Search This Blog

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Moderator Interview: Pastry


Could you briefly introduce yourself? 
I'm Tom and I play Pastry, a 115-M Ringmaster on the Mushpoie server.

I understand you are a Flyff moderator. How did you like the game before becoming moderator and how do you like it now?
I was very content playing as a non-mod for quite some time and although being a mod made me somewhat more well known in game and on the forums it didn't change my game play experience too much. The title itself doesn't change anything for me in game and too few players use the forums for it to change my experience in that respect.

How does it feel being able to help supervise the Flyff forums? 
It was a little daunting at first but being able to deal with the problems as they arise rather reporting and waiting is definitely a nice perk.

Why does Flyff need a forum moderator? 
Why it needs moderators I couldn't say, but I do think the forums benefit from having players with the ability to remove inappropriate and out of place content as well as people being able to pass messages to and from the Game Masters; this helps when they're too busy. For example, when they are running big events and if the servers go down, which albeit, is much scarcer lately.

How long have you been a “mod” for? 

Over a year with about a month or two break. I ended up a mod in march? last year I think.
 

How do you choose moderators for such a large forum? 
Well some our priorities overlap when choosing but personally my recommendations are people who I think are helpful, have strong game knowledge, would be useful to a section that is under-modded, have a good understanding of the rules, and quite importantly, who wouldn't go mad with the power.
 

Are moderators required to give reports? 
There is no fixed structure for the reports but yes, every week we have a mod meeting and the first order of business is usually to discuss any issues from the past week. Serious issues will usually have been discussed with the Community Manager whenever they arise but the more minor ones are also discussed here just as a heads up to everyone else on the team.
 

Do the other players know you’re a moderator? How do they react to your presence? 
Some do and some don't as, like I said, a good portion of the players don't use the forums; the people who don't use the forums a great deal quite often confuse mods with GM's. I try to draw the distinction quickly to avoid the next most common question, "Do you get free items and/or Penya??"
 

What would you say are the pros/cons of being a moderator? 
The Pro's for me would really be that people (I hope) tend to trust me a bit more than the average forum-er so my advice doesn't fall on deaf ears as often. Additionally,  people will pm me asking for help or just with general questions.

The Con's are that not everyone likes a moderator. We're in a position that is very open to criticism and we're seen just as often as forum suck-ups as we are forum helpers.
 

Well I believe that Moderators have a lot of work indeed, but no one really knows for sure, so has it been hard work so far? Do you get frustrated sometimes? 
Yeah I get frustrated sometimes but I think I'm reasonably laid back, so the frustrations don't really get to me. Logging into a section like general and seeing a load of red threads makes browsing annoying, so the frustrations really drive you to do the job sometimes.
 

Have you ever suggested something to the Flyff Developers that is now released to the public? 
I'm not sure if it counts since it's not released to the public yet, but I designed a masquerpet called "The Grey Earl" for the "Design a masquerpet contest" we had on the forums. Mine was one of the winners that will be implemented into the game for
events and raids.
 

How do you imagine Flyff 1 years from now? 
Well I'm really not sure what it would be like, but I'd personally like more and different PvP additions. Objective based PvP systems, separate areas for guild wars with more elaborate settings would be pretty cool. Other than that for Ringmasters to
inherit the Earth.
 

What is your favorite thing about Flyff? 
As cliche' as it'll sound, the friends I've made. I don't think I'd have played for that long on this game, or would on any other mmorpg had I not made good friends - that's really the whole point of a multiplayer game for me.
 

What sparked your interest in Flyff? 
A friend named Ana told me to download it a few years ago, so I played with her a bit. Although in the end as I met more people, I played more and I'm still on it long after she left the game.
 

How was the game at first sight? Did someone help you out to understand this game? 
Yes, Ana gave me a nice tutorial just outside of Flarine with a run down on the classes and different hot keys. It was a lot more confusing back then since that was before the new player tutorial and such had been re-done to be more user friendly.
 

