It's me again! Now this time I'm bringing to everyone the Staff Spotlight of this month. And today we have nothing more and nothing less than... Nimono! He's one of the oldest veterans of the site, as well PR Team Member and VLDC9 Judge. So, what are you waiting for? Check out the interview now!
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Vitor Vilela Hi Nimono, how are you?
Nimono I'm doing quite well! Yourself?
Vitor Vilela I'm good too, just a bit busy recently but that's normal.
Vitor Vilela So, you initially got hired as a PR member in January but later you got promoted as Staff Member. How is your experience as a Staff Member so far?
Nimono Ahh, it's much different than the last time I was staff member! Well, maybe not so much. Different people, but the job's still the same. Aside from that, it's pretty alright! Glad to be here to help out!
Vitor Vilela Oh, I see. As a PR Office Member, in your opinion what is the importance of the PR Team for SMW Central, for the community?
Nimono Hmm... I would have to say, the utmost priority with the PR Team is to connect with the community. Make sure they have fun events to look out for, ensure community complaints are dealt with, and ensure that the community trusts that the staff really does care about them.
Nimono We see some users that clearly don't trust the staff, so how do we deal with that? Well, one thing we can do is, we can show that we actually listen to them by responding to complaints, having two-way discussions on this topic.
Nimono Of course, not everything can be visible, we ARE the ones that take care of the "back end" of things, but the "front end" can't be ignored, either. My favorite way to put it is that the site is like a business: the staff are employees, and the users are customers. We have to ensure the customers are satisfied with the service they're given and come back more!
Vitor Vilela Yeah, indeed one of the notable issues we currently have is how a certain part of the community dislikes the current SMW Central staff policies.
Vitor Vilela You're one the oldest members that still stick around here. Is it normal, I mean, did SMW Central in the past years had similar issues with part of the community disliking some things from the SMW Central Staff Team or is it a new thing for you?
Nimono Hmmm... To be quite honest, I don't remember things that clearly from back then, but I THINK some users had problems with the staff back then? My memory's not very clear on that part, sorry.
Vitor Vilela Okay. We're currently the biggest SMW Hacking contest, the Vanilla Level Design Contest. Not just that, the contest had over 110 entries and some new policies (for example the anonymous judging). How was your experience judging a such big contest?
Nimono It was really fun judging it all, seeing what people came up with, their design philosophies, etc... I do wish it hadn't been anonymous judging, though, so I could've read my stream's chat haha
Nimono I had so much fun, I would love to be a judge again for another LDC one day!
Vitor Vilela In your opinion is anonymous judging really worthy at all? Currently around half of community is agreeing with keeping that method while another half wants regular judging back...
Nimono Personally, I don't think it's worthwhile. From my understanding, it was done to appease people who claimed there was bias in the judging, that the only reason certain people won was because judges were biased towards them. This proves there was no such bias, so... It's just pointless. Why make it anonymous if we can just tell judges to judge levels based on their own merits, not who made them?
Nimono Anyone who does not comply should get kicked out- it's that simple!
Vitor Vilela Other than that, is VLDC9 going well for you? Would you change a rule, a method, "the definition of vanilla", anything other than anonymous judging for the next VLDC?
Nimono Hmm, that's a good question. For how it's going... Uhhh... Spoilers?
For rules and such... No, I really wouldn't. Although, I have to say, we've begun to REALLY stretch the bounds of what is vanilla or not. For example, music. That's the biggest sticking point for me now.
Nimono They say music cannot be part of the scoring for a level, as it's not vanilla and only allowed because some people are very tired of hearing SMW's original music over and over. However, the problem is, music can drastically change the feel of a level
Nimono An unfitting song can make one rate a level lower due to capturing the incorrect feel or just plain not matching up so well. So I feel that we really need to tackle this problem head-on ASAP, either by banning custom music altogether, or, preferably, actually score for it under Aesthetics
Nimono But that in itself would lead to issues where some people might want a true vanilla-style level complete with SMW music, but it would get rated lower because it's not as "amazing" or "spectacular" as the ports we can add. It's a real challenge, one i think is best left up to the public.
