Member Interviews: DaivRules

[Dreggit]

Welcome PSNP! Welcome back to the Member Interviews, a project long on hiatus, returns with an interview from @DaivRules! I'm your host Dreggit, and without further adieu, let's get this interview underway.

 

Stock Questions

 

How did you come up with your PSN name?

A crony of mine asked his manager at the restaurant he worked at to put "Name is GOD!" up for his birthday. Manager laughed and walked away but I tried the same thing with my manager at the fast food joint I worked at. I said can I get "Daiv Rules!" up there for my birthday (yes, this is when Billy Madison had recently come out), and she obliged so it was a joke for a while with my friends. I needed to come up with a name to download some Patapon DLC that has just came out, so I picked it for my user name.

 

What games convinced you get your PlayStation 3, Playstation Vita, and PlayStation 4?

Folklore initially FF XIII launching tipped me over the edge, All of em, and I didn't decide to pick up the PS4, it was a Christmas gift from the wife when she couldn't think of anything else to get me.

 

Have you ever been tempted to switch over to the Xbox/Nintendo/PC gaming ecosystems?

I've had every Nintendo console except the Wii U and still intend to get a Switch. I don't feel like anyone needs to switch over, it's not a binary decision and people can do more than one at a time. That said, I can't effectively use the Xbox controller and nothing has compelled me to force myself to use it, so that won't be happening. Even though my cronies have Xboxes and occasionally I try to play on theirs when we're hanging out

 

What are your top 5 game series and why?

• Civilization
• Disgaea
• LittleBIGPlanet
• Dawn of War
• Final Fantasy.

I enjoy just about everything of each of these series, and have never tired of them so they rank in my top 5.

 

What are your top 5 games and why?

I really don't compare and contrast titles. I don't know that I can narrow down to top 5.

 

Which unreleased game(s) are you looking forward to the most and why?

Sackboy's new title for PS5 comes to mind. I really enjoy the LBP series and hope it's just as fun!

 

Do you have any other hobbies outside of gaming?

Reading when I can, generally learning about stuff. Having a kid really disrupted my me-time and now I tend to spend all my me-time with him.

 

Top 5 TV shows, Movies, and/or anime, why, and would you recommend them to people?

TV Shows:

• Futurama
• Gilmore Girls
• Fringe
• Dead Like Me
• I don't have a fifth.

 

Movies:

• Inception
• The Big Lebowski
• Primer
• Dark City
• The Usual Suspects
• and anything by Wes Anderson.

 

I'm not gonna bother to narrow this down to 5. 

I've learned not to recommend things unless people ask for recommendations.

 

Top 5 favorite music bands/group/artists/composers/ost?

• Brand New
• Death Cab for Cutie
• Pantera
• Taking Back Sunday
• The Used
• Hawthorne Heights
• Deftones

Also not reducing this to just 5.

 

Your favorite platinum and why?

Disgaea 3. A great enjoyable experience.

 

Your least favorite platinum and why?

Assassin's Creed III Liberation - Had a lame forced climbing trophy that wasn't reached naturally just playing otherwise and a lot of glitched trophies and crashed.

 

If you could have one game from any gaming generation be remade or re-released, which one would it be and why?

Folklore, without a doubt. It was a cool atmosphere and story and would be expanded easily. So much potential.

 

How far are you willing to go for a platinum?

I racked up a lot of miles playing Destiny of Spirits flying from Detroit to Maui, so that far?

 

What feature (besides backwards compatibility) do you think the next console generation should have?

PS5 should have and external optional box with a UMD and Vita game slot that allows users to play Physical PSP and Vita games.

 

How did you come across PSNP?

I was looking to boost some LBP and came across the forums.

 

What is your favorite thing about PSNP?

Filtering my trophies to help me narrow down and track things is pretty quick and easy.

 

If you could be in charge of PSNP for a day, what would you do and why?

I'd compile a list of requests and updates/maintenance I'm working on into one prioritization list and post it somewhere. Then I'd estimate the number of work hours for each item on the list. I'd require everyone who has a new suggestion to suggest it's prioritization position and justify why it should be where they think it is.

