Post by Hockeynutville on Dec 6, 2009 13:58:58 GMT -5
Hey folks!
I am starting a new series called "Eyes on the Islands". It will be a series of interviews that will involve all the citizens of the 10ki and hopefully some of the Ambassadors that frequent us from foreign regions. The Goal will be to shed some light on a more personal level on the people around the Islands.
To start things off, I decided that our first interview should be with the head honcho, the big cheese, El Presidente, our Founder, Grub!
Hockeynutville: Hello, and welcome to a new feature here in the 10000 Islands called, “Eyes on the Islands”. It involves interviewing members of the 10000 Islands populace and perhaps in later installments, nations from foreign regions. I am very pleased to announce that my first guest will be a very familiar face to everyone who has touched base with the Islands. He is our regional Founder, our Commander in Chief of TITO and one of the most outspoken crusaders against “Invaders”. Grub, thank you very much for taking the time to conduct this interview.
Grub: Thanks for selecting me as the first interview in the Eyes of the Islands series. I look forward to the other interviews you'll have with other Islanders in the future as well.
Hockeynutville: So perhaps we could begin with a little background history of you and Nationstates. How did you discover the game and become involved in the ever expansive Nationstates community?
Grub: Ok. NS started in August, 2002. In January of 2003, one of my favorite websites, Fark.com, had a link to NS. I checked it out and started Grub. Ironically, many who came from Fark became invaders and had a pretty big impact on the bad end of things in the early NationStates days. I never moved there, but I just looked and saw that the region of Farkistan is still around with 12 nations.
Hockeynutville: I think a question a number of people have had at one time or another is where did that name “Grub” come from?
Grub: The name Grub started with my friends and I want to preface this by saying that I know this is a strange story for the name. At the time, when someone was going to go eat, a few would sometimes say "I'm going to get my grub on." I always thought that phrase was kind of weird and then, for some unknown reason, I thought of someone having a 20 pound real life grub that would stick on a person's back until they ate. Seriously, I thought it was pretty funny at the time and when I picked a NS name, the name
Grub came to mind. When I signed up for NS, I have no idea I would ever be involved in defending regions, etc.
Hockeynutville: Can you tell us about creating the 10000 Islands and becoming Founder of one of the most prosperous regions in all of Nationstates?
Grub: As for creating the 10000 Islands, I am not actually the one who officially created it. If I did, I would have probably called it the 10,000 Islands, but I like the way it is now. When I started in NS, there were no such things as Founders. Delegates controlled all and invasions were often brutal and reduced regions to nothing in minutes.
After the Empire of Power attack, and once Founders became part of the game, the nations in the region asked that I be named Founder. I have been Founder ever since.
Hockeynutville: How big was the 10000 Islands back during that time?
Grub: When we were attacked by the Empire of Power we were a sleepy little region with 20 or so nations. Once we were attacked everything changed. TITO, who had been around in a role playing form only, became an official defense force and the forum was also created later down the road.
As a side note, nations in the 10000 Islands used to attack each other when it appeared a nation was going to CTE naturally. When a nation was inactive, someone would declare war on them and over a day or two talk about the battles on the RMB until the nation CTE and victory was declared.
Hockeynutville: It’s almost kind of silly to think about the 10000 Islands today starting out from a tiny community of 20 or so nations. What do you think of the current population explosion?
Grub: Even though we are quite large right now, we have been big in the past when NS had well over 100,000 nations. I think we are around 55,000 currently. When we were building up our numbers initially, our goal was to be around 250 nations. Later, we tried to get to 1000 nations, but I think the closest we got to was in the mid-high 600s.
Hockeynutville: After the first big population explosion in the 10KI there was a subsequent depression in which our population dropped into the mid-low 200's. As we see now the Islands has gone through it's second "golden age". Did you however think that the Islands would recover from it's drop in population or regain it's same notoriety or were you seriously worried that the Islands would eventually fizzle out?
Grub: We can't always expect to be as high in population as we are now. Mass CTE always happen and our population is bound to level out at some point. One great thing that we have right now is a good base of nations who are dedicated recruiters. As long as things continue to be the way they are now, our population could actually climb higher than it is presently.
