Player Interview #001: J.M.Kane
#1
Hello, ladies, gentlemen and Row.

I'd like to state that in order to 'give something back' to the community I am attempting to interview key community figures throughout AC in order to give new members and fellow players alike an understanding of who these people are.
These interviews shall hopefully be conducted on a week by week basis providing you with insight on your peers. Not all of them will deal with 'serious current affair', such as questionable developer choices however. With introspective thought given into how new and experienced players alike can improve their game from some of the communities finest.

With your permission, I would like to start, although slightly belated, to delve into one of Assault Cube's past prominent players, J.M.Kane.

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Player Biography

1. Real name / Player alias
Gordon
2. age
19
3. location
Toronto, CA
4. What do you enjoy outside of AC?
Basketball, Dragonboat
5. Pets?
Nope
6. What other games do you enjoy apart from AC?
Dota

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Assault Cube and you

1. How long have you been playing for?

I started AC in Dec 2007. I played it very consistently because it was my first computer game. I stopped playing at the beginning of 2009. Between then I joined DES, resigned from DES, and joined A&D (and is currently in A&D). I have played in many clan matches, tournaments, etc. From then on I was pretty inconsistent with playing; I would install it during summer holidays, winter holidays, etc and play for around a few days or a few weeks.

2. Why did you start playing Assault Cube and how did you find it?

I don’t remember how I found the game, that was too long ago. But I installed it and got really bad scores in public matches, so I tried to get better.

3. What motivates you to play?

In my year of AC consistency, I played to get better, be top of the game, and play for the clan. Now-a-days, I enjoy playing with friends whom I’ve known and played with for a long time. I enjoy going on IRC and playing interclan matches with them. I also enjoy trying to beat the new generation of rising AC players from time to time. But all-in-all I’m more interested about the development of the game, its community, and see how my friends are doing in their lives, that’s why I stop by IRC every so often.

4. What is your most memorable moment playing Assault Cube?

There are a lot!
Gameplay wise it would probably be playing with R4zor 2v2 clan matches back in the 0.93 days. We were pretty good as I remember, not as good as Row and Harps were though. We still never lost a ac_depot game eh R4? Makke, the developer at the time, blacklisting me of wallhacking after beating him in a 1v1 dm ac_desert. Then he reviewed the replay again and admitted he was wrong. Playing zombies vs humans with tons of the AC buddies back in the summer of 2008. Fog 1024 on that map made by ArchAngel was pretty awesome.

Funny stories come from IRC though. Like when we went to a random IRC channel, then befriended the girl who was the owner of the channel then her giving us OP status then banned everyone from her channel was hilarious. What was more hilarious was when she and her friends went into #onechat (yes back then it was #onechat and not #one-chat), and took it over and she somehow became the owner of it. That’s the story of why the current oNe channel is now #one-chat.

5. Is there a specific person/group you like playing with the most?

Anyone whom I have played against or with many times.

6. What is your favorite game type?

blank, so i assume them all ;) - ed

7. What is your favorite game mode?

CTF. Especially 2v2 or 3v3. I enjoy the team play of ctf and the strategy. It isn’t all about 1v1 matchups. A team with a better strategy but isn’t as accurate with the smg or the sniper can still win.

8. What would you consider is the most important inclusion in the development of Assault Cube so far?

The server priority system. It really got rid of the constant Ezjemville map that kept being played for some strange reason.

9. What would say the future of Assault Cube is? (And What would you like that future to be?)

It has been going well. There are constantly new players entering the community which is good and there are still many contributors to this game.

10. What are your thoughts about the current state and size of the community, compared to previous releases of the game?

Like any community it has grown with its ups and downs. This is just a game so obviously I don’t expect players to be here forever. There will be a lot of turnover in the community, but I think AC has overcome that time and time again by welcoming new members to the community.

11. What aspect of the game would you like to see more of? (for instance, there are still cheaters and team survivor isn't played)

Less cheaters definitely. It has gone down significantly though from when I used to play pubs frequently I believe.

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And now to a brief and personalized inquiry..

1. The weapon balance in Assault Cube has been highly debated, in the past it was claimed that the smg was overpowered, what would you say now?

SMG isn’t the best weapon of the game. Now-a-days so many awesome players use the sniper as their main weapon. I guess because the recoil can’t be handled by a lot of players, but at the same time, the skill needed to be amazing like so many players are at the sniper is very high. The shotgun and the AR lack competitive play. I know the SMG is a lot more appealing than the AR, but I don’t know really know why.

2. You went from DES| to A&D, what were the reasons for such a move?

At the time of the move, I wanted to be on a more competitive team.

3. You've played other games, from the cube series and from other franchises. In regards to the online community, how well would you say AC fares?

I did not play those other games enough to get to know their respective communities.

4. The name J.M.Kane is an odd nickname, as it bears no relation to your real name, any background story on this?

J.M.Kane = John Michael Kane. I really like the Bourne Series movies and the main protagonist of the movie trilogy, Jason Bourne, has an alias of John Michael Kane, hence J.M.Kane. But later on I changed it into Kane.

5. What advice would you give to new players for them to improve their Assault Cube game?

Keep playing pubs, mostly official maps. Shotguns aren’t used in competitive play because of the nature of the weapon so try to improve in other weapons. Go on IRC and ask to play in some private games! Private games really make you understand the game and newer players can get advice from the more experienced players during these games or on IRC.

And finally..

1. What would you say to the rumours that you once spawned an impromptu clan with your ex- fellow teammate, Princess, in order to troll innocent members of the public ac community?

I have not heard of this rumour, and I don’t remember trolling innocent members of the public AC community!!

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Thank you to J.M.Kane (Gordon) to providing some insight and for taking the time to partake in the interview, hopefully catch you next week folks.
Kisses
Thanks given by:
#2
Good job and good idea.
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#3
Nice. Shows some character!
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#4
I honestly love this.. It allows me to know the better players on a personal level, and being new thats pretty cool. Glad you came up with something like this.

Also, you should make a list of the players you will be interviewing, that way we know who were dealing with in the following week.
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#5
Good Job ! Its nice to know other player's history :D
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#6
Really cool interview,
Found it very interesting.
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#7
JMKane for prez. Harps for vice.
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#8
And Imp for the chubby intern in the blue dress.
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#9
John Michael Kane. Bourne's Canadian passport. I very specifically remember that from the movies, love it.
And this is a pretty cool idea, harps. Keep it up!
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#10
Harps whould write for Ac News. :) nice to know more about the mysterious JM Kane.
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#11
Very nice idea !

btw, "interview 001#"? That means there will be hundreds of them ? xP
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#12
Nice interview
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#13
@Polar: No he only plans on writing seven. The three digits are only so he can make himself 007.
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#14
@MetalTint,

About the players being interviewed, I would like feedback as to who people would like to hear more from. At the moment, in my mind, i'm thinking of focusing mainly on 'long standing community members'. However, if you guys suggest names I might consider these, instead of names I think are valuable :p

Also, in the spirit of AC you guys can conduct your own interviews in a similar manner, hopefully keeping some of the biographical information consistent and short. With concise questions and detailed answers.

You can pm me the interviews if you need someone who will edit it for a better clarity of English :)

I hope to post the grenadier interview next (it was meant to be the first interview), however, he's decided to take a break from the community due to not seeing eye to eye with certain dev choices.
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#15
How abot interviewing MorganKell?
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#16
Mile, he plays ac + 4 years interview with him will interest
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#17
yay, he likes dota *-*
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#18
Nice interview harps
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#19
Harp's for President. MorganKell for GOD.
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#20
I'd like to see an interview with NONSTOP_MU6.
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