Bynary Fission - AMA

[Bynary Fission]

Hopping on the bandwagon, I know. But it seems like an interesting way for the community to get to know someone better, and I'd love the chance to answer a bunch of questions people may have about various topics and issues. Answers may be somewhat sporadic since I have classes and homework throughout the week.

So shoot (nothing excessively personal, obviously).

[leonid]

Why do you never play 2 handed?

[Bynary Fission]

Originally Posted by leonid

Why do you never play 2 handed?

Originally, when I first discovered FFR in September 2006 I logically assumed that you played with the arrow keys, as the format of the game (4-key) reflected that. It seemed intuitive at the time, and because I didn't join the community until much later I continued to play that way through late '06 and '07, until I joined in January 2008. Basically, I didn't know any better.

During that beginning, when I played the game obsessively, I began to think that I was an exceptionally amazing one-hander (I wasn't), and in the first 7-8 months I continued to believe that, especially as there were few one handed players in the community and people tended to believe that my scores really were amazing. This encouraged me to move forward with the style. Furthermore, my rival with Terry (Bluearrowll) pushed me to continue playing and best him, and until he switched to spread in November of 2008 (IIRC) we were quite a competitive duo.

Towards 2009, I gradually became much more aware of the spread style of playing and what your average spread player could achieve relative to the one handed style. Now don't get me wrong - I truly did, and still do, enjoy playing one-handed. But I did become aware of the inherent limitations of my style, and it was something I gave thought to. At that point, my rationale for continuing with the style stemmed more from my enjoyment with it and my rate of improvement. I still didn't really have an interest in switching especially since I could go toe-to-toe with a bunch of spread players in the day. In addition, the community still cared a lot about good one-handed scores and at that point encouraged me to still continue with the style.

At that point (early '09) I was basically completely ensconced in the style - I had gotten Oni, something people repeatedly said was impossible for a one hander to do. I was continuing to play at a furious pace, and I continued to improve to the point that I had basically become the best one handed player in the world, and still continuing to improve. This happened until June of that year when my keyboard broke (among other things) and side-lined me for some time. But my attitude at that point hasn't really changed a whole lot.

Nowadays, my feelings are a bit more mixed. I am fully aware of the limitations of the style, though I really don't care. But enthusiasm for one-handed playing is not what it used to be, and I don't play as much as I used to, even though when I do binge play my skill still remains (as was seen earlier this year). At this point, I realize that even if I did switch I don't know that I could ever truly adapt, since my right hand and left hand have such an extreme disparity between each other that I don't know if I could ever reconcile the difference. Furthermore, I realize that playing one-handed is kind of my claim to fame - it's what people know me for. Good spread players are a dime a dozen (as it is the dominant playing style), but a good one-hander is a rare thing to see. It definitely goes a long way to explaining why I won't switch, notwithstanding my genuine enjoyment for the style and my like for its challenges. At this point I don't really see a reason or need to do so. Occasionally I manage to find a rival, but they either switch or abandon me (Andy is an example). All of the above combined has sort of dampened my enthusiasm for playing in general, though somewhat paradoxically it has also encouraged me to stay one-handed - it's my one claim to fame, really.

[Patashu]

do you play any instruments?

[Bynary Fission]

Originally Posted by Patashu

do you play any instruments?

Unfortunately, at the moment no (aside from a bit of experience playing on the drums - if nothing else I can keep a good beat going on it). But I am considering learning to play the guitar or drums - and composing in Famitracker has certainly done a lot to help my understanding of musical theory!

[AlexDest]

Do you plan on visiting anywhere internationally?

What is your ideology?

[Bynary Fission]

Originally Posted by AlexDest

Do you plan on visiting anywhere internationally?

My next destination will likely be Colombia. I say that because my entire family from my dad's side comes from there - from what I've been told our roots in South America stretch back 500 years, from when the very first Conquistadors came, and our later ancestors settled in the colonial area of Colombia (later becoming the nation of Colombia). So yeah...my grandfather (who was born and raised there) visits at least once a year, and he wants to take me and my dad along sometime.

Originally Posted by AlexDest

What is your ideology?

Mostly liberal. I lean to the right on a few issues (gun control and illegal immigration, though I'm not super-conservative on those topics by any means), but I am anywhere from somewhat to firmly liberal on a whole host of topics. Where it concerns personal matters, I am very much libertarian - as long as you are not harming another individual in some way, it's nobody's damn business what you do in the privacy of your own home (which again, puts me more towards the political left in that regard, especially since I am an atheist and find the religious right to be a repulsive group of people).

[Patashu]

Originally Posted by Bynary Fission

and composing in Famitracker has certainly done a lot to help my understanding of musical theory!

If you're not already using one get a midi keyboard, having to physically play will help a lot

[dAnceguy117]

hello binary_fizzion I don't believe I've ever met you before hehehe

iirc, your avatar is hand-drawn, correct? what was the inspiration? how do you think your life would be different if you had only three toes on each foot?

[sticklydude]

why are you really mean when you play brawl and mario kart

)':

[DossarLX ODI]

How ridiculous was your college workload since you told me about how you wanted to graduate early?

[Bynary Fission]

Originally Posted by dAnceguy117

hello binary_fizzion I don't believe I've ever met you before hehehe

iirc, your avatar is hand-drawn, correct? what was the inspiration?

It is indeed hand-drawn in MS Paint. I actually don't quite remember what the inspiration was specifically (I do play a lot of fantasy games though, so that was an influence). Also it takes elements from other Paint stuff that I made prior to it - I posted in a thread years ago with a bunch of pieces of my art in it, though the images are long gone and the computer that had the originals crashed hard from a virus last year.

Originally Posted by dAnceguy117

how do you think your life would be different if you had only three toes on each foot?

Not much, though I have to imagine it'd draw stares from ordinary five-toed humans.

Originally Posted by sticklydude

why are you really mean when you play brawl and mario kart

)':

Because the person that sucks the most has to be my whipping boy.

Originally Posted by DossarLX ODI

How ridiculous was your college workload since you told me about how you wanted to graduate early?

Interesting question. I really suppose it varies - some classes I have require a butt****ing ton of work (one class I have requires me to watch 1-2 documentaries a week plus 5-6 hours of reading and questions, another we have to read a whole 350-page novel in a month alongside an extra 50-60 pages of reading a week). Overall the work load isn't too bad, especially since I'm fortunate enough to be able to stay with my dad (i.e I don't need to have a job at the moment). But this is a pretty tough semester, and it only compares to one other (see below)

I would say that my worst semester was the Summer of 2010 - 18 credit hours in a short 12 weeks (the normal is 16). In one 10-day period I had a major essay due worth 25% of my grade, three exams, a speech to give in front of my whole class worth 35% of my grade, and a bunch of other assignments to do (along with over 150 pages of reading). What I said isn't really doing it justice - that was such a nerve-wracking week that to this day I am not afraid of any work load presented by any other class, and I'm serious about that - I realized that if I could make it through that hellish week than I can do anything else. I got straight As that semester, too.