The Whole Truth About the Bird Lord: An Interview with Denai.

Name: Denis "Denai" Saminaidёte.

Age: 20 years.

Position: Bird Master

Marital Status: In a very serious relationship

University: BGUIR (formerly RTI)

Favorite Game: Life =) The strangest and most beautiful RPG. After it… possibly a gamer. After a gamer… RPG as a genre. Doesn’t think that there’s a RPG he could love so deeply. Other games are interesting for their story, most captivating were "Beyond Good and Evil" and the "Half-Life" series. Thinks that in other RPGs there's too much commercialism or too few good ideas/labor invested.

His Devious Evil Plan: Make the portal better and become one of its managers (to earn money doing what he loves). Then save up for a helicopter and a wagon full of condensed milk and leave with his loved one to a place where it's warm and there are no mean little people, but the internet is good enough to continue conquering the world online.

Characteristics: Transport strictly in a refrigerator with ice cream. Can fly (though only in dreams). Doesn’t bite. Digests Coke well.

Loves: People with their own opinions. Not those who want to impose theirs on others, but those who have their own and aren’t afraid to voice it, even if no one approves. Along with that, he loves a wonderful girl (who is on the site), as well as summer and the dacha, forests and walking barefoot. And he also loves a smile and when someone smiles/joys because of him. Loves people like an eraser and when it’s warm rain, under which you get completely wet, but it’s not sad, it’s really great.

Hates: Stupid stubbornness and lack of thoughts. Anger and fights, human foolishness and laziness, bad habits and injustice. (Yes, I have my world where only white ponies live and they poop butterflies)

How He Joined the Project: In the evenings, I was constantly browsing the internet and most often I was attracted by the unclear and merciless posts on Habr, one of which turned out to be about a gaming startup with a catchy name. I visited the beta testing page, left my email, and even got upset a few days later that I had been forgotten… Then, of course, the invite came and I immediately liked the site (first of all, the design) - and here I am.

Interview:

3y6acTuK: What attracted you to the resource, besides the design, of course ;)

Denai: Gaming articles (I came across interesting ones), the possibility of leveling up (I wanted to create a resource of that kind for quite a while and I even have a notebook with sketches, plans, and mechanics descriptions somewhere) and of course that I am one of the first and can genuinely experience the rise of a project so dear to my heart along with the project itself.

Unknown: Why a penguin? =)

Denai: It’s beautiful and looks like me. And in Linux, they are also cuties. In general, the penguin symbolizes something. Something personal. Since then, this avatar has been mine,

only the penguin changed. It used to have a guitar and a cap =)

Unknown: Was it difficult to get into the top 5?

Denai: No. Absolutely not. I like the concept, so everything is interesting to me, and what is interesting to me is easy. Although initially, I didn’t think I could write coherent reviews and that anyone would read my nonsense. Especially since I was intimidated that vikolyad already had level 13 by the time I registered =) But it didn’t stop me, it drew me in instead. Such competitiveness.

Unknown: So you have a desire to dethrone vikolyad?

Denai: Um… there are about 2-3 months left. At most. Ideally a month. I just don’t aim to gain experience. It’s much more important to me to have individual posts recognized that I spent hours "hanging" over. For example, the review of plants vs zombies, one of those. Or the mini-review of a gamer. And in the questions and suggestions, my latest posts - I absolutely don't care how many people will upvote them; it’s much more important for them to think and express their thoughts.

Unknown: Do you have any plans for these months of waiting?

Denai: Yes, but first I need to avoid getting expelled from the university =) And I have a ton of plans; they’ve been in a little notebook for about 4 years now…

Unknown: Is the idea of reports also from that notebook? Or did it come to your mind by chance?

Denai: From the notebook. This idea has been around for 5 years, but it came like everything – by chance.

Unknown: Do you aspire to the title of project reporter? What role do you want to play in Gamer.ru’s life?

Denai: Basically, I want to break into the administration. But for that, I need free time, and I don’t have that right now, and I don’t want to drop out of university.

Reporter… a bit, why not. Just not through ICQ, but it would be if I could get into the admins. This project is my dream. I’ve wanted this since I was 13, and then planned a lot of things. And now… I know a little PHP+HTML, and that seems to be it (

Because dreams are dreams, but without money, it somehow didn’t quite work out, and it wasn't even clear how to start.

Unknown: What event that happened during your time here do you consider the most interesting?

Denai: Well… there are many, I can't single out one. Mostly it’s where I became the "instigator," the same riot of invisible people =) The last poem, by the way, I also liked very much. I can say that epic events happen here every other day. A lot and different.

And everything fun and good =)

Unknown: What has the project given you?

Denai: My dream, I can say =) And new friends. And a lot of laughs.

Unknown: Are there any negative impressions?

Denai: Yes - people mostly are mean, here too, but they are usually kicked out quickly, and that’s good. Well, that’s about it; there’s no more negativity.

Unknown: How often do you use spells, do you try to use them only when necessary, or can you apply them for fun?

Denai: Last time I played with magic during ND and 1C — when I sheeped them. In other cases — when people really deserve punishment and there’s mana available. For example, I’ve issued about 15 mute bans this week. Sheeped around 5 people.

Unknown: What do you think the site lacks?

Denai: The site lacks many things, but mainly good people and representatives from different large companies; ND and YS don’t count for now, they only bring fun and gifts. There needs to be exclusives to keep it interesting. And gifts are wonderful in themselves. And also… it lacks a ton of updates written for half a year. The project still has a long way to go. And clans aren’t the most important update; I think inventory is more important.

