"Hey, all. It's me, ALAPOK. Yes it's my original tag although I've had 40+ alternates. The abrasive manner many of you know isnt a persona or act, I like to talk a lot of smack away from the mic and keyboard and for the most part Ive backed it up. Ive spent about as much time gaming as anyone my age; playing everything from the old Nintendos and Atari through Xbox and PC. I became my most active on Live in the summer of '04 when I started playing with A S Y L U M. "

1. Which is your favorite MechAssault title and why?
   
   "I don't have a favorite Mechassault. I like the two games for different reasons and I had great times on both. Though, I prefer the gameplay of Mech 1. It has the the fast-paced arcadey action that Mechassault 2 lacked. The health glitches and dropped players gets really annoying and don't forget all the dumb little tricks to "fix" those issues."
   
   
2. What is the first Mech you ever piloted?
   
   "The first Mech I ever piloted was whichever mech you get to start the campaign off in Mech 1. Was it the elemental? Its been a while since I played the original campaign. The first mech I ever played online was the Atlas. Since going through the campaign you didn't get to play most of the mechs so I wanted to learn all the names and what they could do. I remember the first time I piloted the prometheus and having a weapon that didn't work. Damn thing was broken, I swear. "
   
   
3. Were you part of any team in MechAssault? If so, which team? Would you care to share some of your team's history?
   
   "Before joining A S Y L U M in Mech 1 I played in a few meaningless clans/teams. I don't recall the names but I'm sure at least one of them was on the old xboxclanwars site. I joined up with A S Y L U M shortly after all that. I don't know what our record was, I don't even remember some of the guys on our team; there were a lot. When Halo 2 came out we started playing that a whole bunch despite being mostly inactive on any ladder. When Mech 2 dropped we had a solid core of guys that played almost constantly."
   
   
4. Name some of the Mech Pilots you played with most in either MechAssault title.
   
   "Ive played with just about everyone at one time or another. I could drop as many names as anyone else. What makes this community great is that the names listed would be know by most unlike other games where your opponents are just AIs with goofy names."
   
   
5. If you could create MechAssault 3, what features would you take from each game? What new features would you add?
   
   "Honestly, I thought MA1 was perfect. They needed to fix a few glitches but its a big reason why Live is so successful. I think if some of the things in Mech 2 were added as options to the solid foundation of Mech 1 you would have the greatest game ever made. I wouldn't add anything gameplay-wise, a built in clan ladder is a must though."
   
   
6. If you could pick your "Dream Team", who would you pick and why?
   
   "I hate the idea of a dream team. Its always just a bunch of ass-kissery. So rather than pick the "best" players, Ill share some of the people I had the most fun battling with and against.
   One of the first people I played against was Just J Man. GUNZSQUIRRELL too. One of my original friends and biggest influence was s i C K. Along with him and GaywadPete, Death 25, SleevedSinister and S Q O U T, I really became good at Mech. Through them I met Zor, N M ME, The Warmonger, JSTBAD, Smurff Killer BattleAxe406, Mince and Cptn Nylon Man. I also met many others. GhostFaceKila, VividBeast, XR 16, God Prototype, DudeMan26, Kid Phinx and Chewy 306. And all the A S Y L U M guys: Smokey, Davis, Chok, Eddy, Frooch, Dino, Nail Diesel, Hunter x13, Nomad454, Lost Apothesis, xAbbaddonx, VividBeast, Zorn, xxBelowMexx, MasterPredator, MP1, Lord Arcanis and the list goes on... Im sure I missed lots."

Thanks for answering our questions, Alapok!

"OK, so I'm the Jerk that edits your posts and keeps things civil in here. That being said, be nice to me. I got involved in MAcommunity from the beginning, and try to help out in any way I can. I've been part of the community for a loooong time, and generally was the "mediator" in conflicts. And yes, I'm an old guy, so you kids stay off my lawn!"

1. Which is your favorite MechAssault title and why?
   
   "I'd probably have to pick MA1. While I enjoyed both titles, I felt that the inclusion of the vtol and POV dumbed down the "mech" part of Mechassault. Piloting a mech knowing that your vtol can bring you health takes some skill out of the piloting. Furthermore, while MA2 was considerably more "team-oriented", MA1 was much easier to just "play". You didn't have to wait for your friends, you could hop on and still hold you own against people if you were a good pilot."
   
   
2. What is the first Mech you ever piloted?
   
   "Honestly.....Mad Cat. I got online later in the MA1 days, and that mech was the easiest to "learn". After that, I went straight to the Kit Fox, which would probably be the Mech I was known most for piloting."
   
   
3. Were you part of any team in MechAssault? If so, which team? Would you care to share some of your team's history?
   
   "Ok, big history lesson. I started out in SOS for Mech 1. I was actually recruited into SOS by Starscream. I probably humped him enough in the Kit Fox. I played in a couple matches in MA1, but since it was near the end of MA1, not as much "diehard" clans then. Of course everyone remembers good ol' Deadspace.....
   
   Because of his "ineptitude", I decided to leave SOS. Of course, I wasn't leaving alone. Giaka joined me.....and after much badgering, Jalapeno did as well. I still remember Deadspace telling me that EGO would never make it and that I knew nothing of running a clan. EGO's first few pickups were Du urden, PeterV, StephanovichIII and Htown hitters. Some other roster people were: Nydax, Redrum Force, Mynameismud01, and all sorts of others.
   
