The 'Shroom:Issue LXXIX/Interview

Interview by

Greetings, readers! This month I chose to interview chat op and Pokemon fan, Brock! I'd try and make something good but I'm on a time crunch here, so just read the interview. I'm pretty sure no one ever reads these introductions anyway, which is probably for the best!

Interview
Superchao: Hello, 'Shroom readers! This month, I'm interviewing Brock! Brock: Hello Brock! Superchao: Anyhow, let's start with the basics. How did you find this site? Brock: I actually found the chat first. I used to chat in a place called #pokemon, but one day the mariowiki chat raided us, we raided back, and eventually became friends. I found the site once I'd been on the chat for awhile. Superchao: Sounds about the same story Stooben got from Anton. Have you two known each other a while? Brock: I've known Anton the longer than I've known any of the other users. We came over from #pokemon at about the same time, and we'd known each other for a good amount of time before that. Brock: We used to hang out in a pokemon game on facebook and its chat on meebo chat, both of which have since been shut down. Superchao: Alas, such is life. The haunts of our past, or something deep like that. Superchao: Well, that probably answers the question about your first friend. What about your first friends here, at #mariowiki? Brock: I'm pretty sure the first friends I made here were Jorge and Palkia. Both of them were among the users who raided the chat. I think Jorge was one of the only users who managed not to get themselves banned during the intial raid, along with Palkia. Brock: Once I joined the channel though, turb was probably the next friend I made, though I'm not sure we really became friends until awhile after that. Superchao: Good old Jorge, that's twice in a row he's cropped up during interviews. I don't think it'll be three in a row, ahaha. Superchao: So why'd you stick around, as opposed to raid and go? Brock: Initially it was mostly out of curiosity and boredom. The raid was exciting, and fun, and caused drama. #pokemon had been dieing for awhile, the facebook game had shut down, and the users were getting older and creating stereotypical online teenage drama. #mariowiki offered a breath of fresh air, it was exciting, it was interesting, and it was during the time period where spam and chaos was the norm, completely opposite of the dead and angst filled #pokemon of the time. Brock: I made a few friends, and it was a stress relief. Eventually #mariowiki calmed down, and became the nice and friendly place we know as #mwchat. But it had its ups and downs, and it was active, and offered an escape from #pokemons slow painful decline. Superchao: Sounds like the exciting past of #mariowiki came in handy! Superchao: Right, so. How'd you wind up being a chat op? Superchao: As opposed to just being a regular chat user for the rest of forever. Brock: Well, intially when I joined the mariowiki, I wasnt all that well behaved. You could probably rate me on the Jorge troll scale (minus the nuke dpl) or on the Palkia troll scale. Not that they are trolls, but we all know their wacky pasts, it was a reflection of the #mariowiki times. I calmed down a bit, started posting responsibly on the forums, helping out with minor things, and grew more mature after some of the initial storms of the old #mariowiki calmed down. I think thats why it took me a bit longer to become op, and probably why Anton became an op long before me, because I had to demonstrate I was responsible enough for it. End the end, I think I became an chat operator because of the large amounts of time I used to spend online, chatting, my availability and time online fit the job description, and I eventually established a respecetable level of posting. Also, I have scandalous pictures of SMB. Superchao: Everyone has scandalous pictures of SMB, why do you think he's a co-director this year? Superchao: Seriously though, sounds pretty familiar. A lot of the ops seem to have gone through the same sort of general cycle, heh Brock: I think SMB has scandalous pictures of the rest of the shroom staff. Isnt that how these things work? Superchao: no not at all <_> Superchao: So, I've noticed you're rarely active on the forum and I'm not sure you're ever on the wiki. Why's that? Brock: Well, I used to be more active on the forums. But I've slowly gotten busier with work and school, so my posting has died off. I was never all that