About the Interviewee: The Disco Vigilante's have made quite a splash with the I'76 community.
Relying on a care free attitude to set them apart from the rest, the DV's have had a enjoyable
time with [DV] Vigilante as their leader. In this interview by Funkmaster, Vigilante talks about I'76,
Fosters, hacking, and cheese.
SSS: When and how did you start playing I'76?
Vig: When and how? Hmmm okay when...beginning of April...how? By accident hehehe I was actually
looking for another game which wasn't in stock...so I got this just out of .... I dunno...
chance :) Got home..loaded it...joined the net straight away..I play online..stuff single player
heh. 1st day on I was recuruited into IP. And mainly played in gang games till that went bust..
SSS: IP?
Vig: Interstate Patrol A few DV members come from that...Placenta, Massacre, John Shaft,
Mutilator, Enforcer...
SSS: DV is one of the original anti-hack gangs. How did it get started and why was it anti-hack?
Vig: Well actually we were not anti hack to start with...John Shaft, Placenta and I
decided to start our own gang after IP fell apart. We wanted to stay small, no rules
(except no hacks..) and just play when we see each other...very loose in otherwords..
Placenta was the one who came up with the name Disco Vigilantes hehe. The anti hack part
came later...basically they just kept landing on us...and we figured out that fire killed
them...then it was just for the fun of it :) 99% of hackers have no idea how to play this
game. It was easy it was fun, we enjoyed it...I think I was the most anti hack out of the
lot...killed 138 till fireproof came out..then there was no point.
SSS: So the anti hack was mostly just for fun.
Vig: Well....that's how it started...but we also realised how much of a problem it was
becoming...at this time we were hitting the community pretty hard too...and found a forum
to protest and fight against hacks other than being on the roads...I hope that in doing that
we deterred people from hacking...or at least made em realise that hacking is not the answer..
SSS: DV has always remained fairly neutral in the whole association thing... Why has it chosen
to stay out?
Vig: Well...again it goes to the ideal we had when we started...we just wanted to have fun,
we didn't want "meetings" or "organised fights" as a lot of gangs seem to have...that causes
in house fighting which is what ruined the original gang we were in. Basically each and every
member can do what they feel like...join AVA, DMV, neither, play cheesy, drive a strider...
anything they like. It makes it much more fun for each member to be unrestricted in how they
play.
SSS: Yet despite it's loose orginization, DV is one of the most respected gangs around. Why?
Vig: Hmmm tough one....I think the main reason would be...we don't piss anyone off :) Heheh I
have always made it a policy to be nice to people...although I can't always be heh. And also I
think people find us helpful...if someone is having trouble with something or if I note a
serious flaw in someones style...I'll ask em if I could point out something...and help them.
SSS: Tell me the story about Drug Dealer.
Vig: Ech that had to come up didn't it...ahhh well...DD was THE biggest hacker in the gang...it
was true... he made so many of the hacks that exist today it wasn't funny... I met him in my
"anti hack" days. He actually seemed quite nice, him and Humongous. Finally after MUCH
discussion, I actually got them to "forgo" their hacking ways and they joined DV...now
throughout all this DD had claimed he had made the cars for I76...and I "being the nice
guy I am:)" chose to believe him. Turned out he lied... and he lied big time to me... when
the whole crapola hit the fan on the CMB he assured me he was telling the truth and I
defended him as friends do... then Activision themselves came out and said he was lying...
well that took the cake for me... betrayed by one I counted a close friend... ahh well that's
all I want to say...
SSS: Allright, on a lighter note, the DV message board is among the most popular on the
internet... How many posts does it get on a gived day, would you estimate?
Vig: I have no idea how many posts a day...but I can tell you that I clean "remove posts"
from the board about every 1000 posts...and I've done that 6 times now!!! That's a lot of
posts! I think the main reason people like it...we have soooo much fun on it!! hehehe It is
probably one of the most zaniest places you can visit in I76...there are a lot of locals who
post often and there are people who drop in...all adding to the mix that makes it work...
mostly it's actually on topic too hehe And it's a cool place for people to get/give help,
promote somthing etc...the 2nd most popular page on the DV site is the DV news... with the
board being the most.
SSS: So, like everything else in DV, its all about having fun?
Vig: Definetly! As our slogan says..."Have fun or die trying!" We all buy these games to enjoy
them...we just enjoy them better than most :)
SSS: How would you describe your style of play?
Vig: Well it's changed a lot since I first started...Originally I drove the "manta missile
boat" and I was damm good at it. That was basically, shoot/kill...then I changed to the
Bushmaster, 3 aims, fluro...that was more a drive to survive car as it has low armour, but
it still packed a punch and I got a rep of being cheesy very quickly :) I also used that
car as my "whacker" 3 flamers to burn hacks. Bout this time I was getting into the Community
thing...noticed that my rep was of being "cheesy" so I decided to change... ended up at the
strider. This is such a great car to drive. 1 on 1 it's bad...but in multimelee, you can
drive the wheels off it, get kills and live. I never drive a straight line now... always
turning, always spinning...helps to avoid aims and the like...my 7.62mm turrent is almost
constantly on...lots of ammo, the fire gets them red...and then I have the .45... It's a
very "active" way to fight. I can change between f1, f2 and f3 views 4 times in a second
thanks to my controller..and I do it...lots!! I am constantly aware of what is happening
around me...oh and I like to stay quiet...v6 (ed note: inline 6), engine off/on lots..sneak up on them,
otherwise I get hammered. Basically to sum up my style...like a bee...damm hard to hit
and always stining you.
SSS: What kind of changes to you think need to be made in future versions of I76?
Vig: Well I know for fact that lots of things I'd like to see are coming, like improved internet
code, the ability to limit what weapons will be in a game (so you can have non-cheesy fights :).
One thing I have heard that disturbs me tho is I hear some cars have duel rear mounts.... now in
AVA fights, the rear mortar is almost standard...but two is just going to be hell... I think the
rules are going to change there... That's something I'd like NOT to see personally.... Also
anti-hack code is supposed to be implemented which will be fantastic and hopefully hack proof
this time... That and of course new cars are what I'd love to see. Green would be good!!! Hehe
SSS: There has been a lot of talk lately about how online I'76 has "died". What do you think?
Vig: Well I'd say it has definetly slowed down...and Quake2 hasn't helped. But the way I see
it... you can't do something non stop for months... even I need a break every now and then cause
I get I76 burned out...just took the last two weeks off...But I always come back where as some
don't...and as a result you lose people you know....but there are people playing this game we
don't know...the number of games on I76net hasn't diminished in the least. People move on,
people come..it's life. A lot will be back for nitro..and a lot new people will be here too...
that's gonna be busy!! So no...it's not dead..no way :)
SSS: Nitro will certainly breathe some new life into the game... One last question... Do you
guys really drink Foster's?
Vig: LOL I can honestly say it has been 3 months since I had some Foster's Larger... I prefer
Carlton Cold or Hahn Ice myself :) Victoria Bitter of course is drunk by the bucket loads
especially on New Years Eve...and XXXX is swill...only Queenslanders drink that ;)
SSS: I guess one could say... Disco Vigilantes: Australian for an I'76 gang. :)
Vig: Hehe No problem (although we aren't an Aussie gang...just an Aussie leader ;)
