AsianKid
Youngster
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2015
- Messages
- 195
- Points
- 93
Community Spotlight
The "Community Spotlight" is an interview series under The AOK Times that aims to provide greater insight into the thoughts and minds of PWO's amazing community members. It follows a Q&A format and the responses are released with the expressed consent of the interviewee.
Interview w/ desya
1. So who is desya?
Hello. This interview should be number 5, but AK got everything mixed up. Okay, let’s flex our brains. What is desya's name? desya's name is Denis. Denis lives in Kazan. Yes, this is Russia, but don’t start throwing stones (you won’t hit it anyway). Like everyone else, I am for peace, but reality is what it is (and we see it from different sides in different ways; those who have matured will understand). So I live in Kazan. A very beautiful and interesting city. My profession is children's football coach. Football is what I do all my time, it's my life.
Where did desya come from? This is one of my nicknames at school (others are desik, des’ka, pesik), and the most common. My first email from the game dates back to November 4, 2009. But I started playing in 2010, I think. So I’m a beginner.
2. I mean, where do I even start? I believe it’s fair to say that you’ve developed a large following these past couple of years. For one reason or the other, members of the community have gravitated to your simple words and unyielding spirit. How is it that you’re able to win over the respect, if not, the love of your peers? Could it be, perhaps, that the community is responding to your clear-cut representation of yourself and your goals?
I think it's interesting to watch how a person tries to achieve something without seeing barriers and not noticing obstacles. And such people command my respect.
3. To follow up on that, I have been fascinated with the community’s interest in your Forum content. In particular, your blog aptly named desya PWO has garnered over 15k views on 182 replies thus far. Disregarding the pinned Wiki suggestion post, it’s by far the most popular thread in modern-PWO times. When you started in January 2022, did you think that your blog would be as successful as it has been? What motivated you to begin in the first place along with your reporting in desya’s online server?
I didn’t think that desya’s blog would be as successful as it is now, I knew it. I'm not a fan of forums at all, but as it turned out, this is very interesting. When I returned to the game a couple of years ago, I rarely looked here. But then I noticed that it was too sad here, and like Weasley from Harry Potter, I decided to create my own fun shop (still not monetized). Of course, people immediately became interested in this, since I had never seen anything like this there. But to be honest, it was even more interesting to me than to you.
desya’s online server is just a story for me.
4. Now, it would be a crime if we didn’t discuss the iconic phrases and expressions which have been the cornerstone of desya. What inspired this choice to express yourself in a direct, almost minimalist manner? Sometimes it even seems you refer to desya in the third-person, which leads me to an even greater question. Who is desya, really? Is desya a character, a way of being, the real you, or a mixture of everything in between?
Regarding the last question. The answer is simple. desya is not looking for friends in the game, sorry, and does not want to get close to other players. But as some players on the friends list may have noticed, desya will help anyone.
As for the "still" and the other. I'm desya and I like it. I tried this when I started playing again and it worked. Everyone can do the same.
5. It’s no secret that Ramensnoodle has been a point of mention from desya these past years. Maybe a playful tease of desya’s who wants to surpass one of the great(est) hunters in PWO. Certainly making significant progress in Fishing Level as only a handful of trainers have surpassed 200. Is it because you respect Ramens that you make these remarks? Or do you see it more as a challenge to yourself to be better?
If you were in a team with Messi and Ronaldo and they didn't respond to you, how would you behave? Fishing level 200 is so low, I will certainly be more than 300. I respect Ramensnoodle and take this as a challenge to become better myself. But I noticed that Ramensnoodle began to age and no longer uses his membership (I hope this excites him). And yet I want to get ahead of him at the peak.
6. So you began your Pokémon journey here in 2010, but the Forum Archives reveal a large gap from 2014 to 2022. Can you possibly speak about this period and perhaps the reasons that led up to your return years later? Does this have any relation to the current break announced not too long ago? They always ask who is desya not how is desya?
As I wrote, I started a little earlier. When I left the game back then, I gave away all my Pokemon and thought I wouldn't come back. Coming back, I started with zero in my wallet, but not zero in my head. So it was easy to come back because the Halloween event was going on. And to be honest, my biggest lie was told there. At the very beginning of the event, I caught a shiny Poliwag. Then I played and played and couldn't catch the shiny one, and that's when the phrase still no shiny was born. And I still didn’t catch him until the end of the event.
Why did desya come back? I had a lot of free time. Why isn't desya playing now? Little free time. But desya will return to the Halloween event, he wrote about it. So that it doesn’t sound simple, my childhood went like this: I played football and only paused for Pokemon and Power Rangers.
7. Sharing is caring and desya never fails to miss a beat. You have blogged about pretty much every event happening to or around you - no matter how big or small. Like a photo album of collective experiences. Of those moments, can you share which ones you found to be particularly enjoyable?
This is my pride here. I liked the first post, Gastly bug, shiny Chinchou hunt, Jobey's event hunt, Yanma without membership, desya's Fanclub, Skorupi swarm, released old shiny ekans, shiny Girafarig, summer (Gible) event, first T2 shiny Qwilfish, Bagon hunt, Safari hunt, shiny Abra, winter 2022, Elite 4, desya's events, second t2 shiny Lickitung, Croagunk swarm, first t4 shiny Sneasel, shiny (gift) Wailord, third t2 shiny Misdreavus, Munchlax event.
As for the top 3. In first place is still my first shiny T2 Qwilfish 40 minutes before the end of the event. In second place is of course the shiny Wailord. On the third, probably T4 Sneasel.
8. What piece(s) of advice would you give to your past self who just started in PWO? Made any decisions that you wished you could do over? Or are you the type to say that “I am desya!” and wouldn’t change a thing?
Just think what desya would have achieved if he had not left the game. Therefore, everything works as it should, otherwise, you would not be happy with your game. And I'm happy with mine, so everything is fine. (There was no need to sell the old shiny ones, right now I would be a billionaire).
9. Name three things that you would like to see in PWO. (Not limited to tangible improvements to the game.)
It's simple.
The first, the inscription in the center of the screen, if someone caught a brilliant Pokemon (desya caught a shiny Dratini in Safari Zone 3).
Secondly, messages in the chat, if anyone suddenly: raised the level of fishing, won someone in the battle, received some icon, raised Pokemon to the level of 100, and so on. This is all for interest.
Third. I apologize, but in my opinion, we have no competition between the guilds. Create a location for guild participants, where they can compete in something. But everyone is working on Sevii and this is good.
10. As we look forward to your grand return to PWO once again, what plans does desya have for the future? Another unofficial event when? Another clever game? I hear there’s a particular shiny you’ve set your sights on.
I need to finish desya's 4th event. Still no Lapras and Dragonair. I want to go back to the Halloween event. And of course, my last goal is the shiny Snorlax. I also have ideas about desya’s event 5. After all this, I'll go fishing.
11. Alright, the spotlight is on you! You're free to talk about whatever you want. What message do you want to share with the Community?
Still philosophy. Time is an interesting thing. Everyone knows what happened yesterday and a week ago. But no one knows what will happen tomorrow. Maybe they will give you a shiny whale, or maybe they will take something away from you. You need to appreciate what you have. And I hope to do another interview in a couple of years. It's nice when someone is interested in your thoughts.
Wrap Up
And with that, the elite fourth Community Spotlight issa wrap! Keep your head on a swivel because who knows what trainer The AOK Times will look to interview next? That said, you have the opportunity to recommend the next trainer! Interested in learning more about a certain member of the Community? Fill out this quick Google Form and The AOK Times will take it into thoughtful consideration: Community Spotlight Request
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