Interview with Danfell Q: I'd like to start off by asking you to explain yourself to us... personal description, hobbies, etc. A: Well, I live in Los Angeles and attend University High School, (decent place, but not the best hunting ground for pretty ladies.) Right now, I'm really into the basketball season and that sort of eats up my time. The games that I'm actively playing right now are Baldur's Gate and a little Starseige tribes, but when I have the time I'm always up for some SC. My first interest is poetry and writing and I think it gives me a really interesting perspective on life. Q: So how long have you been interested in websites and gaming? Any previous websites you could show us? A: Well, let's see. I've been playing computer games since the fourth grade (my first favorite was the original Tie Fighter game, that shit rocked.) I played a few games "on and off until Diablo, which I was really into, and had fun playing with my friends until one by one they started cheating and I resfused to play with them. I loved Starcraft, too, but I suck so much at it, it's really funny. As for websites, my first one was made in 1996 and it is still up, but I am so embarassed about it I refuse to release the URL. My second site is just as crappy, and had a lot of my poetry on it, but I stopped updating it. the URL is http://members.aol.com/fyrenight1/. Just as a side note, this place hasn't been updated in at least a year. Right now, my two biggest projects are, of course, the Graveyard, and the Knights of Honor (http://knightsofhonor.com, the layout is Hautbois' [I could never pull off something like that], but I do a little maintanance), the KH Lore (a fiction archive), and I did a small project for school at http://knightsofhonor.com/closingtime/ (I actually did the graphics and layout for this one.) Q: Hehe well i know how you feel about graphics, Mordeth is the one who is the talented one at D2realm, not I =). Ok, so how did you come to work at the Diablo II Graveyard? A: Hehe, well actually it is a pretty interesting story. In case you remember (or don't), shortly after the one year anniversary of the Graveyard, CaptainSmack made a news post stating his relative depression at the time about the community and just things in general. I e-mailed him trying to cheer him up and state how I saw there was a lot of promise in the community (those letters had a lot of influence on my Rant about the future of the D2 community). Coincidentally, after around the second e-mail in the conversation, he made an announcement that he was looking for help. I volunteered and after a brief interview and a trial period as a news updator, he bumped me up to co-webmaster and here I am. Q: How did you become interested in Diablo itself? A: Well, I was first exposed to from the preview on the Warcraft 2 CD (the game changed a lot since then.) When it finally was released, I had just about forgotten about it, but my Mn3m3nth showed it to me and I was in love. Once I got the game, I was playing it on and off pretty avidly. Hehe, "on and off pretty avidly", there's an oxymoron for you. Q: Hehe well... if I knew what one was :). Ok... what's your hopes on what to accomplish by doing websites? A: Well the point of a website in general is to slap whatever information you want onto the internet. My hope for my work at the Graveyard specifically is to contribute something to the Diablo 2 community. I think it is a great place with a lot of wonderful people and the game will be great, too. Most importantly, I'm doing it for the fans. Sometimes, there are just too many places with loose news coverage, no real opinions, and a lax interest in the game. Maybe some webmasters do it for popularity or whatever, but I'm in it because it is fun, I enjoy doing it, and I think the community deserves more devoted webmasters. Once the community doesn't need me, I'm gone. But by then, there probably won't be a community. I'm just an overgrown, overzealous fan at heart. Q: Community? what's that? =) heh, Well I noticed you were in the guild KoH, what are your thoughts about the guild? A: The community is all of us. =) I am very proud of the KoH and I believe it is one of the best Diablo 2 guilds out there. The people are great and we're a really talented group. I love being a member and a leader there and I think once Diablo 2 is released, we will have loads more fun. (Sorry, we're not taking applications right now, but you can mingle with us in the #KoH channel on irc.blizzardgames.com if you want.) Q: So, getting back to the Diablo II Community, how do you feel about the current one? A: Well, the people in the community (for the most part) are great and all the ones I've met so far (in general) are great. As a group of individuals, we're doing just fine. As websites and forums go, I'd like to see a bit more dedication and effort and maybe a bit more dignity. Q: What is the #1 thing you want to see in Diablo II? A: Hmm, there are a lot of things I would like to see in Diablo II, but I think the coolest thing would be a real cow level =). I'm serious about that one, too. Well, not really. I would like to see a good implementation of guild halls into the game with portals to games (so that you're clannies know where you are.) Also, custom games seem pretty promising, too. Q: What do you think about battle.net? A: I think battle.net for the most part is great. It could do with a little bit more reliability with servers and some more user controls, but I think with the success of Diablo 2 and other Blizzard games, the service will improve. We've seen Blizzard add new servers in Korea for the recent influx of SC gamers there and they are always looking to satisfy their fans. I trust them to improve service and make sure it is fast and reliable. Q: Ok, last question =). If there was a fight between Diablo, the amazon, Kerrigan queen of blades, and Luthor from war2 who'd you think would win? =) A: hmm, I'd have the say the gummi bear and the mookie. (A mookie is NOT a wookie.) hehe. But Lothur would get licked last.