AMA - Derigin edition

[derigin]

Because why the hell not? Ask me anything. I'm honest and will answer - minecraft, life, whatever.

[asi1998]

Why is rock currently winning the battle between the two of you?

What is your best/favorite minecraft experience?

Coolest thing you ever build on here?

[derigin]

Why is rock currently winning the battle between the two of you?

Who said Rock was winning? "Pretend inferiority and encourage his arrogance." - Sun Tzu

What is your best/favorite minecraft experience?

Tough question. Sometimes my favorite moments have been because of the most inane things. For example, surprising (*cough* trolling *cough*) some users and friends in game, and listening to their reactions on Ventrilo. Another example goes back to one of the nights before Borjan's release, where a bunch of us mods (including Lennie) were, uh, doing some ridiculous and fun dicking around at Lennie's place. There's been a lot of good times dicking around. I also have fond memories of running my town, Beorn; showing new people around, building a bridge with Tulonsae, building my first ever mob tower, hoarding Furdabip's wealth. A lot of good experiences, I think.

But all of that trumps my best experiences, and that's really just interacting with people. The reason I got involved in the server was to meet other players and to interact with them. I'm happy when I see a whole new user start out, who then grows into an active player, and then possibly a mod. I know this sounds like a rather lame answer, but it really is a great experience seeing players grow.

Coolest thing you ever build on here?

I've built a lot personally and for the server, and each creation means a lot to me. I'll give you three creations I think are cool, but all for different reasons:

1. One of the tasks I was given over a year ago was designing Borjan. Along with the staff, we ended up building Nysta, and I ended up putting a fair bit of effort into it - with the roads, the tunnels, a number of its structures, etc. But the thing I think is most cool about all of that were the rails. The special thing about the rails is their math; in designing a cross + square design, I tried to make it so that a) the rails were (nearly) geometric and that b) they fit the landscape. It's not really all that impressive, but I did it by myself using a handheld paper map trying to figure out exactly where each stop should be, where each corner should be, etc. The lasting effect is that each stop is the same distance away from the next stop, and yet it somehow fits into the landscape. I think that's pretty cool.
2. A bit of narcissism, but I think the statue I made of myself in Beorn is pretty damn awesome.
3. Lastly, I think my house is pretty damn cool. It's modeled after Tintin's Marlinspike Hall, has some cool redstone contraptions in it, some beautiful design work, and a grand library full of user written books. I couldn't really ask for more... well... maybe a casino in the basement! I have big plans for it.

Now I suppose the more interesting question might have been "what did you almost build that would've been cool?" because I came close to building some epic stuff, but decided against it.

[asi1998]

what did you almost build that would've been cool?

[derigin]

what did you almost build that would've been cool?

The most cool? I came awfully close to trying my hand at building a minecraft City of Ember, which would obviously be called "City of Glowstone." The unfortunate thing is that, by the time I was really showing interest in doing it, I stopped wanting to run towns.

Along with that, I've come close to building a pirate cove (abandoned due to lack of time / lack of Cpt_Harlock, my mate in arms); a new mod fortress modeled after Angkor Wat; a palace of glass and ice (I think LS13 kinda beat me with the whole "King of Ice" bit).

[Invunarble]

Why do you leave so many creepy ass novels in my vault chests? o_0

[derigin]

Why do you leave so many creepy ass novels in my vault chests? o_0

Because you like it.

[Rock Beefchest]

Why do you wear old lady clothes and nance about trying to avoid our fight.

[Invunarble]

Why are you prancing around with my stolen old lady clothes, trying to avoid your fight with Rock?!

[dandres]

What do you think of the concept that the Minecraft community will be the ones updating and carrying Minecraft on into the future once API support has been added because the Minecraft team is running out of ideas to implement themselves. Also what would you like to see added or changed? I personal think they dropped the ball on the mine carts and could have made the mine cart system better and more efficient.

[derigin]

Why do you wear old lady clothes and nance about trying to avoid our fight.

Why is your yacht about to be blown up by tnt?

Also no one insults the dress of my people!

Why are you prancing around with my stolen old lady clothes, trying to avoid your fight with Rock?!

Your old clothes? No, sir, I can guarantee to you that I am actually wearing a Zinrius creation of early 2011.

What do you think of the concept that the Minecraft community will be the ones updating and carrying Minecraft on into the future once API support has been added because the Minecraft team is running out of ideas to implement themselves. Also what would you like to see added or changed? I personal think they dropped the ball on the mine carts and could have made the mine cart system better and more efficient.

Well, to be honest, I started to worry about Minecraft's future after it moved out of beta, because it seemed (and still seems) very unfinished. I really think Mojang dropped the ball there, as they could have kept the novelty that existed whenever a new feature was added to the game "towards the eventual game release." Now, every feature - while a nice addition - is viewed as extra to the game as "finished," when it's very much not. I'm very happy Jeb and Dinnerbone are still working hard on it. I prefer their direction over notch's, which seemed haphazard and without direction. But I'm not too optimistic about Minecraft. After you've done everything you've wanted to do, it doesn't seem to offer much beyond that. It's self-limiting.

I am excited about some of the new features coming out with the next update, however. For example, the next version will address some of the minecarts' shortcomings, which will be nice. But they still have a long way to go, I feel.

[asi1998]

You can have any one thing on this planet, what would it be?

[Lord_Mountbatten]

because the Minecraft team is running out of ideas to steal.

Fixed that for you.

[derigin]

You can have any one thing on this planet, what would it be?

Only one thing? To be debt and worry free.

[asi1998]

Why u retire beorn?

Whats ur favorite thing to do in ur spare time?

How did you design ur mansion?

[derigin]

Why u retire beorn?

Honestly, it had just run its course. By early 2012, most of the residents had disappeared... and what was once a vibrant town became a rather desolate place. And, at about that time, fewer people were venturing into Fyra in favor of Borjan. So it seemed right to just retire the town, and let it slip into history.

I feel rather happy doing that. Back when it was active, I still felt a level of responsibility for taking care of it, and now that it's retired, I can move (and have) moved onto other ventures. So, I'm afraid, it no longer interests me to run it... and it no longer interests me to see it active again.

Whats ur favorite thing to do in ur spare time?

Depends on the mood. Sometimes the most enjoyable thing I can do is just nap, while in other cases it's going to the gym. And video games, of course.

How did you design ur mansion?

I modelled the basic design off of Captain Haddock's house (Marlinspike Hall) in the Tintin books. I've always admired that house, and had wanted to build it for some time... but just never had the time or the materials. I've gotten pretty good with design over the years, and so also wanted to make an onion dome too. The rest of the building just kinda... flowed... and I tweaked it as I went. I usually just do something I think looks cool, and keep it that way.

[dragon67845]

What is the meaning of life?

[derigin]

Forty-Two.