 

What feature on PSNP would you like to have added in the future and why? 

Some better Ignore features that allow people to ignore entire game threads from being shown.

 

Is there anyone in the PSNP Community you would like to give a shout out too and if so why?

Shout out to @BlindMango for always firing on all cylinders to GSD, @Dreggit for taking on the Member Interviews, @eigen-space for running the PS Plus Prediction contest for me, and everyone who's here to talk about stuff they enjoy.

 

Community Questions

 

How many pages can you read per hour on average?

I really don’t know the answer to this one, I’ve never really try to measure how quickly I can read. Next time I read a book I’ll do some measuring to see where I’m at. (Read a book on vacation - I'm around 24 pages per hour for Little Green Men by Christopher Buckley. Great book.)

 

As a screenplay writer, do you attempt to sneak in inside jokes or innuendos to see if they pass?

Absolutely! My writing partner and I have a fairly unique sense of humor, so every once in a while we will put something in there that we know. But for the most part, I’m writing for a general audience so I don’t want to exclude somebody from getting everything I write.

 

Who let the dogs out?

Steve Greenberg and I think he’s great for doing so. Those dogs needed out. 

 

what prompted you to become a moderator? 

A PM from Parker and BlindMango asking if I would like to.

 

Do you enjoy your managerial position?

There are things I enjoyed about being a manager and a lot of things I didn't. I've spent the last 7 years dodging people asking me if I'm interested in going back to management.

 

Where do you see yourself 5 years from now? 

I no longer try to picture myself in any specific career or job in the future. Physically, I'll be in the same house since it intend to stay here until my son graduates from collage and that'll be well beyond 5 years from now.

 

How heavy is your ban hammer in lbs?

You ever see Futurama? The one where Nibbler drops a deuce? It's about as heavy as his deuce. "It weighs as much as 1,000 suns. Each pound of it weighs over ten thousand pounds."

 

Could you please share your favorite meme and do you pronounce it "me-me" or "meem?"

 https://me.me/i/oh-sweet-futuramas-on-960190  And clearly it's me-me, like the order of the letters indicate.

 

Who is your favorite mod to work with and who's name (without the numbers, of course) rhymes with DeyondtheBrave? 

Stevieboy and I ran out of time answering the rest of this question.

 

If you were going to go on a trip with another mod(s) for fun who would you pick to come with you and where would you go?

If I were going on a trip with a mod, I'd probably pick BeyondtheGrave because as the two newest, we could do some really crazy, dumb shit and Parker would just give us the same disappointed look he always does, knowing we're just new and reinforce his low expectations of us. Where would we go? That's a good question... I'm gonna say road trip to Denver. I've got a few cronies there who would make sure a good time was had.

 

What do you like the most and what do you hate the most about Detroit?

What I like most about Detroit is that the potential it has to do anything post-bankruptcy and there's a list of people with money looking to help make stuff happen. What I hate most about Detroit is how few facts people really know about it. Most basic fact: The size of Detroit.

 

Assuming all players were fully acquainted with the game, controls, etc.; who do you think would win a game of Super Smash Brothers played among Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Bonyak the Scabby, and Major General Galusha Pennypacker?

My money is on Pennypacker.

 

Should I buy some of that semi-attractive real estate in the washed up parts of Detroit, Michigan? You know, those $5,000 homes like these here? It seems like a steal, but not sure about the neighborhood though...

 If the question is serious: Yes. But don't go through Zillow. Go through the Detroit Land Bank (http://www.buildingdetroit.org). Know that 1) You're in for at MINIMUM $25,000 material costs to get these house livable, and that's not including labor. 2) Know your neighborhood. If you're the only rehabbed house on the street, you picked the wrong house. Or be ready to buy the block and do them all. 3) If you're within three blocks of M1 (Woodward Ave. [the first paved rode in the United States]) you're set since it's within walking distance of the QLine. If you're further out, know that auto insurance (mandatory in MI) for even the cheapest clunker on the road will run $500-800+ a month. It really cramps people's ability to pay rent if you plan on renting it out. If anyone is seriously considering this, and comes out here, I'll personally tour you through neighborhoods I'd recommend and break down an estimate of timeline and cost for making one of these houses livable. I'll also arrange a tour of downtown so you can see what's happening these days.

