Welcome summoners! You have found the portal to the background of some of the more prominent members of this community. In the first episode, Who's who in the zoo ep.1 with Aggroed, I was able to chat with @aggroed, the CEO and one of the founder of Splinterlands. In this edition I was able to talk with @unitqm, an OG player who is now a mod for the official splinterlands discord and one hell of a generous guy.
Platypus: Hey Unitqm, thanks for agreeing to this, I'm stoked to be able to get a fairly OG player to interview who's been so active in the community. So, tell us about yourself, what’s your technological background?
Unitqm: I started making websites back in 1996. I'm now a digital marketing manager with a focus on technical site optimization for a Fortune 500 company.
Platypus: Yeah cool, how long have you been involved with the Hive network, were you involved with Steem?
Unitqm: I signed up for Steem back in 2018 looking for crypto projects to invest in. I didn't really buy in to the platform and didn't come back to HIVE but rather discovered Splinterlands in December 2020 around the time I was becoming disenchanted with Hearthstone.
Platypus: You’re a mod on both reddit and discord for splinterlands, what motivates you into that role?
Untiqm: I kind of stumbled into the Discord Mod role. I was in #general helping folks out a lot and one day I asked for some help in #mavericks-house and passive aggressively said something like, "I would do it but I'm not a Mod." Then next thing i knew... I was a Mod. I basically do the same kind of stuff I did before becoming a Mod just now I try not to be a jerk to strangers. Some days are harder than others. For reddit I was bugging Chris Roberts about Reddit and offered to 'clean up' r/splinterlands. I had experience from being a reddit mod several years ago. What motivates me? POWER!!! But really, I think I’m here for the community. Just trying to help the game and community grow.
Platypus: I've seen you be quite generous with delegating cards to new players; your collection must be quite vast. Do you rent out too for passive income?
Unitqm: I do rent my cards out a lot. If it weren’t for Brawls, I would probably just rent out my entire collection.
Platypus: What are your thoughts on the direction of the game? From whence it came to where its heading?
Unitqm: I'm happy overall with the direction of the game. I would like to see more SPS utility brought into the game. I've got concerns about the game getting a bit too heavy at the top. If this continues, I don't think the game will survive another 5 years. But if we can spread out the ownership of assets to more people, I think that we'll see nothing but blue skies.
Platypus: What's it like being a 'Mav'? Is it a title worth seeking?
Unitqm: It's nice. I do feel like money buys influence in life and this game is no different.
Platypus: Hive can be quite tricky at times. What are some of the challenges you have faced so far in the hive ecosystem? And What are some of the challenges you face in the future if any?
Unitqm: I don't like to interact with HIVE via my mobile devices. I think that both Hive and Splinterlands struggle with mobile integration.
Platypus: Everyone has their favourites, what is your favourite splinter and card?
Unitqm: Favorite Splinter - Earth... Favorite Card - Prince Rennyn (Favorite newest card - Naga Assassin)
Platypus: Crypto gaming is starting to take off are their any other NFT games you like or are involved in?
Unitqm: I've tried a handful. Most are garbage. I login to uplands every few days out of habit but mostly I'm actively avoiding NFT games as I think most are scams.
Platypus: Being a mod on reddit and discord, how'd you meet the splinterlands team, what’s the relationship?
Unitqm: Haven't officially meet the team. Just pinging in Discord from time to time. I think when I organized a team to build the Fandom Wiki Splinters Wiki, we gained some favor from the developers. I've got a side project in the works and I'm hoping to get some 1-on-1 time with the Splinterlands team to ensure that I have their blessing.
Platypus: Oh? Sounds interesting, can you share anything about it?
Unitqm: Sure! Checkout Splinterpro.com. It has the full white paper and our future vision. Development is going well. Were able to aggregate battle data for the active battle. We’ve got keychain sign-in. Next we’re looking to index millions of battle data.
Platypus: Ambitious but I like it! Could be a very handy tool indeed.
Platypus: The Chaos Legion Pre-sale is upon us. What's your plan for the pre-sale, are you all in?
Platpus: Yeah I understand their reasons for the vouchers but I think it could have been implemented in a better way but in the end I think every will get a chance to buy pretty much all the packs they want.
Platypus: If you could choose one person that has inspired you the most to achieve your goals, who would it be?
Unitqm: My wife inspires me to be a better person. I don't really have many goals other than being a good father and husband.
Platypus: What’s your favourite flavour, scent and colour?
Unitqm: Good cup of coffee for both flavor and scent... Color... Green.
Platypus: Are you a cat or a dog person?
Unitqm: Dog for sure.
Platypus: Do you have a hobby outside of gaming?
Unitqm: I love playing disc golf.
Platypus: If you could have one feature added right now, what would it be?
Unitqm: I’d like to see the rental market change. I don’t like that people can cancel contracts at anytime. Id like to see timed contracts that can’t be broken.
Platypus: There are a ton of great stories that are coming out of the Splinterlands community. What’s the best / your favourite story you have heard.
Unitqm: The generosity of people toward total strangers is so cool. Love watching people being helpful without any expectation of something in return.
Platypus: So, one final one. You've started a new initiative called New Boost, Tell us a bit about it, how'd you come about the idea, what is its driving goal?
Unitqm: The goal is to help out newer player who can’t afford to buy new cards when they start out. They are new/noob players who need a boost. For someone in a position like me my daily rental fees can be more than some people make in a whole season. My success isn’t because i’m the smartest in the room. It’s because new players are willing to take the same risk and chance i took that we even have a rental income j inn the first place. New Boost is my way of giving back.
Well that wraps up my second edition of 'Who's Who In The Zoo'. A big thank you to @uniqtm for having a chat and being so forward. Don't forget to check out his blogs as he really does provide some top quality content!
Till next time.
