Interview with Alexander Moshkov aka Vizzerdrix

In fact, the idea of interviewing Sasha came much earlier than the thought of an interview with Sveta. But historically, Sveta's answers were processed faster. I hasten to correct this injustice and share with you the results of questioning the chief creative officer of GAMER.ru

Background

Ksandr_Warfire: I have a thought. Need to do an interview with you.

Vizzerdrix: Many wanted to, but refused. Because I'm not up for text interviews. I want something a bit more exciting)))

KW: No, I won't go to Moscow even for a diamond post…

V: *demonic laughter*

KW: We can also do an interview and then create a comic based on it.

V: The comic sounds more interesting, I love interactive stuff.

KW: We'll create an epic story involving a dark lord, Christmas and an army of penguins. And then, you come in all white. A diamond is guaranteed.

V: Then okay )))

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*Some time later*

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V: Listen, I have answers limited to a thousand characters...

KW: O_O

V: Looks like we're out with the comic.

KW: Whatever. We’ll still do it with blackjack and hookers jokes.

This is how it all began. But what came out of it, you can read below. Both participants of this event hope that you will like the result.

Moskov Alexander Vadimovich

Nick on GAMER.ru: Vizzerdrix

Position: rat catcher

Weight: 83 kg

Height: 187 cm

Chest size: -

Marital status: single, no girlfriend

Hair color: in summer, my head will reflect the sun

Eye color: what?

Bad habits: watching svetakru

Place of birth: Moscow

University: graduated from the Moscow Psychological and Social Institute

Favorite GIFs:

Clickable

Again clickable

Click this one too

Hi. Can you briefly tell us where you came from?

Mom gave birth :) Love your moms, gamers! They gave you the chance to know what Spectrum, Dendy, PC and consoles are.

Now to the point. I entered the gaming industry as a newbie on the lowest rung of development (personal development included, I was 16-17 years old), writing news, translating descriptions for demo versions and videos. Then I wrote news and did translations again, but on another site. After that, I got involved in developing the content part of a large portal about MMOG games. Later, I became a journalist for a major internet publication, where I wrote previews, reviews, special materials, and interviewed various interesting personalities. Along the way, I got acquainted with many people in the gaming industry, inadvertently collecting contacts and connections.

At some annual event “The Discography of New Disk”, the head of the PR department approached me and offered me a job. I declined, citing that it was impossible to combine studying in the full-time program (I was then in my third year of university) and full-time work.

A few months later, I remembered this offer and decided to try myself in PR. I went to the guys, asked to join. I said I was ready. It seemed that I would only appear at the university during exams. And that’s how it was.

Two years went by. I successfully passed my state exams and received my specialist diploma (trolling all the students), gained experience in marketing and PR, as well as solidified my position in the industry and understood where I wanted to work and what I wanted to do. After some time, I resigned from “New Disk” and now I work with the GAMER.ru team.

Tell us a funny story that happened to you during your time in the industry?

Oh yes, there was one. Actually, two! They happened on my first day at “New Disk”, when Richard Garriott came to Moscow for PR issues of the now-defunct MMORPG Tabula Rasa. He was there to hold a press conference about the game and his upcoming flight into space.

The first story was super funny. I arrived in the morning at the Holiday Inn hotel to meet Agnes, who is the PR manager of NCsoft, living and working in England, but of Polish descent. We met, had breakfast, and chatted about various things. I was still “green” in communicating with foreigners, but my English was sufficient to have a free conversation. And here’s how the dialogue went:

Agnes: I’m going to a room;

Me: Ok, np;

*A couple of minutes pass (!), she returns, and I think: “Wow, how fast did she get to her room”*

Me: Wow, you come back so fast?

*Agnes looks at me with surprised eyes*

*I realize I just said something so silly that I start to blush a bit and smile awkwardly*

Agnes: I went to do wee-wee

*which means, as I figured out, “pee-pees”*

So, it turned out to be such a misunderstanding. A very funny and awkward situation. We laughed, realized we misunderstood each other, and continued our conversation over breakfast.

The second incident was initially scary, but ultimately ended well and cheerfully. That same day, in the evening, we split into two groups: me, a colleague from “New Disk”, and three guys from NCsoft’s PR department (with Agnes among them) went to Goodman, while Richard, his translator, and friend went to some establishment by the Kremlin walls. We sat down to eat, some time passed, and Richard called. He asked to call a taxi for him to Star City (he was undergoing pre-flight training there). We called and continued to eat calmly. The call repeated, and Richard said: “I got lost in the center of town and I can’t find a taxi that arrived” – after that, the call was lost. Richard’s phone ran out of battery.