Vitor Vilela Once I had some thoughts about calling unsampled custom music vanilla. Because if you think for a bit, custom samples are like ExGFX. Their tunings and ADSR, palettes. And custom N-SPC commands as ASM. But not much musicians agreed with me
Vitor Vilela But yeah, you have a point.
Nimono Haha, yeah. Even without samples, though, we're able to make some very impressive music that puts SMW's to shame, so I really don't know what we could do to please everyone while ensuring VLDC says (somewhat) vanilla...
Vitor Vilela So, you're been there for almost 10 years, right? That's an impressive mark.
Vitor Vilela What motivated you to still stick around here?
Nimono Honestly? All the friends I've made! Even though I've mostly lost interest in hacking SMW, I just can't leave the friends and the community I've grown up with.
Vitor Vilela Ohh. And how SMW Hacking evolved for you?
Vitor Vilela Would you have more fun hacking today compared to the past?
Nimono I dunno! Back then was more innocence and lack of knowledge of what makes for good design; I'm older and wiser now and can make better things. But it's hard to stay motivated...
Vitor Vilela Are you currently working in any project? (regardless if it's SMW Hacking related or not)
Nimono Well, for starters, I've been hard at work on writing down information on an original species I've been making for the past few years, as well as trying to make a game with said species! The game's barely been started, though, so there's nothing to show...
Vitor Vilela Huh, and how is your real life going?
Vitor Vilela Are you currently taking a course, moving, working...?
Nimono Ahh, life's been hectic for me lately! Had to quickly move out of my old place and into another due to sudden eviction I'd rather not go into detail on since it's all behind us now, so I'm still a little beat from all that! No job or school yet, but... Soon, hopefully!
Vitor Vilela Ah. I guess you're interesting in taking a programming or gaming related course later, right?
Nimono Absolutely, I'd love to be a full-fledged game designer one day! I just don't really know what places to really look at.
Vitor Vilela I guess SMW Central and games pretty much are a big influence in your future career, right?
Vitor Vilela Talking about games, what are you been playing recently? I see you have a Twitch channel!
Nimono Yeah, I suppose SMWC has been a big influence given this is really where I hit my stride in fangame stuff!
Nimono For games, mostly what I've been playing recently is multiplayer games. LOVE playing games with friends. Stuff like Terraria, Move or Die (check it out, it's REALLY fun!), Pokemon... Also recently finished up Majora's Mask 3D after having not played it in over a year, haha.
Nimono As for twitch, yeah I stream regularly! ...ish. Haven't been streaming lately due to moving, but later this week, I might stream some more games, not entirely sure.
Vitor Vilela Heh, multiplayer games are surely pretty fun! What do you think about the overall recently released games?
Nimono Actually haven't played too many of them, honestly! I think they're alright. A lot of people say games these days are dropping in difficulty, and thus quality, to pander to the young kids, but I personally feel it's just because we're getting older and more used to controls; we've trained our muscles and can play quickly.
Nimono And on top of that, developers are finding ways to make fairer difficulty, unlike the old NES-era games where everyone thought your games had to be filled with impossible-to-solve traps in order to sell more...a nice idea for arcades, not so much home gaming.
Vitor Vilela Hmm, yeah I kinda agree with that, though I can't say anything because I never had the opportunity the play the new generation games.
Vitor Vilela Alright, gonna ask you a few short-questions now:
Vitor Vilela Favorite Game?
Nimono Super Metroid.
Vitor Vilela A person you like.
Nimono My mom :v
Vitor Vilela Your favorite Staff Member.
Nimono Lightvayne
Vitor Vilela Your favorite user.
Nimono Magiluigi!
Vitor Vilela Butterscotch or cinnamon pie?
Nimono booby
Vitor Vilela Favorite Mario series character?
Nimono WAAAAAAAAALUIGIIIIIIIIII
Vitor Vilela Favorite hack?
Nimono Hack 2
Vitor Vilela A desire.
Nimono To have my species spread through the world and be loved by all
Vitor Vilela A message for SMWC.
Nimono A adept arranging. For Kieran. VOLCANO BAKEMEAT.
Vitor Vilela o_O
Vitor Vilela Well, that's all. Would you like to talk about anything else?
