Interview with Spire VII - Written by Terywj
[collapse=The Interview]I transitioned into sunglasses as I walked down the street. It was a hot, humid day, and I didn't like the heat. As I approached the address written down, I felt slightly nervous, seeing as I've never done this before. I rang the doorbell, and waited. "Hello," a man answered. "Hi, I'm here to see...Spire?" I said quietly. The man seemed to think about that for a minute before saying, "Oh. His room is the second of the left up the stairs." I wonder what he thought of me, a young high-schooler with nothing but a pencil and pad of paper. I thanked the man and followed his directions. On the door, was a roman numeral III carved in the center, only scratched out and being subsequently being followed by a IV, V, VI, and VII. This was definitely his room. I rapped lightly on the door before entering. The room was air conditioned and neatly decorated, with numerous Legend of Zelda and art books on the bookshelf, to various paintings on the walls. Ween was playing lightly in the background, and a man was sitting at his laptop with his back turned toward me. The browser was on Smash World Forums, and as the man noticed me he exited out, displaying a Slowbro wallpaper.
"Hey, Spire." I said. "Hey man. Grab a seat." Spire responded. There was a bit of awkward silence between us before I stated, "Well. Let's get this started, then." Spire nodded.
I pulled out my pad of paper, leaned back in my chair, and began to write.
Terywj - Could you tell us a little bit about yourself? Like name, location, education, that sort of stuff?
Spire VII - Of course. My name is Benjamin, 19. I live in Houston, TX, and I'm currently studying Painting and Art History. I've been interested in art for really my whole life, mostly due to my mother being an art teacher and my father being a musician.
Terywj - Awesome. Since many members of the Smash World Forums are familiar with your art, do you paint your art that you display here in real life and then take a photo of it, or do you use a computer tablet?
Spire VII - I make the majority of my work with a Wacom Tablet in Photoshop and ArtRage Studio. Every blue moon I'll do a painting traditionally, but it costs money for the canvas, paints, and other supplies so only for special occasions do I work in that fashion.
Terywj - Ahh. As everyone is aware of, you're a Super Moderator and one of the Moderators assigned to the Pokemon Center and Legend of Zelda boards on Smash World Forums. How did you discover Smash World? And how did you come about to be a Moderator?
As I stated the question, I accidentally fell over backwards in my chair. I guess I haven't learned my lesson quite yet.
Spire VII - I discovered Smash World Forums through a link in the description of a youtube video back in February after Brawl was released in Japan. I had been keeping up with the Dojo every day, but had never heard of SWF, so naturally once videos of all the new characters and such were released, I stumbled onto the forums. I joined sometime in March as the member majorojam but I hated the name, so I made a new account in April, Spire III. I hung around General Brawl Discussion at first, because I wasn't interested in the competitive scene, just well, general talk. I soon found the Poké Center and thus my niche in the boards. It was our own little island, with no real moderation. We weren't out of control (though the occasional troll would make its way in), and we all had bountiful creative ideas to share, including the legendary Custom Pokémon Shop that Firus, bowser king and I started. Before I was a moderator and before the Legend of Zelda forum existed, we had the single General Zelda Discussion thread that SkylerOcon started in the Light House. I kind of rose as the unofficial leader of the thread, with the most posts and a lot of enthusiasm researching the timeline, theorizing and such. Back in... June or July of '09, the idea of a whole forum arose, so the regulars all wrote up petitions in Forum Support. I think by the end of the month (whichever one it was), we had our forum, so I continued as the unofficial leader of the room, even after Skyler was modded to it. Around this time, Zook was already modding the Poké Center, so when he decided to leave Smashboards, I asked if he wanted me to take over his position and that's how I got the job.
Terywj - Speaking about Pokemon, you have said many times that you only sprite and never battle. Have you ever tried competitive battling? If not, why don't you?
