- How long have you been playing?
I first downloaded the game in September 2018. Found it on an ad from a casino game that was failing to hold my interest at the time.
Hero leveling, base building, medieval RPG styling? Okay, yes, I’m in. 
- What’s your current role in your alliance?
Currently the leader of a mid-sized private alliance.
Originally I started off in a training alliance, and that was a lot of fun - mostly good, friendly, helpful people - I highly recommend a good training alliance for any new player. I played with them for about 4 months, eventually getting promoted up to leadership.
Unfortunately, that alliance ended up growing apart due to internal strife and drama… basically differences of opinion; half of the players wanted to be more competitive, the other half wanted something more casual. Personally? I was torn. As much as I loved trying to get the highest titan and war scores, we had other members who missed flags here and there. Half the leadership team wanted to kick them out so that we could replace them with more active players, which was understandable… but I also kind of leaned with the other half who insisted that our members’ real life obligations were more important than alliance objectives.
Ultimately came down to a question of what is more important: real life vs. game success. The debate continued and people started leaving the alliance one after another, usually posting ragequit posts beforehand about how it’s just a game and they were tired of always being told what to do as if it were a job. And I eventually left as well, for the same reasons… though sans ragequit post - I just told the remaining members that I love them and wish them well, but I no longer wanted to be part of a group that puts scores ahead of people.
So I made my own alliance instead where the scores don’t matter and everyone is free to opt in or out of anything at any time at their own leisure. Recruited a few casual family/friends, who then later recruited a few more casual family/friends. All players who play casually, don’t spend much (if anything), don’t take the game too seriously, majority of them don’t even read the forum (lucky for me, because they would probably be embarrassed by my posts). 
While I do occasionally miss the competitiveness of my original alliance, I cannot overemphasize the massive emotional benefits of being in a zero drama atmosphere where everyone gets along and cares about each other without judgment or pressure. Thus I’m usually very hesitant to bring in new people because I really want to preserve that kind of culture. 
- Which hero are you currently levelling and how will you use them?
I just finished Santa Claus. Had no emblems for him though so haven’t tested him yet. I’m currently working on finishing Miki, Malosi, and Boldtusk’s costume (just pulled a Noor so she’s next for red). I already use Miki for titans; I’m curious to see if I can eventually work those three (Santa, Miki and Malosi) into my raid defense team somehow. I’d like to make it to diamond tier one of these days… my vanilla heroes just aren’t good enough. Maybe I can do something useful with those three? Or maybe not. I won’t know for sure until they’re done and I start testing them out. They’re pretty much the best heroes I have right now that aren’t done yet, so it’s not like I had anything better to work on anyway.
- Which is your favourite hero in your roster, and why?
Ahhhh kind of a tough one. I’m tempted to say Miki, because he’s awesome on titans (and I’ve recently started testing him in raids as well… that silence ability, that can be a lifesaver)… but I will also always hold a special place in my heart for Boldtusk. He’s kind of a jack-of-all-trades for me, useful in almost any imaginable situation.
I guess if push came to shove, and I could only keep one of them? I’d have to stick with Boldtusk. Definitely Miki, but my good reliable buddy Tusk has saved my butt more times than I can remember.
Oh, and that fighter revive skill? Not to be underestimated. On several occasions, I’ve seen BT fall in battle, only to come right back to life again in time to heal himself (and the rest of the party). 
- What’s your favourite source for E&P play advice?
The forum itself, obviously.
I know there are other sources out there… occasionally I check the Wiki for very basic advice, or do a Google search if I’m looking for something specific that isn’t worth creating a forum topic for - but there are so many knowledgeable players here on the forum, and they usually have the most up-to-date information compared to most of the outdated stuff you’ll find in a typical browser search.
- Do you have a particular memory of a great victory, a tragic defeat or a moment of madness?
Too many to list them all! I’ll post a few brief highlights though.
RAIDS:
While I generally abhor doing raids, every once in a while I will glance through my watchtower looking for someone to revenge. Most oftentimes when I’m in a foul mood and want to take it out on somebody. 
One day I was in a particularly foul mood, I think because I logged on to see that I had been raided down to some stupidly low cup level that was just completely unacceptable. I decided that I was going to just start revenge raiding everybody who had ever attacked me (or at least those who were still on my list). It must have been one of those “good board days” because I won one after another after another.
Came across a team that was 1000+ TP higher than my own. What the heck are they even doing in my Watchtower? When did they attack me? They must have been cup dropping when they did . Anyway. Whatever. I was still furious and still on the war path. I didn’t care that I stood no chance of winning. Trophy cup difference meant that even if I lost, I’d only lose 1 cup, so who cares? Went for it.
Early yellow heavy starting board allowing for a quick charge on Wu. Followed by a massive tile cascade combo. 2 turns into the fight and I had already wiped out 3/5 of my opponents, and the last remaining two were hanging on for dear life in the corners, their HP levels in the red.
And all of my special skills were now fully charged.
Easiest 59 trophies ever.
WARS:
Oh these have gone all over the place.
