MRNICEWATCH's exclusive interview with Vlado

As posted by I am the game on 24th July 2008.

Hello, members of Board 8. I have temporarily returned to give to you all the long awaited sequel to Vlado's superb interview with myself earlier in the summer. Now, it it my turn to ask the questions, and Vlado was not one to back down and certainly spoke his mind on some pressing subjects. In this extensive chat, he gives his insight and opinions on his life, where he sees Board 8, The Clique, his thoughts on Inviso, and much more. So, pull up a chair, open your mind, and enjoy what one of the most quality users in history has to say.

'''Where do you see yourself in the future, regarding family, employment, religion, and life in general? Where you see Board 8?'''

In the future, regarding family, I'll most likely get married, as I already have an awesome girlfriend and we're quite happy with each other. So maybe in a few years... Employment - a few months ago I got a great job, which pays considerably well for Bulgarian standards. Naturally, I'm only planning to go up from here, be it in this company or another one. It is a young company with great future, though, so I think I'll stick around for a while. As for religion, as many know, I am an Eastern Orthodox Christian, which is the official religion in Bulgaria. It is Christianity in its purest form, and I'm proud to be an Orthodox Christian. At any rate, I don't approve of Christianity having so many different denominations... We all believe in Jesus and his teachings, and that's what really matters. We shouldn't be so divided. In short, I think my life will get even better... Although, there are always negative, as well as positive events in one's life.

Board 8? ...I don't really see it playing anything more than a very minor role. One thing's for sure - the times when I spent a lot of time here are well in the past. The place is WAY more boring than it used to be, there's absolutely nothing new, just the same old - e-relationship/pretend-girl/elitist *****ing dramas, Smurf attention whoring, rating topics/user-created contests... Just boring ****. The board completely blows now, unless there's a contest. And I'm not sure even THAT could make things much more interesting.

In the last year and a half or so, I've visited occasionally, as I've tried to give insight to users with some thought-provoking posts. But I've lost pretty much all motivation now. When there's absolutely nothing interesting, and I have to single-handedly create the only interesting things to ever happen on the board, I really can't make myself care much.

'''What impact has Board 8 had on your life? What impact do you feel you have had on Board 8?'''

Hm, let's see... Naturally, I first joined because of the contest. That's why all of us joined, and, much as some would try to deny it, the contests keep this board together. I've always been a huge video game fan, and it was no wonder that the GameFAQs contests interested me. Willing to discuss them, I ended up on board 8. There, I met some really awesome people, some of them I became really good friends with, and I'm still friends with many. Of course, I also met Inviso there, and then wasted precious months of my life believing in a huge lie, but, luckily, that ended soon enough. I have to say that the chance to meet Edouble was the best thing the board ever did for me. He is still one of my very best friends, both on- and offline. A truly unique and awesome guy, there are very few like him in our world.

Board 8, as a community, has never really had a huge impact on me. It's always been certain individuals who I've really enjoyed having intellectual discussion with, but NEVER the community. It's always been weak, with very, very strong herd mentality, and easily manipulated by those that have wanted to take advantage of it. Yeah, in the past, I have often entertained myself by presenting my views on stuff on the board and then observing the hilarious responses of the handful of haters I have gathered through the years, but it's never been more than that - simply entertainment. Now, I hardly ever do even that anymore... The place is really, really boring now.

Is there any one quality of yours that you think people would benefit from if they posi am the gameed it as well?

Good question... Depends on what you consider a "benefit"... I'm a pretty idealistic person, I believe that humans are extremely powerful, mentally, and that they can achieve much, much more than what we currently have... Unfortunately, greed, fear and the incredible selfishness of most people won't allow us to reach our potential for a long, long time... If ever. I don't want people to waste their lives... Everyone must work towards improving the world, one step at a time. A small effort can go a long way, if many people care to make it. So yes, that's what I think humanity, as a whole, would benefit from. A bit more idealism.

People often accuse me of treating others badly, which I find so ridiculous. If I've ever been like that towards anyone, it's never, ever been uncalled for. In fact, by default, I respect everyone, and only if they act in a really bad way will they ever lose my respect. Then again, I'm relatively harsh, I really can't tolerate fakeness, attention whoring and taking advantage of others - three things so typical for the internet, and our board in particular. But even then, I'm always willing to give a second chance to everyone. So those are another two things I think people would benefit from - being friendly towards everyone by default, and being willing to give a second chance to someone, if you see they really regret their past deeds. I'd really like to see people have stronger morals - like I do, too, and I believe they'd benefit from that, as well. Only strong, thinking individuals can lead this world to better days!

