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Ah Twinreaper. The site's technology guru. Activist and creator of the forum's Call to Arms thread. This guest does not pull any punches and is always totally honest which is what every interviewer loves. He was a blast to interview truly! Everyone please enjoy Twinreaper's interview: DD: "How did you come up with Twinreaper for your username?" TR: "It was actually given to me by some good friends of mine back when Doom for PC first released. Yes I am that old! They always commented that I play like two completely different people...kinda like split personalities. Thus Twinreaper was the result." DD: "That's funny haha! So you've been a long time Halo fan then since you've been gaming that long? When did you start liking Halo? TR: "Truth be told, I hated Halo at launch. Absolutely hated it. I found it frustrating storywise and the campaign was hard for me to master with a controller. Halo PC was when i started to love Halo though. Something about Halo 1 for PC that just gives the warm and fuzzies." DD: "Yes I do know that you're a wizard with computers which is what makes you our forum's technology guru. Can you explain what that means and why you have that title?" TR: "I wouldn't say a wizard.....just lucky But yeah the tech guru title was given to me by Absolute Dog (my bestie) as I have an unparallelled understanding and working knowledge of the Blam! engines and side scripting engines with all Halo titles. Some people say I provide a great help to understanding the game better....I say I just post way too many TL;DR walls of textual pain." DD: "You do make long posts but a lot of them are meaningful. I wanna talk about the Call to Arms thread you made. For those who haven't read it, please do: http://www.343indust...ss-and-healing/ . How do you feel the campaign is going right now?" TR: "Well to be honest I think it didn't go far at all. Maybe like 2 feet if that. For me, it was something I felt the community needed badly. I watched the community grow from nothing, and to what it is today. I felt that it became to divided and jaded for it's own good and did not help at all to shape or change the way our Halo games were made. In the end though, they were just words. People could either side with what I was saying and agree, or choose not to listen and claim I am an idiot. either way, I made my point, got my voice out there, and in the end that is all I wanted to do...make people aware. To really answer the question directly, I have given up. The campaign is all but dead as there has been little positive response. As of now, I have chosen to return to my more harsh and direct way of dealing/helping everyone." DD: "I'm deeply sorry to hear that and I know a lot of our readers will be too. I loved it and wanted it to be on every Halo forum out there, it was truly proactive. You and VivaLebowski had a little "disagreement" in that thread. Have you guys made up since?" TR: "We kinda just left things where they were. I'll be the first to admit that i hold grudges a very long time, but in the end of that little spout, I would say that we are on more friendlier terms than before. Sort of a no harm no foul understanding between us." DD: "Thank you for being totally honest Twin, well said. I'm glad to hear that because fighting only goes against the cause. When I asked you about the interview you mentioned that you do not visit the site as often because of your personal views of the site since AD left. What are your personal views of the site?" TR: "I was kinda hoping you weren't gonna ask that one...but here goes... Now first off this is not meant to be disrespectful or directed at any one person or group. Since AD has left, I have watched this community spiral into a nonsensical sess pool of nothing more than a large overgrown 'Popularity Contest'. Everywhere I turn I see threads about being the best, or having the most awards, or some other BS thread that lists members in a numerical order for some reason. When I joined this site is was a true community. We came here for Halo and that was all we talked about. Most of the things that go on right now, AD would have never stood for. And I should know...me and AD had the same long term goal for this community, and he was one of, if not the sole reason i continued to stay here. Just as my 'Call to Arms"'thread spoke of, this website is falling fast. Things have fallen apart since he left. Now I had tried to do my best to keep the peace when he left, but I felt tired.....and with that tiredness comes my rage. As you can probably see from a lot of my posts, I don't pull punches and I don't tread lightly. I hate to come right out and say it, but this community site is on it's way to the trash heap. Change needs to happen. Someone needs to grow a set and take up the reigns AD left. Hate me if you want, love me if you must....just being honest here ;)" DD: "I love it Twin. I wish I could say I was sorry I asked but I love the answer you gave and this is just something that everyone needs to hear. Although I don't think the community is going to the dumps, I do think that there have been more 'Popularity Contests' going on for sure and things are growing farther from Halo. So what do you do now that you're not on the site as often?" TR: "Well don't get me wrong, I still swing by here. The Mods know I do...they know all my IP addresses..lmao! But when I am not here, I am busy as of right now, righting a prelim map handling app to open and display Halo 4 data. Other than that, I am part of a wide developers ring that consults with microsoft 3-4 times a year on products, deployment etc.. I also co-lead a map team for halo 2 called the H2MT, and do extensive map, weapon, scenery and machine tag modeling. When I'm not doing that, I run a Mexican Restaurant, in which i server tasty taco's that Nova craves. Yum Yum Nova! And of coarse as you all know i run a home server from which I host a website, and many game servers and a Teamspeak channel as well. I'm a very busy man you know....can we hurry up and get this interview started or what?!?" DD: " Alright I'm sorry for taking so much of your time I had no idea! So this team that consults with Microsoft about products, is it Vyrant Studios from your signature? What is Vyrant Studios exactly?" TR: "Actually yes.. Vyrant Studios is my registered developer firm name and is also my private "team" of sorts dedicated to crafting and deploying the best mods and extension content to various games and platforms. The MSDN Developer Network I belong to is actually a 3rd party firm that deploys and grants direct access to almost every single product Microsoft has in development, behind the curtain, or already released and also provides me with full licensed copies of any product in the library I wish. It's a very cozy subscription and group. I already have my Windows 8 retail product key..lmao" DD: "Now that is amazing. This is why you are our technology guru here Twin . Is there anything at all you would want to see changed on the site whether it be community, rules, etc?" TR: "Good question. I guess if I could ask one thing to change, it would be for everyone to not get so overhyped about things, and at the very least learn to give everything a chance. No matter how far out your own personal realm of comfort, give things a chance. And by that I mean Halo. Halo means a various amount of different things to different people, and everyones experience is truly unique. Just remember that next time you go into a forum to talk about hating, or why things suck etc. On a more personal level, I just want to say that I enjoy my time here everytime I log in, and each and everyone of you guys and girls (Shout to my girl Mystie!!) makes this a great place to hang out or make a second home. Don't let greed, popularity, pressure or anything else derail you from what you want out of this place or the games it supports. You make this community, and you can break it as well. Be safe and strong in all that you do! Dude Drizzy, I thought you were gonna start this interview!!!!???? Friends is coming on for christ sake!!" DD: "What is your advice to the members of the 343i Community Forum?" TR: "Man, it ended already? That's what i get for drinking early I guess. Anyway, yeah i would like to say something to the members. Well, to the older members anyway... You are the cream of the crop. You have been here as long as I have and though you may not know it, each and every new member young and old, looks to you for guidance and friendship. Don't let them down. Continue to be good to this forum, and in turn it will always treat you well. Even if I'm not always the friendliest.... the old proverb "Do as I say not Do as I do" comes to mind...lmao. Crazy me... Anyway be good 343i and never stop trying to give it your all!" Thank you Twin, you were great. Couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic when you thought that interview was short because that took all freaking day because of my crap internet . Thank you readers, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your support on these and the fact that you made these something to look forward to makes me feel appreciated. I hope everyone liked this as much as I did. Until next time!