Hockeynutville: Are there any particular Islanders from the years past that you miss or wish were still around?
Grub: There are too many Islanders to name that I wish were still around. New Boniventure, Yavanna, Boolari, Sinn Feins Ireland, Sheynat, TheSensitiveNewAge, Himes, Otupia, etc, etc.
Hockeynutville: Can you tell us what it’s like being the Founder of the 10000 Islands? There must be a certain kind of pride from watching the 10000 Islands blossom into such a vibrant and multi-cultural community.
Grub: I think it's pretty neat being the Founder of XKI. It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve in my role while watching the 10000 Islands blossom and help foster good in NS. Despite what our detractors say, we have helped many, many regions and all TITO members should always remember that we have done a lot of good in NS. On the battlefield, we have defeated many attacks and behind the scenes we have stopped many invasions from happening as well.
Hockeynutville: I can very well imagine that being so involved in 10KI and NS matters that it can get stressful and bothersome fast. Have you ever felt burnt out and tired of the Islands before even if it was for a brief time?
Grub: Sometimes when I have about 100 different battle stars to add at one time, that can be stressful.
Hockeynutville: Sort of a follow to the previous question, with many of things you're responsible for here in the Islands, has it ever interfered or impacted your life outside of NS?
Grub: No, NS is fun.
Hockeynutville: For some of the older nations here, it has been well documented the personal attacks “Invaders" have made on you. How do you deal with the telegrams and messages on RMB’s?
Grub: With attacks from invaders, it is par for the course. I have had some pretty nasty attacks sent my way over the years including once being deleted by the Mods because some invaders lied. I was quickly reinstated, but it was quite shocking to one day open up NS and see that you main nation no longer exists. We always need to stand up to the bullies of this game. Invaders in this game get their pleasure by attacking others to make themselves feel powerful. Here in NS, and in real life, bullies don't like it when you stand up to them.
Hockeynutville: What do you think about the World Assembly aspect of NS?
Grub: In the past, I usually haven't spent a lot of time with the WA aspects of NS. The best part of the WA remains the endorsements.
Hockeynutville: Have you ever gotten to know anyone from Nationstates outside of the game or the 10000 Islands’ forum?
Grub: With getting to know NS people, I have known many, but have never met any of them face to face. I tend to keep a low profile here about my RL, but it would be funny if I ever met anyone from XKI in RL.
Hockeynutville: You don't have to name names, but do you know anyone else personally who plays NS?
Grub: When I first started playing, before the 10000 Islands, I got a bunch of my friends to play. They didn't stick around NS for all that long. Right now I don't know anyone who still has an active nation in the game. On another note, I thought I remember hearing about an unnamed celebrity who played/plays NS. I never heard who it was or if they still played, I could even just be remembering wrong, but that would be pretty cool if it was true.
Hockeynutville: Do you think that one day you'll decide to divulge any personal information to the people in the Islands?
Grub: I was born in Gainesville, Florida
And my father was a tailor
And my mother ran a cafe near the university
I've a brother died aborning
And another who's a sailor
I've a sister who is older, and living on her own
or maybe not.
Hockeynutville: Do you have any plans on retiring from Nationstates or the Islands? Or do you plan on going down with the sinking ship one day?
Grub: With retirement, while probably not as young as most here, I am still pretty young and intend to stick around for the duration. The 10000 Islands will continue to be a thorn in the side of invaders for many years to come.
Hockeynutville: Should there ever come a day when NS gets shut down permanently for whatever reason, do you think the 10KI will survive on as a community? Do you think should we lose NS as our common medium that the community will switch to some other website of similarity?
Grub: If NS ever closes, I guess the forum would stay here, but I suspect activity would slow down dramatically. If that were to ever happen, we would have to discuss our options at that point. For now, I am glad NS is around because the 10000 Islands is a pretty cool region & place to be.