   I've got no idea what our Win/Loss record was...but we pretty much won the ones we were expected to...and lost the ones we should have lost. I wouldn't consider us a "top" clan....but we're probably bottom of the "top ten" material. Post MA2, we also competed in Chromehounds and GoW. "
   
   
4. Name some of the Mech Pilots you played with most in either MechAssault title.
   
   "Well, aside from the SOS/EGO rosters, I pretty much played with anyone and everyone. Sorry I can't "name names", but I've played way too many games...... "
   
   
5. If you could create MechAssault 3, what features would you take from each game? What new features would you add?
   
   "Let's see. Combine MA1's mechs, speed and spawning with MA2's 6v6 and vertical levels. I'd eliminate wallwalking, just to piss off people. Seriously, I'd like the "jumpjet" mechs to have some type of advantage. I'd like the option to either A) everyone can pick their mechs or b) a "tonnage" limit. Having to choose mechs on a scale of weight would even out the "prome, rag, madcat" games. I prefer the 4 spawn points of MA1, and why they gave the Belial TJ and took it away from the Catapult is beyond me. No stupid yellow and blue shields. "
   
   
6. If you could pick your "Dream Team", who would you pick and why?
   
   "I'm going to have a little fun with this....instead of a "dream" team....I'm picking an "un" dream team. Like it.
   
   Rocky Cash- Well, he's been on every other team, so at some time he's going to end up on this one.
   Haywire- He just ran his mouth to me a little too much....and got banged hard when he challenged me.
   The Darkskys- Yeah, they get to all be one. Not like all together they could do much.
   Deadspace- This squad needs someone to screw things up more than they already are.
   Red Phoenix- Someone who can take the fun out of everything. And ban you.
   Mc Giko- Eye choz Hem Bcuz evry Teem kneads eh Gnius.
   
   Hope everyone enjoyed....just be happy I didn't make a "sexiest" list.... "

Thanks for answering our questions, The Squeeze!

"I'm just a tech-geek that can hold his own in MA2. I love technology. I love code, scripting, etc. Basically, I like to solve problems and 99.9% of the time, I can figure out how to do that with some form of technology or a piece of code. I also like helping people solve their problems. That's probably why I'm here or on any team. I'm not the best or great player, but I always look for a way to contribute..."

1. Which is your favorite MechAssault title and why?
   
   "MechAssault 2, simply because I was late to the whole scene with MA and it was easier to get involved from the get-go with MA2 instead of trying to force my way into the established order of MechAssault 1."
   
   
2. What is the first Mech you ever piloted?
   
   "In MA1, probably a Rag because I thought it was cool to do that. But, in MA2, competitively, probably a Mad Cat."
   
   
3. Were you part of any team in MechAssault? If so, which team? Would you care to share some of your team's history?
   
   "I wasn't a part of any team in MA. I just effed around and stuff. It was my XBL cherry-popper and I was late to the game as I said. I got in the way, but had fun, etc. In MA2, I was in Gryphon. We were deep in the initial Conquest crazy. I know everyone bags on that game mode, but for the first month or so, it was decent and worth while. Anyway, we tried to take it seriously and did our part for Davion. Some of my memories from that clan involved mtojoe (I think that's spelled right) yelling at Bestshot to just "stand on the fucking flag" (and he couldn't even manage to do that - he was terrible. Also, killing AndrewOsis, Belial v Belial on Rush Hour (Nova, I believe the planet), sticks out. Well, my gamertag expired and stopped playing online for a month. When I returned, I was met by people from C4 who sent me a clan invite right away. We competed on Gamebattles. Weren't that great, but it was honestly pretty fun. We had some "characters" in the clan. Superdave and Gary (or Sheetsfaq) always cracked me up. Irrelevant to the question, but my latest clan was with Tapper in SuicideDrive for ChromeHounds...
   
   In C4, during our Gamebattles run, I tried to help as much as possible and organize stuff. Built and maintained the website. Handled challenges, etc. Its very hard keeping players together and on the same page. I loved the players who simply just wanted to play. One of my favorite in that class was RunDropSlide...him calling someone "garbage" was awesome. Mostly because of the situation mixed with the Mass. accent."
   
   
4. Name some of the Mech Pilots you played with most in either MechAssault title.
   
   "Philly4Finals, BigFattyDaddy, Asaru, Rashaverk, DragonSoul, JusBlaze, RunDropSlide, SouthernTank...many more, I played with anyone that let me stay in the room and take up a slot."
   
   
5. If you could create MechAssault 3, what features would you take from each game? What new features would you add?
   
   "Simply put, you need to take the good stuff from MA, update the graphics and all the technical stuff. I mean, come on, we all know what the 360 is capable of giving us. Give us a modern game technically, with the glory of MA and MA2's Team Destruction. Things people say they'd remove like the POV and VTOL. I'd leave them and make them options to the map."
   
   
6. If you could pick your "Dream Team", who would you pick and why?
   
   "I really don't know. I know there are so many players. And typically a "Dream Team" would be judged by its skill level. But, seriously, in my case, I just want some who could simply hold their own and is fun to play with it. I sacrifice some skill in teammates to avoid the assholes who ruin the game. I enjoyed playing with Scare, Tapper, Philly, Fatty, RunDrop, c6 and many others... Yes, I avoided the question for the most part..."

Thanks for answering our questions, Mike!