Describe a typical day. 
Well when I go on the forums I usually deal with the reports I see while I browse; these are usually ones in general, the Mushpoie Sun, Off-topic and class sections. After that I'll check the list of open reports to see what else does or doesn't need attending too.

When I get the chance to go on Flyff, which isn't as often these days, I usually have a several PM windows open where I'm talking to people. My actual activity varies on the day. I really enjoyed the new dungeons and tower siege as well as main siege although
my character isn't really suited for that. I manage to survive for quite a while with less than half the hp most people have since I'm using a leveling build; I usually have around 70-80k but most people assume since I'm an RM that I'm full STA and have HP into the 120-130s so I can go about my holycrossing business in peace.
 

What is your favorite thing about moderating? 
Again it's really just being in an elevated position to help people, as well as having the power to deal with problems as they happen rather than watching them get out of control.
 

How much time do you spend on Flyff each day? 
A couple of hours a day if I have the time at least, I don't play it everyday at the moment though.
 

What are your favorite forum threads?
TheDarkPawn's record thread in the Mushpoie Sun has always been very well organized and maintained. It really attracts people to the section and plenty of people have been setting and breaking records since he made it.

I had a lot of fun with the "Locomochi hoax" thread which was completely not my idea.
 

In your opinion, what, ideally, is the role of a forum like ours? 
It's a place to share knowledge and information. My favourite people on the forums are usually the eccentrics and the very knowledgeable. People like sarisairis, herki, isingh, Filiachan etc who really know what's what in the game and definitely aren't shy about telling people what they know on the forums.

It's really also a place to enjoy yourself and, (provided they're sticking to the rules), the zany people like cowardspunks really make my day.
 

What are your future goals on Flyff and how would you like to improve the game? 
Getting to Hero is really the main one. It seems like everyone's done it but me but someday hopefully. For Improvements, as I said earlier, improved PvP advents would be the best thing in my opinion. Some people are so well geared and so experienced they can siege with their eyes closed so something a bit more challenging would provide some players with a lot more to do and a lot of fun.
 

What advice can you give too any player that would like to become a "mod" on Flyff? 
Don't try and force it just because you want the position. If you are a knowledgeable and helpful person we'll more than likely pick up on that, but there's no shame in just being a respected and trusted forum-er. You don't need to be a mod just to help out.
 

Do you tell people in real life that you are a moderator for Flyff? Is it hard to explain your profession to people in real life? 
A few IRL friends know and they understand what I'd be doing pretty well since they use other forums, but "I'm an internet forum moderator" doesn't often come up in conversation.
 

Do you look up too anybody on Flyff? Any shout outs? 
I have big respect for the knowledgeable people I listed earlier. I have a lot of very good friends in the game though and it'd take up way too much space to list them here but they should know who they are. Since I use too many words as it is, Ill leave it at that.
 

What do you think of the whole new version on Flyff? 
I like it, aesthetically each version is better than the last, as it should be I guess. Game play wise it's new content which is always good. The lower level dungeons are really nice although the new HERO dungeon was a let down for me. There's not really a
point in doing it unless you're a ranger or a knight since otherwise the rewards aren't good enough.
 

And last but not least, what advice can you give to moderators/admins of forums? 
Definitely don't accept the position unless you're really ready. I made that mistake by becoming a moderator only a month after coming to the forums and it was a pretty daunting experience but I'd like to think I've become at least a half decent moderator now. The bottom line is, if you're really mod material, the community manager and the other mods won't think less of you for waiting for a while and when you're ready to take on the position the chances are they won't mind you asking them to take them up on their offer later down the line.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Player Interview: TGE & Pudding

Hey Guys! I was able to grab an awesome interview with TGE & Pudding. Please check it out below.


