Fireside Interview #14 xat Angelo

To make my first interview, I decided to travel to Texas in the United States. It was a hard trip since it was full of turbulence and air pot-holes, but when I finally arrived, a guy with a really long brown hair was waiting for me at the airport and welcomed me with a big and kind smile. Next day he took me to see a lot of tourist places and it was really amazing since I met places I never thought I’d get to meet! When the day of the interview came, he invited me to his house and I was really surprised because of his beautiful and very well decorated house, he received me with a big cup of coffee, some bread and two comfortable sofas. I looked in his eyes and then I started…

Hello Angelo, thank you for agreeing to be interviewed! Please try to answer these questions as honestly and completely as possible. Let’s start with some private questions.

What is your real name, where are you from, how old are you and what are you studying?

My name is Angelo, and I’ve lived in the USA for all of my life. I’m currently 21 years old, and I’m going to school for computer science.

What words would you chose if you had to define yourself?

Probably mellow, tired, and wisecracker.

When and how did you discover xat?

Late 2009! I remember some super important penguin on Club Penguin was announcing their resignation from YouTube, and they were discussing it on a xat chatroom. I became interested and ended up on a radio chat for a bit. I was only 12 at the time, so they kicked me out for being too young. I migrated to SharkBait66, where I found the first large group of people that I was able to call my friends. After that I settled down at Facebook (a chat Jamesey owned which has since then been merged into Social), and finally the Help chat.

What was your first impression?

I’m not really sure what it is, to be honest. I tend to attach myself to things I like, so I guess that speaks for why I’m still here. I’m grateful for how easy it is to make friends.

What is your global impression of xat now?

It has a lot of room for improvement and a lot of potential that I think should be capitalized on. It’s not what it used to be, but at least it’s still here.

What do you think about the xat community?

There are so many different ways to look at this question. One could split it up and analyze the community between languages, such as English vs. Non-English, or you could split it up via Official and Non-Official. Overall I’d say that it’s great that so many people are here for the same purpose I am; a pasttime where I can chat and make friends.

Who do you trust a lot on xat?

Reiss, Unity, and Sean. The bros!

What is the best year you spent on xat?

This one, probably. I don’t think I’ve quite matured yet fully (studies say males don’t mature until 25!), but this is the first year I’ve been able to kind of hunker down and actually focus on what I want to while I’m on xat. Beforehand I feel I was too sidetracked in defending my pride or caught up in dramatic situations.

Have you ever met someone from xat in real life?

Nah, but I have a list of 5-6 people that I’d love to meet.

How long do you think you will stay on xat?

Until it closes or until something in real life causes me to have to walk away, whichever comes first!

Who is your role model?

I look up to Spell and Muffins a lot. Both were pretty easy to talk to guys that emphasized hard work and getting things down. I’ll also have to say Jesse (infinity) due to how he was able to have fun and joke around but still remain professional.

What is your favourite form of support?

Help chat, for sure. The ticket system functions for bigger issues such as being locked out or having an account hold, but it’s not practical for small questions one may have. The forum is an option, but from the perspective of a helper, it’s difficult to have a fluid convo with someone if you have to continually wait 6 hours for each reply.

Let’s drop it to funnier things and let me ask you the things you like or liked on xat.

What is your favourite power?

Classic, because I really do prefer the old smilies. I don’t use many smiley powers, and I don’t own a chat where I can use my group powers. User powers are fine but nothing special.

What is your favourite chat?

Help (what a nerd).

What is your best memory on xat? When was it?

Probably the first time I ever got member on the Help chat. Sometime earlier in August 2012, Sean gave me a 1 hour tempmod (when he really shouldn’t have lol), and it sparked something in me that made me want to join the chat. I remember going for member with people like Nick, Bromance, SirWhispers, and Caboose. It was just such a fun time, Melo and Sean as owner, Sooky always watching the chat.

Now, let’s come back to serious things, especially on what you do and have done on xat.

What is your main role on xat?

I don’t think I have one. I suppose you could say it’s the main owner of Help, but being a manager of the chat isn’t much different than an owner who is active. You may make tougher decisions and what not, but at the end of the day I still have to help. Tickets are a priority for me, but I don’t let them consume me. I’d hate to become a volunteer who only does tickets and nothing else.

