Well how do you like this, for once I'm the late one to the party (and you may very well notice that Mr Procrastination himself, Roo, still hasn't provided his interview. Delinquent.
Someone scream at him for me, but until that has taken place we have a member who was on time and known to most of us as being very opinionated and unafraid to get in to it when the opportunity presents itself. As I'm sure you've guessed by now, another person has found their way in to the Member of the Week madhouse, seeking the fame and fortune that only this status is capable of granting.
Let's welcome the newest member to find a vacant apartment in the ever-expanding (this is costing me a lot of money) MotW madhouse, Danoff!
1. First and foremost, you're officially the Member of the Week so what were your thoughts going into this and how does it feel to be recognized amidst the hundreds of thousands of other members here?
I think it's an interesting thread idea, and definitely promotes more of a community atmosphere rather than a collection of random individuals. It's nice of you to put this together. I'm happy to be part of it, I suppose that it stems from the fact that I spend way to much time here.
2. What brought you to GTPlanet and what keeps you coming back?
GT3 brought me to GTPlanet in 2003. I had a specific question about car setup or something along those lines, and I figured this would be the place to ask.
I come back because the site is so well maintained. I don’t have to deal with web speak or abusive behavior, and yet heated discussions are not immediately stomped on by moderators. It’s that balance that I find so rare on internet forums, and it’s the reason I keep coming back.
So many places on the internet are filled with useless posts “first!1!” or people just trolling for laughs. A lot of it is nonsense, and very difficult to read. GTPlanet has rules about that sort of thing, and I think it’s those rules that help clean up the discourse and really offer people a chance to connect.
The other reason I keep coming back is because I have connected with some great people here, and I like to hear what they have to say.
3. There's a lot to do around the forums so I have to ask: what sub-forums/threads do you frequent most often and why?
Well anyone who is familiar with my username probably knows that I spend most of my time in the Opinions forum talking about religion, politics, and philosophy. I like to spend time there because it's an opportuity to really dig into subjects that are very important but that people don't like to talk about. The anonymity of the forum frees people to talk about things they don't talk about in person. You don't discuss politics in too much detail with your in-person friends because, eventually, you're going to disagree and it's going to get ugly. You definitely don't talk about it at the workplace because you have to work with those people everyday. Internet forums are a way to argue about politics without getting punched in the face, ostracized or fired at work, or lose all of your friends.
4. What was it that sparked your interest in Gran Turismo?
I think it was that it was a racing game with real cars and real physics. I could drive cars that I could see on the street, and how they handled in the game would represent how they handled in real life. It was a way to get to know hundreds of cars that I had never driven, and learn about their differences.
In a very real way, Gran Turismo sparked my interest in cars, rather than the other way around. I liked driving, but I hadn’t really taken the time to learn about what cars were out there or how they were different. I barely knew anything about cars when I first started playing the game, but as I got more interested in the game, I got more interested in cars.
5. How did you come up with the name "Danoff"?
It was actually given to me by someone else. It’s an abbreviation for an old videogame tag that I used to use which was “danofantioch” – which is a Monty Python reference. I was likening myself to a holy-hand grenade when it came to video games. One of my friends decided that the name was just too long and shortened it to Danoff.
6. Controversial question time: Gran Turismo, Forza Motorsport or both?
I’ve never actually played Forza. Gran Turismo for me.
7. Because it's finally occurred to me that the question above doesn't allow enough freedom, do you play any other racing games that you perhaps enjoy more than GT or FM?
I haven’t really had an appetite for other racing games after playing GT. I really enjoyed F-Zero (SNES) back in the day, I think I’ll always have a special place reserved for that one.
8. GTP 12 is up and about, what are your thoughts?
I really like the “like” button, the @ references and alerts. It helps direct people to conversations, or avoids needless small posts with just a smiley or a lol. I think it promotes a sense of community by engaging people to reply to a post more easily without having to actually make another post. So it consolidates the forum (which is good) and yet gives you an even better sense of who is reading and what they think.
Overall, very good stuff.
9. Gran Turismo 6 is finally here, what are you thoughts so far?
I actually haven’t played a GT game since GT3. I’d like to, but the new systems are so expensive, and I find my time getting stretched thin. I’ve got enough space now that I could get a proper chair to mount my racing wheel on and dedicate a monitor to it. It would be great to have a good racing simulator.
10. If aliens landed in front of you and, in exchange for anything you desire, offered you any position on their planet what would you want?
That’s a really difficult question. I feel like I’d need to get to know them first. I suppose that means I’d be an ambassador.
