A bad leader will ignore the people he or she leads, giving them no information and no guidance. On the other hand, there is a good leader. Someone like this does not raise themselves above others, but instead comes down to our level. Rather than rule and command above all of our heads, they will insert themselves into the common folk, listening to compliments and complaints alike. Like any leader, they will take us farther. Unlike other leaders however, they will base this off of what the common people want, and not on their own whim.
Today, I’d like to give the player spotlight to someone who leads the Atmosphir community to a brighter future. Someone who extends his hand in friendship to anyone, especially those he has not met. Someone who has embraced the concept of creativity since the beginning, and will continue to do so until the end.
If you haven’t caught on to who I’m referring to, the wait is over. Today, the Atmosphirian Player Spotlight goes to OkaySamurai, also known as Dave Werner from Minor Studios itself.
In the beginning, I didn’t plan on giving Dave the Player Spotlight. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, he works on developing amusement for people like me all of the world, but it’s his job. He gets a paycheck for doing all of this. Why would this earn a player spotlight? Don’t get me wrong, Dave really is the heart and spirit of the community, and I admire him for it.
A few days ago, I wandered into the live chat like I usually do. Instantly, I received a few messages asking me if I had seen a site they had found. I was amused by their enthusiasm, so I took a look at it. That was when the name caught my eye: www.okaydave.com. At that point, it occurred to me that the Dave in my mind was just the guy sitting behind a table in the Jumpstart videos. Sure, we had talked a few times during his brief appearances in the live chat or during his UStream Q&A, but it was nothing personal about either of us. So I eagerly clicked the link, although I wasn’t expecting much. Probably just a long read about Dave, I though.
How wrong I was. www.okaydave.com is actually a very interactive website filled with information about the Dave. It wasn’t a fan site, either. Everything was recorded by Dave, and made by him, too. Looking through it was more fun than anything else. Hearing Dave narrate various parts of his life was an educating experience, and really gave me more of an idea about his life. When Dave writes in the forums or makes a video, it’s mostly business; there isn’t much of a window for personal facts. After all, he’s the guy you go to if you need to know something about Atmosphir.
It’s easier to select someone for the Player Spotlight if I have some impression of their personality. After all, most people who stick to the facts without a drop of personality generally aren’t too fun to talk about. You could go on for hours about Dave, if you tried.
After watching various videos around the site, I got a great impression about him. He’s a man of creativity. He’s had some experiences many of us could not dream about, Atmosphir being only one of many. From the sounds of wine to Kanye West, Dave seems to know it all. Writing a summary of everything I found on the site, added with everything Dave does for the community, would take awhile to write. And since I ended up getting this post out a bit late, I’ll have to keep it simple.
Please, take a look at www.okaydave.com. Take a few minutes to learn some more about the guy we’ve come to love known as OkaySamurai. Without him, Atmosphir probably wouldn’t exist, and we’d all be stuck playing Runescape or something.
So, in closing, thank you for everything you do for the community, Dave. I’m sure it’s worth a lot more than a paycheck.
Also, late congratulations to Dave for a successful proposal this past May (I believe)!
Once again, congratulations to Dave/OkaySamurai, winner of the Atmosphirian Player Spotlight!
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