An interview with...
the coolest, most awesome, best, most tanned, rofiest member of the Monotype room: scpinion
interviewed by Dirpz, posted 1/25/2015 (by scp)
Yo scpinion,
Thanks for taking the time to do this. Will you tell us a bit about yourself IRL? Location? Are you still in school? Do you have a job? Is there anything else of that matter you're willing/want to share?
Thanks for doing the interview. I semi-excited to be the interviewee opposed to the interviewer.
Well, IRL I'm a graduate student getting my Ph.D in chemistry at one of the top research institutions in the US. That is also my "job" (I get paid to go to school) and it takes up the vast majority of my time. I typically work 60-70 hours a week at that.
Prior to starting my Ph.D, I was at the Univ. of South Carolina where I earned full degrees in Chemistry and Physics, along with a minor in Mathematics. I know that doesn't sound too interesting, but school has really been most of my life for the past 5-6 years and I have absolutely loved it.
Outside of school, I have 2 dogs: Kelvin, an Australian Shepard, and Nova, a Border Collie mix. I also play soccer on regular basis with a bunch of my friends from High School. Its a long story, but we've all ended up with jobs in a completely different city from where we grew up without planning any of it!
Do you play any video games?
No, not really. I mean I spend a good bit of time on PS!, but I do not play any console games these days. I think the last game I played through was Final Fantasy X when I was in H.S. As for just hanging out and playing a game, my roommates from USC and I played CoD, Rock Band/Guitar Hero and Mario Cart (all drinking game versions) whenever we would get drunk. Those were loads of fun!
Here is your chance to brag. Tell us something you feel is awesome about yourself.
Well if I'm going to brag, its going to have to be about school because we all know my battling skills aren't something to brag about. :P
I've actually been recognized by the National Science Foundation as one of the top 2000 graduate students in the US across all fields of modern science. "Top 2000" doesn't have a nice ring to it, but when you consider how many people are in graduate school for some type of science it is actually an incredibly prestigious award. Every major US university has 100's, many have >1000, science graduate students. I'm super proud of that accomplishment; plus it came with a nice monetary award! ;)
One last thing before we move onto Pokemon stuff. Any other hobbies outside of Pokemon/other video games?
I play soccer with a group of friends every week on an indoor team. I also love college football when that is in season. Going to an SEC school will do that you. In general, I follow most of the major American sports leagues to the point I can carry on a conversation about them.
While I love playing soccer (I was on a local club team and my HS team growing up), I do not really follow the EPL or anything like that.
Ah interesting well time for the two big questions
What got you into PS!/Smogon?
Why did you chose the Monotype room?
I found PS! through the amazing social experiment that was Twitch Plays Pokemon. I played RBY and GSC, then sorta played Ruby/Sapphire before I lost my gameboy advanced. I haven't owned a handheld since... When I found out about TPP I was absolutely stoked to get back into something related to Pokemon. While I didn't actually contribute to TPP, I suffered through the trials and tribulations with everyone. It just so happened some random person posted a link to PS! in that chat when I happened to be looking and I decided it was a risk worth taking... Thus, I ended up on PS! doing random battles like it was my job for about a month or so.
After a month of random battles, I decided to visit some of the chat rooms. Wifi made no sense to me b/c I had never owned a handheld that even connected to the internet (anyone else remember how cool a link cable was?). Lobby was...it was just chaos, and I couldn't find any way to get into the chat. Thus, I saw the Monotype room and thought it would be cool to pretend I was a gym leader.
I entered the room and started laddering with my Politoed, Vaporeon, Starmie, Ludicolo, Suicune (it was offensive, not Crocune), Gyarados team. I actually lurked/asked questions on an alt for about a month before gathering the courage to actually talk/contribute in the room on my main account. In those early days I decided to make Monotype my PS! home because of how friendly the entire room was. Literally, my first time asking something in the chat I was welcomed by one of the old staff members, MattLikesPie, and my question was politely answered despite being a complete noob question. Now, as a member of the staff, I try to promote/maintain the welcoming atmosphere that Matt introduced me to. I always make special effort to pm someone I recognize as being new to the room and provide them with the myriad resources we have available to help people get started in the metagame.
What is your favorite Pokemon?
What is your favorite Type?
What type do you specialize in?
My favorite Pokemon is probably Vaporeon. I honestly have no good reason why, other than I really liked it when I played RBY. Competitively, I really like Slowbro because of it's versatility.
Favorite type is Water, and that is what I specialize in.
