[Interview] Amazing people: Gnilraps, Taulen, Colin Lantrip & Clopoyaur

Day 3,647, 03:21 Published in Romania Romania by PRINTSY

It’s not going to be a short article. Take your favorite drink next to you and get ready to read them: we have Clopoyaur, Gnilraps, Taulen, Colin Lantrip here. All I can tell you is… enjoy!

CLOPOYAUR

I imagine quite a number of interviews had already been done with you, so I will not ask you about how you started the game, when did you begin streaming about eRepublik and so on.
Almost three weeks ago Gnilraps, Colin Lantrip, Taulen and the Clopo Crew discombobulated you (Gnilraps, I just love this word!) with lots of donations sent during the stream that had become the most epic one from your life as a streamer (for those who didn't see it, you can read about it here and here). Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about that.



You looked extremely surprised when you received all the packs and stashes from Gnilraps. How often does it happen to receive packs in the game for you personally, and not for the giveaways?

This doesn’t happen very often; as a matter of fact I think it only happened like 2 times in the past. Usually generous people donate packs for the giveaways. My viewers know that I buy my packs when needed and when I feel the game might be interesting. Aside for Power Pack and Blitzkrieg Pack I don’t buy other packs because I don’t need them. However, I always love when people leave the stream happy after they won Packs in the giveaway. Their happiness at the end of the stream makes every effort worthwhile. Also, people donate cc, weapons or food, because they know that everything I receive goes back to viewers as giveaways.

Your expression? Overwhelmed and stunned after the first 500 euros from donations had been gathered. Then you reached 1000 euros despite the fact that you were constantly asking people to stop. In the last 30 minutes of the 5 hour show, another 1100 euros were donated, and this left you speechless. Now, that you have had the time to recover from this experience, how do you feel about what happened that evening two weeks ago?

I am still amazed something like that happened to me. Literally this is the dream of every streamer. You stream, you work, you innovate, you make interesting things, hoping that one day all your efforts will be rewarded in a fantastic manner. You stream and prepare every day for the moment when that fantastic thing happens. For me, it happened with this river of donations that amazed me from the very first money donated. And every single donation astonished me and made me more and more thankful to all the people gathered in my community to achieve this goal they set for themselves. They wanted to totally amaze me… and they succeeded. I can only promise them that whenever I will stream I will always try to bring them funny moments, joy, entertainment and good feelings. Cause for sure, I always feel this way when streaming.

Would you have liked to have said something different during the stream while receiving all those money and packs?

I am always spontaneous, I never have a detailed plan when I start a stream and I always go with the flow. I would have not done anything different, cause what you see on the stream is me, my real exuberance, my real joy, my real craziness. OK, I don’t shout that loud in real life, but everything else is real. So, what you people saw there were my real emotions. I don’t have a very stable schedule because I stream when I can and when I feel like, when I feel good and I have something for the viewers to offer. I cannot stream sad or not in the mood. Streaming for me is sharing my joy and happiness, putting a smile on every viewer’s face, touching a bit the sensitive part from time to time. But in the end, as long as everyone goes happy to sleep after watching my streams, my efforts are not in vain.

I’ve started watching your show at the beginning of this year only. One of my first articles published in eMedia (even Plato endorsed it) was about your 24 hour streaming of eRepublik when you reached 1500 followers. That was crazy as well, although it was different. It was your gift to the community, to Clopo Crew and anybody who was playing eRepublik. This time it happened the other way around. How would your top 3 of epic streams look like?

For me every stream is special, because I never start a stream with the idea of just making a stream for the sake of it. Every single stream is special in it’s own way because magic things happen all out nothing, Pyramids, games, packs, giveaways, epic moments, speeches, music, and so on.

Keeping the proportions, I always feel like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCbp-e7e100&feature=youtu.be&t=34m45s (till 37:00)
For me and my fans, streaming is a way of sharing a fantasy!

Do you remember the stream when I was live 24 hours? Or when Myaura has bitten me? Or that interview with Zdlemmy? Or when I got tricked by viewers gifs? Or when the Guerrilla competition ended up in a draw? Or when I told the carrot story? Or when we raided that guy with stickers on the forehead? Or when we had our first 1 million Pyramid? Or when I died in experiment? Or when I switched to Beam/Mixer? Or when I got crazy donations/subscriptions? Or when I gathered money for the video card with your help? Or when the Hearthstone final was epic? Or… shall I continue? I cannot make a top 3, every single stream is special to me, here is the old small collection of magic moments on Twitch… and in the last 18 months I was on Mixer.
However, there is one constant that is always epic in every stream: you, the viewers, the almighty Clopo Crew. That is what makes everything epic.