'''When did you first begin to notice that "The Clique" was starting to negatively affect our board? Had you not been the only one, do you think a more concerted effort would have nipped it in the bud?'''

Hm, with the risk of not sounding completely modest, I have to see I noticed it in the very beginning - as soon as Transience became (for some completely impossible to understand reason) e-popular and started gathering people around himself. Applekidjosh, someone I brought to the board while rallying for Tifa, and who initially came due to his love for her, was among the first. Just a week or two after the clique started forming, he had completely changed, he had become much more hostile and elitist than the guy I knew (granted, I didn't know him all that well when I first invited him to post on the board, but still, the difference was easily noticeable).

Yes, I do believe that if it weren't just me, the board would have been saved a lot of pointless drama and many users would have contributed much more, instead of becoming mindless clique puppets. For example, Ulti was still relatively respected at the time, if he had gone out and supported me when I'd talk against the clique and about how it was influencing the board negatively, we'd have been a much better community now.

Are there any Clique members who you consider to be friends, or have they all betrayed previous relationships with you for the sake of acceptance?

Well, no, not really, although there are a couple of relatively cool guys, among the not-so-well known members, or "puppets", as you called them in your own interview. No-one's really betrayed previous relationships with me, I've never been close with any of them, although I've had a few nice chats with AKJ and Kleenex back in the day. Among the most prominent members, Kleenex stands out as an intelligent fellow you could have an interesting conversation with.

'''If you could switch places with transience, where you would be in his seat of power over The Clique, and he would be his own man albeit one who is mistreated and disrespected, would you? If you could offer one piece of advice to transience, what would it be?'''

I wouldn't switch places with Transience... Why would I? He's considerably older than me, with a pretty boring job, and, apparently, way too much free time. He also cares so much about e-popularity... Ah, you described him much better than I ever could in your own interview. So no, I wouldn't switch places with him even for all the money in the world. I like who I am, in fact, I'm quite proud of what I've accomplished in my life so far. I'm pretty sure Transience would be way happier if he had what I have now.

If I could offer him one piece of advice, it would be to disband the clique and stop spending so damn much time online. He should concentrate on "real life" and finding happiness, instead. As far as the board is concerned, he should really start giving more respect to everyone, instead of being a huge elitist.

'''Do you see a cliqueless Board 8 sometime in the future? if "The Clique" were to fall, do you think it would signal the end of an era on the board, or would more cliques rise from its ashes?'''

I more or less already see it. The clique has been dying out - slowly, but surely. Their board barely has any posts now, I guess some members are simply getting a life, which is normal, as they're growing up. The clique will surely continue being around for a while, but it'll never again have the power it had a couple of years ago.

Nothing big will change on the board, though... There have always been cliques, and there will be cliques. We can already see some pathetic user contest-obi am the gameed users gathering together, driven by nothing but the inane, pointless goal of achieving e-popularity... Man, we need a contest, and a fresh batch of new users with it. So many cool people have stopped posting.

What would you say is the most pathetic act that they have done?

Looking down upon many, many people is easily the most pathetic, although it's not a concrete act, but rather, an attitude they maintain even now. Transience's whining when FFDragon beat him in User of the Year a few years ago is one concrete act I can think of. Man, was that hilarious, or what! Transience kept acting as if he didn't really care, but you could EASILY tell he did, he was so damn bitter.

It's also quite pathetic how Bellis always speaks from the "height" of his ridiculous e-popularity whenever arguing with me, as if that automatically makes him right and me - wrong. You know, people often speak of him like some kind of saint - this is so pathetic... They've apparently never paid attention to the way he treats me. Like a user recently reminded me, once I had a completely legitimate complaint about unfairly removed votes in his music contest, and, when he saw that I was right and he couldn't get away from it in a way other than "It's my contest, I remove whatever votes I want", he was like "lol, let's settle it with a rap battle"... -_- But yeah... Bellis' mental problems are well known and him being very unstable whenever he faces opposition (which, admittedly, doesn't happen often at all on board 8) is no surprise.

'''If the clique turned from its elitist, negative ways, would you forgive them? Why or why not?'''

I'm always willing to forgive anyone. Out of them, only AKJ has ever personally insulted me, but I'd even forgive him. Why? Well, it's just how I am, if they'd become nice, why would I continue holding a grudge with them? There'd simply be no reason to.