Briefly introduce yourself TGE & Pudding! Who are you? And what can you tell us about yourselves? 
I'm Tom, but you can call me Ping, TGE, THEGREATESTEVER - whatever you want! I'm the co-creator of the "PUDDING and THEGREATESTEVER" FlyFF machinima series and am currently working on our team's newest, biggest machinima project, "Legends of Roika: Dawn of the Phoenix!" Um, I love to do video editing and animation. My favorite color is red. And.... I'm excited to get deeper into the story of LoR!

And I’m Kristen also known as PUDDING, Mystic, or MysticMoon. I helped Tom create the original series. I’m pretty much his cheerleader. Go Tom GO!~ While he makes all the awesome videos, I’m the one trying to get it out there for others to see. I guess you could say I’m the voice of the series since I talk to most of our contacts and the fans. But now we have a production team to help us out with all of that! I like sweets, cute things, and cats!


Why are you called Pudding? Why are you called TheGreatestEver? Where did these nicknames originate from? 
The PUDDING and THEGREATESTEVER names originated from my entry to the FlyFF Halloween contest in 2007. We needed a name to describe somebody who was a cocky, full-of-himself loser, and thus THEGREATESTEVER was born! PUDDING was actually a name I called Kristen back in the day, which came from her love of pudding and jello pudding pops! It also fit nicely with the character being all cute and stuff.


How long have you been playing Flyff for?
We started playing back in June of '07. We were looking for a fun game that we could play together and just happened to see an ad for FlyFF on a random gaming website. We played Flyff for a long time, eventually getting some of our friends addicted to it *cough* Matt aka the voice of LegendaryLover XD. We don't play that much anymore, though. We're too busy with our projects and whatnot. If you see us in-game, it's usually because we're doing some filming!


What are your favorite things about Flyff?
Tom - My favorite things about FlyFF would have to be the music and weapons. I fell in love with the game when I heard the battle theme of Flaris when I first started playing. It was awesome! And I love the weapon art of FlyFF. My favorite is the Ivillines Big Sword - it looks evil >:D

Kristen - Aibatts and lollipops! And the really cute cs clothes and pets. I also like the fact that you can pretty much go anywhere in the game. By this I mean the ability to fly, jump, and the use of the wasd keys. This really helps when you are trying to make a machinima. Sadly there are a lot of mmorpgs out there where you cant even move your character other than by using your mouse. It may seem insignificant to others, but it really makes a big difference.


What inspired you guys to create MysticalPing Productions?
When we finished the "PUDDING and THEGREATESTEVER" series, we wanted to create a more official identity for our next projects. We couldn't think of anything when it came to a name for our group, so we just named it after my first character in FlyFF, MysticalPing. We invited some people to join the group that had helped us in the past. Our hopes was that if we could get more people to help us, our projects will finish faster and be higher quality!


What are your responsibilities in the team?
Tom - Pretty much everything lol. I do the scripting, filming, editing, 3d animation, voicing, etc.. I also create the MBC News episodes that launch whenever a new LoR episode is released. It's all very... time consuming XD

Kristen - I do the voice of PUDDING! I also manage our forums and take care of things over on the official FlyFF forums! I have various projects that I'll be releasing soon, too. But I don't want to reveal all that yet! I'm sort of the project overseer and keep tabs on everybody, EVEN YOU! lol

What sparked your interest in making a project that involved Flyff?
We love doing video projects and thought why not do something for the game we play? It's really broadened our talents in the field as well.


What is Legends of Roika: Dawn of the Phoenix? Who came up with the idea behind this project?
It's basically a rework of the "PUDDING and THEGREATESTEVER" series. We thought that since we improved in our video skills that we could create a bigger, better "PUDDING and THEGREATESTEVER!" And since we also partnered with Machinima.com to showcase our work, we wanted to create something that non-FlyFF players could watch and (hopefully) relate! We also wanted to create something more professional than anything we've created so far.

The name also implies that there could be future series to the Legends of Roika story. For example, Legends of Roika: (insert title for series here)! We did this so that we could add to the story eventually, while at the same time being a totally different series.