Hockeynutville: Well Grub, I thank you once more and appreciate the opportunity to interview you. I think the people of the Islands will be just as interested to read this interview as I was
I am starting a new series called "Eyes on the Islands". It will be a series of interviews that will involve all the citizens of the 10ki and hopefully some of the Ambassadors that frequent us from foreign regions. The Goal will be to shed some light on a more personal level on the people around the Islands.
To start things off, I decided that our first interview should be with the head honcho, the big cheese, El Presidente, our Founder, Grub!
Hockeynutville: Hello, and welcome to a new feature here in the 10000 Islands called, “Eyes on the Islands”. It involves interviewing members of the 10000 Islands populace and perhaps in later installments, nations from foreign regions. I am very pleased to announce that my first guest will be a very familiar face to everyone who has touched base with the Islands. He is our regional Founder, our Commander in Chief of TITO and one of the most outspoken crusaders against “Invaders”. Grub, thank you very much for taking the time to conduct this interview.
Grub: Thanks for selecting me as the first interview in the Eyes of the Islands series. I look forward to the other interviews you'll have with other Islanders in the future as well.
Hockeynutville: So perhaps we could begin with a little background history of you and Nationstates. How did you discover the game and become involved in the ever expansive Nationstates community?
Grub: Ok. NS started in August, 2002. In January of 2003, one of my favorite websites, Fark.com, had a link to NS. I checked it out and started Grub. Ironically, many who came from Fark became invaders and had a pretty big impact on the bad end of things in the early NationStates days. I never moved there, but I just looked and saw that the region of Farkistan is still around with 12 nations.
Hockeynutville: I think a question a number of people have had at one time or another is where did that name “Grub” come from?
Grub: The name Grub started with my friends and I want to preface this by saying that I know this is a strange story for the name. At the time, when someone was going to go eat, a few would sometimes say "I'm going to get my grub on." I always thought that phrase was kind of weird and then, for some unknown reason, I thought of someone having a 20 pound real life grub that would stick on a person's back until they ate. Seriously, I thought it was pretty funny at the time and when I picked a NS name, the name
Grub came to mind. When I signed up for NS, I have no idea I would ever be involved in defending regions, etc.
Hockeynutville: Can you tell us about creating the 10000 Islands and becoming Founder of one of the most prosperous regions in all of Nationstates?
Grub: As for creating the 10000 Islands, I am not actually the one who officially created it. If I did, I would have probably called it the 10,000 Islands, but I like the way it is now. When I started in NS, there were no such things as Founders. Delegates controlled all and invasions were often brutal and reduced regions to nothing in minutes.
After the Empire of Power attack, and once Founders became part of the game, the nations in the region asked that I be named Founder. I have been Founder ever since.
Hockeynutville: How big was the 10000 Islands back during that time?
Grub: When we were attacked by the Empire of Power we were a sleepy little region with 20 or so nations. Once we were attacked everything changed. TITO, who had been around in a role playing form only, became an official defense force and the forum was also created later down the road.
As a side note, nations in the 10000 Islands used to attack each other when it appeared a nation was going to CTE naturally. When a nation was inactive, someone would declare war on them and over a day or two talk about the battles on the RMB until the nation CTE and victory was declared.
Hockeynutville: It’s almost kind of silly to think about the 10000 Islands today starting out from a tiny community of 20 or so nations. What do you think of the current population explosion?
Grub: Even though we are quite large right now, we have been big in the past when NS had well over 100,000 nations. I think we are around 55,000 currently. When we were building up our numbers initially, our goal was to be around 250 nations. Later, we tried to get to 1000 nations, but I think the closest we got to was in the mid-high 600s.
Hockeynutville: After the first big population explosion in the 10KI there was a subsequent depression in which our population dropped into the mid-low 200's. As we see now the Islands has gone through it's second "golden age". Did you however think that the Islands would recover from it's drop in population or regain it's same notoriety or were you seriously worried that the Islands would eventually fizzle out?
Grub: We can't always expect to be as high in population as we are now. Mass CTE always happen and our population is bound to level out at some point. One great thing that we have right now is a good base of nations who are dedicated recruiters. As long as things continue to be the way they are now, our population could actually climb higher than it is presently.