Spire VII - Well, I wouldn't say that I only sprite, in fact I never sprite anymore. I enjoy playing the games at my own leisure and ever since Gen 1, I just haven't enjoyed the multiplayer aspect of Pokémon. Rather, I enjoy the concepts behind the series and the creatures themselves, which is why I've devoted so much time to studying their designs, background information, and making my own creations based off of the given material. I have never tried competitive battling and I don't see myself doing so anytime in the future. I'm a very visual person and the series is lacking visually for me to enjoy the romance that a battle should be. Static sprites of cartoon creatures staring down one another, somehow casting off obviously better looking effects for attacks at eachother just doesn't appeal to me in a competitive sense. As a designer, it feels like a slap in the face. We're in a totally new age of gaming than we were back in '98 and the graphics of the games really break them in too many regards to keep me hooked outside of a strictly casual experience.
Terywj - In more regards to the PokeCenter, you've been around the PokeCenter for a long time. What do you think of the PokeCenter today and how it has evolved from back in 2008?
Spire takes a sip of Mountain Dew, thinking before continuing.
Spire VII - It has been through some rough times in my opinion, especially in early '09. I took my leave during that time because it was becoming too competitive-centric for me to even enjoy, and the Custom Pokémon Shop was going down the drain with countless arguments happening within it (even leading to it being closed for a while). Though if I were to compare the PC as it is right now to how it was back in May-June of '08, I love it even more. We may not have the same creative substance that we had back then, but we still have the spark and it seems to burn even brighter now. Though the flame that burns twice as bright may burn only half as long, I'll see to it that the moment it burns out, we get another candle lit. There are so many projects going on in the PC, it can get cluttered at times, but that is a wonderful thing, especially given that we're still trying to restructure the forum greatly to accommodate the interests of the public. I like to see the PC continue to thrive with open arms to all newcomers so that our collective consciousness can progress more and more.
Terywj - About the members there, if you could meet any three of the other PokeCenter members in person, who would you meet up with and why?
Spire VII - No offense to anyone because I'd surely love to meet you all, but without a doubt I'd like to meet Firus, Mewter, and Zook. Because simply, I've spent the most time with them in my stay in the PC and outside of the forum.
Terywj - Random questions - Do you like Sonic? Favorite ice cream flavor and album?
Spire VII - I like Sonic enough to not dislike him. I really don't like ice cream that much at all, so I'm just gonna go with French Vanilla. So creamy and worth that rare craving for ice cream. And oh man, favorite album. "The Pod" by Ween. It's the most lo-fi, brown, gritty, dark, mystical, sleezy, vulgar, and outright absurd album I've ever heard and I've listened to it more than anything else. I wouldn't even go so far as to recommend it for people when trying to introduce them to Ween as it's major make it or break it, but I can surely attest to it being the perfect album for me.
I take note that all the songs played in the background during this time have all been songs by Ween.
Terywj - What's your view on intelligent extraterrestial life?
I could almost hear The Wrath of Koarin snicker from faraway.
Spire VII - I could write a book about it, but I'll give you my short answer. It's out there and anyone who denies it is backwards and in denial. I could even go so far as to say that the so called "gods" of old world mythologies were in fact aliens, beings who 'descended from the skies'. Go figure.
Terywj - And now for the grand finale...what is your favorite Pokemon?
Spire VII - Let me take a moment to think about this...
I take the moment to glance around at the Legend of Zelda memorabilia and mythology books scattered on his bookshelf. My eyes drift over to a wooden Humpty Dumpty figurine on one side of the room.
