fading warmth of the sundown. No words were said, but it's the last good memory I have of my mother before terminal cancer got to her.
• How exactly do /you/ design a new character, does it just pop into your head or do you try and base it off of something?
  • I don't lie to myself when saying I roleplay when I do because I feel sad/irritated at something and I want to feel better by living a life I sometimes wish I had lived. As such, all of my characters are born from ideas or lives that I sometimes like to daydream about.
• What 'style' of drawing would you consider yours to be? Have you ever considered trying to go for some of the super realistic styles?
  • I consider my style in the variety of realistic, but it probably falls more under the western comic styles. I will at some point progress into hyper realistic probably, but that takes time.
• Favorite fruit?
  • Green grape or Clementine.
• Would you ever permit a player to hold greater authority on the workings of the Regalian metropolis, should they curry the needed power and influence required?
  • Should a player ever find themselves in the position that I prize their competency high enough, then yes. This all relies on whether I can explicitly trust this player to work with me for the benefit of the server, not for self glorification.
• What is your opinion on Catalonian Separatism (or the separatism of the other Iberian cultures, for that matter)?
  • I'm a pro-European federalist. This means that I support the further integration of European nations into one super state. Secession movements as such are a problem to me. Let's draw Scotland as an example. When the SNP tried to secede from the UK with Scotland, I engaged in political attempts to convince Scottish nationals to vote against leaving. Now in post Brexit UK, when the SNP launches a new vote, I will do the opposite. I am a fervent believer in the idea of European hegemony, unity and cultural diversity. Spain itself is a broken and corrupt state from what I know. Either the state level needs to change to a more federal design to bleed power away from madrid and into local parliaments, or the region should simply secede. As long as it remains part of the European Union I am in favor of whatever makes the European economic landscape stronger.
• What was life in the Netherlands like? Are the schools good? Food good?
  • The Netherlands is one of the highest happiness index countries in the world. Life there was great. Life in Norway is just a little bit better. It has all the benefits of the Netherlands plus less noisy people, less crime and more beautiful countryside.
• What is it you'd personally like to see of the RP community of Massivecraft, if you could choose?
  • New front runners. We all know names like Shuikenai, Babayonce, BillyTheScroofy, TheScruffyLJ, Sozzer, Jared4242, and more. We all know these people who pioneered their field of roleplay and often so selflessly sacrificed their own sanity or time to provide that which the others loved so much about MassiveCraft. I want to see more people like that. People who pioneer aspects of MassiveCraft, prople who are driving forces of roleplay in Aloria, not just to their own friends, but also to others.
• What sorts of alcohol would you recommend?
  • Baccardi Razz, Baccardi Lemon, Absolut Vodka with any fruit flavor. Stick to fruity stuff if the idea or taste of alcohol displeases you. Don't ever get stuck in the mindset of "I don't need alcohol to have fun!" well sure, you dont' need running shoes to run, but it sure does help!
• If you could go back to college what would you study?
  • History or Linguistics.

 

I am a person who supports democracy.

 

Another round of answers and the results of the poll victory!

• If you could go back to college what would you study?
  • Something convoluted like 18th century politics or European Imperialism.
• Opinion on PETA?
  
  • Disgusting organization that uses terrorism to get their way.
• Right to own a Firearm?
  
  • I'm inherently anti-Firearm, which is ironic since there's both a handgun and a semi-automatic rifle in my home. Inherently I think guns are pointless though.
• Favorite Color?
  
  • Prussian Blue

Poll candidates and winner marked in bold:

1. Aespair
2. Anastasius
3. Bertramqaz
4. BillyTheScroofy
5. Caverly
6. @Cousinmelon
7. EcologicalMammal
8. FoundOutIC
9. Jouster
10. Lizmun
11. LoreCompliant
12. LumosJared
13. Nastynick
14. OldManJ98
15. WrongChat
16. Shayin
17. Squeaker555
18. Suzzie
19. TheVigilantWolf
20. Walrusaur_
21. drfong
22. spookyseaweed

Contact me with a Character application to claim your victory sketch.

 

@SpoopMelon because Cousinmelon no longer exists.

 

My thoughts don't really matter on the subject: Excessive stylization is not permitted.

trash.

 

Actually let me rephrase this.

Do you have one click heal beam? If not, you are bad.

If you have one click heal beam and you hear a riptire coming, What do you do?

If you are defending a point and the Reinhardt charges out of your line, What do you do?

If you are defending a point and the enemy team is layering ults, but you have your ult ready too, What do you do?

 

1. The one click beam option is preferable on PC at any rate because it means you don't have to hold down the healing beam button and it tends to be a bit more forgiving when going around corners or healing backwards.
2. Almost. You switch to pistol and hide. When you shoot the riptire you risk dying, which is something you should avoid at all costs as Mercy. When I hear a riptire, I stop healing and I hide. It'd not your job to kill the tire.
3. NO. A mercy must NEVER join with a stupid team mate making a dumb decision. You must always stay behind the backline to remain effective.
4. That one is correct. Hide hide hide.