Did your group feel pressure about making the first episode successful?
Well not really haha. We were more or less excited to see what people thought of the first episode! If there's any kind of pressure, it's usually the wait for Machinima.com to release our episodes. We want to make sure we release the MBC News announcement asap whenever we see the LoR episode on Machinima's youtube.


Were there any challenges in the production of this project?
In the beginning of the project, the main challenge was limiting the story to what I was capable of doing in 3d and through in-game filming. There were also issues with trying to get things done in a timely fashion. There's a lot of time and work spent into each episode, more than 100 hours I'd say! And that's pretty tough to fit into everyone's lives when they've got school, work and other things going on. Other than that, there was the challenge of making scripts/episodes last a certain length. That's no-longer an issue now, though. The issue these days is trying to get things done while trying to keep to our planned 2 week release schedule!


Describe a Typical day.
Tom - If I'm not working at my job, then I'm working on the project. I'd say an average of 3-6 hours a day is spent on the project for me. If I'm rendering something, or if it's 12am, I usually take a break and watch anime or play a game with Kristen!

Kristen - I work semi full time. On my days off I poke around on the interwebs and work on various aspects of the project. Most of my time is spent on our forums moderating and what not. When I’m not working on the project, I enjoy playing games with Tom, hanging out with my cat Mystic, and watching anime
!


Are there any other members in MysticalPing Productions that you would like to mention?
We have a handful of awesome people on our team! Everyone collaborates on different areas of the project, but we more or less have certain responsibilities.

Matt (TickleMeMatt, LordBizkit) - Does the voice of LegendaryLover as well as any other minor character in the scripts. He also has a marketing project that he just started that'll help promote the series and our production! Matt also helped create the skeleton of the story, so much of what you're going to see is based off of his awesome ideas!

Lauren (Kinneko) - Does the voice of Rain. She also created some story for the first few episodes! Lauren does character development for the series as well and has a ton of ideas just waiting to be put into video-form! She also helps manage our forums.

Anna (Tefira) - Helps edit the scripts so that they flow better. She also voices some future characters in the series!

meimei - Does the voice of CuteButt and edits the scripts too. She is also a voice director where she critiques the voices of the episodes as I create them. We then redo the voices to make it fit the scene better. Mei also takes care of things on FlyFFWorld by promoting us there! Mei helped setup our forum and installs new features for us! We turn to Mei when we want a new feature on our forums :D

blinkky - is our tech guy and the one hosting our forums! He is awesome!

Jesse (Jessymaru) - Does the voice of various characters, such as Shadyman. He helps promote the series through facebook and other forums sometimes, and also is a voice director.

Key200 - Helps moderate and promote our forum! He also does his own machinima projects.

Sal (Caelum)- Creates background music for the series. He is awesome!

Steven and Jeremy (rei0 and Ares) - Create music for the series as well. Their band, Blackout, is responsible for our current intro and outro songs for LoR! These guys are awesome! Aside from music, they also help with extra voices. You can find them on facebook, http://www.facebook.com/blackouttheband and myspace http://www.myspace.com/blackouttheband.


How was it to work with them?
Sometimes it's hard to get everyone on the same page, but that's expected when we all live in different areas of the world and can only communicate online! Overall, it's a great experience and we're glad to have them on board!


What are you currently working on? Are there any special projects that you would like to mention? 
Tom - Currently, I'm working on re-rendering the original "PUDDING and THEGREATESTEVER" series, although I'm not sure if I should say exactly why yet :D. While doing that, I'm also working on episode 5 of LoR - 3d animations.

Kristen - Umm, I can’t really say right now. I want it to be a surprise!~

Do other players know who you are? Could you provide us with a URL to your projects?
Our guild on Kern server knows us. We have a full friend's list of fans in the game as well lol. Even some people in other games know us! It's crazy O_O.