active on the wiki, because I dont know how to edit, and I'm terrible at formating things. I think I tried once, but failed so badly I got a warning. I think I've only edited the wiki since to vote on proposals and to help edit the chat page on the wiki. Superchao: Well, if you were that bad at it then no wonder. Superchao: No offense. Brock: Editing wikis isnt my skill set, I try to stick to my strong suits, like swinging around ban hammers and ignoring spammers for several hours, then banning after everyones forgotten who they were. Brock: Wait, uh... Superchao: Just like my skill set of badgering other people to do the work then taking their credit! Superchao: (Pretend you didn't read that, readers!) Brock: I do that too! Brock: I mean, yeah, what he said. Superchao: Well, considering there's not much left on this front, let's talk about Pokemon! Quite obviously you like it. Brock: Indeed. How did you guess?? Superchao: I'm actually Xatu, I read your future Superchao: IN THE FUTURE, YOU BUY POKEMON X OR POKEMON Y Brock: Noway! WHEN DO I GET IT?? I forgot to preorder, so its all going to be sold out, I'm actually really sad. :( Superchao: The future was hazy, sadly. Brock: My condolences future. Superchao: So! How'd you get into the series, anyway? Brock: When did the games come out, 1999? I think I got my first gameboy when I was nine, it was for christmas. All the gameboys were sold out and we had to go everywhere to find it. Randomly bought it at some store called Macys? It had a little Tommy Hilfiger logo on it. Maybe it was 1998. Anyways it was Christmas, and I was 8 or 9. I got the gameboy, but I didnt get any games until christmas, and that was when I got pokemon red and blue, and I never stopped playing it since! It was my first video game, and also my first nintendo game. Superchao: Same here, in terms of ownership! (I believe it was '98) Superchao: Although I did play SMB at a friend's before... Superchao: Anyhow, do you happen to have a favorite generation? Brock: Personally my favorite generation is Gen III, because I have the most time invested in it, and I really loved the plot, gameplay, and pokemon in it. But I also love gen 4 and 5, and the remakes of gen 2 are probably my favorite games. But I'll alway have the nostalgia of playing pokemon red and blue. Most of my memories of those games ar surfing along the coast of cinnabar island to capture safari zone pokemon or clone masterballs. Red is still the only game I ever caught all 151 pokemon in, so it holds a special place in my heart. Granted, I've caught more than 151 pokemon in each of the new generations, but its not quite the same when its not completed. I havent completed the pokedex since, I dont even try anymore. Superchao: I've never completed the Pokedex. Closest I got was 249 in Gold. Superchao: But yeah, fond memories of Missingno and co. III's my favorite too, though I'll admit Touhoumon has a hand in it. Still though, REGI BROS Superchao: Too bad all my I and II carts died <_< Superchao: So! Why the name? What do you like about Brock? Brock: Well, I've always been a fan of Brock, he was my favorite gym leader (after Sabrina) in the original games (though I was never able to beat him in yellow, I had to get help. : But the name actually comes from the pokemon facebook game. They were trying to recreat the original games in an mmoish format, but the walls were all broken and there were only three towns. (Pewter city, Viridian, and Pallet town.) So I used to sit next to Nurse Joy behind the counter and chat, so I ended up changing my name to Brock as a joke, so when people clicked on my character, they'd see "Brock" sitting next to Nurse Joy. Because everyone knows Brock loves Nurse Joy, right? So what better place to sit. Also I was able to heal my pokemon and batle in the wild at the same time, because the game was broken, dont tell anyone. >_> Brock: And who can forget turning drying pans into frying pans or adopting poor scared vulpixs or being the only one to capture a myterious and rare zubat?? Zubat, amiri? huh? huh? B) Superchao: Hahah, that does sound kind of broken. Superchao: You've got it backwards you silly, he used his frying pan as a drying pan Superchao: Don't forget the rice balls jelly donuts Brock: Which came first, the frying pan or the drying pan? The world may never known. Brock: Also, for the longest time I assumed rice balls were filled with jelly, because of the jelly donut