You said you’ve started to play a lot this new game that is in beta mode called Real Life lately. What are the things that you like to do when you are not streaming? People might be wondering or, better said, the ladies that watch your show might be curious, do you have a partner in crime? How was your summer? Winter is coming. Are you prepared for it? 🙂

Yes, I’ve always played this game called Real Life with full passion, just that sometimes things are not going as planned. Differently from a game, in Real Life you rarely have multiple lives (tries) and, if it happens, death (failure) is permanent. It’s pretty hardcore mode and there is no “easy” difficulty. But as long as I am breathing, I will always try to play this game to the fullest. What I do when I’m not streaming? Going to work, sleeping, cooking (it relaxes me a lot), watching games (football, basketball – NBA - , eSports), running, traveling and… last but definitely not least having a social/private life (yeah, that means a Lady also).

People were always curious about my private life, but I always kept that pretty secret as I don’t think it’s Ok to mix Real Life with streaming, reality with virtual. What happens on the stream, stays on the stream and vice versa. 🙂 Yes, there is someone special in my life, and I am very happy about that.

Contrary to what happened in the last years, I had a pretty “busy” summer this year, with 2 holidays and going to the beach (which is like 250 km away from where I live) pretty much almost every weekend. And not alone, of course. 🙂

Winter is coming, though you can never be properly prepared for a winter (never saw a single episode from Game of Thrones). However, every second that I have on this earth is precious, so I will live every moment to the best. Will I be happy, will I be rich? Que será, sera…

Tell us a few words about your dream to visit America.

I am from Romania and as a child I saw so many American movies and so many references about USA. It just came naturally when I grew up to start having this dream of visiting the American continent. While it was latent, when I switched from Twitch to Mixer, in that night with over 300+ viewers, when even the Mixer CEO, Matt Salsamendi appeared on the stream, I made a promise (a bit as a joke) that I will visit their Headquarters in Seattle. I want to see New York and Statue of Liberty, I want to see Los Angeles and Hollywood, I want to see Seattle, I want to see an NBA game and now… I also have a few people to visit, Gnilraps in particular. 🙂

I am a dreamer, I always believed that dreams can become reality if you wish really, really hard and passionately. I never thought that something like this, me visiting America, would be possible, but… now, thanks to these amazing people called Clopo Crew, this dream is getting closer and closer.

Would you like to add anything else or transmit a message to Clopo Crew?

Yes. I am really proud of all the members of the ClopoCrew and of the fact that even if the base is a war game (eRepublik) founded on hate, Hungarians and Romanians, Croats and Serbs, Greeks and Macedonians, Argies and English, they are all getting along, because, in the end, they realized that we are all humans enjoying games and looking for entertaining moments. Gathering so many fantastic people around my stream is an honor and makes me try every single day to improve myself. I feel incredible to be watched by such amazing people. Thank you all again! To each and every single one of you!



Thank you Gnilraps, Taulen and Colin Lantrip for agreeing to participate in this interview. I appreciate it a lot.

GNILRAPS

You spent a lot of money to gift all those packs and stashes to Clopo. Why did you do it?

I did it for the same reasons we spend money on anything. Clopoyaur provides a worthwhile entertainment product which I happen to think is top notch an deserving of my support. We exchange money for the things we value. I gave Clopoyaur a big gift because he has been giving our community a big gift all the time.
Your first donation was of 100 euros if I remember correctly. Was it as a response to Korosh_I challenge that you wouldn’t donate real money or you had a different reason?

No, first I donated each of the packs and stashes. Then my plan was to donate each gold pack starting with the smallest to the largest. Then Clopoyaur said something like, "Stop giving me gold ingame. If you want to give something, give euros." I think this was before he was fully discombobulated. So I heard what he said and I responded by giving euros. Then I tried to get other people involved in giving too.

You wanted to discombobulate Clopo (most of us heard this word for the first time from you). When you’ve made your first donation, did you anticipate that you would be making so many more donations that evening? What motivated you to donate more than 1000 euros?