Spire VII - I can't say I have any single favorite, but my current favorite family is the Togepi family. Togepi exemplifies Gen 2 and thus, the first batch of new Pokémon. Back when I was around 8-9 years old and I found out about Togepi, Ampharos, Snubbull, Marill, Ho-oh, Donphan, Bellossom, Slowking, and Hoothoot (I believe), which were all the first Gen 2 Pokémon unveiled, it changed my life. I was so in love with the idea of new Pokémon and their designs absolutely blew me away. I love the idea of the Togepi family being based on this strange patterned egg and loosely on the bird/fairy and the way they all evolve just rings a great bell. Togepi exemplifies not only Gen 2 and the first batch of new Pokémon, but also evolution itself. All Pokémon able to breed hatch from eggs, and Togepi is an egg. It is archetypal in design and its movepool is wonderful. With my affinity for Humpty Dumpty, no wonder I love Togepi.
Terywj - That's awesome. Thanks for having me, Spire.
Spire VII - No problem dude.
I thanked Spire's parents and headed off to the airport. I had an interview to publish when I got back home. I definitely had a good time, and looked forward to meeting the other members of the PokeCenter soon.[/collapse]
Interview with Zook - Written by Terywj
[collapse=The Interview]I looked around. North Conway, New Hampshire was a quiet, rural place. The White Mountains were in the background, and I scurried about, trying to head for the stand I was looking for. "Dungeons and Dragons Books" was plastered at the top of the stand, and I could see various books about the said game cluttered here and there. There was only one person at the stands, wearing jeans and a Swinub T-shirt. His glasses gleamed a bit in the sunlight as he turned towards me. "Tery? Where's the free books and coupons you were talking about?" the boy questioned. I pulled out two chairs and notioned for him to sit down. "Actually," I grinned, "There are no free books or coupons. I came here to interview you." The boy frowned. "Why'd you bring me out to North Conway, then?" "Why, because it's just a cool place." I said.
I pulled out my notebook and pen. "Isn't that right, Zook?"
Terywj - So Zook, it's typicaly of us as a community to ask - do you mind sharing some personal details? You know, name, age, location, etc.?
Zook - Of course not. Let's see... My name is Chris Mitchell, and I'll be turning 18 this July. I live in an obscure town called Weare in an obscure state called New Hampshire. I've lived here pretty much all my life.
Terywj - New Hampshire, huh? How do you like the environment there? And have you traveled to other parts of the country?
Zook - I love it. Look at that scenery.
Zook pauses and gestures to the White Mountains in the background.
Zook - The farthest I've travelled from here is Washington, D.C. for my 8th grade D.C. trip. It can be a bit dull here, though; we aren't exactly diverse in culture, and there isnt a ton to do.
Terywj - Speaking of things to do, what are some of your hobbies and interests?
Zook - I love creative activites, such as drawing and writing. I also enjoy playing video games, obviously (recently I've been hooked on Monster Hunter Tri, Super Metroid, and Super Mario Galaxy), reading fantasy/sci-fi books, and theatre.
Terywj - Moving along, when did you join Smash World Forms? How'd you find it, and what was your motivation to join?
Zook - In the summer of 2005, my parents bought me a copy of Super Smash Bros. Melee for my birthday. I had been wanting it for quite some time, but because it was rated T, then wouldn't let me have it until I turned 13. In that month's issue of Nintendo Power, there was an article on the SSBM community, and a link to Smash World Forums. I thought I was really good at the game and wanted to get better, so I joined it the day after my birthday.
Terywj - An intriguied beginning! Where'd you start off posting, and where did you find your early homes?
Zook - My very first post was in the Poke Center, but I made a fool of myself and avoided that room for a while. I also posted a lot in the Debate Hall and Pool Room, which were both definately my first SWF homes.
Terywj - How'd you come back to the PokeCenter? And can you describe the times leading up to your promotion to Moderator?
Zook - For me entire SWF carrier, I've been visiting the PC. What made me stick, though, was that upon buying Pokemon Emerald version, I realized that I was actually quite good at Pokemon Battling, and I wanted to learn more by battling tons of people. I knew that would be very hard in such a rural setting, so I turned to the internet: there I found Netbattle, and I started posting in the PokeCenter again to learn about the competitive scene.
Zook paused.