 

What updates / changes would you like to see on PSNP to make your punishment role easier? 

Nothing much really, I accepted the role knowing the jist of trying to enforce the site rules.

 

Do you put pepper on your cantaloupe?

No, I don't put pepper on anything.

 

I take it you're a big dog lover? I don't think I've ever seen you not sporting a picture of yours for an avatar.

I wouldn't say I'm a "big" dog lover, but I like dogs.

 

And what's his or her name?

My dogs name is Vanilla Bean, generally I call her Bean. She's an eight year old Maltese.

 

What are your favourite types of books to read (genre-wise)?

I generally like anything that's not non-fiction, has to do with sports, or anything about a military conflict. I enjoy the weirder, funnier stuff. Douglas Adams is my favorite author, Terry Pratchett also, which tend to be labeled Fantasy. But I also like Christopher Moore and Christoper Buckley, both labeled literature.

 

Whyfore is bread?

Ahhh, carbs are delicious? And Beer was already a thing so why not find a way to eat beer while drinking beer?

 

Since there are so many, what's your favorite home remodeling show? 

I should say Rehab Addict since Nicole is my dad's cousin, but I really like First Time Flippers. It's so entertaining and I hope all those really dumb decisions are staged, but I laugh at them anyway.

 

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?

A dragon's blood tree (Dracaena cinnabari) cause it looks really sweet.

 

What will be the ultimate fate of the universe? Big Crunch, Big Rip, or Big Freeze?

For the universe, I want to say that the big crunch is going to be the ultimate fate. I can only imagine that as time goes on and we develop our quantum physics/string theory, we start to gain more and more understanding of dark matter and its place in the universe and expansion can only continue for so long. Although we are still expanding at an increasing rate. Very interesting stuff!

 

What's your favorite section to moderate?

Can't say I have one.

 

Do you use forum drama in your screenplays?

No, I can’t say that I do. I haven’t actually started a new screen play since joining the site, I’ve just been working on some of my existing screenplays and ideas. Although I probably could use aspects of different parts of the forums for a new screenplay, but I don’t know if I want to start anything new right now.

 

Have you used a deleted post for inspiration and if so, what is the summary of what was written?

Apparently the glamour of deleted posts is much much more than actual deleted post live up to. No, none of the deleted posts I’ve seen inspired very much at all.

 

What was your first platform you played games on?

That would be an Atari 2600. It was my dads and he had a lot of games. My favorite game for the platform was a game called Dodge Em. I have a picture somewhere of me receiving E.T. on one of my birthdays for the Atari. (I'll post the picture if I find it anytime soon.) A kid at school had brought in a new magazine called Nintendo power. After talking incessantly about the Nintendo, my parents bought a Nintendo for the family. My family recognized I was way more into video games than they were, so in essence the Nintendo really became mine. Where Atari was the thing I occasionally played, Nintendo became the platform I spent every afternoon and lots of weekends on.

 

What was your first video game?

The first game I played, was Pac-Man on Atari. The first game I received as a gift was E.T. on the Atari. The first game I bought with my own money was Final Fantasy for Nintendo.

 

For screenplays, is your target audience on the East or West coast?

I can’t say I’ve ever truly broken down the demographic of the audience of the stories I want to tell. I have the characters and the story I want to portray and I just run with it, it really doesn’t matter to me where the audience lives.

 

Did you ever get your scripts made into films or tv shows?

No, I have not yet had any of my scripts sold yet. Aside from the last one I wrote with my writing partner, which he has out in LA and has been trying to find interest in, I have not spent any time looking for an agent to sell my scripts and that's generally the only way scripts tend to be bought.

 

If you were able to create your own video game (complete with a large budget and supporting team of talented individuals), what genre would it be, would it be focused on single-player or multiplayer, and what would your game be like?

