I guess everyone has come over to read it that will, so here it is for prosperity on your site.
Hello Eagle, what other names have you been known by in the Freelancer Community?Always used the name Eagle online, as its actually a direct translation of my real name. In Freelancer I always go by [EFS]Eagle_General as I'm also founder and leader of that clan.
What part of the world do you live in?The Netherlands
How old are you?33 years young
How many years have you played Freelancer?Well over 5 years now, started playing early 2003 when a friend showed me the game and I've never stopped.
Have you released or helped to build a mod? Please describe it.I'm author of the Eagle Utopia mod which is for use on my own server (Eagle Utopia) only, its fully compatible to vanilla (unmodded) freelancer.
Have you written a tutorial? Please tell us about it.I've written quite a bit over the years, mostly fragmented stuff though, and on several fora. Most I've written on my own forum though in the admin area of FLAC (Freelancer Anti Cheat) a tool I've created to serve as server operator.
Have you created any tools for the community to use? What does it do?Well as mentioned on previous, that would be FLAC. I started with that back when IONCROSS server operator didn't even exist in order to start my own server and keep it running properly. I had played for several months on another server prior to that but got annoyed by the fact that it would sometimes take 2 days after it had crashed before you could play again. Most other servers in that time suffered the same problem and I took it upon myself to provide a server which would be available 24/7. Freelancer Anti Cheat was created for that purpose primarilly and to also be able to combat cheats which were common in those days. After about 6 months I decided to ask around if anyone would be interrested in this tool, and when requests came in I started working on a version which could run on both modded and unmodded servers. To date, FLAC has proven very effective to combat cheats and do so fully server side on a wide range of servers. Next to anti cheat, FLAC also offers many new features to enhance the game which modders can take full advantage of. Ofcourse I've made sure that these added features are well guarded and cannot be used to cheat with or be exploited in any way.
Have you ever been an Admin of a mod community or website?I've been the main admin of my own server for over 5 years now, I've joined quite a bit of well known freelancer fora and have admin access there where I try to help others and share what I've learned.
Okay, let's get to the meat and potatoes! How and when did you first get involved in the wonderful game of Freelancer?As stated earlier, a good friend of mine showed me the game and got me hooked. After finished the SP campain I decided to give MP a try and got some friends to join as well as Cheetah, my partner and mother of my 2 lovely kids, and together we played sometimes all through the night untill we could hardly keep our eyes open. It was that much fun to play and I still enjoy it to date.
What aspects of Freelancer are you most interested in?Hmm... I can't really pick any particular area, I like the gaming side of it... pvp, trading, pirating, doing group missions, online tournaments, races... its all equally enjoyable, same goes for the development side of things... I like creating new features to enhance the game both through modding and by extending FLAC. It probably wouldn't come as a surprise if I told you that almost all my free time goes into Freelancer one way or the other.
What groups / clans have you been affiliated with?The Eagle Fighter Squadron only, I started that clan when I started my own server and I'm still running the show. Because I'm involved in so many aspects of Freelancer, I've never found the time to play other servers in the past 5 years so EFS has always operated soley on Eagle Utopia.
List your accomplishments and projects you have participated in.I'd like to think that I've made Freelancer a safer game to play, many servers used to get bombarded by cheaters who would not only cheat themselves but abuse that to ruin other players fun. Some would go and crash servers, others would get cloaking devices and start shooting up new comers to the server. Then there were those trying to be funny by using sniper mods whilst glitching inside a base taking out undocking newbies. Ofcourse plenty of attempts to spawn thousands of units of cardamine in a highly populated player area causing admins headaches and many more ways in which MP was made unplayable to those just wanting to have fun playing the game as intended.
List any awards, offices or positions you have held.In addition to what I've allready mentioned, I've also been part of Earendil's admin forum way back when and later joined Haven Admins as one of the moderators there.
How has the Freelancer scene changed since you started playing?I've always had a very friendly community on Eagle Utopia, but I had alot more abuse going on when I started the server. I'm not referring to modding or other cheats here but things like dock raping and verbal abuse. These days players are more mature and won't snap at eachother over nothing, ofcourse there are still exceptions but they've become rare fortunatelly.
Are you currently active on any servers?Still very active on Eagle Utopia, if I'm not busy working on FLAC or modding stuff you can often find my playing there.
What mod really stands out in your mind?You'd think that with the amount of development I do, I'd check out other mods but I haven't. I've always played vanilla servers prior to launching my own and once Eagle Utopia was alive and kicking, I never got round to playing other servers anymore.
What do you find most interesting about Freelancer...the single player aspect, clan wars, being a pirate, a cop, vanilla servers, hugely modded, Star wars, what?I'll refrain from repeating myself here, probably hard enough for readers to have gotten this far allready ^^
What will be your role in Freelancer in the coming years?Providing continuous support to the community, development and FLAC wise and ofcourse as server operator/admin of Eagle Utopia.
Describe in detail any memorable Freelancer experiences.My first time getting taxed, I was still a newbie and managed to save up for an Eagle and headed to Omicron Gamma. There I came accross 2 pirates who taxed me... I was not familliar with the concept at the time so I asked and then decided to take my chances. Zero experience in pvp at that time so I lost miserably and paid up. I however did not intend to leave the area and asked if I could fight these pirates some more and quite a few duels followed. It was an enjoyable and educational experience, unfortunatelly I completely forgot the names of the pirates and the server I frequented back then... oh well
Why do you spend countless hours building mods, making tools, answering questions or writing tutorials?Maybe my mom dropped me on the head when I was younger... been meaning to ask her about that but I'm just too busy with FL right now.
What other games do you regularly play?Been a while again that I played something else, I've took a short break from FL once I got Zelda Twilight Princess for the Wii... wonderfull game. Play many other games but never last more than a few hours before I'm off to FL again.
Do you have any hobbies other than games?Software development, I've made that my profession so I get to practice my hobby alot ^^
Is there anything new coming up in the future for you?Certainly, new versions of FLAC and Eagle Utopia mod are never far away.
How do you view the future of Freelancer?I'm hoping for better times, could use a few more hard core Freelancers on EU
Can you recommend any others in the community for an interview?Yes, a few I can think of right now...
Strail, Robocop, Dragnite, Gibbon, Glock36 (I lost sight of him), Blackbeard, Unicornz, Zeus... I could go on but I'm sure these guys will take care of that
Are there any last things you would like to add?Have fun, life's to short not to
Thank you for the interview! It is the contribution of folks like you that help to keep the game and the community alive!