Zook - The times leading up to my promotion was a little hectic. The duo that was modding the PokeCenter left (for seperate reasons), and a lot of users felt that the administration were placing people who didn't really "know" the PC in leadership positions. One day an administrator asked me if I wanted to mod the PC, I said yes, and that was that.
Terywj - And as members of the older generation of PokeCenter members know, you stepped down from the Moderator position months ago. What were the reasons behind it? Do you think you'll ever go back to Modding the PC?
Zook - My reason for stepping down was that I felt that Modding was simply taking up to much of my time. At the time, I had just gotten my first girlfriend and I was letting my grades in school slip, and I was almost on the brink of not being able to graduate this year. I took a step back, thought a bit, and decided that I would have to cut myself off from SWF for a while. I'd love to Mod the PC again in the future.
Terywj - Ahh yes. Since you brought up grades, you're a Senior, right? What're your plans after high school / graduation?
Zook - I'm going to take a few classes at the New Hampshire Technical Institute for a year while I figure out what I really want to go to college for- I have an anxiety disorder which makes making major decisions incredibly stressful for me, so I have trouble figuring out what I want to do with myself.
Terywj - Oh my, I almost forgot about this question: What's your favorite Pokemon?
I eye his Swinub shirt carefully, which only stares back with a slight grin.
Zook - Of course! Well, I'd have to choose Dunsparce. His design is absolutely bursting with personality, his name is very unique, and I just love him.
Terywj - And as you know, the PokeCenter members are working on SmashCAP 3, which is acting as a tribute to you. Your thoughts on that and how it might turn out?
Zook - I didn't think you were actually being serious when you told me you'd do this, but I'm excited to see how it will turn out. Personally, I've always pictured myself with a Ghost/Normal support-role, but a wall-breaking Special Attacker is pretty sweet, too. It'll be cool to show my friends when it's completed.
Terywj - Bringing back some favorites - what's your favorite type of music, band, color, and video game of all time? Quickly, before Kanye interrupts us.
Zook - Indie and folk, Nuetral Milk Hotel, cerulean, and-
Some kid walked by, blasting Heartless by Kanye West out of his earbuds. Zook gives me a look before finishing.
--...Super Metroid.
Terywj - What are your thoughts on the PokeCenter from the 2007-2008 era until now? Where do you think the PokeCenter is headed with its current members?
Zook - I'm amazed by how much the PC has changed in the past 3 years. It's hard to believe that a single thread has basically revived an entire forum. I see the PokeCenter becoming more and more community-oriented as time goes on; with such creative and warm members, I can see the PC becoming a pretty good-sized hub of Pokemon-related projects (such as SmashCAP) in the future.
Terywj - Have you ever met anybody from the PokeCenter or SWF? If so, who, and if not, who would you want to meet?
Zook - I haven't yet, but I certainly would like to. The members I would most like to meet are Meta-Kirby and Firus.
Another kid walks by, and I can discretely pickup Ween from his iPod. Like a lightbulb, I remember something for my last question.
Terywj - If you could have lived in an old world civilization, which would you choose and why?
Zook - Hmm, that's a tough one. Probably pre-Columbian America, because its culture would be so drastically different than ours. That, and I have a yearning for the simple life.
Terywj - Thanks for doing the interview with me, Zook.
Zook - Not a problem. He smiles.
We fold the chairs and put them against the stand and we part our separate ways. Before I leave though, I asked Zook one final question. "Zook!" I call out. Zook turns around, "Hm?" I point at his shirt, "Swinub?"
Zook flashes me a thumbs-up, and gives me a very Captain Falcon worthy "Yes!"
As I boarded the bus back home, a man handed me a slip of paper that was drafted for me. I unfurled the paper, and read aloud: Zook always wins.[/collapse]
Interview with Firus - Written by Terywj
[collapse=The Interview]The weather wasn't really suited for a beach day, but I had already rescheduled numerous times, so we decided to show. Hampton still had a lot of people, and knowing that I found my way over to a dining sector and waited for the interviewee to show up. I saw a kid around my age with a Sonic shirt and duct-taped shoes and mentioned him over.