If you have ever played civilization, I would like to make a game similar to civilization for either the Vita or mobile devices where you would be assigned a city, individually. From that city, you would swear fealty to a leader (another player). Then, you would designate certain resources from your city back to that leader. Could be troops, resources, workers, etc. It would be real time instead of turn-based, so technically it would be an online real time Sim/strategy game. You could form alliances with other cities and you could overthrow your leader to take leadership on yourself. As much as I don’t play multiplayer, I think I would spend a lot of time playing that game.

 

If you could erase your memories about a single book in order to read it again for the first time, which book would you choose and why?

Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, it’s my favorite book of all time and I’ve read it so many times that I know all of it, but I still remember reading it for the first time and what a great experience that was. It was very unique compared to anything I have been exposed to, and I would love to have that introduction again.

 

Are you used to reading guides? Because you'll have the opportunity to read through dozens of them during the Guide of the Year Awards.

Game guides? Not so much. I hate spoilers so I usually won’t read a guide before I play the game.

 

When you were chosen as a site mod, what was the first thing that went through your mind?

I think they have the wrong guy. I think they want that guy that does the song of the month vote.

 

What's the weirdest situation you've encountered as a mod and how did you handle it? (not asking to name and shame btw)

I can’t say anything weird comes to mind

 

Regarding your screenplay writing, if an opportunity opened to where you would need to relocate to either New York or Los Angeles, would you do it?

No. Definitely not. The draw of screen writing is that I can do it under a pen name live where I want to live and not have to live on either coast. I value my privacy.

 

What made you want to hang around a crazy group of degenerates like trophy hunters? So much so that you are will to be a mod of the forums? 

Overwhelmingly, trophy hunters want to help others achieve trophies as much as they want to achieve them themselves. I was drawn to the site by tips on how to achieve trophies and then the gaming sessions to achieve them myself. The forums was a overwhelmingly positive place that I had visited, and in stark contrast to many other places I had been. I stuck around, they asked me to become a mod, I accepted.

 

What is the ratio of money spent on video games versus the money you're putting toward retirement in an average year?

I average about $100-ish a year and video games. That includes PlayStation plus. So I would say my ratio of retirement savings toward video game find it somewhere around 150-175 to 1 ratio right now. I really need to up it, I'm getting pretty old.

 

Pokemon vs. Digimon. Which do you like better?

I like them both equally. That is to say I don’t like either one. Neither was around when I was growing up, and neither drew me in as I was older.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog vs sonic the restaurant. Which is the better Sonic?

The Hedgehog. Both have a way of making me feel really bad about myself after I’ve spent time with them

 

Do you have any interesting stories involving cats?

So I’m allergic to cats. The interesting story I have about them is my senior year of college I had to live with three of them. One of which decided to sleep on my pillow every single day when I was away. It made for an interesting five months.

 

What is the most obscure game/s you have played?

I grew up in the era where boys would bring 3.5 inch floppy disks to school and swap with each other. Most of the games on those floppy’s were... of an adult theme. I think those are the only things that would qualify as obscure.

 

When given the choice in a game, will you be good or evil?

What do my Infamous trophies show? I feel like generally I pick the good path first always, then if I want to replay value I choose the evil route to see the alternative.

 

Are dinosaurs a pre-war thing or a pre-pre-war thing?

I don't know how to answer this one. Interesting thing about dinosaurs though... most plants didn't grow more than about 3 feet (1 meter) off the ground. So when you see those images of dinosaurs with trees in the background, it really would have been fungi that could grow large trunks around 26 feet (8 meters) tall. 

 

What is your favorite model of firearm (in games or IRL)?

The Contra Spread Gun. I couldn’t identify a model of firearm confidently in games or real life. They just don’t appeal to me.

 

I was taking a look at your profile and I noticed I have the option to gift you premium. Does being a moderator give you the benefits of a premium member or are you technically still just a member?

The only premium benefit I get is I get to see (and moderate) the premium member section of the forums. None of the rest of the premium features are available to me. I'm still just a member.

 

Will you do a face reveal?

