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Interview #2 - Enter the Dingo Interview #2 - Enter the Dingo
By Tycho McKorley
I finally mustered up the courage to interview B*B's most preeminent member, Dingo. He has an insider's perspective on the future of B*B, rm2k, and love.



Tycho McKorley: Dingo, thank you for your time and for your willingess to answer a few questions for your fellow Brotherhood members.

Dingo: You're quite welcome, hopefully this will be as riveting as Rocky IV.

Tycho McKorley: We can only offer animal sacrifices in the hope that it will be. Anyway, Dingo, you've written about what made you join B*B, but what keeps you with the Brotherhood?

Dingo: Same reason, I'd say. Which is that the community is still as tightly-knit and "brotherly" as it was when I first came. As much as we've advanced, we still keep some core values intact, which is probably the reason why many others aside from me choose to stay on board.

Tycho McKorley: So it's the fact that the Brotherhood is actually a community instead of a large forum for innumerable members?

Dingo: Community in a different sense than what you'll get at other web forums, which normally includes a few of the elite, followed by hordes of people nobody knows. In a way, we're all "the elite", so that works pretty well. So, yes.

Tycho McKorley: Well, on the subject of the Brotherhood community, how have you felt about the recent reworking of the site's layout? Do you feel the new sparkle might draw in new members who will undermine the "elite" feel of the Brotherhood?

Dingo: Keep in mind I use the word "elite" very loosely. Newcomers have never had a problem inserting themselves into the community as long as they're relatively curteous people. In fact, most of our "elite" were just that; newcomers. On the subject of the site's reworkings, I never got to work as closely with it as I would have liked, but I think it turned out very well, regardless.

Tycho McKorley: I think many would agree with you in that regard. Now, I need to ask what I believe many of us have been wondering, how is CoT, your game, coming along?

Dingo: If there's only one thing I get fan e-mails about, it's CoT. Most commonly, I get the obvious questions. "When will it be done?", and "How far along is it?" I understand that CoT has sort of become the Duke Nukem Forever of the B*B community. It's always a work in progress, but with some things that need sorting out in my personal life, including love interest (go figure!), I can only do so much.

Dingo: Simply put, my only guarantee is that everyone will have something fully playable by this year.

Tycho McKorley: Well, that's still quite an exciting prospect. That said, after your last version of CoT was lost, what have you decided to change about the game?

Dingo: First it's important to realize the scope of my project. In fact, most people would look at the plans I have and start laughing, but this is the type of scope I like working at. Environmental detail is something always missing from RPG Maker games, and I'm pretty excited that I'm starting to get all that going. Shadows from buildings, swaying foliage, ships flying overhead, I want it all.

Dingo: This "remake" is going to be much more environmental in that respect, and hopefully it will be the first case of Rm2k eye candy.

Tycho McKorley: Will there be any sort of complex interaction between the player or the environment? Namely, will the player have to manipulate complex environmental elements in order to proceed in the game?

Dingo: Within constraints of the engine, yes, player interaction is key in a lot of situations. Few things are done for you, as you'd see in cutscenes in other games. One thing I'm trying to implement is alternate routes in/out of your missions, whether you want to blow the security doors off their hinges, or perhaps take a more silent approach.

Dingo: The silent approach will never resemble something like a stealth game, but your arsenal will be able to reflect the kind of character you'd like to be.

Tycho McKorley: It sounds like you're working hard to ensure that the game is non-linear. Let's change focus though. How do you feel about B*B's other content: it's humor articles? What direction do you believe B*B will take in the future?

Dingo: Humor articles have oddly been the backbone of B*B for as long as I can remember. It's something that I think brings people back, because in all honesty, our support for RPG Maker has pretty much dropped. Perhaps in the future I can forsee us being something like the red-headed stepchild of Something Awful, but for now I'm content with what we do now in the regard of humor articles.

Tycho McKorley: Do you believe there will ever come a time that B*B's rm2k side will be non-existant?

Dingo: You mean that time hasn't come already? Well, there's definitely a point where a game making engine becomes obsolete. But besides all that, as you know just as well as I do, we're all adults now and we have to start getting on the ball with our lives if we haven't already. To answer more directly, yes. But B*B will not die with it, I suspect. We're just changing focus, a little.

Tycho McKorley: So, in some ways, the change of focus is almost a way for B*B to survive the end of rm2k?

Dingo: Sure, you could say that. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of active RPG Maker communities still floating around, but B*B has never really offered the pure volume of coverage these other sites have, in terms of games and news about the community in its entirety. Perhaps it's more that RPG Maker is "dying" in and around B*B, more than everywhere.

Tycho McKorley: Well, let's change focus now, Dingo. Is there anything you can tell us about that lady friend of yours who happens to be keeping you away from CoT?

Dingo:

Dingo: Things in terms of her and I have gotten more serious, and that's why I'm gone so often lately. I want to get in as much time with her as humanly possible, because she rocks my socks.

Tycho McKorley: Does this mean the Dingo we know and love might be called away from us by the seductions of a beautiful female?

Dingo: Yes, it's always a possibility. I'll end up being as scarce as Reilly before you know it. Hopefully everyone can understand exactly why I'm trying to get a good start on some sort of relationship, especially since I've wasted so much of my life, as far as I'm concerned.

Tycho McKorley: Well, I think even if you disappear from us, everyone at B*B would wish you the best.

Tycho McKorley: That said, I think this about wraps things up. Are there any unasked questions that you feel you need to answer, Dingo?

Dingo: Yes. In your mind, you're asking me if I'm wearing pants. And as I point underneath the desk and grin, you know the answer. That's all.

Tycho McKorley: Thank you for your time, Dingo. It's been a pleasure speaking with you.