At first I thought we might stop things at 1K euro total. When that came easily, I thought, "what the heck, let's see if we can push it to 2K." I also heard Clopoyaur say something about his work income and how many euros he makes per month. I thought, "here is a guy who works hard and doesn't make a lot of money, tonight's gifts can really make an epic moment for him." These were my thoughts.

Would you ever repeat this experience?

I have had fun doing other real-life gifts. A few times I have sent booze to friends in the eUSA Government. So I guess it's possible that something crazy will come up again. I suppose the possibility will exist as long as I am hanging around.

Would you like to transmit a message to Clopo or add anything else?

I'm old enough in real life (50) to have a good perspective on how the world is changing with the rapid increase in digital communication and impersonal social networks. I see that there is a great psychological cost as fewer and fewer people have genuine experiences of loving friendships in a physically present way. When guys like Clopoyaur come along who have figured out how to express a kind of love and community that exerts a positive force in the lives of the people he touches, we ought to pay attention and do what we can to emulate their example. Digital relationships are no replacement for living-breathing friends, but I want to thank Clopoyaur for offering a paradigm for internet-based friendship.

I hope to count him as a life-long friend outside the game.


TAULEN

When did you start watching Clopo’s stream?

Before I joined on mixer that evening, it had been years(?) since the last time, I had never even heard about mixer, and the last time I watched Clopo stream was when he was broadcasting via Twitch … So I haven’t been a loyal viewer, or part of the “Clopo Crew”, sorry to say.

Usually people follow the stream first, then subscribe, and maybe afterwards send a donation. You did it the other way around. You even donated anonymously. Why in this order?

To be honest, I have no good answer for that, as I said I had never been on mixer before, so I didn’t know all the options I had available. I saw Gnilraps had donated, so I wanted to do that as well, and after a few minutes, I saw the subscribe and follow buttons, so it was random that I subbed before followed.
I don’t think the first donation was anonymously, but I did donate a few times without writing the name, that’s just because I forgot 😛

You donated more than 200 euro to Clopo that evening. Why did you do it?

The main reason was that I have seen so many shouts throughout the years about Clopo, and his streams, pyramids and giveaways, that I just knew that he really deserved it, before the first donation, I had no idea how much he usually received, and just saw the donation Gnilraps had made, so I wanted to match that, after which it just started rolling, I’m so glad people donated, and I know Clopo really deserved it, as well as all that will come in the future.
I have been luck on cryptocurrencies lately, so I have some spare spending money, and I’m not afraid to give to people, and or causes that deserves it!

Would you ever repeat this experience?

Actually, absolutely, and just a few nights ago I donated about 200 euros once again to Clopo during the stream, it was once again a great and epic night !

Would you like to transmit a message to Clopo or add anything else?

Clopo, please know that you really deserve all you are given, and people will not give money they can’t afford, or feel they can donate to a good cause, which you truly are!

Clopo Crew is a great gathering of people, a fantastic community, that you can take all the credit for! Thank you for all you do to make eRep a little bit better place to be!

Thank you, also thanks to Printsy for taking the time to make this and former interviews and articles, you are doing a great job!

(Thank you, Taulen 🙂 )


COLIN LANTRIP

When did you start watching ClopoyaurTV and why do you keep coming to Clopo’s streams?

Idk.. been a few years I guess, it's usually entertaining. The real game is social and that's the best "social" on an international level we have left.

You donated more than 450 euro to Clopo that evening. What convinced you to do it? ?

My first donation helped secure the 1000e goal, my second helped secure another 500e from gnil to put it at 2k. There is no why really.. I think it's just as crazy as anybody that will read this.

How did you find Clopo’s reaction to your 389 euro donation? Would love to read a few words about it. 🙂

I enjoyed it, was fun to see him excited. He puts a lot of time in there entertaining us all. I know he enjoys it, but it's still a service.

Had you donated to Clopo's stream in the past, would you ever repeat this experience?

Not in that way, no. I have at times helped with pyramids, etc.

Would you like to transmit a message to Clopo or add anything else?

Keep up the good work! We all love and appreciate what you do and how you bring us together. Except that hearthstone shit... what is that? 🙂
Thanks for everything Clopo!



That was it, I hope you enjoyed it. It is truly inspiring to see people willing to bring happiness to other people: may that be by making the effort and creating entertaining moments for a community or by having the generosity to share from what they have with others, making them feel appreciated, changing their day completely for the best.

And I'll say it again: thank you all for taking the time to do this interview, I really appreciate it.