scene. Superchao: Pffffft Superchao: So, how about the Pokemon themselves? Got any favorites/unfavorites there? Brock: I'm going to go old school first, not because gen 1 is the best, but because they've been my pokebros the longest. Charizard and Gengar have always been two of my favorites, and I love Dugtrio and Electrode too. Ironically, though I loved Onix, I never used him until he got better move sets and an evolution in later gens, but I always had a Golem on my team. But I've more or less picked up a new pokebro in every generation. Houndoom, Celebi, Sneazel, Typhlosion. Kingdra I had a shiny pokemon card of, it wasnt one of my bros until then, but I love it now. And who can forget Sceptile and Swampert, and all the gen iii starters to be honest. Linoone was another bro, and ever since gen III, I've always had a gadevoir on my team. Mawile is adorable, and I love it, just wish it was a bit stronger so i could use it more. And then there are Camerupt and Flygon, and Roserade. I also love Empoleon, Cherrim, and Drifloon. Skunktank was my first shiny, I'm not really a fan, but he holds a special place to me. Spiritomb was pretty awsome to. Lilipup, Dewott, Herdier, Liepard, Sewaddle, Snivy. I really cant list them all. Superchao: Well, that's certainly a long list. I'm sure you're looking forward to getting more new favorites in Gen VI. Brock: But Gengar, Charizard, Gardevoir, Typhlosion, Linoone, Golem and Steelix are probably my top favorites in no particular order. Brock: I'm looking forward to it, I've already seen a couple I'd love to add to my team from the new generation. Superchao: I approve of Golem and Steelix. Superchao: Any ones you really don't like Brock: I've never really been a fan of Dragonite, I thought he looked derpy in the first generation. :( (Also Lance is hax.) But he's slowly grown on me. Other than that, probably the only pokemon I dont really like is Togetic, Chimchar, and the sages. :( I dont really like monkeys and Togetic has always confused me.Togebliss is cool tho, or whatever its called, and I guess Infernape is ok, if you ignore that he's a monkey. I dont like monkeys. Also there are too many fire/fighting, I dont like fighting types, so it makes me sad. :( Superchao: >Don't like fighting types Superchao: I don't like you :I Brock: Fire is my favorite type though, there needs to be more fire types without fighting. Brock: Machamp, Blazikan, and the hitmons are the best fightings. :( Brock: I guess that psychic fithing type is ok too though, medi something Superchao: Well, we've gone over Pokemon a whole lot, so let's shift focus to the reason for the wiki. Do you have any standout Mario games? Brock: Smash bros and mario kart are probably my favorite mario games. I've played all the smash bros, though I've only owned the first one. Same with Mariokart, I've played a lot of them, but I only own mario kart 64. Brock: I dont remember the specific mario games I've played, but I've played a lot of the gameboy/gameboy color games over the past, I kind of skipped the advanced generation, and I dont remember which mario ds game I picked up. I think it was one of the supermario rpgs? Brock: Paper mario was awesome though. Superchao: Does Smash Bros even count? Superchao: Glad you like Paper Mario, tho Brock: I dont know, it was about my second mario game I think. After I got whatever mario was for the gameboy color. Superchao: I don't even remember which one was GBC :V Brock: Super mario bros deluxe, I think, maybe? Superchao: Ah, I see. Superchao: Oh yeah jumping back to Pokemon Superchao: What have you played of the Pokemon spinoffs? Brock: I got the original pokemon stadiums of course, playing pokemon on the big screen in 3-D was a big deal back then. But the mystery dungeon spin offs are probably my favorites, mostly because they introduced new tactics. they were basically double battles before double battles, and I loved the strategy with linking moves, like rage and metal claw. They were a nice change of pace. Superchao: Rescue Team was pretty nice, but I wasn't a big fan of Explorers Brock: I think I got stuck in mystery dungeon blue though, and didnt want to lose my stuff, and my brother refused to rescue me, so I ended up stopping. :( Superchao: Didn't help my own opinion that half the legendaries were just random encounters, as opposed to all of them being plot-relevant somehow in Rescue Team Brock: Yes. I didnt invest as much time in explorer as rescue