"So Firus, how we doing today? Drive wasn't too bad?" I asked. "Nah. Fairfield is far but not too far," he laughed. A waitress asked for drinks, Firus got a Code Red Mountain Dew and I got a Sprite. I pulled out my notebook entitled "Interviews" and started writing.
Terywj: So Firus, could you tell us about yourself? Name, age, general stuff like that?
Firus: Sure. My name is John Adams (yes, like the president). I'm 17, turning 18 this October and am a Junior in high school (soon to be a Senior). Not quite sure what I want to study in college yet, but I'm thinking of majoring in Communications at the moment.
Terywj: As we know, you joined Smashboards in early 2008. How'd you find the site, and what was your motivation behind joining?
Firus: Well, in September 2007, I had joined Nintendo's NSider Forums as a way of anticipating Brawl in a community. When those got shut down, I ended up lurking YouTube for videos and using that for discussions of the game. I met someone there who I talked to a bit, and he mentioned SmashBoards a little bit. At the time, I was very anti-competitive, intending to tell competitive players how silly they were (on top of actually discussing the game, of course), but shortly after I joined I wound up realizing how silly I was being.
Terywj: Why did you choose the name Firus?
Firus: Back in 2006, I had joined the forums from a site called The Mystical Forest Zone, host of the sprite comic InSONICnia -- and the site that got me started on spriting. While starting on spriting, I decided I wanted to make my own fan Sonic character, to give myself an internet nickname, as the one I had currently adapted was the username from my Runescape account, Pyro8maniac, and I wasn't particularly fond of it. I ended up making a hedgehog similar to Shadow, with longer spines, an overall red color, and blue stripes. I had created him to be a sort of fire-y character, and when trying to come up with ideas for the name, someone suggested "Firus". I liked it, and I adapted the name "FirustheHedgehog" -- and more recently, Firus -- as my nickname for...pretty much everything, except in real life.
Terywj: Where did your SWF career start, and how did you come about to the PokeCenter?
Firus: I started off posting exclusively in the Brawl forums, mostly the General Brawl Discussion. About a month after joining, once I had developed a disappointment in Brawl, I started moving to other parts of the forum. Having been a long-time Pokémon fan, I was a little surprised I hadn't posted in the Poké Center before, and I started lurking and posting. I immediately fell in love with the community and all of the creative ideas that people -- most notably, Spire -- were putting out about how the games could be improved.
Terywj: You later started the Custom Pokemon Shop, along with Spire VII and other members. Looking back on it know what do you think of it? What of its impact on the PokeCenter?
Firus: Looking back, The Custom Pokémon Shop was...well, it was great for its first few months. Once the summer ended, the spriters stopped spriting as regularly, we started having to implement rules to stop the overflow of requests which we had been able to handle during the summer, and that's ultimately where things started to go downhill. However, I view its first few months in the summer as being absolutely amazing. We built up a great community with the Shop, I made friends with people and become social, rather than posting awkwardly like a robot as I had been before; and while it eventually did have to be shut down, I think it did have a positive impact on the PC.
Terywj: Speaking of spriting, what made you get a start on spriting? And what is your favorite sprite?
Firus: Sometime while looking up things about Metroid Fusion, I stumbled upon The Spriter's Resource's sprite section for the game. I really loved manipulating the sprites, just putting on a background, laying out objects, and setting up a scene with them. One day I visited that page and realized that it was a part of a larger site with an entire archive of sprites. I moved to the Sonic section and began to want to sprite with those, starting with recolors of Knuckles and Shadow (before I realized that you didn't have to do pixel-by-pixel recoloring). One day I found a site on Google explaining how to fuse Pokémon together and I immediately loved the idea of it and taught myself how to.
