Show Media Item - The Complete Interview - NdekThe Complete Interview - Ndek
Here is the complete interview as seen in the Planets Newsletter - Enjoy!
PN: Tell us a little about yourself.
N: I am a social worker in northern Germany, raising a 17 year old son (well, mostly, he is raising himself right now) and live in a blended family with my girlfriend and her two kids. They always recognize me playing planets from the number and speed of mouse clicks I am doing in front of my notebook.
PN: When did you first start playing?
N: I started back in 1993 with the MS-Dos version, had a ten-year break and rediscovered the game around 2010 in the internet.
PN: What's your favorite race and why?
N: I like the Feds and the Borgs. The Feds because the super refit gives me the possibility to build large fleets from the beginning of the game. At the ship limit, I try to have at least 80 warships ready. An early conflict of course alter that tactic, but I try to build at least some nocturnes or nebulas on the way.
The Borgs because of the assimilation and their probes, enabling me to colonize clusters far away and defend them properly later in the game. It is a pest to adjust the taxes until all natives are assimilated, but it’s worth doing.
PN: What do you build on first three turns with them (or your general opening strategy)?
N: Normally, I start with three LDSF to colonize my cluster. Depending of the race, the second ship sometimes is a bio scanner, or a cobol. As a pirate, my first and third ship is a mcbr.
PN: How many games do you play at the same time?
N: Too many. I really don’t want to play more than three games at the same time, but when I find an interesting open slot or feel tempted to try a new race, I have trouble not to join. And there is mostly one private game running with some friends I know personally. So I end up with 6 games, like right now.
PN: What types of games do you like playing most?
N: Standard and classic. I like the campaign features, but I don’t really dare to try them out in a competition. I’ve got the feeling that I start to understand about the game mechanics and tactics of the planet.nu world, and would feel like a noob again in a campaign scenario.
PN: What's your most memorable game, and what made it so interesting?
N: http://planets.nu/#/sector/140879
It was my first team game, and I had a great start with the federation, taking out my neighbor early and build lots and lots of warships. But I totally forgot about diplomacy, presuming in a team game it won’t be that necessary. Until turn 50, victory seemed totally possible. Then my ally dropped, and I found myself facing a united pirate/lizard/crystal/bird alliance. I ended up with one planet at the end of the game. Most fun I had was afterwards, when I was able to read through all the messages between them.
PN: Name a memorable friend and/or a memorable foe, and what made them stand out.
N: I found a lot of memorable players on this side, and its difficult to pick one out. But I will name Coen1970 and Emork for giving me a lot of helpful advises in my games, and Gnerphk for helping me in my first MvM games I played as a tutor.
Hugh42 was a memorable foe in the game I mentioned above, in the way he formed and coordinated the alliance against me.
PN: Give an example of excellent tactics you've used or seen (w/ details so readers can view it, if possible).
N: I am not sure I made it up to excellent tactics so far, but I usually try to get up a second and third starbase very early to produce lots of probes, hiss ships or hulls, depending on the race. I am trying some new tricks playing the birds in one game, but the game is still running, so I can’t tell them here.
PN: What do you think is the most important skill for a Planets player to succeed?
N: Diplomacy. Negotiating with other players, finding allies and isolating enemies is far more important than I first thought. After my promotion to a commander, I started to join games with more experienced players, and was taken aback by the length and numbers of messages I received (and had to answer properly). The most time consuming part of my turns, actually.
PN: Describe the process you use to make a turn.
N: I look at the reports and check through my ships. Then I plan my economy/builds and check through my ships again, marking most of them as ready. Then I go through the rest of the ships once again and wonder what to do with them. Planets are mostly on auto-build, and I use the planetary management plugin.
PN: What is your favorite thing about Panets Nu?
N: The side gives me the opportunity to play as much as I like. It is nicely organized, and has a lot of friendly players behind. And I won’t miss the activity feed with all its serious and less serious posts.
PN: Is there anything else you would like to add?
N: Yep: sorry for my English.
Thank you to Ndek!
You can view Ndek's profile here.