First alliance… one of our wars, we were down by about 50 points. Last hour of the war. We had a couple of members with flags left and we were just hoping and praying that they were going to log on to use them. Everyone was like “where is so-and-so??? does anyone have their phone number or email or something??? they need to get here NOW!!!”
One guy shows up when we had about 30 minutes remaining. “Oh, sorry, almost forgot we had a war today. So like um… who should I hit?”
“ANYONE!!!”
Ended up winning that war by about 12 points thanks to a last minute appearance by someone we had almost written off as a no-show.
Opposite situation:
Once lost a war by about 5 points as we waited… and waited… and waited… for player X to come online to use their remaining flags. They never showed 
They did show up about an hour or two after the war had concluded to apologize, some excuse about forgetting which time zone they were in or something… at that point it was too late, we were all disappointed. I had to temper my own frustrations and try to calm down the mob before they burned the poor guy at the stake (even though part of me really wanted to smack him upside the head as well).
Current alliance… many more interesting situations.
Funniest was when we went into a war against an alliance of higher level players, and they had put up a bunch of low level defense teams on purpose… LOL what? I mean, I had reviewed their team before the war, they all had solid raid defense teams (3-4k+)… so to put up a bunch of 2k-ish war defense teams… on purpose … 
I don’t know exactly what they were going for with that, what I do know is that we beat them something like 5000 to 2500 Easiest win ever for us, for sure.
Another war in my current alliance… it was very neck and neck at the end… we were only leading by about 50-100 points or so. 10 minutes left in the war, we thought for sure we had the win, then one of their members with 3 flags left logs in.
“Oh no!” 
It was a fairly high level member. “If this guy’s remaining teams are good enough?” I remember thinking to myself, “we just might be screwed.”
We watched and waited as the player put reservations on one of our teams, then switched to another, then another… the timer slowly ticking down… he finally set his reservation on one team that had enough available points to give them the win. 2 minutes left in the war, and the opponent goes in…
“Oh no… I can’t watch…” 
But we watched anyway. War timer counts down to zero. But opponent is still in battle. Results not concluded yet.
Another 5 minutes go by. Suddenly the opponent’s little beacon light changes from green to red…? But it’s still showing battle in progress. Could it be? Did they get disconnected? Is the war over? Did we win? WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON???
Another 5 minutes go by. Opponent light flicks back to green. Still in battle. Still nothing conclusive.
We’re all sitting there just patiently watching with bated breath, every second feeling like an hour…
Then suddenly… it appeared.
VICTORY
Opponent scored a whopping 0 points on their last failed attempt to make up the difference.
Now I have no idea what happened on their end. Whether they got disconnected, or if they really just weren’t able to take down our defense (it was a pretty nasty defense, and I think it was a Field Aid war, so it’s possible that it was a fair loss)… whatever the case, though? It was friggin exciting. And we celebrated hard that day. 
: 
- Which Season 1 hero would you most recommend to a new player?
#1 Boldtusk. Great healer, sturdy, attack booster. Good for almost any situation the early game will throw at you.
If you’re not able to pull BT? Kiril and Rigard are excellent alternatives as well.
#2 Wu Kong. More of a niche hero, but he can really up your game when it comes to titan scores.
- What can you see out of your window right now?
Out the windows in the front (actually taken outside, but this is the general view):
Blurred out my neighbors’ license plates out of respect for their privacy.
Yes that is a real lake in the middle of the buildings. Even has fish in it. I’ve seen people fishing there. I wouldn’t risk eating anything that lives in there myself, though… 
Lake also serves as a summer home for several families of ducks, Canadian geese, and many thousands of mosquitos. 
Out in back - can’t see from my windows as my apartment is in the front, but this is what’s behind my building:
Beautiful woodland. Very natural, too. Comes complete with deer, squirrels, chipmunks, wild birds, raccoons, rabbits, possums, coyotes, and other assorted critters that occasionally make very disturbing noises in the middle of the night (and will dig through your trash if you’re stupid enough to leave a trash bag on your porch overnight, as some of my neighbors are). 
Also a very bountiful source of poison ivy, snakes, ticks, spiders, and other creepy stuff that you probably don’t really want crawling up your shorts (i.e., not ideal for a pleasant afternoon stroll; stick to the main roads for that).
Really nice to look at, especially on warm summer nights when the fireflies are out; but overall, best viewed from a distance.
- If @petri was coming to dinner, what would you cook?
I have no idea what people eat in Finland.
My girlfriend and I usually take turns cooking… okay, okay. So truthfully she does probably 90% of the cooking. I mainly just cook the meats, because she says I’m good at it.
Most of the time, we eat Mexican-style food. Because that’s her heritage so that’s what she grew up cooking, and I love it. She really is an amazing cook. The ingredients are relatively inexpensive and together we’ve found variations to suit any kind of meal. We’ve come up with dozens of different combinations, everything from breakfast burritos to cheese enchiladas, bean burritos to ground beef tacos, and just about everything in between.
Otherwise, if he wanted something more “American” (as in U.S.A. style) - as long as the weather cooperates, I have a charcoal grill that I occasionally pull out to make good old fashioned burgers and bratwurst (hot dogs work too, but I prefer bratwurst myself).