Sure, I have posted in the picture of yourself thread, but here’s another one: 

 

 

If all forms of moderation disappeared from PSNP without notice, how long do you think it would take people to notice and what would happen to the site as a result?

 This is generally a good crowd. I don’t know that it would be noticed if that happened. The report queue would probably blow up. But I think in general most of the forums are fairly well mannered. I predict a few people really starting to test the limits within three months and going off the rails but I think it would be fairly limited.

 

What is the most petty grudge you still hold against another human?

My old human resources at a former job allowed good people to be fired for absolutely stupid reasons because she couldn’t confront anybody.

 

Do you like watching and/or preforming speedruns?

Not really for the speed run aspect, but I’ll sometimes watch a speed run video sped up to 2x so that I can see the strategy used to complete sections of the game. It’s like a visual guide that I get to see play out fully. I don’t enjoy trying to speed run ever.

 

Do you hate having to tell people they can't start boosting threads in the fourms?

I don’t hate on people who don’t know, it’s only frustrating when I’ve told someone multiple times not to create a boosting thread and they repeat create boosting threads.

 

What is your favorite episode of Futurama?

Oh man picking an absolute favorite for me is super tough because I don’t believe generally an absolute favorites. I think I would just go with the pilot episode, because it sets up everything that follows afterward, has so many great lines, and introductions to just amazing ideas

 

Any videogame quotes you would like to share with the rest of the class?

“What the fuck?!” -Desmond

 

What is the worst thing you did that got in trouble?

In 1997 I sent a ping bomb (as we called them at the time) to another student at a different university and got called to my universities security department to explain myself. I was put on probation and had my activities monitored for a while.

 

About 67% of your trophies are currently hidden, why? Would you being willing to share those secrets or will you refrain to prevent our faces melting?

Those are all the games have already achieved the platinum/100% in. I like to treat this site like my to-do list for the rest of the games I want to finish and my profile here shows me when I have left. If you want to see what I have hidden, here’s the web archive of everything before I hid it: https://web.archive.org/web/20190829003320/https://psnprofiles.com/DaivRules

 

What is your favorite flavor of pudding?

Vanilla

 

What game or series have you really wanted to play but haven't gotten the time to get around to playing yet?

Disgaea 5

 

You mentioned you're a "recovering retail employee (manager)". Does this mean that you are recovering from something that happened in your personal life, or is it something that happened solely within your workplace?

Working retail is an emotionally and mentally damaging experience. Being a retail manager means you also have to fight against the other douche bag managers or slime bag managers as well as trying to do the right thing all the time. Trusting managers/leaders or even other people after that takes a long time.

 

Also, did it have anything to do with Wal-Mart?

Nope.

 

What do you consider like cheating in trophy hunting ? If you can advise Sony to make new rules around trophies, what would you say them ?

Trophies are a personal thing. Getting them by cheating is only cheating if you consider it cheating. Competition, on the other hand, like leaderboards have rules and breaking those rules is cheating.

 

If I could advise Sony to make new rules around trophies, I’d say “Be transparent about trophy requirements given to developers. Publish those requirements for all to see. And if you’re going to require trophies, establish some QC to make sure they all work as described.”

 

Would you be positive to let people suppress as many trophy lists as they want ? Would you do this for some games you played ? And if so, what games ?

You can hide trophies now. As many as you want. I have the platinums I’ve already completed hidden so I can focus on the games I haven’t completed yet.

 

How do you choose the next game you want to plat ?

I try to figure out how much time I’m going to have to play over the next couple months, which platforms I’ll have access to, and then look at my backlog and see what matches that.

 

What is the most silly thing you do for a trophy ?

I’m fairly certain I used my both my hands and my feet and someways to finish the trophies for Sackboy prehistoric moves

 

What game gave you the worst experience in trophy hunting ?

Treasures of Montezuma Blitz on Vita that required 100 hours played and it kept crashing on me, not giving me credit.

 

At the contrary, what game gave you a totally better experience that you first thought in terms of trophy hunting ?

I really appreciate that the Disgaea trophies make you utilize all different aspects of the game to earn them all.

