May's Dragon Lord Spotlight - Amoeba
When did you start playing War Dragons?
[A]: Hmm... let me check iTunes. Yep, April 14, 2015 is when the addiction started.
What is your current level and team?
[A]: Currently Lvl 123 in the #1 team, DREADNOUGHT. They put up with me because I provide entertainment.
What initially drew you to War Dragons?
[A]: Little known fact: I love dragons. I have a bunch of them growing up in the backyard.
I wanted to show them what they could grow up to be. Replacing nukes as a cleaner weapon of mass destruction. They also watch a healthy dose of Game of Thrones and aspire to be like Drogon.
Why have you stuck with the game?
[A]: Came to stomp on little children but stayed for the camaraderie. I was in/out of hospitals a lot last year and WD has proved to be a great pass time. Now it's part of my everyday routine and I enjoy razing virtual islands with my clannies.
What's your favorite aspect of War Dragons?
[A]: Hate mail, got to be the hate mail. It brings a smile to my face when people get so mad at losing that they fire off a barrage of emails then rage quit. Bet you didn't know that about me.
What are some things you wish you knew when first beginning to play War Dragons?
[A]: Ah, here's the obligatory plug for my War Dragons resource site: http://amoebastudios.com/dragon. I wish I had a tool like this when I started out to map the optimal breeding path, plan building/leveling order, and lookup stats / game info. It would've saved me a lot of tokens. I also wish I had a place to donate extra cash to. But now I'm glad there's a solution to all these problems.
What tools have you created for the War Dragons community?
[A]: I created the War Dragons Breeding App to find the best parent combinations for breeding that one dream dragon. Over time I was able to glean additional information from WD data files. These include building stats, chest distribution, runes, spell stats, level information, and more. I am super stoked that other players (Abombs etc.) were able to leverage these information to create efficient breeding guides. I've got a lot of great feedback from players and am happy to help.
What motivated you to create these tools?
[A]: I'm a programmer and wanted to learn python. What better way to do this than to write an app (I use the term loosely) to help with the game I was playing. It's been great fun.
Rod- was the first person to implement the breeding matrix. Give credit where it's due. I try to present the same data in a more user-friendly output. But as you can see, I don't have an eye for pretty look-and-feel so you guys will have to live with tables of text.
If people want to support your efforts or offer suggestions, what's the best way for them to do so?
[A]: I run a forum on my site and you're more than welcome to post feedback and criticism there. Although criticisms have a way of finding their way to the trash bin...
I also accept donations on my site to help run the server. Big thanks to all the folks who have contributed. The funds go toward paying for the server, thanking Abombs for the breeding guide, donating to Jaq's son who's fighting cancer (Google: “Brogan's heroes”), and donating to kidney transplant research for which I'm a lucky recipient of. None of the donation goes toward growing my War Dragons accounts.
What is your current favorite event type and why?
[A]: I'm a big fan of the old Gauntlet. I used it as a measuring stick to see how far I have progressed. That is, until it stopped being a challenge.
Oh, you said current! Breed and build events because I'm weird like that. It's like opening presents that you've been holding back for a month and just splurging all the tokens/clocks at once. Quite satisfying. Quite.
What is your least favorite event type and why?
[A]: Skirmish where you fight every hour, every day, the whole weekend. Because sleep is not important.
If you could add one feature to the game, what would it be and why?
[A]: How about making the defensive towers worth something? Used to be a lvl 150 base is feared and respected. Now no one cares if a base is 150 or 250. All the same I'll take it down with one dragon.
What are your current goals within War Dragons?
[A]: Working toward getting coffee with Pixxel. J/K - I'm married with wife and kid. But hey, I'm sure half the players share the same goal. I work close to the PG office though, just saying.
What other games do you enjoy playing?
[A]: I grew up playing hardcore PvP MUDs so I tend to gravitate to that type of competitive games. I also played a ton of Battlefield 2 and excelled at making people rage quit.
But after having a kid I learned that all life is precious. Now I plant flowers, help elderly across the street, draw happy faces and let dragons do my dirty work.
When you're not playing War Dragons, what else do you love to do in your free time?
[A]: I like to code. And I like getting paid to code. So I guess I'm in love with my job.
When I do venture outside of my desk I enjoy driving through the Bay Area mountain roads. I'm a BMW fanatic and I recently picked up a car in Germany to experience the AutoBahn. The best week of my life was spent driving through the Bavarian Alps, topped off with a day burning rubber on the Nürburgring Nordschleife track.
Can you describe some of the standout personalities on your team?
[A]: Dreads may look like jerks from the outside, but inside we're a great group of friends. We joke all the time in Line and have great bonding time defending wars and winning events. So In my opinion all Dread members have standout personalities. Oh and we're a bunch of jerks.
Who's your favorite non-DREADNOUGHT player in War Dragons?
[A]: It's a toss up between Revelation and Abombs. Rev is one of the best flyers in-game and is also amazing at Puzzles and Dragons. Abombs has the breeding lineage permanently mapped in his head. I admire people with big brains.
What base building strategies have you personally been employing lately? How will they help you defend better at your level?
[A]: I made mistakes with my main and decided to redo-them with an Alt account. The alt account focused solely on the center island and have max towers for its level. The base scares a lot of people and I can carry RSS for days without losing a defense. That's definitely the way to go.
What dragon are you going to be targeting in the next breeding event?
[A]: Look forward to Platinum dragons and making sure I have the parents for them. Then I can take down level 300 bases with my level 132 Plat dragon. (Sense sarcasm there? Sure hope so because I laid it on pretty thick).
Do you know a standout player or guild in War Dragons? We would love to hear about them! Tweet us @wardragonsgame.