'''A message to The Clique? Anything you need to get off your chest about them, or just remarks in general towards them?'''

For their own sake, they should simply concentrate more on "real life". Especially Transience, the others are relatively young and still have some time. Losing their elitism and showing respect for others would also be good. For the lesser members - think with your own heads, guys! Transience/Ed Bellis/AKJ/Kleenex aren't always right!

'''It's no secret that Board 8 is filled with users who only like or own Nintendo systems/games/characters. Why do you think that is? Do you see it as a problem when it comes contest time or when people ask for game recommendations?'''

Why? Well, GameFAQs as a whole has experienced an influx of Nintendo fanboys since 2004, and our board getting more is merely a consequence of that. Yes, it is a problem. I've already mentioned the board's herd mentality. If people see many others praise or bash one particular system, they're quick to join in, even if they don't quite agree. That could confuse a lot of people and influence their gaming purchases negatively. Hell, some people even think Smash Brothers Brawl is a better game than Metal Gear Solid 4, the game of the third millennium (without having played the latter, of course, as they'd never buy a PS3, even if it had the library of the PS2, out of sheer hatred for Sony, the only company of the three major console manufacturers that actively moves gaming forward)... How ignorant can one get? Being made by Nintendo doesn't make a game automatically amazing, guys.

So yeah, it's a huge problem, concerning game recommendations. Many people are way too biased to give adequate gaming advice. As far as the contest is concerned, board 8 Nintendo fanboys aren't a problem, as the board has a very small impact on voting as a whole. There, GameFAQs Nintendo fanboys are the problem. But last year's L-Block triumph was definitely a breath of fresh air. Hopefully, the pathetic Link domination is over for good.

'''Your relationship with Inviso... how did it all breakdown? Would you ever give her a second chance? Anything you'd like to say to her?'''

It broke down when I started realising that Inviso was but nothing but a liar who was using me to get the attention "she"'ll never get in "real life", due to "her" major mental and physical issues. As a result, we started fighting a lot, I kept insisting to receive proof of "her" identity, it never came, and, finally, it was time to end it. I have to say Edouble and a couple more of my good friends really helped me there... They made me realise what an idiot I was being, who knows how much more time I would've wasted if it weren't for them.

I'd give "her" a second chance - I'm still willing to help Inviso, but I really doubt "she" would accept that under today's circumstances. "She" is runinng "her" own life with the e-relationship bull****, wasting away the slim chances "she" has of finding real love for worthless e-attention from strangers. I heard that now "she"'s e-dating again... Pathetic. I feel sorry for the guy who's fallen for "her" bull****, although he's probably as much of a "winner" in life as "she" is. If he finds out what kind of person is playing him, like I did... He'll certainly feel like an idiot.

I have nothing to say to Inviso. By now, I am convinced "she" will not change. I just hope people stop believing "her" lies, a lack of e-attention will eventually force "her" to change. Unfortunately, there are always enough desperate guys on the internet, so that's not likely.

'''In the past, the board (myself included) has essentially ran users off the board, the jp for example. Why do you think that happens, and how can it be stopped?'''

That happens because many users act like little kids... Now, I don't expect everyone to be mature, it IS the internet, after all, we're here to have fun. But come on, guys, don't ruin others' fun! Accept others... even when they like different games and characters than you do. Sure, The JP would often make fun of the board's gaming tastes, but making a million fat jokes to get him back? That's insanely tasteless and immature.

It can be stopped if simply people would think twice before insulting someone - we're all human beings and we would all like to have fun on the board. No, someone liking different games doesn't detract your fun, and is no legitimate basis for personally insulting them. If you don't like what someone's saying and feel the urge to insult him, be a smart person and ignore his topics, instead. Or just use the "Ignore" button. Thank you.

'''Same thing you asked me, which users do you like/dislike? Which ones do you think act respectable/pathetic?'''

Okay... I'll likely forget some, but what can you do.

Like - I have to start with Edouble, an incredible guy, the kind that you meet once in a lifetime. Other awesome people on the board are The Raven 2, Ertyu, Holy Excalibur, Zachnorn, Swift, ZenOfThunder, Stripey12isback, Satai Delenn, Zylo the wolf, Luster Soldier, Yoblazer33, TheCruelAngel... There are many, many others, sorry to all others who know that I like them, but aren't mentioned here, I couldn't remember everyone I liked even if I tried. And last, but not least, I am the game. Your behaviour in the last couple of months has really been a ray of light on the otherwise boring board, thanks to you, I still have hope for the board and visit every once in a while.