We know you have been a wiki editor since January 3, 2017. Was it a goal for you to become a wiki editor? How did that happen?

It wasn’t a goal for me until Arthur came to me and introduced me to that sort of environment. He quickly made me realize that there were a lot of things that could be changed on the wiki, and I’m grateful he went to me as a partner of sorts. I’d say Arthur really helped me achieve the editor position, and I’m glad he did. Wiki editing may seem boring to some, but it’s actually kind of interesting once you get into a rhythm.

What do you think of the xat wiki?

Activity has died down a little bit in the past months, for sure. While everything is not perfect, it really has improved in the past 3 years. We have to thank those who have made extreme contributions to the wiki, such as Andre, Jedi, and Daniel. They’re some of the ones that really help things flow smoothly! I hope xat users are able to get the information they need from it!

We also know you have been part of the Contributors group for a long time. When did you become Contributor? Was it a goal for you to become a Contributor?

I became a contributor shortly after I became a wiki editor. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of forums, but I had never been outgoing enough to become active on one. I decided around November or December to start helping out around General Support, as well as voicing my opinions where I could. A few months later, I was added into the group!

What are your opinions on the Contributors group?

It’s… messy. Improvements can be made in several aspects. That’s all I’ll say!

We remember the day when you became a forum moderator. Was it a goal for you to become a forum moderator? How did that happen?

Yes, actually. I had started to become friends with muffins, who unofficially was the volunteer responsible for making sure the General Support of the forum was clean. Meanwhile, Brandon was becoming preoccupied with finishing his education, and it was clear that they kind of needed some help. I sought out to be really active and to ensure things could flow a little bit more smoothly. Crow really supported me and gave me a lot of tips too, which was nice of him. Overall, I’d say forum moderator is the position I’m proud of the most.

Is it too hard to keep the forum in order?

It could be easier. Every volunteer is given moderator permissions, but not many use them. It’s gotten down to 3-4 users who actively watch and moderate, alongside our trusty moderator, LaFleur. Having a dozen subforums, plus General Support, plus the bug tracker becomes a bit much sometimes. I wish that other volunteers would spend some time on the fourm, but I know they may be busy with other aspects of xat, which is fine. Most of the time we can manage, but remember, we’re not perfect!

You became a Volunteer not so long ago. What do you think led up to that? Was there anyone influential that you think helped you reach that point?

My mindset has always been that if I want to help, I should just help out where needed. I enjoy wiki editing, I enjoy helping on chats, and I enjoy moderating the forum. I think these things helped me establish a record for myself, over time. As for people who I could thank for their influence… the list would be extremely long. But here’s a few!: Sean, Unity, Muffins, Andre, Arthur, Sydno, and Echo.

Did becoming a Volunteer change your chatting experience on xat?

A little bit. I get a lot more PCs now, which is fine. But overall, a big goal for me is to not become a volunteer who keeps nopc/nopm on 24/7, and doesn’t talk. I want to remain fun and just chat with my friends. After all, I am the same dude as I was before I got volunteer!

We know you were part of Help for a long time before becoming main owner. We would like to know more about your career on Help. When and how you became a Help moderator?

Well, I explained a little bit of this earlier, but I’ll go into more detail. It’s been a wild ride, honestly. The number of times Spell demoted me is incredible. I had my ups and downs, but I’ve always enjoyed spending my time on the Help chat. I was made member on September 9th 2012, and moderated on November 11th 2012. Since then I’ve been member and moderator countless times, owner twice, and as of recently, main owner! It’s been a wild ride, man.

Tell us about your experience as the main owner of Help.

It’s busy, to be honest. There are so many things that Muffins did that I didn’t even think about. But overall, I really love the position, since I love the chat so much. I wouldn’t want to be the manager of any other chat!

We have come to the end of this interview. Do you have any special message to end this interview?

Yeah, bring back xat5 monthly mains. Bring back the old inlove smiley (I got you, Steven). Oh yeah, Know Pain.