11. If you could live in any video game which game would it be and why?
Video games don’t seem to be very nice places to live. I considered final fantasy, but there are too many crazy bad guys – I feel like I’d get turned into a toad or turned to stone and not have the right potion.
Really I suppose the answer is Gran Turismo. You can make good money by racing against really bad racers, and buy lots of cool cars. You never die, and there is always another race or more cars to get.
12. If you could create your own motorsport series what would it entail?
It would be Formula 1 without all of the restricting rules. I’d let the manufacturers loose to push the boundaries of engineering and see what kind of magic they came up with.
If it was wildly successful, I’d start building tracks that had an upside-down portion. I know those cars make enough downforce to stick to the roof, but I’d like to see that in action. Can you maintain enough speed while making a pass or going through a turn to be able to stay stuck to the ceiling?
The fast way through the track would be to take the upside-down part, the slow way (if you didn’t trust your car) would be to stay right side up and go through a series of hairpins.
13. Tell us something interesting about your hometown.
There is nothing interesting about my hometown. It’s a retirement community with next-to-zero population in the middle of nowhere. My graduating high school class had a total of 33 students, only 2 of us went to college. I think I’m the only one who went to grad school.
14. You've been here for a while and are known among those of us who know in any capacity for being opinionated, how do you take to that?
That’s how people who know me in person feel too. I’ve been known to go on long rants about subjects as simple as “ketchup” or “when is the best time of day to shower”.
I have a strong propensity for logic. I use it at work (I do a fair amount of computer programming), and I gravitated toward it in school. I took a number of advanced logic courses in college, and I did well in them. It’s just the way I’m wired, so I can’t help but apply that to subjects like politics and human interaction. My wife is very logic oriented to, so our conversations go pretty smoothly.
I think one of the things that gets you labeled “opinionated” is when you think you’re right, and since I usually form my positions out of logic, I’m usually pretty confident that I’m right about them. Of course, that’s not always the case, and GTPlanet has corrected me on a few things.
15. Do you have any hobbies we should be made aware of?
I’ve done some autocross and advanced driving training at race tracks. I’ve also really enjoyed ice driving, which is like an autocross course set up on a frozen pond – very fun.
I’m a PC gamer, but not really hardcore.
I’m also in the process of starting a company which has me soldering electrical wiring, creating molds, and casting urethane resin parts. Not ready to talk about what the company will do yet though.
One of my biggest hobbies is already well known to GTPlanet, which is philosophizing about human rights.
16. Are you driving anything special at the moment?
My 330i is very special. When I was in college I used to dream about owning an E46 330i sedan. I’d go on the BMW website and build just the right one, and then look at the price and realize it was absurd to even dream about.
Somehow I didn’t realize that eventually they’d be old and used and I could pick one up for cheap.
17. What's your favourite video game, currently?
Diablo 3, although it is going through a lot of changes right now.
18. What would you do if presented with the opportunity of being a moderator here?
I might have to turn it down. I love the site, and I definitely enjoy contributing to the site, but I also really enjoy getting into heated opinionated arguments on the opinions forum. I think it helps that I’m not a moderator, so I can feel free to flame people with my position while at the same time expecting to hear exactly how stupid the other person thinks I really am.
19. Why did you choose that avatar, and why is it not a monkey? (Don't ask me, I had nothing to do with this.
)
It’s a reference to Atlas Shrugged, one of my favorite books. Ayn Rand paints a picture of a society full of two kinds of people she calls them “producers” and “looters”. Atlas represents the producers, shouldering the burden of the world - the burden being the looters. Her novel is about the producers of the world shrugging off their burden. I love the symbolism.
20. Games, how do you like them?
a) Pre-Order, I want them on day one.
b) Sealed at first price drop.
c) Used.
I don’t generally pre-order games, but I also usually don’t wait for a price drop. I just buy when I’m convinced that the game is going to be great and I think I have time to play it.
21. With the next generation of all things video gaming upon us, have you made any plans to pick up a PS4, Xbox One or Wii U?
I just bought a Wii, but not for the next generation of games, I wanted to be able to play old Nintendo games like Mario and Final Fantasy. I haven’t made plans to pick up a PS4 or any of the others. I should check to see if PS3s can finally be gotten for a reasonable price.
22. If you were to indulge in the art of boutique car manufacturing what would your mission statement be?
Preparation for the zombie apocalypse.
23. You've just been sentenced to death. What is your last meal?
How exactly? Because if it’s going to be a painful death, my last meal would be something that would kill me quickly and painlessly.
