Meet Ukunavi

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Hello Realmers,

At age 25, he’s one of our most dedicated testers and started playing the game out of spite with a friend from Steam (thank you, Steam friend!). Say hello and meet Ukunavi. (And don’t forget that tomorrow starts a very cool event!)

Name, Nationality and Age?

My name is Patrick. I’m Danish and I’m 25 years old.

What is your day job? Tell us about it.

I work in retail as a deputy manager. I’m responsible for the daily management of the place I work at.
My workday consists of dealing with customers, to giving my colleagues the right tools to do their job the most optimal way, to always having items in stock to sell.

Any hidden talents or hobbies?

I don’t think I have any hidden talents or maybe I haven’t discovered it yet. I listen to a lot of music and I can listen to almost anything. I like music in the harder styles the most though. 140+ BPM and I’m good to go.

How and when did you start playing RotMG?

I started playing Realm of the Mad God back in early April 2012. An old Steam friend of mine told me that I must play this game. At first, I asked him wtf is this as I was mostly playing FPS games back then, so it was quite overwhelming going from Call of Duty and Counter-Strike graphics to the old RotMG Flash graphics with a set resolution that couldn’t be changed. I think I got to blue star after playing for a few months but then started playing other games because I lost interest in RotMG.
After seeing one of my friends get to red star I wanted to one-up him. I think that was partly the reason I started playing again to show my friend I was better.
What kept me hooked and a big reason I’ve played ever since is the new people I met within the game and started talking to.

Favorite Class, Dungeon, and Item?

I think my favorite class would have to be Wizard with Knight as a close second.
Wizard is fun to me because of the high offensive stats and the offensive ability. Hitting those perfect spell bombs and hearing the hit sound is so satisfying, while also being at a somewhat safe distance.
Another thing I like about Wizard is the way it has a specified role as a damage dealer with the multiple different types of spells the class has. Different types of spells all designed to deal damage. You just have to suit, which spell suits your playstyle the most.
Some of my fondest memories in this game have been while I’ve been playing Wizard, so that also helps with making it my favorite class.
My favorite item is Shield of Ogmur. The way it changes, how you play Knight is a lot of fun.

What other games do you play?

I have recently been playing StarBreak after a friend of mine told me I should play it. It was a lot of fun and it still felt Realm like because of the permadeath, kill enemies to earn loot and use teamwork to survive aspects that Realm also has.
I have also been playing Cyberpunk to get some of that FPS feeling back after not having played Call of Duty and Counter-Strike for a long time.

What makes RotMG unique?

I think the permadeath aspect of Realm and the way it’s integrated into the game helps with the uniqueness because of, how you can get attached to a character and the items it has and then be sad, when that character dies maybe in a stupid situation or you got greedy and didn’t leave a boss battle in time and got mauled instead.

What are the things you love the most in the game?

I like the way Realm acts as an endurance test. The way you’re able to constantly ask yourself: “Does this item really matter that much to me that I want to grind for it for hours on end?”.
The answer is almost always yes until you get distracted by another item you want to grind for. And finally, when you get the item you’ve been grinding for so long drops and it becomes a huge relief that you never have to experience that again is great. Alongside the satisfaction of finally being able to use the item. Then you find the next item you want to grind for and the process repeats.
Playing alongside other players that is on the same grind as you is also nice, so it doesn’t feel like you’re alone in your grind. It gets even better if you’re playing with others while talking to them in a voice call for instant reactions to something happening. Whether it is a person losing a character or someone getting a special drop.

What would you change?

I might be slightly biased, just slightly, but something to use leftover skins on besides feeding them or dropping them on the ground. A proper party system, where you could add 5-10 people to a group. This could also tie in with some sort of player home, where the party members could join and you would be able to open dungeons just for your party.
The party could buy timed benefits such as increased drop rates, XP gain, rent items, and so on.
I think RotMG is ready to take the next big step and become more complex and by that, I mean adding some sort of extra stats to items, enemies, dungeons. This could be anything from increased damage on weapons, to lowered health on bosses, to guaranteed drops from a boss to everyone, who hit soulbound.
The possibilities are endless and it would definitely add something new to the min-max grind and put players in a situation, where the same dungeon doesn’t feel the same. It could also be a good reason to buff the drop rate of UTs.

What made you join the Tester group?

I was invited back in December 2016 after being recommended by Kiddforce. I found it fun and engaging to be able to help with the development of dungeons, features, skins and so on and I have stuck with it ever since with some small breaks in between the 4,5 years I’ve been doing this for. My proudest moment during my time as a Tester was being the one to give the suggestion of adding the Gigacorn hit sound to the Sword of the Rainbow’s End. I may or may not be joking about this.

How do you see the game in 10 years?

It’s a tough choice since ten years is so far into the future that my speculation could either be spot on or way off.
I could both see Realm of the Mad God be filled with people living its best life and I could also see Realm be dead and gone when we hit those ten years from now.
I think the game will still be alive and kicking if a steady stream of new content and features gets added to the game to keep the player base engaged.
Another thing that I think needs to happen is other ways of monetizing the game, so it isn’t just skins, keys, pet food, and ST items that players buy gold for to get.
I’m certain that the passionate community Realm has will help you at Deca to get into the right direction, when adding on to the game, so it still keeps being Realm, but an improved version that attracts new players and gets old players to come back to check out what’s new.

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