Or whatever, really. We occasionally whip up some homemade Italian-inspired pasta dishes. And my girlfriend also makes some excellent baked breads, including a chocolate-chocolate chip bread that works well as a dessert (especially with coffee!) 
- If you could make two changes to the game, one realistic and one less so, what would they be?
Woo boy. I guess the main change I would make (probably unrealistically) would be to dramatically increase the summoning odds for epic and legendary heroes. Either that or dramatically decrease the gem costs for each summon.
I know SG needs to make money, and I know that legendary heroes are supposed to be rare, but wow. Still can’t really wrap my head around the whole odds and costs per summons equation. Seems to me like there is a really major disconnect between big spenders and small spenders in this game, and I would like to bridge that gap.
But of course, that’s like asking for world peace or something, so chalk that one up as unrealistic.
As for more realistic suggestions? I dunno… others have suggested a pity timer for summons? Or maybe if the 3* feeder heroes were worth more XP, more along the lines of the trainer heroes. Slightly more unfarmable ascension materials in chest loot? Bring Atlantis coins back to regular loot? Extend the amount of time for events? There are so many seemingly small changes I can think of that I think would make many players happier, I’m just not really sure whether or not they qualify as realistic or ridiculous. Because it all depends on who you ask around here.
- If I gave you $1000 to spend frivolously , what would you buy?
FRIVOLOUSLY??? I don’t like spending money frivolously. If you gave me $1000 with no requirements? I’d use it to pay my bills… whatever was left after, I’d put into savings to pay my next month’s bills.
But okay. With the requirement that I absolutely must spend it frivolously?
Well. First thing that comes to mind is a vacation that I secretly booked behind my girlfriend’s back several years ago. Rented us a private log cabin in the woods.
It had all the basic amenities, electricity and indoor plumbing, etc. Full working kitchen and bathroom, propane grill, private hot tub, lots of open space outside to build a campfire for roasting hot dogs and s’mores. Only downside? No cell phone coverage, no wifi. Only got a few channels on the TV. Nearest “neighbor” was half a mile down the road. Nearest grocery store (Walmart AKA “Wally World”) was at least a 30 minute drive away. The local area roads were gravel, not even paved. Wreaked absolute havoc on my poor little Japanese hatchback. But it didn’t matter. I filled up a cooler and my trunk with everything we needed, including firewood, matches, bottled water, etc. Cards and board games in case we got bored.
Best. Vacation. EVER.
And I’ve been to friggin HAWAII, not to mention dozens of visits to Las Vegas.
I cannot even begin to describe how awesome it was to just leave all of the modern world behind… to grill hot dogs and marshmallows over an open fire, go sit in a hot tub and watch the sun set, then spend the evening playing Monopoly and card games with the love of my life… not another human being in sight. Not a single phone call from work. Was as if the rest of the world didn’t even exist at all. And I can’t remember ever being so happy in all of my life. Just the two of us. Doing whatever we wanted to do, whenever we wanted to do it.
Bonus: no pants required. Seriously. The cabin brochures actually encouraged us to use the hot tub sans clothing. And since there was nobody else around for miles? All we were surrounded by were trees and woodland creatures who were also prancing around in their own birthday suits…
Yes. I think, if I had $1000 to spend frivolously on? I would do that all over again. For twice as long, actually, because that trip only cost me $500.
Downside would be that I guess the rest of my alliance would be on their own when it comes to hitting titans. Sorry guys!
- This is a really strange and challenging time for all of us across the whole player base and all our communities around the world. How has your alliance been supporting each other or those around them?
Oh dang! Last question already. Okay.
My current alliance was originally formed with just close family/friends with the intention of being entirely casual. We have always supported each other and whatever each individual members’ real life obligations entail. Real life first. We’ve had members who had to take breaks for graduation ceremonies, weddings, illness, deaths, births, you name it.
I will never ever kick anyone out of my alliance due to personal issues. They’re free to take all the time that they need, and all of our love and support will be with them throughout their personal struggles, and they always know that they have a seat open when/if they’re ready to return.
Currently? Some of us are out of work because of the virus. Others have been designated as “essential workers” and continue to go out there and do what they have to while the rest of us pray for their health and safety.
Most recently? I just found out that an old friend of a couple of our alliance members just passed away from Coronavirus. 
This is no joke. That’s one point that I think everyone in my alliance takes quite seriously. Wear your masks and socially distance, people! Several of our members, and others that we know, are at high risk. And even those out there who think they aren’t necessarily personally at high risk - you never know. And you never know who around you might be at risk.
Don’t play around with this. It’s something that should be taken seriously by all people, even those who might not think they are particularly susceptible themselves. Because you never know whether it will hit you or not. Or maybe it spares you, but you pass it on to someone else that you care about, and they end up dying. Do you want their blood on your hands? Knowing that you could have possibly saved someone else’s life by doing something as simple as wearing a freaking mask? It’s not too much to ask of anyone, I don’t think. Be responsible, and respect each other.
I guess that’s probably a good note to end this on.
, wear a mask as appropriate 
, and stay at home 
. And enjoy this read.
all in all, a great interview from a great and amazing guy. My hats off to you