One of the best meals I can think of is a bloody red filet mignon with garlic mashed potatoes, béarnaise, fresh bread, and a smooth Cabernet. Finish with a light chocolate and white Moscato.
The only problem with that is that it doesn’t have anything fried – and I don’t know whether or not my last meal could lack something fried. Add french fries and I’d be covered.
24. On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being likely to go to the nut house, how crazy would you rate yourself?
Probably a strong 7. I’ve been known to say thing like “there shouldn’t be airport security” or “there shouldn’t be public schools” or “I think hard drugs should be legal”. These statements are nut house potential for sure.
25. What is your favourite car, why, and what do you think that it says about you?
I love the E46. I can imagine it being better than it is, but I just love it and I’m not sure I can think of a better fit. I think it says I have cheap taste – because most people would probably say a Veyron or Ferrari. If I could make the perfect car (because it was never made) it would be an M3 sedan E46 (which didn’t get produced) with a dual clutch gearbox.
I think that says that I’m a nutjob. To me it means I love driving, style, refinement, don’t want to over-sacrifice utility, and I want it all wrapped up in the perfect combination.
26. Where and when was your very first post here and how does it differ from your posting style used today?
My first post was in the GT3 section asking about how to find a certain car, or what car you won if you finished some race or something similarly inane. I don’t think it could possibly be any more different than the political essays I write in the opinions forum these days.
27. How many of your controllers have died because of heavy physical abuse whilst playing a PS3 game?
None, but I did used to have a bad habbit of slamming my gameboy into my forehead when I did something wrong. Eventually I decided that smacking my head wasn’t going to improve my play.
28. Have you ever accessed the website during an unusual time and/or place?
From my phone a few times when I wanted to find a post for reference, but nothing crazy.
29. What's the longest you've gone without logging onto GTPlanet since joining: Years, months, weeks, days, hours?
Probably months, right at the beginning – because at first I was just using the site as a reference for gaming. Once I started debating religion and politics I don’t think it’s been more than a few weeks for a vacation.
30. Who (in your own opinion) is the most inspiring person / people here on GTPlanet?
Famine. There are lots of great members here, and that’s part of why I keep coming back. I’d start to list some of my other favorite members at this point but I don’t want to offend by leaving folks off the list. So I’ll just say that the members are one of the great things about the site.
31. Pizza Hut, Dominos, or Papa Johns?
Used to be Pizza Hut, but they cheaped out on their ingredients and went downhill so Papa Johns now.
32. Now it's time for the "Daniel Special": If you could cross a hippo with any other animal - what will the animal be, what will it be called, and why? (Bonus points for creativity! And it can't be another hippo because that's incest)
Jemaine Clement from Flight of the Conchords. That way he could be the hiphopopotamus.
33. You wake up naked trapped in a broken lift with a celebrity - which celebrity would you choose and why?
There are few ways to go with this, I could ignore the naked part and just figure on picking the person I’d most like to have a conversation with – Justice Clarence Thomas. Or I could go with who I’d most like to see me naked and hang out with naked – and that’d be an attractive female (the most attractive one I can think of is not a well known enough celebrity to name). There is another way though, which is to wonder how I ended up in a broken elevator naked. How do I get my clothes back? What happened to me?
Clearly someone attacked me, knocked me out, stole my clothes, and most likely locked me in the elevator. My guess would be that the celebrity was also the victim of this attack. Is this an isolated incident? Were we the victims of some random mugger? How thorough was the attack? Have I lost everything?
I need someone with the courage, wits, and strength to help me get my life back. I need someone who can help me get out of the elevator and track down the people who did this to us. I need someone who can go on an adventure of a lifetime, taking out bad guys, to rescue my belongings and who knows what else. I need… Jackie Chan.
34. Have you ever participated in any of the racing series' found here?
I used to be quite active in the WRS. I was actually very good too, and managed to get on the top podium once. I stopped participating when skeptical people started demanding that I go out and buy whatever capture device it is that you use to download your saved laps from a PS2 so that you can share it on the internet. I didn’t have any interest in dropping $30 on a piece of hardware just to prove my innocence, so I dropped it. I think I dropped GT3 altogether when that happened.
35. Have you ever considered developing your own racing series, and if you have where can we find it?
I have not.
36. Anything else you'd like to say?
I’ll just say that I really enjoy GTPlanet, and that I think it’s a great community. In some ways, the people on GTPlanet know me better than some of my closest friends and family. Thanks to everyone for making it a great place to spend time.