team, but I can understand that. Superchao: How about Colosseum/XD, or did you pass on those? Brock: I tried pokemon XD, but I never really got into it, it was odd. I think I passed on Colosseum, but I cant remember why. Superchao: Any other games, not Mario or Pokemon, you're a fan of? Brock: Well, my second game ever was pocket bomber man for the gameboy color. I spent a lot of time playing that back in the day. I also liked star fox and a lot of the star wars games, like star wars x-wing, which was a star wars flight simulator for the 64, and its sequels on later consoles. Probably the only other series thats stuck with me is the Halo series. I was a big fan of the Halo series, mostly because I was able to play it with my brothers and friends. I also was a big fan of the Kingdom Hearts series, but that excitement kind of dwindled off the past couple years when they never released the third game. Superchao: Didn't they release a whole bunch of other KH games that weren't the third? Brock: yeah. I tried playing them, but I never really got into them. I think I tried playing kh dream something for the ds, but it had some card based battle system that I couldnt get into. the hand helds were all too gimmicky for me, i couldnt play them, even if they had good stories. Superchao: Ah, makes sense. Superchao: Well, I don't really have any other quesstions to ask about vidya, haha. How about other forms of entertainment Superchao: Apparently you're still a fan of Medaka Box, at least. Brock: Yes, I picked it up on Turbs suggestion, kept reading it because it was humorous, and then kept on with it because it ended up getting really good. Superchao: Is Naze Youka still your favorite character? Brock: Yes, Naze Youka is still my favorite character. I just like the design, and her powers, and think they have a really interesting backstory and personality. Superchao: I see. Any other mangas/animes you keep up with/have read? Brock: Recently I've been reading the world god only knows, soul eater, and oddly enough, the naruto manga. I've recently finished the k-on manga, the karin manga, and I'm still working on the medaka box manga. I havent been watching much new anime this year, I have too much to catch up on, but I was watching love lab, chuunibyou, koreway zombie desu ka, robotic;notes, steins;gate, shingeki no kyojin, and the new railgun. Superchao: That's... quite a lot. Any sort of general interests or something that influence your choices? Brock: korewa zombie desu ka, robotics;notes, twgok, and steins;gate are probably my favorite on that list. Brock: I tend to lean towards comedy and romance anime/manga, with some action thrown in. Brock: Mostly, I read/watch anime and manga based on friends suggestions, or related series Superchao: That's not a bad way to go, I tend to pick up things for the same reason Superchao: You seme to be into sports, too. Especially hockey. Brock: Yeah, I used to play hockey and soccer as a kid, in between pokemon and mario of course. So I got attached to the sports at a young age. I didnt get into the watching side of it much until I hit late high school. By that time, I started watching more sports, and got into hockey. Its a real exciting to watch, and I love playing, though theres a soft spot in my heart for soccer. Of course, I'll always have time for video games, and sometimes I even play video games about sports! Superchao: Any particular teams you follow? Superchao: I don't really know anything about hockey beyond the new york teams, ahaha Brock: My favorite team is the Philadelphia Flyers (my home town, ahaha), but I also like Washington, Vancouver, Columbus, and San Jose (because Ralph's team.) I also follow the Philadelphia Union for soccer. But mostly I pay attention to Philadelphia teams, the rest are hobbys. Superchao: Sounds about the same here. I just follow the Giants, Jets, Yankees, etc Superchao: Do you have any other ideas to talk about? Brock: Idk, its hard to come up with things to talk about when I cant see. Brock: I like ice cream, coca cola, and long walks on the beach, and taco bell. Superchao: Well, is this the last question, then? Brock: Sounds good, letsa go. Superchao: Thanks for being here. Brock: Thanks for having me. Brock: Keep it rock steady. Brock: Like a Brock B)

Conclusion
Normally I would try to at least give the appearance of a good conclusion but I don't have the time for it this time around. See you next time, folks!