Nimono Not really! Would just like to say, keep being awesome, SMWC. ^_^
Vitor Vilela Yeah! That's all folks! See you in the next Staff Spotlight!
Feel free to post your reactions, compliments and don't forget the hugs!Nimono I'm doing quite well! Yourself?
Vitor Vilela I'm good too, just a bit busy recently but that's normal.
Vitor Vilela So, you initially got hired as a PR member in January but later you got promoted as Staff Member. How is your experience as a Staff Member so far?
Nimono Ahh, it's much different than the last time I was staff member! Well, maybe not so much. Different people, but the job's still the same. Aside from that, it's pretty alright! Glad to be here to help out!
Vitor Vilela Oh, I see. As a PR Office Member, in your opinion what is the importance of the PR Team for SMW Central, for the community?
Nimono Hmm... I would have to say, the utmost priority with the PR Team is to connect with the community. Make sure they have fun events to look out for, ensure community complaints are dealt with, and ensure that the community trusts that the staff really does care about them.
Nimono We see some users that clearly don't trust the staff, so how do we deal with that? Well, one thing we can do is, we can show that we actually listen to them by responding to complaints, having two-way discussions on this topic.
Nimono Of course, not everything can be visible, we ARE the ones that take care of the "back end" of things, but the "front end" can't be ignored, either. My favorite way to put it is that the site is like a business: the staff are employees, and the users are customers. We have to ensure the customers are satisfied with the service they're given and come back more!
Vitor Vilela Yeah, indeed one of the notable issues we currently have is how a certain part of the community dislikes the current SMW Central staff policies.
Vitor Vilela You're one the oldest members that still stick around here. Is it normal, I mean, did SMW Central in the past years had similar issues with part of the community disliking some things from the SMW Central Staff Team or is it a new thing for you?
Nimono Hmmm... To be quite honest, I don't remember things that clearly from back then, but I THINK some users had problems with the staff back then? My memory's not very clear on that part, sorry.
Vitor Vilela Okay. We're currently the biggest SMW Hacking contest, the Vanilla Level Design Contest. Not just that, the contest had over 110 entries and some new policies (for example the anonymous judging). How was your experience judging a such big contest?
Nimono It was really fun judging it all, seeing what people came up with, their design philosophies, etc... I do wish it hadn't been anonymous judging, though, so I could've read my stream's chat haha
Nimono I had so much fun, I would love to be a judge again for another LDC one day!
Vitor Vilela In your opinion is anonymous judging really worthy at all? Currently around half of community is agreeing with keeping that method while another half wants regular judging back...
Nimono Personally, I don't think it's worthwhile. From my understanding, it was done to appease people who claimed there was bias in the judging, that the only reason certain people won was because judges were biased towards them. This proves there was no such bias, so... It's just pointless. Why make it anonymous if we can just tell judges to judge levels based on their own merits, not who made them?
Nimono Anyone who does not comply should get kicked out- it's that simple!
Vitor Vilela Other than that, is VLDC9 going well for you? Would you change a rule, a method, "the definition of vanilla", anything other than anonymous judging for the next VLDC?
Nimono Hmm, that's a good question. For how it's going... Uhhh... Spoilers?
For rules and such... No, I really wouldn't. Although, I have to say, we've begun to REALLY stretch the bounds of what is vanilla or not. For example, music. That's the biggest sticking point for me now.Nimono They say music cannot be part of the scoring for a level, as it's not vanilla and only allowed because some people are very tired of hearing SMW's original music over and over. However, the problem is, music can drastically change the feel of a level
Nimono An unfitting song can make one rate a level lower due to capturing the incorrect feel or just plain not matching up so well. So I feel that we really need to tackle this problem head-on ASAP, either by banning custom music altogether, or, preferably, actually score for it under Aesthetics
Nimono But that in itself would lead to issues where some people might want a true vanilla-style level complete with SMW music, but it would get rated lower because it's not as "amazing" or "spectacular" as the ports we can add. It's a real challenge, one i think is best left up to the public.
Vitor Vilela Once I had some thoughts about calling unsampled custom music vanilla. Because if you think for a bit, custom samples are like ExGFX. Their tunings and ADSR, palettes. And custom N-SPC commands as ASM. But not much musicians agreed with me
Vitor Vilela But yeah, you have a point.