You can find all our projects at:

http://www.youtube.com/theping781
http://www.mysticalpingproductions.com
http://www.facebook.com/mysticalpingproductions
http://www.twitter.com/legendsofroika

Any shout outs you would like to make?
Tom - Bruce Willis, you're my hero!
Kristen - Omg Tom… lol - I just want to thank all the GM’s (world wide :3) who support us and our project. You really help to inspire us to keep at it. Also, thanks to all of our fans that watch the series. It would be nothing without you guys.

Any last words?
Tom - BUCKLE UP HERE WE GO!!!!

Kristen - You don’t mess with… THE PUDDING! - Join our forum!!!!! 


Monday, May 10, 2010

Game Master Interview: Another day in TurBo's Calendar

Snagged an interview with one of Flyff's most talented GMs, TurBo!

Tell us something about yourself, like how old are you?
 I am roughly 27 years old, younger or older depending on who you ask :)

Well what can you tell us about yourself?
 I’m just a regular guy. I enjoy video games, browsing internet, and hanging out with friends outside of work. I also enjoy drawing, reading, cooking, and trolling internet forums during my alone time. (Just kidding on that last one, who does that? That’s just rude.)

Is being a Game Master a real, full time job?              
 Very much so! 8 hours of work a day on average, Monday through Friday. Just like any other regular job :)

How did you become a GM?
 I found a job application on craigslist, filled it out, got interviewed, passed, and became a GM. It may be slightly different for other GM’s, but that was the general steps I personally took.

So what does being a GM involve? What does a typical GM day for you look like?
Usually answering massive amounts of customer support emails a day, this takes up 90% of our time. Then on the other 10% we create events and host them for players. It’s pretty fun when we actually do go in-game and interact with players. And in-between those 2, we have an assorted range of random issues to handle, it’s somewhat difficult to categorize them all. All I know is that my day passes by very very fast!

What are some special tasks that you do on the GM team?
 I primarily work on account compromised cases. That’s the name we call issues where someone got their account accessed by someone else, and in most cases, had their items stolen or their characters deleted. When I work on these cases, sometimes I feel like I’m on an episode of CSI:FlyFF or something.
In addition to account compromised cases, I do a wide range of art related assets for US FlyFF. Most the time, it’s just the sales or event banners for our front page. Occasionally though, I’ll get to work on something bigger like an email blast poster, or a FlyFF comic. :3

Do you get many stupid emails/tickets?
 I personally have not found any “Stupid” emails, but there are a lot of confused emails from players, due to the fact that a lot of our player base may not speak English as their primary language. I guess the only seemingly “stupid” email would be players trying to send us fake information trying to gain in-game advantage or items. This usually results them getting a permanent ban for providing intentional falsified information. It’s like trying to trick the police into giving you free stuff. Don’t do it :)

How many other GMs are there?
 From what I heard, there used to be a GM for every server of FlyFF. But now, we primarily have 4 GM’s, and 1 CM (community manager). We’re a pretty tight knit group because of our size.

What is your opinion of FlyFF?
 FlyFF (the game) itself is a bit outdated in comparison to the large amounts of newer MMORPG’s out there, but FlyFF’s community is one of the strongest I’ve personally ever experienced out of my entire MMORPG playing career. It sounds kind of cheesy, but the players you meet both in-game and on the forums almost feel like long lost family members. There is a lot of love for this game, and it really shows.

Flyff recently had a version update to V15. What are your opinions?
 There was a lot of new content added with this update (most notable ones being the lower level instance dungeon The Wilds, and the Guild House), and a lot of players seem to enjoy it. However, with all the good things, there also came a flood of technical issues that needed to be addressed and fixed. It’s very fun to have new stuff to play with, but sucks when you can’t –actually- play it because you’re busy crashing from bugs or whatnot. Hopefully we’ll be able to iron out all the problems and have players sailing smoothly again as soon as possible.

Are there many female players in FlyFF?
 There’s actually a surprising amount of female players in FlyFF. I’m not entirely sure why, but it’s possible due to the large bubbling community or just a multitude of dress up fashion items. Regardless, everyone is welcome whether you’re a dude or a girl.