How long do you think you'll be playing Pokemon for? What cool new feature would you like to see in the later generations of Pokemon?
I'll be honest, I don't know how long I'll be around PS. My best guess is I will probably want to explore other things when I finish school and will just not have the time to maintain an active role in the community. In future generations of Pokemon I'd like to see some new Pokemon that offer odd type combinations. While I do not frequent the CAP metagame, I think many of the dual type Pokemon they have created are very interesting.
You were recently promoted to Moderator. Has your promotion changed your approach to interacting with the room? What about on Smogon? If so, how?
I do not think much has changed. I mean I have access to a couple more commands to help moderate chat, but the same responsibilities are there. As for here on Smogon, I think it is important for me to keep up with the discussion thread. Although, I already followed it pretty closely. There are also the various conversations that the staff utilize to manage all the awesome things that happen in our room! :) I'm trying to approach those from a position of leadership opposed to just contributing when discussion arises.
If you could change one thing (literally anything) about the Monotype metagame, what would it be?
I would really like to develop DoW's proposal (part 3 of that massive post) on balancing the Monotype ladder. We all know there are a handful of types that are everywhere in the upper ladder. While there are many possible approaches to balancing the ladder so each type is "viable", I think DoW's idea has some existing examples to build from (in chess) and can be allowed to dynamically track with the metagame via the matchup table on the stats page.
ShadowGuy1 asks Why did you choose the usernames you have?
Well scpinion is just my generic username for all the Internet "stuff" you have to create random accounts for, so when I joined PS! that is what I went with. It is an agglomeration of my uni, initials and name.
As always, Katy, and now many others, ask the important questions: Who your bae?
Well I have a "bae" IRL, so its going to have to be her.
Katy also asks who is your favorite voice?
I'm going to cop out on this one and say I like almost all of our voices. Each one brings something unique to the room, and that is how it should be!
shadowguy1 asks what is your favorite tier, and why?
Well, I've only ever played Monotype and Random Battles. I really like watching high-level OU, but I just haven't found the time to play it myself.
Well scp before we end this interview any wisdom or sage advice can you offer up to the Monotypers out there?
Everyone is great at something. Find what you're great at and enjoy it. Its odd advice, but it was given to me some time ago and has served me well.
Sexy nice interview scp.
the coolest, most awesome, best, most tanned, rofiest member of the Monotype room: scpinion
interviewed by Dirpz, posted 1/25/2015 (by scp)
Yo scpinion,
Thanks for taking the time to do this. Will you tell us a bit about yourself IRL? Location? Are you still in school? Do you have a job? Is there anything else of that matter you're willing/want to share?
Thanks for doing the interview. I semi-excited to be the interviewee opposed to the interviewer.
Well, IRL I'm a graduate student getting my Ph.D in chemistry at one of the top research institutions in the US. That is also my "job" (I get paid to go to school) and it takes up the vast majority of my time. I typically work 60-70 hours a week at that.
Prior to starting my Ph.D, I was at the Univ. of South Carolina where I earned full degrees in Chemistry and Physics, along with a minor in Mathematics. I know that doesn't sound too interesting, but school has really been most of my life for the past 5-6 years and I have absolutely loved it.
Outside of school, I have 2 dogs: Kelvin, an Australian Shepard, and Nova, a Border Collie mix. I also play soccer on regular basis with a bunch of my friends from High School. Its a long story, but we've all ended up with jobs in a completely different city from where we grew up without planning any of it!
Do you play any video games?
No, not really. I mean I spend a good bit of time on PS!, but I do not play any console games these days. I think the last game I played through was Final Fantasy X when I was in H.S. As for just hanging out and playing a game, my roommates from USC and I played CoD, Rock Band/Guitar Hero and Mario Cart (all drinking game versions) whenever we would get drunk. Those were loads of fun!
Here is your chance to brag. Tell us something you feel is awesome about yourself.
Well if I'm going to brag, its going to have to be about school because we all know my battling skills aren't something to brag about. :P
I've actually been recognized by the National Science Foundation as one of the top 2000 graduate students in the US across all fields of modern science. "Top 2000" doesn't have a nice ring to it, but when you consider how many people are in graduate school for some type of science it is actually an incredibly prestigious award. Every major US university has 100's, many have >1000, science graduate students. I'm super proud of that accomplishment; plus it came with a nice monetary award! ;)
One last thing before we move onto Pokemon stuff. Any other hobbies outside of Pokemon/other video games?
