Interview with reachzero

Well, my real name is David Herling, I'm a 27 year old, life-long New Yorker! Most people probably know me as the English language pastor at House of the Lord Church in Flushing, NY, but when I'm not doing that, I enjoy reading, practicing martial arts, watching the UFC, and of course playing Pokemon.

I think that when when people first hear I'm a pastor, they assume that I'm a very serious person, and often that is true, of course. But what people don't usually realize is that I'm a very fun-loving person.

I feel that humor is a major part of really living, and it helps to be interesting in my line of work as well, so I'm always working on that.

Not quite. My church is a Chinese church, so I handle the English side of our operations. This means that I'm used to working mostly with young people--most of the older people at our church speak Mandarin. There are a few exceptions, of course. Crossing cultural lines is a major part of my life these days.

In terms of what I actually do, the really visible parts are preaching, leading Bible studies, and generally managing our meetings. Of course, there are aspects of my job that are a lot less visible, like counseling, giving advice, and leading the church's administration and planning.

Well, that's why it's really important to be a good public interview-speaker. No one likes listening to speeches at public ceremonies, either--because public interview-speakers tend to be boring by getting caught up in irrelevant details, speaking in monotones, and generally ignoring the audience.

I've found the need to really work hard to learning storytelling--telling a story isn't just about the plot, it's about showing the various facets of the characters, showing the unexpectedness and irony that makes for a great payoff at the climax, and then really bringing things together at the conclusion.

Keeping the audience involved and with you is absolutely key. And as I mentioned, humor really helps with that as well.

Oh, my username. A few years ago, I used to play Hearts on Yahoo! games, and I was interested in seeing if I could reach a zero rating by intentionally losing every game. I wasn't able to lose every game, so I failed.

The username I used was "reachzero", and I just stuck with it after that.

I was very good at it, but I don't play much these days. If I'm bored and I have that much time, I'm probably laddering on Pokemon Online.

Actually, I didn't get into Pokemon until after I graduated college! In the summer between college and seminary, I spent a month teaching English in China. While i was there, one of my students gave me a gift, a Pokemon card!

I had no idea which Pokemon it was, and I was curious, so I researched it.

The card turned out to be Groudon.

In the process of researching it, I found that I was interested. My sister and her boyfriend played the actual Pokemon games, so I started watching when they battled, etc.

Eventually their friend, Smogon's user Zracknel, told me about Shoddy Battle and Smogon.

And that was the beginning of it all for me!

When it comes to competitive Pokemon, what I like best is the process of actually playing--the in-battle strategy, the prediction, the clash of styles. Obviously, being recognized for being good is a nice perk, but the sheer playing and winning is the best part of it for me.

Of course, that's in a balanced metagame, like the end of 4th Generation OU. In an imbalanced metagame, I also really enjoy the Suspect process.

One of the things I didn't like about running 4th Generation UU was not being able to vote in the actual tests--having opinions on the Suspects was a major part of what made the game fun, for me.

Well, Phil and I are very different people, and we have some very different views on Pokemon—I expect that the way that we handle the process will be pretty different. Phil was very concerned about players parking and not laddering, which was the cause of the current 15-15 system; I see that as less important because most players qualify through a short grinding period anyway. I think a return to a clear-cut rating requirement is coming in the near future.

Phil also prioritized stability--he liked longer Suspect periods, to give people a chance to ladder without thinking about the Suspect process all the time.

I prefer shorter periods, to try to get us to a balanced metagame more quickly. Generally, though, being in charge of things isn't terribly different from being on the "Brain Trust", except that it means that I need to speak up more, and that I'm more likely to take criticism now!

Jirachi! The ultimate anti-metagame Pokemon, able to adapt to do almost anything you want it to do! Also, quite cute.

Just like me.