|
|
|
Every wave is wealth to Daedalus, Wealth to the cunning artist who can work This matchless strength. Where shall he find, O waves! A load your Atlas shoulders cannot lift? -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, Sea-Shore Here we are. The big guy - the head honcho. Serge has, over the years, not only spent countless hours of his time coding the FPL website and the rest of the electricferret domain for our personal enjoyment but also footed the bill for the last 3+ years. Every FPLer out there owes him their respect and gratitude. He's stuck with us through thick and thin, creating some of the FPL's more memorable personalities along the way, as well. Here we track him down and ask him some tough questions. An expanded peanut gallery watches and comments. Abdiel Thanks for taking the time to talk to us, Serge. It's truly an honor to speak with you this afternoon. speakeasy bah =) Abdiel Our traditional first question holds just as well for you as for everyone else, since you're one of the FPL's better creators as well as its programmer: Who do you feel has been your greatest "success", and why? speakeasy Prolly Faster Pussycat... she started the Marauders team and just has a soft spot. Y'all know I've only made a bare handful of characters since this place went online speakeasy zoot suit riot was the only ME char I've managed Abdiel well, each has definitely made an impact in the IC world of Khazan Abdiel What do you feel distinguishes a "good" character from a truly "great" one? speakeasy I honestly don't know. I vote strictly on "concept" and I feel good when I create a good "Concept" character. My last one, Summer Christmas, had lame powers but a good concept... and I feel that was generally recognized speakeasy well, by hexxjo anyways =) Abdiel Did you create the powers scheme/game mechanics system of the FPL yourself, or was it a collaborative effort? speakeasy It was pulled out of the Marvel Superheroes RPG Ultimate Powers Guide... not in print since 89 speakeasy I just opened my dog eared copy Abdiel And it's worked for us ever since =) speakeasy lotta good stuff in that book Sir Christopher wow, I thought the system was created from scratch. "learn something new everyday" Abdiel You said that you vote strictly on Concept characters - does that mean that you think Powers are strictly secondary to writing? What do you think of characters that try to incorporate power combos and create new effects through such methods? speakeasy Oh, I'm all for it, as long as the combo goes with the sum total. If it has a great concept + a great combo I'll fall in love Abdiel I'm going to go ahead and pin you down - if you had to name your FPL Top 3 characters of all time, who'd make the cut? =) speakeasy Schrodlingers cat, Mr. Macho Gung-Ho Action Man, Ambre Ball speakeasy Ambre Ball because she started the Sexy Pic debate Sir Christopher serge's three favorite characters are among the first ones ever created Abdiel Can you tell us a little bit about the MMGHAM controversy for those reading who don't know about it? It all seems so mysterious at first. speakeasy Well, there was some silliness about people wanted to copyright their character, and I said everything that goes through the FPL is public domain. I offered to remove any character that was in the FPL if they felt they wanted to have their copyrights intact. [Eric, creator of] MMGHAM opted out. it's so ridiculous Abdiel so that's the mystery behind the missing Main Event records? speakeasy yep - now there is the disclaimer on the creator Abdiel Interesting... people tend to take things too seriously sometimes, don't they? speakeasy I think so. Not like this site is some kind of threat. Sir Christopher The only threat this site poses is to your sanity. speakeasy agreed speakeasy BTW ... jack spanky is near and dear to my heart as that character came directly from the old CBUB spanked like a 4 year old at Kmart joke Sir Christopher hehe, thanks. it's amazing how much mileage you can get out of those in-jokes Abdiel The FPL has a healthy, active Fanfic/In Character writing community, but it wasn't always that way. What do you think of IC stories? Are they an integral part of the FPL experience or are they unnecessary? Any favorite stories of your own? speakeasy I tried IC with my Khazan Ranger character and got lots of positive feedback. I think it plays an important part speakeasy (note to self: reopen the Post-A-Fanfic script) Abdiel Hexx said that he feels that the FPL has moved away from a Fights-centered community where who won the battle was everything, to a fic-writing group. Do you think that's accurate, and if so, is it a good thing? speakeasy sure. If he feels that way, I'd be happy to support scripts to support it. Generally, I have no idea what's happening. I'm so out of the loop. Honestly, besides increasing script efficiency, the core FPL hasn't changed in years. If a change is wanted I'll make it happen, but people have to write me Abdiel But it's a proven system, so it all works out. Gets better with age =) speakeasy Well, I think it's verrrry odd so many offshoots (MageCraft by the creator of Schrodlingers Cat, Battle High and others) have faltered while this basically simplistic system is still here Abdiel Do you have any advice for the new players casually stumbling upon the site and creating a character? What should they expect? How can they fit in, and what should they do when trying for their first successful character? speakeasy That I don't know. All the veterans know me, and as the programmer I'm so far removed from being a newbie stumbling on this site I wouldn't know what to say speakeasy I honestly don't understand why people keep showing up here. Even Moltar, creator of Lord Apathy, who swore he had left the FPL for good is back. Dunno what the attraction is Abdiel You've done some exciting new things with the scripts lately, incorporating two new kits, Olympian and Overlord. What was the logic behind their creation and inclusion? speakeasy er... basically, I sat on my ass for ages and didn't open the