Without thinking too long, we set out to find him. We split into groups, ran around for about 40 minutes through all establishments around the Kremlin, asking passersby if they had seen such a man who doesn’t speak Russian (and there are dozens, if not hundreds, of such tourists). Finally, I found him, everyone rushed to that establishment, and I said to him:

Me: We have just completed an Epic Quest (in the style of dialogues in Ultima Online);

*everyone understood what I meant and laughed*

Richard knighted everyone with a hand like a king with a sword, saying to each, "I give you 1000 experience" or "You are now the owner of the legendary sword";

A girl from ND: And me 10 intelligence, please!

*everyone bursts into laughter*

Such memories. By the way, Richard signed my manual and the map of Britain from Ultima Online. “Good questing” - Richard wrote in black marker. It’s on my table :)

That very map

Your current job title in the project sounds mega-cool. What is it and what does it mean?

The King of Beasts (crossed out). No, it seems... “Development Director”. Yes, that’s it. In fact, it’s nothing cool, and you can call it “development manager” or what a former colleague from “New Disk” did at the last Igromir: “latex dealer” (yes, that was indeed written on the badge).

The position involves working on the internal and external development of the resource, managing development, generating new ideas, concluding strategic and partnership agreements, as well as a bunch of various small things characteristic for a worker in this field (if I need to draw something, write, layout, organize events, etc.).

Don’t ask me to award medals or why the post didn’t receive a frame! :)

Tell us in secret, do you practice sheep-hacking, or is the banhammer enough for you?

I only banned openly rude spammers and order violators. I try not to interfere with the issues of the Gamer community since it’s still the work of other people.

Sheep-hacking just appeared recently, I’m only level 18 :)

Are your mega-creative statuses a product of a sick imagination, a way to show off, or do you just slap the first thing that comes to mind in the morning?

#1 BAD ASS and an avatar of Stewie's sly face are my current status, which hasn’t changed for probably a month or more. Actually, I can’t create anything on purpose; my “sick imagination” generates everything.

But enough about you, I’m tired. Let’s talk about preferences. Do you have favorite authors on GAMER.ru?

Enough about me, I agree. My favorite author is myself :)

If we talk about others, then if you look at the “Interests” section of my profile, you won’t see anything except the nicknames of all the administration and a list of all companies. This indicates that I don’t follow specific authors. I am also very selective in games. So, I only read what interests me a lot or seems useful. And I generally rarely give positives.

Let’s continue with the phallometer. Who is the coolest on GAMER.ru, excluding the Dark Lord?

LaCTuK is the coolest! A magical person. An observer who leaves a trace of sarcasm everywhere.

And of course, I am also very cool.

Recently, a “big cleanup” was conducted on Gamer. What was it about?

It was the “Hohlokost” :) Sorry.

Yes, there was a cleanup. We deleted all previously deleted posts and intentionally upvoted comments from a number of users. Accordingly, all that experience was removed.

Let me hint about the next question with three words... "clans," "when," "update"?

Calm down with the clans already :) We said that clans in the current release are just the basics. As you can see, we don’t even advertise them (there’s no way to get to the clans page from the main). We wanted to release them back in 2009, and even at the cost of serious mistakes, we fulfilled our unspoken promise.

Right now there are different priorities in development, but we will definitely finish what we started.

They say that knowledgeable people can tell a lot from the answer to the next question. Answer quickly and without thinking: penguins, apples, or windows?

In the metro, people getting on the escalator look very much like penguins. Funny.

I don’t really like apples, I rarely eat them. Besides, I have a small allergy to red apples.

The first association with the word “windows” is Windows.

I’m not answering quickly, but my answer is penguins.

And now a bit of nostalgia. Were there any doubts when you left ND, "Am I doing the right thing"?

Leaving “New Disk” lasted almost 2 months. During such a long period, you just get used to the idea of resigning, and no contradictions arise anymore.

They couldn’t keep me there (though it seems they tried, but who knows). They couldn’t entice me with the prospect of a working process that had suddenly vanished after 1.5 years of work. I will never work where I don’t like or where it’s uninteresting.

How do you feel about the new community manager of "New Disk"?

No one has been hired to take my place, I recently visited them.

And outside the company, there is a well-known person on Gamer, we will not mention his name. He is handsome.

You have a sedentary job. How do you avoid scoliosis and flat-bottomed syndrome?

I have both :) I can only save myself with “insufficient sports.” In summer, I run 3-4 kilometers plus exercises on the horizontal bar, and in winter, I go to the pool. I don’t know how much it helps me keep in shape since metabolism slows down with age.

Trick question, what size should a gingerbread be to lure you from the Gamer.ru team to another company?

I am currently at that stage of development where gingerbreads are in second place. First is interest, the prospect of gaining experience, and the very idea of what I am doing. Now I need to invest everything in myself, even at the cost of gingerbreads offered by other companies. Later, those investments will pay off.

You are a seasoned gamer, this is already known without an interview. What was your favorite childhood game?

