Sunday, January 16th, 2011
Issue: 64   Editor: ApocalypticAldarion


Interview with Sky! ApocalypticAldarion
This week we had an interview with Sky, who recently got promoted to Help Desk Operator. More importantly, however, he also replaced David as the most killed Help Desk Operator in the game. We asked him about his views on the current state of the game, as well as the names he manages to come up with every time he's been shot!

How do you like the job of HDO so far?
The job itself is no more challenging than I expected. Tickets are few and far between, so most of my time is given to the forums. I'm secretly a perfectionist so I delight in moving topics and trying to keep the game forum as tidy as possible, but the players don't make it easy for me. The only thing I dislike is that I can no-longer be an intolerable wise-ass in the GF, I have to try and remain nice. It makes me sick.

Do you still fully support your decision to become a Help Desk Operator?
Well I'm not going to say that I'm not awesome. There are people that deserve this position just as much, maybe more, but I was chosen and I'd like to think it was for a good reason. As long as the Elite Guard think I'm doing a good job, then I think I made the right choice in accepting.

What is your view on the current state of the game? Do you think the decline in players will continue, or will it eventually stop somewhere?
As I remember, the game has gone through a similar period of stagnation before, and still maintained a steady, albeit reduced, userbase. The people who play the game to experience the community won't go anywhere anytime soon. The people who play to dominate will continuing playing, especially when someone begins to challenge them. And the people who play to complain will continue complaining, even when everything's going well. To a certain degree, the players are at fault for how the game is at the moment. In the bullet factory in my current state there are just short of 300,000 bullets available at a price of $100 per bullet for a total value of $30,000,000. People gamble away enough money to buy that many bullets daily. If someone really wanted to make a difference they'd empty that bullet factory, and make a stand. At the same time, things could be done by BSF2000. There have been some fantastic suggestions in the Game Forum by people who have given some thought to it, but he is in the best position to know how to fix this problem, and I'm sure he has something up his sleeve.

Do you feel the updated crimes can help Bootleggers with retaining users? Would you say the priority should be at improving current features or at introducing new ones?
The new Crimes page was a success in every respect. It showed that BSF still cares about the game and that he wants improvement, it showed the community that patience is all that's needed. Players are hungry for constant updates and that can't be achieved anymore. The players that were placated by the update will soon remember that they were unhappy and will begin to moan again about his inactivity, it's already started in the Game Forum.

In terms of where focus should be, fixing current issues should come first but a new release every now and then will help keep disgruntled players happy as well. There should be a balance between releases and fixes, and the small bug fixes should be publicly announced so that we can see administrator activity.

In some aspects (such as hacker problems and exploited points) the game has dramatically improved since the beginning, yet people don't really seem to realize that. Isn't it almost impossible for BSF2000 to keep all users satisfied?
Absolutely, I don't envy him his job. The game is at its safest in years. Hack links are blocked, duping is down drastically, and good steps have been taken against auto-reloaders. Moderators have all the tools they need to ensure people are playing fair, but some people still don't think it's enough. It's a vicious cycle of effort and disapproval.

Onto more important matters, you've successfully replaced David as the most killed HDO. How do you feel about that?
It's quite a badge of honour. I used to lament living for so long, and reaching Godfather, where things get boring. Now, I get to reach Thug several times a week. The one sadness is that I'm dying because of the deep pockets of one person in particular, who thinks it's funny to hitlist me whenever I reach Hitman. No doubt tomorrow I'll be on yet another new name, but I have a stronger resolve than my new nemesis, and he'll run out of points before I run out of names.

I admire your inspiration for the names. Was this your ultimate goal when you accepted the offer to become a Help Desk Operator?
I was familiar with Davids problem of running out of names, and I had a feeling that I'd be in a similar situation. Sean went through it too I suspect. Last round all of my names involved Sky: SkyTheCharming, SimplySky, EssKayWhy. I wanted to be more creative this time round, and it appears becoming an HDO has played a big part in my creativity. I'm on my 23rd account since the reset, with an average life of 14 days per account, and I still have 19 names waiting to be used. If I hadn't accepted the position I'd probably still be on name 17.

So what you're saying is that you should be killed some more?
I wouldn't mind reaching Boss a few times inbetween, but I'm perfectly happy with the rate of my deaths. They usually happen just as I get bored of my name, so really it's perfect timing. I've had some names, like RepublicanUmbrella, which reached L. Godfather and lasted two months. After three days I hated the name but no-one was around to kill me. Alternatively, PuddleWithAPhD has been one of my favourite names, and lasted 12 days. There's no justice.

I recognize the problems on a smaller scale, do you have any idea why you keep getting shot, though? They must somehow love you.
Aside from my nemesis' incessant hitlisting, I think it's just another way to make the game entertaining. Help Desk Operators are very noticeable thanks to the yellow name, and people with bullets to waste and time to kill think it's fun to make someone start over. Another aspect of course could be the desire to see what my next name will be. The past few kills have been done by friends because of my hitlists, and the ones that kill me invariably get to choose my next name from the list. It's a system that works well for everyone, and limits the time people have to get bored with my name.

Thank you very much for answering the questions. Is there anything else you perhaps like to add?
Nothing to add, except that at the rate you die, you'd make a perfect HDO And thanks for your time.