Interview with the "Mr. Gamer.ru" and a bit of information about him.

Name: Alexey «sliph» Lavtev.

Age: Various sources say between 7 and 40 years.

Position: A living RSS reader with a multitude of undocumented features.

Marital Status: Almost married.

University: Dropped out.

First Game: Doom.

His Devious Evil Plan: To zombify all visitors of Gamer.ru into listening to the band Muse (if being serious and boring — so that no visitor leaves empty-handed, and learns something new while visiting the site).

Characteristics: Eats 1-2 times a day, hard to transport in a suitcase as he categorically doesn’t bend. Never ate the candies from the party. Believes it's the funniest to rock back and forth on a wheeled chair and then suddenly crash down, if one is already rolling on chairs.

Loves: People, particularly his significant other Nastya. Italian cuisine (especially loves carbonara pasta). Colors from 006969 to 00694A, triangles and pyramids, the number 69 and autumn, music, and rocking on a chair (about 1 rock every 6 seconds, until he hits the partition right behind him…).

Hates: Filler words, lack of logic, clique, sleeping, dullness, lack of personality, desire to blend into the crowd, as well as monopoly and mathematics. Absence of ergonomics in mass consumer devices, as well as illiteracy. And the worst thing — when people who don’t know the difference between a hyphen, minus, and dash delve into publishing and design (they probably already curse me). And situations, when people use language and say, “this isn’t grammar.ru.” Any small mistakes are okay, but when it gets to the absurdities like “to execute is impossible to pardon,” that’s just terrible, — he believes.

How He Got on the Project:

I didn’t have specific goals like “how can I get into the gaming journalism,” “how I want to work with K-games,” and so on. Just my life kicked me again, and I went to one of the websites where you can find a job. After some time, I found a gray order to compile a database of games. I was given the task, I completed it, and a week later, I was already working on compiling a mini-database of 500 games. In the beginning, I had no idea who I was working with, why, and for what purpose. I just worked and that’s it. Some time passed, I completed and submitted the order. I submitted it in person, where I found out everything. After a while, I joined the staff. And then there was little time left before the beta started.

A Bit About His Work:

I confess, I have never had a love for blogs and similar things. But the gamer ideas, when it was still in development, were presented to me not as “this is a gaming community blog and blah-blah-blah,” but as something new that has no analogues, and so on. Later, when I saw the first sketches, I initially had the thought “OMFG, this is just another crappy buzzing thing!” But then an epiphany came, and I saw something different in this project. Something interesting, fun, completely aimed at destroying boredom. This intrigued me, and I abandoned the thought “I hate social networks,” which naturally evaporated as the development continued. Now I like everything: the team, the already formed community, the place where I work (even that, yes!) and, accordingly, the entire project.

And now the excerpt from the interview (almost the full one):

Denai: At night are you haunted by the sound of muffled bleating?

Sliph: Lecturer, stop! This girl is going to die soon!

We need answers! ©

No, when I step out of the office, I try to abstract from work. Sometimes I can’t help but visit the forfan site when I get home (and, unfortunately for my loved ones, this can happen quite often), I love the site so much that sometimes even eight working hours are not enough for me, and I don’t sleep very well, by the way.

Denai: Can you share an unknown secret in this interview?

Sliph: The community interacts quite closely with us. It’s hard to say anything specific off the bat. For example, I went through 8 versions of the site’s logo, and there were about twice as many in total. The lightbulb on top of the site is an element that we never discussed. It's just that successful. Usually, 10-15% of the ideas we come up with are implemented, the rest either go into storage or are set aside for revision.

Denai: Do you have enemies/friends on the project?

Sliph: I can’t call someone an enemy or a friend. It’s still virtual life. That is, it’s “different.” Everyone can play their role, and generally, everyone who created some problems for the site still provided the most valuable thing: experience. Experience, in a personal sense. And everyone who did something good simply did something good. That’s good too. So, like that.

In general, I personally don’t consider anyone an enemy. As for friends — I have only one friend in life. But regarding good acquaintances whom I trust — there are such people, yes. I met them through Gamer. By the way, it’s hard to offend me, I try to approach everything philosophically. So, it’s easier to anonymously survey who hates Sliph. Something like that. (survey added, note Denai)

Denai: What prospects do you see for the project?

Sliph: Personally, from my side, I see one thing: building a good community that can be considered exemplary in the RuNet. That, in my opinion, is the main thing.

Denai: When do you think the clan update will be expected?

Sliph: To put it briefly: when it's done. To elaborate: I don’t really track how the development is going and what plans are in that direction.

Denai: Is the work of the “chief editor” hard?

Sliph: If an ordinary person with an average level of interest were in my place, he would hardly love his job. Working with people is generally a very hard thing. And here I have not just work with people, but also a mixed type overall. In general, if I abstract from my restraint and composure, the work is indeed hard. All my actions must be only correct, the number of mistakes should strive for zero, and everyone behaves in their own way. This applies to both the technical and social parts of the portal. Moreover, these parts directly interact with each other, so I constantly have to think about everything. Some people don’t like that. I'm generally a lazy person, but I love the site and people. Therefore, I try to work as well as I can, and because I love my job — I hardly get tired. So, for me, it's not hard.

Denai: How did you relax?

Sliph: Great. Two weeks with my loved one in my favorite places — what can be better.

Denai: What would you say to a newcomer just registered on the project?

Sliph: Never be afraid to ask for help from the top 20 of the site, and also from me.

Denai: Who do you think has influenced the project the most?

Sliph: The question is not difficult because I fully agree with the orders “for distinction in beta testing” — this is regarding the internal community, and about those “outside,” it’s unrealistically complicated, so let’s not touch that knot, or we’ll get it even more tangled.

Denai: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done in life? (if it’s not a secret)

Sliph: Probably, working three days straight without attempting to sleep. That was four months ago. If talking about adrenaline — it’s riding an inflatable donut behind a boat and then flying into the water at a distance of about 15-20 meters. Hell knows, I’ve had many crazy acts, but it’s hard to highlight one “the craziest.”

Denai: What brand headphones do you have in your ears, and what are you listening to?

Sliph: Sennheiser. Right now, nothing is playing, at work I don’t often get moments to listen to music. But my morning started with my favorite bands — Muse and Oomph, especially the shuffle surprised me with Muse's Thoughts of a Dying Atheist, the brand-new Uprising, and for variety, a small portion of MSI.

Final Phrase:

I can say that this interview is very early, although the questions in it were correct. But I think in a year everything will transform — community, site, interests. But I can say for sure that Sliph will never be “no longer a cake” on the site.

Italics highlight quotes from the interview, specifically the words of the chief editor. Only a few punctuation marks have been added; the interview was conducted via ICQ.

P.S. Feel free to ask questions in the comments - maybe he will answer=)