creator, so I felt I had to put in something to make it look good. Total programming time for new kits: 30 minutes Sir Christopher all hail the TRUE SlacKing speakeasy basically, I spend all my time these days playing Diablo II online. Look me up... acct name FoxFingers Abdiel Now, on to the more technical side of things for a bit. I understand that you used PERL to create the FPL scripts. Any big problems or stories to tell regarding the site's coding? Any plans to release this version's (or earlier ones) source code? speakeasy Sure... people can see the source code in www.electricferret.com/brad/ I set that up for an interview doing perl for Amazon.com, but I work for IBM in austin now Abdiel I understand that the FPL has also served as a showcase of sorts for you, although I'm sure you're capable of even bigger and better things now, years later. Has it generated interest from companies? speakeasy It's helped... but the bottom line is this... If I spent even a quarter as much time working on this site as I do playing video games, it would truly rule all. Sadly, I haven't been that motivated. And here's the reason: People don't send me shit. Hey Serge, I'd like this to happen and I'll admin it! can you do it? Yah, you bet your ass I can. People need to get some ideas, get involved and work with me Abdiel sounds promising! speakeasy I’m open speakeasy I'm pretty much left to design everything myself. it suxxors MrGraves makes a note to write up another copy of his Dynamic ME Queue idea for Serge and prays that e-mail works speakeasy I got a month over Christmas to code this site. got ideas ... send now Abdiel Although the general FPL populace is here to have fun, some people just don't get it. The FPL has had problems with cheaters, or "Vote Mongerers" before. How safe are we these days, and do you have any war stories regarding your struggles with these fools? speakeasy Well, it's pretty locked down these days I think. One active character... one vote. People seem to like that speakeasy otherwise, people will find a way to cheat. it's just human nature Abdiel A lot of people have also said that open voting on the ME helps, since it allows newcomers to have a say and get used to the voting process. speakeasy I think I like the open vote on the ME because it's like the CBUB ... it's big. I will never monitor cheats on the ME. I encourage people to vote monger at the cbub Abdiel except for that first Callisto fight =) speakeasy or, that is, I encourage people at the cbub to tell their friends speakeasy the cbub scripts are pretty safe when it comes to dynamic IP type cheaters. the FPL uses the same one speakeasy the cbub thrives on people telling their friends to show up. I hope the ME serves the same purpose speakeasy since electricferret does around a million hits a month, something is working somewhere Abdiel Do you see yourself still working on this site for the masses two years from now? speakeasy sure. hopefully it will be cooler, possibly it will be the same... depends on how willing people are to throw new ideas *my Way*. See, y'all can talk about how cool it would be for this or that... but until somebody starts working with me, it won't happen. Where the FPL is 2 years from now is your choice... but I'll prolly still be paying the bills Abdiel What can we do to convince you to make characters more frequently? =) Sdude yes what - money, girls, power? name it speakeasy er... I'm in a character writing wasteland. Ask me what the skill set of my next Diablo II Amazon is and I'll write you a dissertation speakeasy kk Sir Christopher I was slightly confused by an earlier reply - do you mean that you just want people to come to you with their conceptual ideas, or should they supply their own coding solutions as well? speakeasy conceptual ideas... fully realized speakeasy no coding solutions required Abdiel I know this is kind of a silly question for you, but... if there was one thing you could change about the FPL, what would it be? speakeasy er... I dunno. I tried so many things. The sectors. The IC RPG thing, the fan-fic post, the Combat Simulator... all offline now. fuck, I don't know what people want, and I'm tired of wasting my time producing stuff that gets beat down. Y'all tell me, now Abdiel fair enough Abdiel Be honest: who do you love more, us or the CBUB crowd? speakeasy you =) notice I haven't updated the CBUB in 2 months Abdiel What's best book/movie/entertainment-form that we're not experiencing? Anything you want to plug while you have our attention? speakeasy nope... like I said, if you play Diablo II, look me up. acct name FoxFingers Abdiel jabazons or bowazons for PvP? =) Sir Christopher *boggle* speakeasy Hardcore only, with a great group of people called theamazonbasin. no cheats, no hacks, no PK Abdiel hardcore amazons, wow. speakeasy one death... that's all you get Abdiel Would you like to swing on a star? speakeasy I'd like to know what happened to World Serpent after all the grief on copyrights they gave me speakeasy I'd like to know how Heisen is doing Abdiel Do you have a hero? If so, who? speakeasy er.... hero... er.... Walt Disney Abdiel If you could off one person and get away scot free, who would it be? speakeasy Saddam... same myself an estimated 12 billion for a war on Iraq speakeasy in taxes Abdiel What's one thing every self respecting human being should experience/do before they die? speakeasy male or female? Abdiel you can give two answers if you want =) speakeasy male: go to the Philippines with $500 in their pocket for a week. Female: try Wicca Abdiel How many roads must a man walk down? speakeasy I dunno... listen to Bob Dylan Abdiel And finally: Who's the Man? The Rookie say Mr. T speakeasy the cop knocking on your front door The Rookie damn it Abdiel Thanks for coming out to talk with us, Serge. Just want to let you know that we all really do appreciate everything you've done to give us an environment to create and have fun. Abdiel You have the last word =) speakeasy after years of study... I can honestly say Sam Adams is the best American beer Previous Rants |