Nimono Haha, yeah. Even without samples, though, we're able to make some very impressive music that puts SMW's to shame, so I really don't know what we could do to please everyone while ensuring VLDC says (somewhat) vanilla...
Vitor Vilela So, you're been there for almost 10 years, right? That's an impressive mark.
Vitor Vilela What motivated you to still stick around here?
Nimono Honestly? All the friends I've made! Even though I've mostly lost interest in hacking SMW, I just can't leave the friends and the community I've grown up with.
Vitor Vilela Ohh. And how SMW Hacking evolved for you?
Vitor Vilela Would you have more fun hacking today compared to the past?
Nimono I dunno! Back then was more innocence and lack of knowledge of what makes for good design; I'm older and wiser now and can make better things. But it's hard to stay motivated...
Vitor Vilela Are you currently working in any project? (regardless if it's SMW Hacking related or not)
Nimono Well, for starters, I've been hard at work on writing down information on an original species I've been making for the past few years, as well as trying to make a game with said species! The game's barely been started, though, so there's nothing to show...
Vitor Vilela Huh, and how is your real life going?
Vitor Vilela Are you currently taking a course, moving, working...?
Nimono Ahh, life's been hectic for me lately! Had to quickly move out of my old place and into another due to sudden eviction I'd rather not go into detail on since it's all behind us now, so I'm still a little beat from all that! No job or school yet, but... Soon, hopefully!
Vitor Vilela Ah. I guess you're interesting in taking a programming or gaming related course later, right?
Nimono Absolutely, I'd love to be a full-fledged game designer one day! I just don't really know what places to really look at.
Vitor Vilela I guess SMW Central and games pretty much are a big influence in your future career, right?
Vitor Vilela Talking about games, what are you been playing recently? I see you have a Twitch channel!
Nimono Yeah, I suppose SMWC has been a big influence given this is really where I hit my stride in fangame stuff!
Nimono For games, mostly what I've been playing recently is multiplayer games. LOVE playing games with friends. Stuff like Terraria, Move or Die (check it out, it's REALLY fun!), Pokemon... Also recently finished up Majora's Mask 3D after having not played it in over a year, haha.
Nimono As for twitch, yeah I stream regularly! ...ish. Haven't been streaming lately due to moving, but later this week, I might stream some more games, not entirely sure.
Vitor Vilela Heh, multiplayer games are surely pretty fun! What do you think about the overall recently released games?
Nimono Actually haven't played too many of them, honestly! I think they're alright. A lot of people say games these days are dropping in difficulty, and thus quality, to pander to the young kids, but I personally feel it's just because we're getting older and more used to controls; we've trained our muscles and can play quickly.
Nimono And on top of that, developers are finding ways to make fairer difficulty, unlike the old NES-era games where everyone thought your games had to be filled with impossible-to-solve traps in order to sell more...a nice idea for arcades, not so much home gaming.
Vitor Vilela Hmm, yeah I kinda agree with that, though I can't say anything because I never had the opportunity the play the new generation games.
Vitor Vilela Alright, gonna ask you a few short-questions now:
Vitor Vilela Favorite Game?
Nimono Super Metroid.
Vitor Vilela A person you like.
Nimono My mom :v
Vitor Vilela Your favorite Staff Member.
Nimono Lightvayne
Vitor Vilela Your favorite user.
Nimono Magiluigi!
Vitor Vilela Butterscotch or cinnamon pie?
Nimono booby
Vitor Vilela Favorite Mario series character?
Nimono WAAAAAAAAALUIGIIIIIIIIII
Vitor Vilela Favorite hack?
Nimono Hack 2
Vitor Vilela A desire.
Nimono To have my species spread through the world and be loved by all
Vitor Vilela A message for SMWC.
Nimono A adept arranging. For Kieran. VOLCANO BAKEMEAT.
Vitor Vilela o_O
Vitor Vilela Well, that's all. Would you like to talk about anything else?
Nimono Not really! Would just like to say, keep being awesome, SMWC. ^_^
Vitor Vilela Yeah! That's all folks! See you in the next Staff Spotlight!