Dislike - unfortunately, there are quite a few I'll have to list here, too... During the boring periods on the board, such as the one we're having right now, the awful users really stand out badly... Let's start with your favourite subject - the clique. I dislike AKJ, Bellis, also Transience, to an extent, not so much because of him, but because he created the clique and more or less determines its members' behaviours, the elitism and everything. Other user contest obi am the gameed users? Linkhatesganon and L3fty. Attention whores? Smurf is by far the most prominent one, especially now. It's like every third topic is made by him, man... Fake girls? Inviso can't go unmentioned, after all "she"'s done to me. Also Pikaness and Crimson Ocean (there are other fake girls, such as Nintengirl1, but I don't dislike them to an extent bigger than that they're deceiving people on the board). The wanna-be ****sexual CycloReaper, who is acting like he's *** simply because some girl dumped him a while ago, so he thought the best solution would be to turn to guys... That's about it, I guess. As you can see, I only dislike people with prominent negative qualities, ones who truly reduce the quality of the board experience.

Respectable - the most respectable guys, in my eyes, are the ones who always tell it like it is, the ones who never, ever act fake here. The ones who always speak their honest mind, the ones who never follow the herd, like many others do. People such as The Raven 2, Yoblazer33, TheCruelAngel... you see a trend, don't you? People you like talking to, people who bring true quality, who make the board a pleasant place to come to. I am the game, your behaviour in the past hasn't been all that respectable, and you know that. But now, people could really learn a lot from you, especially from the way you live your life now. The likes of NGamer and Zachnorn also need to be mentioned, for all the work they've done for the board.

Pathetic - more or less all of the people I mentioned in the "disliked" category, for reasons described there... From those I don't dislike, GMUN has acted quite pathetically, believing Pikaness' lies for so long, and even drawing those ridiculous pictures for "her"... Ulti also needs to be mentioned here, from the ridiculous self-praising alts from before, through the elitist act of being so much more than everyone else and being successful in "real life", while things are actually a bit different, to the plain awful paranoia and the resulting regular attacking of certain users he thinks "stalk" him, sometimes with the help of his mod friends. Last, but not least - EVERYONE who goes back on their word. People who speak their mind, but then see that the board doesn't like it, and backpedal with apologising threads and what not, desperately hoping the random people on the internet would forgive them and accept them among their ranks, are incredibly pathetic.

'''At times, especially in previous years, many users have been quite rude and abrasive to you. Though some have had a change of heart, others continue to mindlessly bash you. Is this just a consequence of The Clique's lies about you, or is there another reason?'''

No, the clique don't have all that much to do with it. Even before the clique appeared, I had been insulted occasionally, simply because I liked different games/systems, or because I would always stay true to my beliefs, I would always tell it like it is, without political correctness, without needless diplomacy, completely disregarding the e-popularity of the user I was calling out. Although I have never personally attacked anyone without a very good reason (usually, when they've personally attacked me first), I have often been demonised, and many users still view me as some kind of a villain, although I barely post anymore. Simply by habit... And because of the aforementioned herd mentality.

But it's okay, I guess, maybe a community needs a villain, if it needs to be me, so be it. I will never change, I will never be fake for the sake of acceptance, firstly because I'm true to myself, and then, the board's acceptance has never meant much to me. And I will always despise those who act fake for something as worthless as being liked by random people on the internet... We have to be fake on enough occasions in "real life", let's not carry that **** over here, where we are supposed to be recreating! I will keep telling it like it is, although less often... Many people already miss me and openly express their regret that I post so rarely now, that says enough in itself.

And lastly, anything you'd like to say to the board?

You are here alone again In your sweet insanity All too calm, you hide yourself from reality Do you call it solitude? Do you call it liberty? When all the world turns away to leave you lonely

The fields are filled with desires All voices crying for freedom But all in vain they will fade away There's only you to answer you, forever

In blinded mind you are singing A glorious hallelujah The distant flutter of angels They're all too far, too far to reach for you

I am here alone again In my sweet serenity Hoping you will ever find me in any place I will call it solitude when all my songs fade in vain In my voice, far away to eternity

Live your life, people... The internet is a place to have fun - nothing more, nothing less.

'''And there you have it... Some true food for thought for everyone. I'd like to thank Vlado for taking the time out of his busy life to do this, for all of us. I'll be posting my comments later. Thank you all.'''