My favorite sprite would have to be Spire's Regimagma. It is the most creative, beautiful sprite I've seen, and even though it is far too realistic to fit into a Pokémon game, I love it.
I swear I heard a seagull say "That's right!"
Terywj: What about your favorite Pokemon(s)?
Firus: I'd have to say that Cubone and Tropius would have to tie for my favorite Pokémon. I've taken so many personality tests telling me that I'm most like Cubone that I eventually took a liking to it -- realizing that I am actually pretty similar to it. Tropius was a Pokémon that I initially considered to be forgettable and odd, but as I've realized how much I love third gen and realized how much Tropius is a symbol of Hoenn, I've come to love it.
Terywj: With the newest batch of Black / White Pokemon revealed yesterday, what do you think about the Fifth Generation of Pokemon so far?
Firus: I'm slightly conflicted on that matter at the moment, because I feel like I won't be able to fully come to a conclusion on the matter until I've gotten used to them and potentially even seen them in game. Right now, however, I'm pretty impressed. The Pokémon are all pretty different from what we've seen before, which I love.
Terywj: Straying away from Pokemon, the most annoying video game moment in history to you is?
Firus: Hm, that's a tough one...I'm probably forgetting something at the moment, but the first thing that comes to mind is the ending of Donkey Kong Country. I recall playing the Game Boy Color version at my grandparents' house once, and beating K. Rool. Proud of myself, I put the game down while the credits rolled. I came back to it a few minutes later to find that K. Rool was not, in fact, dead, and he killed me before I could do anything.
Terywj: Aside from video gaming, what other hobbies do you have?
Firus: My main hobby besides video gaming would probably have to be writing. I love writing, although I have a lot of trouble writing if I don't have inspiration. Listening to music is another hobby I have -- it seems odd to call it a hobby, but I love listening to music so much that I consider it to be one.
We sipped our drinks quietly as the waves crashed against the sea. People were noisy today, but that's just what the beach is.
Terywj: What type of music do you listen to, any favorite musicians or groups you'd like to recommend?
Firus: I tend to focus around Alternative Rock, but I really love a bit of everything -- Pop, Metal, JPop, Video Game Music, Electronic, Classic Rock, etc. The Ataris would have to be either my favorite band or close to it, if only for their work on So Long, Astoria; and recently, I've really gotten into Tool's music, specifically their 10,000 Days album.
Terywj: Favorite color, book, and frozen pizza?
Firus: Blue, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and...I actually haven't eaten frozen pizza in years (oddly enough), so it's hard to say.
Terywj: What do you think of the PokeCenter community in its current stage? And what'll happen when Black / White hits Japan?
Firus: I love it right now. The PokéCenter Member Pokédex is a testament to how many people we have from different time periods of the PC -- people who disappeared for periods of time have come back, people who have been there for years are still there. I feel like we have a great balance of general discussion, projects, and competitivity, so no matter how you play and discuss the games, you've got a place in the community. As for when Black and White hit Japan, I imagine we're going to get somewhat of an influx of members. I'd say the PC would get more active, but the PC at the moment is far more active than I ever remember it being, so it's hard for me to imagine that.
Terywj: If you were to have dinner with a member of the PokeCenter and anyone currently living, who would you pick?
Firus: Man, that's a tough one. I'd have to say Spire and my AP US History teacher, Mr. Dasher (he's an awesome teacher) -- but if I could host a Poké Center party with everyone from the PC, I would do it in an instant.
Terywj: And as a final question; I heard you like Mudkips?
Firus laughed before answering.
Firus: You must've heard wrong. He smiled.
Terywj: Thanks for the interview, Firus.
Firus: No problem! Thanks for interviewing me, it was fun!
On the road home, I knew these interviews would be a great insight onto the awesome members of the PokeCenter, and couldn't wait to interview someone else.[/collapse]
![Terywj [태리]](/data/avatars/l/71/71007.jpg?1555906021){kind=avatar}