How about non-English speaking players?
 We also have a very wide range of global users, even though FlyFF is available in almost every region (China, Japan, Korea, Brazil, Europe... etc) Again, it is possible due to the fact that foreign communities have been established in the US FlyFF from so long ago, that the lineage of that establishment has continued to this day. We see players talking in different languages in-game all the time, it’s kinda cool actually.

Are there a lot of children playing the game?
 Yes, but we have a pretty wide spectrum of player ages playing FlyFF. From as young as 7 years old to even parents or grandparents. It’s very heartwarming to see an entire family play together. I wish I had that as a kid ;_;

To wrap things up, do you have any tips or secrets for players?
 I think at this point, due to the age of the game, the collective player base know more tips and tricks than a GM ever will. If I had to give one tip, it would be to make as many friends as you can. The more friends you know, the more help you will receive regarding everything in FlyFF. But please don’t share your account information with players you meet, this will land you in a bigger mess than you can ever imagine. If there was a single way to lose the game, sharing your account would be it.

Have fun folks, but please watch your safety first! ;)

Monday, May 3, 2010

Player Interview: Sieging with Dexion

Grabbed an interview with one of Flyff's notorious guild siegers, Dexion!
 

First, please introduce yourself quickly.
My name is Josh and I'm the leader of  the Ridicule guild on Kern.

Where does your guild name Ridicule originate from?
The face. /ridicule

Why are you known for siege?
I am the MVP of 5 servers: Aibatt, Mushpoie, Mia, Kern, and Glaphan

How many times have you won in siege?
I have sieged for 4 years and have only lost 9 times.

Any players or guilds worth mentioning?
Mundus on Mushpoie has been MVPing mostly every week since V7. He has had the most individual points. He doesn't die at all because he swaps 9 items in between each ASAL(9 items that throw his HP above damage limits), then he switches 9 items that allows him to one hit anyone. Same thing for Tsuchii, they just can't be killed at the moment.

Insanity on MIA, he plays very defensively. He uses a strategy where he won't stay visible for more than one kill(dark illusion).  It allows him to stay alive all siege. No one knows where he is during siege when he uses the dark illusion skill.

LordWayne on Aibatt, he is  the same as Mundus.

What kind of BP build would you suggest for siege?
Full STA, but it is important to consider building your character to kill what you need to kill. Blades usually just cap their damage so they can farm while being able to tank. BPs usually cap their ASAL and HP in siege. It is just about knowing everyone's HP/Damage and building your character to take advantage of it.

Any tips for other players on winning guild siege?
Don't play for yourself. Make smart kills that will help your guild or benefit another person. An example would be me killing full STR BPs that are able to one hit our guildies. My guild's BPs would kill characters that I can't one hit with my jester.

Any shout outs you'd like to make?
Oh, hi mom.

Any last words?
I guess, just have fun lol cause tbh people take it too seriously and they forget the game aspect of Flyff.

Scroll of Awakening Protection comic! Kudos to GM TurBo

The Flyff Cash Shop has a new item, the "Scroll of Awakening Protection". GM TurBo has been kind enough to craft an illustration for you guys. Props to TurBo for creating a very descriptive comic on how the new item works!

"This amazing new scroll is now available in the Item Shop!  It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!
For a limited time, Scroll of Awakening Protection Bundles will be available in the Item Shop as well." 



Illustration provided by GM TurBo

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Wild Animal Fashion Sale Screenshots!

New Fashion Set screenshots

"This weekend only, we're having a Wild Animal Fashion Sale! We have 3 new Fashion Sets available in the Item Shop and we're also re-releasing some old favorites! In addition to that, all the animal sets that are in the shop permanently will be set to 30% OFF! "



Here are the screenshots of the Male/Female sets if you have not seen them yet!



Screenshots provided by GM MaxPang