Asandir's interviews with Newgrounds forum users
This week's interview features the user DarkMatter.
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When did you find Newgrounds and why did you join? Why did you choose the username DarkMatter?
"I first found Newgrounds when I was about ten to eleven and a half years old if I recall correctly. My mother had a computer in her office with internet that I could go on, and I would go on there and surf the web, which was filled with sites that were just a bunch of pictures and type and not a whole lot of design. Then I stumbled across this website called ASSASSIN, which was really a beautiful site at the time of its conception, and started perusing the media that they had on the site. I think the search that led me to the site was Kill Barney Game, where I essentially wanted to play a game where you murder Barney (good times). ASSASSIN is what led me to Newgrounds. I waited till I was almost 14 then I made my account, before then I absorbed most of Newgrounds flash culture at the time."
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Do you think that you changed over the time you were here, as user, or also in real life?
"Definitely but I looked back at my older posts and those were more polite and timid, yet still pretty professional for the most part. I think now I hold the BBS in less reverence so I tend to just let things fly now. As far as real life goes, I've gone from middle school, all the way through college (still attending) on NG, I've had several minimum wage jobs, even got a DUI which sort of fueled me to get a more full time minimum wage job so now I have the income of a high school graduate lol."
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Are there any other users that you like, and how do they affect you?
"Mostly folks who aren't afraid to talk to me online, like the people who frequent the Google + hangout. Jay, Techno, ZJ, Tarah, Shauna, Cami, Ashley, Wade, Luis, 4cat, Ryan, MercatorMap, MamaTequila, many more. There's a few others who come to G+ every once and awhile but I talk to on the forums like daethdrain. Most of the people on NG who I call friends are people who I talk to on G+ so I guess that's how they affect me, but daethdrain and I collabed on some forum art threads that got pretty popular thanks to him.
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Are there any users that you would consider enemies or that you just don't like?
"I'm pretty easy going on the enemy list, might have to dust off the cob webs when someone rattles my cage, which will probably be never."
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What is your opinion about the forums? Is there one forum that you prefer? And is there another forum user that you want to see getting interviewed by me?
"I think the forums are kind of a scattered remnant of a funner time where people were more interested in producing art even if it was just for fun or shitty. Now it seems that there's an over abundance of people who just kind of spread mainstream ignorance and delinquency from other websites that have grown popular only over the past few years. The forums were always harsh, though I've been around for awhile I think you'll find that not too many of these youngsters recognize me as a regular or superior."
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I guess that you have an opinion about the moderators of Newgrounds. Do you think that they do a great job or not?
"I think they try too hard sometimes. I'm not saying they work too hard, but there are times when they will look for the smallest excuse to lock a thread. Everyone knows that the general forum is where people actually discuss things promptly, so it's no wonder that people will spin any topic the way they have to in order to put it in general, but all it takes is one over-zealous mod and that threads been moved to a forum with only 5 people viewing, in other words, nobody is gonna fucking discuss your topic now. It'd be different if traffic across the forums was more universal, but it isn't."
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Would you like to become a moderator on Newgrounds? If so, what kind of moderator?
"I have more ambitious desires for my life and free time, baby sitting forum posters sounds like it might be cool to a teenager with no meaningful authority in life, but I don't see the appeal. I also don't really have the time to manage things constantly."
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You were a member before the redesign 2007. Tell me how you experienced Newgrounds back then and what changes you liked about the redesign.
"Newgrounds was different obviously, we had more local artists who weren't super artists or anything but it really was a golden age of young artists developing what seemed like giant fanbases at the time. People didn't have mountains of good art to explore on the internet, and animations were sub-par.
That didn't stop people from being tough voters, I was one of the toughest ones, in fact looking back I dare say I was unfair in my standards, of course I was also ignorant of the amount of hard work that went into some of the films I bashed. I guess it seems that people were more localized in what they liked and who they admired, it made us more of a community. Back then Newgrounds was pretty much the hottest content submitting website around, so some of these people were literally gods in the eyes of some of us."
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The redesign happened last year. Tell me what you think about it. What do you like and what is not so good?
"It's pretty, I like the new project system, even though I haven't had a chance to use it properly, it just seems that a few years ago everyone was collaborating and making some of the best funniest stuff that was NG exclusive. I don't spend a whole lot of time in the collab forums, but it seems all the organizers and participants moved on with their lives without looking back. I think the website is past it's prime, but I also believe that the community can be brought back to its former popularity, NG just needs an exclusive gem that brings people off of Youtube."
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Recently the under judgment system was changed, so that stuff can get blammed or passed faster. What do you think about this change?
"I think it's important that things are properly judged, so I agree with the change. Coming out of the era of turd of the week and so forth, judgement was convoluted and people were either getting wrongfully blammed or supported. The real issue though, is traffic, and getting people to look at under judgements. People were a lot more interested in that stuff back then."
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You bought a T-Shirt and the supporter upgrade in the Newgrounds store. What else would you like being added to the store?
"I would like more Castle Crasher knights, I never got into the game but I thought they looked pretty cool for something I could put them on my desk, specially the rare pink ones Luis made. I'd like more shirts with iconic NG stuff, but unfortunately the artists are either off the map or unwilling. For instance, If I could have a scrotum the puppy shirt, I'd eep like a schoolgirl."
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Since 2007, you started releasing animations on Newgrounds. Tell our readers when you started animating and if you plan to release more animations in the near future.
"I started learning flash and animation around 2003-2004, then got more serious about it around 2008, I've since been going to school and trying to enhance my artistic abilities. In the near future I plan on releasing a series based off a story I've been working on for over a decade now. If I can successfully convey this story, it will probably be the next big thing. If I don't then it'll just be another cool cartoon."
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You are also an artist. When did you start drawing? Can you name any artists that are an inpiration for you?
"I've been doodling since I was 5 years old, but I just kept sketching and drawing my whole life up to the present. Japanese artist Yoshiki Takaya and his manga Guyver are pretty heavy influences in my work."
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Every person has secrets. Can you tell one of yours or something else that we didn't know about you yet?
"1 secret about me.... IDK any worth sharing lol. Most people don't know that I can be a hopeless romantic at times. When I'm watching a movie like Gladiator or Brave Heart, I know what's gonna fucking happen, yet every time the ending kind of hits me right (or wrong) and I kind of start getting watery eyed. That's something my Grandfather would do, but I never knew until after he passed."
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What can we expect from you in the future, DarkMatter?
"And you can expect a lot more animation from me in the future, I really want to animate two projects now but am torn and yeah, I'm short for time so I better just pick something to do real quick. I can't go into too much detail now, but one is a personal world that I've been constructing for years and the other is a Newgrounds tale I toyed with in the past."
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Now you are filled with more knowledge about DarkMatter, dear reader.Feel free to leave a comment here, saying what you think about the interview, requesting users to get interviews is also appreciated. Tune in next week :3
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ODYARF
good read!
Asandir
Thanks ^^