 

How do you manage your backlog ?

Poorly. Lately (over the last 8-9 years), I’ve really restricted myself in adding to my backlog. If I get an amazing value on a game, but don’t play it for years, was it worth it? Probably not. So I generally just keep a wishlist of games. Keeps them on my radar, but doesn’t drain the wallet until I’m ready to play.

 

What would you like to be added on psnprofiles?

I’d like to only have notifications that I click on cleared and leave the ones I haven’t seen yet unread. 

 

Not sure if you watch the NFL but do you see the Detroit Lions bringing home their first Super Bowl win in the near future?

I don’t, but no. I expect to hear people complaining about the Lions every season. I don’t think that’s going to change.

 

What was your worst experience when it came to dealing with a customer(s) in retail?

Worst was always injuries. 77 year old woman took a face full of concrete, tripping while walking into the store and was surrounded by a pool of blood waiting for the ambulance. Another lady who had her kid in the cart with no shoes and cookie cutters loose, which the kid stepped on and of course she took her sweet time taking care of the kid. The different kid standing in the child seat while mom argued with the cashier over coupons. Kid flips backwards out of the cart and thumps their head on the floor. Those always got to me. The people who threatened me or screamed never bothered me. In fact my teams would love to call me for those people because it would always be a story about how I did nothing and it pissed those people off even more. 

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And that's it for this months interview everyone. I hope you all enjoyed the read and are looking forward to new interviews going forward! A big thank you for those who asked questions for this interview (they are mentioned all in the spoiler below)

Spoiler

@Rally-Vincent---@PooPooBlast@kidson2004@Beyondthegrave07@panikooooos@Helmet_time@B1rvine@Helyx@DamagingRob@Spaghetti_Grabsy@Sofa King@damon8r351@ZitMeatloaf@Squirlruler@PermaFox@Terra@Dragon-Archon@BlackSquirrell1@Wavergray@AuroraHistoire@BlindMango@GarciaFever@DynaVita@Lum

__________________________________________________________________

 

Please join me in a week when we reveal our next victim Interviewee!

 

 

Edited April 16 by DaivRules

[Rally-Vincent---]

Folklore was a great game. It was one of the first games I got for PS3. But: Pantera and Death Cab for Cutie? Now that is some range.

[DamagingRob]

My uncle is also allergic to cats. Makes it hard for him to visit. I've always been more of a cat guy, but that probably has something to do with them liking me. Our dogs have always attached themselves to the mom. ?

[Beyondthegrave07]

Oooooh, if we are going to Colorado (after the pandemic of course), can we stay in the Stanley Hotel!?!? ? 

 

Cool interview and glad to have these back @Dreggit! Thank you!

[Dr_Mayus]

Good interview

 

Also as a writer and a fan of Wes Anderson you should check out HBO's Bored to Death starring Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis

 

 

[DaivRules]

I just read my answers and full disclaimer to anyone who suffers through reading all of these and this far into the comments:

 

For context: I wrote those answers mostly in October of last year. Pre-COVID. 
 

Also before I bought Premium and I un-hid my completed games. 

1 hour ago, Beyondthegrave07 said:

Oooooh, if we are going to Colorado (after the pandemic of course), can we stay in the Stanley Hotel!?!?  

Yes, most definitely. 
 

 

[Beyondthegrave07]

20 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

Yes, most definitely. 

 

 

My dad and I always talk about going there after he retires and getting a "haunted" room. Haha. With you being a bookworm (I actually read as a hobby as well. It's a habit I got into to relax while studying for the CPA.), I don't see why you'd pass it up!

[Alantor32]

Nice interview. Glad FF is one of your top series.

[B1rvine]

Oh wow, this interview took its time to show up. I think I asked these questions about a year ago

 

Better late than never!

[Helyx]

Dude, I just watched Primer last night! I remember swappin' floppy discs in junior high...those 6-8 pictures would make you a man. Oh, and respect for the Folklore shout; it's criminally underrated.

[Kasper2005M]

I'm most excited for the new Sackboy game on PS5 as well