Unknown: Regarding clans. Are you planning to join somewhere or create your own? Will you participate in clan "wars" or prefer neutrality?

Denai: Most likely, I will create my own. Or join the eraser and vikolyad.

Unknown: Do you think clans will help the project thrive in the best direction? Or is this just a pastime for a couple of evenings?

Denai: A clan is not just entertainment - it's a motivation. A motivation to grow and so on. But, of course, with poor implementation, clans can ruin everything. That’s why they’re being introduced slowly. Just in case of a small miscalculation, the clan will isolate the top from the bottom and everyone will lose interest.

Unknown: How will it isolate?

Denai: Well, imagine - you’re a newbie. You come to the resource, you’re preparing to level up. And here a clan overwhelms you with their mass (just by their presence). The clan has its perks, they don’t accept any newcomers,

they're all cool ones. You realize that you won’t even get a chance to level up because the clan is a war for places, and your desire to level up evaporates immediately.

Unknown: What about the motivation to level up and kick their asses? =)

Denai: Kick the ass of a dozen pumped-up bruisers all by yourself. Or find one out of 10,000 people that you need for support, sure.

3y6acTuK: Tell us about the portal administration =) How do you feel about them, and how do they feel about you?

Denai: Well, I think the letter with the title “bang!!!!11111!!!!one from comrade 1st on the screenshot of my GMail box is the most curious thing everyone has already seen =), The administration is, first of all, people. Just the same as I, you, Kolya from the neighboring courtyard, etc. Only they are better than anyone encountered on average since serious projects are not entrusted to just anyone. We communicate (mostly on business) and are somewhat friends - for example, Sliph was and remains a wonderful interlocutor, and I remember we planned to play together if he gets the time, I just goof around all day… =) Overall, I don’t see any reason to dislike the administration (the PR department is also wonderful), I respect and appreciate them, but at the same time, they are not gods, and I mostly know them only as "business partners,” and I have no time to get to know them as people…

3y6acTuK: As everyone knows, you are the vice-chairman of the Half-Life 2 game blog. Why Half-Life 2 and not some other game? =)(the question was asked prior to the current events)

Denai: I originally didn’t plan to be a vice-chairman. But… I saw that the vice-chairman has features like managing the blog… which also levels up and all that – very enticing. There I found the blog of the game "Might and Magic VIII: The Era of Destruction," which I used to like a lot and took it for myself. I copied walkthroughs there, some other messy stuff, saw that no one cared about it on the resource, thought there were no downsides, and it was worth the risk to write something myself and post it on the resource. I tried once, twice - something succeeded… Once I noticed a post called "Who is Gman? And how is he connected with other characters of the game?" and it caught my attention. The post was 3 lines long + a picture, which gained silver and was rapidly climbing to gold, while containing nothing (and it’s still a bit boring, by the way, and the post is still in its place). I was bothered, and I wanted to dethrone the poor vice-chairman, just to eliminate this nonsense and along the way write a good normal post about the same. I wrote the post, and the vice-chairman immediately deleted it (he turned out to be the author of the work mentioned above), and I was very upset. But then I contacted Vikolyad (he was always in the top), as he is the same person as I am and can assess the situation well… he said the post was decent and not about the same thing - the post was returned to its place and shortly after I was awarded a medal… gradually I gained enough experience to dethrone the vice-chairman, but upon my first request (how I didn’t think to ask him privately right from the start) he gave up the place and left… I decided to tidy up the blog, and then further and more - in the end, now I rule one of the strictest (according to rumors, surviving) blogs, where a war is going on for improving posts. And I just love Half-Life for the plot, which is usually absent in shooters.

Unknown: You often write "guides" for newbies. Do you think the site’s assistance is lacking and needs to be developed?

Denai: I believe that when a newbie joins a project, they should feel that their arrival is welcomed, and if needed, they will undoubtedly be helped, not just be pounced on simply because they are new. Many have tons of questions. I constantly receive personal messages in my inbox, ICQ, Steam… When I get tired of answering yet another question - I write a post about it for everyone. Assisting is one of the most crucial moments. For example, the same Kanobu - they seem to be a bit of a competitor to the project, but they still don’t have any help, and I absolutely have no idea where anything works there. And I am sure no one would help me figure this out, even though I know for sure that their help section is nearly written and will be added soon. On Gamer, however, the moment I stepped in - I immediately saw help and the "feedback and suggestions" section - it’s nice.

Unknown: Do you consider this site a serious competitor to Gamer?

Denai: No. I don’t see any serious competitors. Everyone has different ideas. It seems to me they are all afraid they won’t be able to manage such a complex project.

3y6acTuK: We’ve all seen your silver posts, differences in the beta testing of Gamer.ru. Do you have enemies here? =)

Denai: Yes, today one appeared =) Guess I brought him here myself. Well, there was that vice-chairman of Half-Life, but now I am more inclined towards friendship with him, and I think he is too… Aggression and wars aren’t my thing. Other than this newbie, I can't recall enemies.

3y6acTuK: Well, we won’t mention him, whoever needs to will find him. Alright, I think we’ll wrap it up here =) What would you like to wish Gamer.ru and its users? You can send greetings :D

Denai: Greetings? No =) Rays of goodness! Lots of rays of goodness!