I play soccer with a group of friends every week on an indoor team. I also love college football when that is in season. Going to an SEC school will do that you. In general, I follow most of the major American sports leagues to the point I can carry on a conversation about them.
While I love playing soccer (I was on a local club team and my HS team growing up), I do not really follow the EPL or anything like that.
Ah interesting well time for the two big questions
What got you into PS!/Smogon?
Why did you chose the Monotype room?
I found PS! through the amazing social experiment that was Twitch Plays Pokemon. I played RBY and GSC, then sorta played Ruby/Sapphire before I lost my gameboy advanced. I haven't owned a handheld since... When I found out about TPP I was absolutely stoked to get back into something related to Pokemon. While I didn't actually contribute to TPP, I suffered through the trials and tribulations with everyone. It just so happened some random person posted a link to PS! in that chat when I happened to be looking and I decided it was a risk worth taking... Thus, I ended up on PS! doing random battles like it was my job for about a month or so.
After a month of random battles, I decided to visit some of the chat rooms. Wifi made no sense to me b/c I had never owned a handheld that even connected to the internet (anyone else remember how cool a link cable was?). Lobby was...it was just chaos, and I couldn't find any way to get into the chat. Thus, I saw the Monotype room and thought it would be cool to pretend I was a gym leader.
I entered the room and started laddering with my Politoed, Vaporeon, Starmie, Ludicolo, Suicune (it was offensive, not Crocune), Gyarados team. I actually lurked/asked questions on an alt for about a month before gathering the courage to actually talk/contribute in the room on my main account. In those early days I decided to make Monotype my PS! home because of how friendly the entire room was. Literally, my first time asking something in the chat I was welcomed by one of the old staff members, MattLikesPie, and my question was politely answered despite being a complete noob question. Now, as a member of the staff, I try to promote/maintain the welcoming atmosphere that Matt introduced me to. I always make special effort to pm someone I recognize as being new to the room and provide them with the myriad resources we have available to help people get started in the metagame.
What is your favorite Pokemon?
What is your favorite Type?
What type do you specialize in?
My favorite Pokemon is probably Vaporeon. I honestly have no good reason why, other than I really liked it when I played RBY. Competitively, I really like Slowbro because of it's versatility.
Favorite type is Water, and that is what I specialize in.
How long do you think you'll be playing Pokemon for? What cool new feature would you like to see in the later generations of Pokemon?
I'll be honest, I don't know how long I'll be around PS. My best guess is I will probably want to explore other things when I finish school and will just not have the time to maintain an active role in the community. In future generations of Pokemon I'd like to see some new Pokemon that offer odd type combinations. While I do not frequent the CAP metagame, I think many of the dual type Pokemon they have created are very interesting.
You were recently promoted to Moderator. Has your promotion changed your approach to interacting with the room? What about on Smogon? If so, how?
I do not think much has changed. I mean I have access to a couple more commands to help moderate chat, but the same responsibilities are there. As for here on Smogon, I think it is important for me to keep up with the discussion thread. Although, I already followed it pretty closely. There are also the various conversations that the staff utilize to manage all the awesome things that happen in our room! :) I'm trying to approach those from a position of leadership opposed to just contributing when discussion arises.
If you could change one thing (literally anything) about the Monotype metagame, what would it be?
I would really like to develop DoW's proposal (part 3 of that massive post) on balancing the Monotype ladder. We all know there are a handful of types that are everywhere in the upper ladder. While there are many possible approaches to balancing the ladder so each type is "viable", I think DoW's idea has some existing examples to build from (in chess) and can be allowed to dynamically track with the metagame via the matchup table on the stats page.
ShadowGuy1 asks Why did you choose the usernames you have?
Well scpinion is just my generic username for all the Internet "stuff" you have to create random accounts for, so when I joined PS! that is what I went with. It is an agglomeration of my uni, initials and name.
As always, Katy, and now many others, ask the important questions: Who your bae?
Well I have a "bae" IRL, so its going to have to be her.
Katy also asks who is your favorite voice?
I'm going to cop out on this one and say I like almost all of our voices. Each one brings something unique to the room, and that is how it should be!
shadowguy1 asks what is your favorite tier, and why?
Well, I've only ever played Monotype and Random Battles. I really like watching high-level OU, but I just haven't found the time to play it myself.
Well scp before we end this interview any wisdom or sage advice can you offer up to the Monotypers out there?
Everyone is great at something. Find what you're great at and enjoy it. Its odd advice, but it was given to me some time ago and has served me well.
Sexy nice interview scp.