Hockeynutville: Are there any particular Islanders from the years past that you miss or wish were still around?
Grub: There are too many Islanders to name that I wish were still around. New Boniventure, Yavanna, Boolari, Sinn Feins Ireland, Sheynat, TheSensitiveNewAge, Himes, Otupia, etc, etc.
Hockeynutville: Can you tell us what it’s like being the Founder of the 10000 Islands? There must be a certain kind of pride from watching the 10000 Islands blossom into such a vibrant and multi-cultural community.
Grub: I think it's pretty neat being the Founder of XKI. It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve in my role while watching the 10000 Islands blossom and help foster good in NS. Despite what our detractors say, we have helped many, many regions and all TITO members should always remember that we have done a lot of good in NS. On the battlefield, we have defeated many attacks and behind the scenes we have stopped many invasions from happening as well.
Hockeynutville: I can very well imagine that being so involved in 10KI and NS matters that it can get stressful and bothersome fast. Have you ever felt burnt out and tired of the Islands before even if it was for a brief time?
Grub: Sometimes when I have about 100 different battle stars to add at one time, that can be stressful.
Hockeynutville: Sort of a follow to the previous question, with many of things you're responsible for here in the Islands, has it ever interfered or impacted your life outside of NS?
Grub: No, NS is fun.
Hockeynutville: For some of the older nations here, it has been well documented the personal attacks “Invaders" have made on you. How do you deal with the telegrams and messages on RMB’s?
Grub: With attacks from invaders, it is par for the course. I have had some pretty nasty attacks sent my way over the years including once being deleted by the Mods because some invaders lied. I was quickly reinstated, but it was quite shocking to one day open up NS and see that you main nation no longer exists. We always need to stand up to the bullies of this game. Invaders in this game get their pleasure by attacking others to make themselves feel powerful. Here in NS, and in real life, bullies don't like it when you stand up to them.
Hockeynutville: What do you think about the World Assembly aspect of NS?
Grub: In the past, I usually haven't spent a lot of time with the WA aspects of NS. The best part of the WA remains the endorsements.
Hockeynutville: Have you ever gotten to know anyone from Nationstates outside of the game or the 10000 Islands’ forum?
Grub: With getting to know NS people, I have known many, but have never met any of them face to face. I tend to keep a low profile here about my RL, but it would be funny if I ever met anyone from XKI in RL.
Hockeynutville: You don't have to name names, but do you know anyone else personally who plays NS?
Grub: When I first started playing, before the 10000 Islands, I got a bunch of my friends to play. They didn't stick around NS for all that long. Right now I don't know anyone who still has an active nation in the game. On another note, I thought I remember hearing about an unnamed celebrity who played/plays NS. I never heard who it was or if they still played, I could even just be remembering wrong, but that would be pretty cool if it was true.
Hockeynutville: Do you think that one day you'll decide to divulge any personal information to the people in the Islands?
Grub: I was born in Gainesville, Florida
And my father was a tailor
And my mother ran a cafe near the university
I've a brother died aborning
And another who's a sailor
I've a sister who is older, and living on her own
or maybe not.
Hockeynutville: Do you have any plans on retiring from Nationstates or the Islands? Or do you plan on going down with the sinking ship one day?
Grub: With retirement, while probably not as young as most here, I am still pretty young and intend to stick around for the duration. The 10000 Islands will continue to be a thorn in the side of invaders for many years to come.
Hockeynutville: Should there ever come a day when NS gets shut down permanently for whatever reason, do you think the 10KI will survive on as a community? Do you think should we lose NS as our common medium that the community will switch to some other website of similarity?
Grub: If NS ever closes, I guess the forum would stay here, but I suspect activity would slow down dramatically. If that were to ever happen, we would have to discuss our options at that point. For now, I am glad NS is around because the 10000 Islands is a pretty cool region & place to be.
Hockeynutville: Well Grub, I thank you once more and appreciate the opportunity to interview you. I think the people of the Islands will be just as interested to read this interview as I was
37th Knight of TITO
X 5 
X 200+