When I was about 10, I sat behind a Pentium-100 with an CRT monitor and drove trains, cars, and planes across the screen, saying: “Okay, this route will be laid out this way, and here we will build a transport hub for transferring passengers.” My mom looked at me like I was a schizophrenic. But that’s not schizophrenia - it’s Transport Tycoon.

Okay, enough digging through the memories, let’s take a closer time slice. Of those released in recent years, did anything catch your attention?

The hardcore past of World of Warcraft won’t go anywhere, for example. Loud projects like Grand Theft Auto 4 caught my attention. In general, I’m fine playing one MMOG and, say, Transport Tycoon (now called OpenTTD). I try out new projects, but only for an hour or two. I don’t even finish them. Just bought Broken Sword (again, a very old game) on iPhone and will enjoy completing it, which I couldn’t do in my childhood.

A question for a kicker. Who’s cooler, Gordon Freeman or Geralt?

The Chui from the “Star Wars” trilogy.

About future plans. When will the promised podcasts be here? You made one and that’s it.

I now need to find a way to order at least a decent microphone from British or German “Amazon.” For the money they currently ask me for shipping, I can bring 10 books and a plush toy from America. Maybe someone lives in Europe? ;)

By the way, I’m getting this toy soon: Sony bloggie. Why not make something with it?

And actually, podcasts are not enough. Will you make a video tour of the GAMER.ru office? Just make sure it has a cool soundtrack, a decent budget, and special effects.

Our office is just one room. What are you talking about? :)

Periodically, we hear shouts from different corners saying "not cake!". Vickolada has not been the first, the Dark Lord is missing, and there have been no technical updates for quite some time. Who is to blame and what to do?

Nobody is to blame and nothing to do. I’ll secretly tell you that several potential updates have already been developed, but all of them have been frozen for the time being.

Okay, back to the eternal, beautiful, bright... Do you prefer light or dark beer? With crackers or chips?

In Kyiv, there are two great places, both near Zoloti Vorota metro station. Irish Pub and a restaurant whose name I don’t remember. Both pour Draught Guinness, but in the latter, they feed you unlimited amounts of croutons made from dark bread for free. The sad thing is that I only flew to Kyiv for a week :(

As you’ve probably guessed, I love dark beer. Mmmm... Guinness. *look for me in Molly-Gwinz in Moscow*

Oh, and since we’re talking about food. Is it true that your statuses like potato-man, Big Mac-man, etc. were sponsored by McDonald's? The people still debate!

True. At the order of LLC “Krusty Burger”. By the way, you will be the new Krusty Donaldamus :)

They say your lunches are served late. Do you think this is related to the global financial crisis or recent elections in Ukraine?

I didn’t feel the crisis (I’m not particularly interested in global issues), and I’m distant from politics. They stopped bringing lunches and started giving money instead.

If the GAMER.ru management and yourself were included as characters in the future browser game mentioned by Armen, who do you see yourself as: a good fairy, a chubby little person, or the main boss?

A kind bomber Bill, who everyone loves.

If you woke up tomorrow, went to the website, and everyone had your photo as their avatar – how would you react?

I would be happy about such a flash mob. I’m not shy about showing my face wherever it’s possible!

Do you think it’s fair that the administration is not affected by any spells? Maybe for fun, gamers should be allowed to make at least a small mess, like throwing a tomato to splash the avatar, for instance?

What does it mean fair? This is definitely a question of justice. The administration is always right, and that means similar spells are unnecessary.

Would you like special spells for the administration? To be put on a stake, for instance, or to stand in the corner, say with a hat that says "I’m ashamed"?

No, we only need one divine spell :)

There was supposed to be question #27, but my imagination is already boiling. Ask yourself something.

Alexander, when will you finally find the time to download activated games in Steam, unpack new console releases, and play them all?

Phew, thanks. I feel better. I thought of a question for you. What caused your question #27? Are you concerned about it? Do you have nightmares at night?

Yes, I am afraid to start a game knowing that I most likely won’t finish what I started. Right now I have unopened NHL10, Brutal Legend, the next Army of Two, Aliens vs. Predator, and a bunch of unfinished games that I will not return to (that’s usually how it goes).

By the way, do you watch the series “House”? What diagnosis would he give you upon examination?

Smooth-haired lupus with acute aggravation of the bleak perception of the surrounding world.

Translation: life is good, but there’s not much time for fun (until youth passes, during which one must work hard to secure a carefree old age).

I want episode 15 of season 6. Faster, faster!

Okay, okay. Don’t look at me like that. You’re not the only one who should portray lolshtata. By the way, is it a lifestyle or a theatrical mask for Gamer.ru? You seemed more serious before.

In fact, my entire image was created especially for Gamer.ru; I’m a completely different person in reality. You know, we’ve known each other for many years :)

That’s enough now. This interview is too long for even the most responsible Gamerians. Say something smart to wrap this up, something that will take everyone’s breath away, and we’ll finish.

Kisses to everyone!