20 Questions About.....TailsMK4.

HEY, LOOK, IT'S, SONIC'S BUDDY, TAILS!

Hehe. I'm referring to 24-year-old TailsMK4, of course. Possible future E-Tank, Prototype GAWD, and fellow Big 6 member. He's in 4th place with over 675 billion BP as of this Pastebin. It's nearly impossible to be a part of the Prototype community without hearing Tails's name on at least an almost regular basis. His list of accomplishments alone are the stuff of legend:

He's the FIRST member of the 1024 Club [all 1,024 Star Force]. He's STILL the only guy to have had EVERY single one of the 38 Robots in his army maxed out at 9999-9999-9999 stats. He's also the only guy to have ever had all of his Mechas at Lv. 100, He's also, officially, the first to both 400 billion BP AND 600 billion BP. He's one of 3 members to have a fully complete in-game Database, and he's credited with over 2,000 Player Battle Wins, which happen to be more than anyone. Mind you, this is BEFORE I mention the part where his profile is one of the most viewed things in all of Prototype; his name actually shows up if you do a Yahoo/Google/Bing/[insert search engine here]. No joke.

Mind you, the man somehow manages all this WHILE ATTENDING COLLEGE. He's majoring in computer programming, which means that we'll be playing some TailsMK4 games one of these days if we're the luckiest people on Earth. :P

Better get some Q's in NOW, before he's too busy for them, later...

Community Q's:

Q1. How long did it take you to get 1024 Stars? (ZeroDXZ)
Tails: "Since I do not remember, I had to look up in the forum since of all of the accomplishments I made, I did not note the date I finished this one. The MM3 update came out on June 14th, and I was already at 900 Stars on June 15th. So I think I got all of the Stars within a few days. I was pretty much able to get a Star within a few minutes each battle since I already had my overpowered army by then, so the number seems to make sense. Do keep in mind I already had all of the Stars possible in the MM1-MM2-MM4 combos, which was 576. So really it took me a few days to gather 448 Stars."

Q2. I seem to recall you saying you originally ground up your robot's stats due to a surgery. If this isn't too personal, what was it? (Tobyjoey)
Tails: "...I actually had a couple of hernia surgeries. The term used for this kind of hernia I had was called an inguinal hernia. Basically, I was born with a couple of hernia sacs lodged in my pelvic area. It was not until about a year ago that I started feeling some heaviness in...well, let's just say the front of the pelvic area since I'm not sure what to call it without breaking Rule 8. I eventually had it checked out and within a few months I needed both sacs removed since they were *very* large hernias. I live in a two story house, and my body was so weak that it was painful to go upstairs (my room is on the second floor), so I lived in the living room for a few weeks apiece. I did not want to do anything hectic like MM8BDM, so the Prototype was perfect gaming for me. At that time, robot stats were the only things I had left, so...that's the story. It was a way to pass the time while I was basically sitting in the chair all day."

Q3. You say Gemini is your favorite RM, Why is that? (Meta)
Tails: "I always found Gemini Man fun to fight, especially when I encountered him late in the Arcade games for the first time. At first he seems really difficult, but he requires you to think on how and when you attack him. Most Robot Masters just attack you full force, but he actually waits for you to make a move first before he attacks. Of course, he also demands timing, else he will run into you whether you're attacking or just dodging. The only thing about him that puts me off a bit is how he's described as a "narcissistic" kind of person, but I think this personality came about because he sees himself so often when he creates clones, so I'm ok with that."

Q4. Is Tails really your favorite character from Sonic games? (ThatOneEnderMan)
Tails: "I hadn't thought much about Tails prior to a netplay of Sonic 3 and Knuckles by a great friend of mine that I still play with to this day, even though I played as him in other games. Since I was not familiar with the game, I let him be Sonic and I would just observe the stages as he played. I quickly saw what Tails was able to do, and enjoyed being him much more than I did as Sonic (the first time I played a Sonic game was the original Sonic the Hedgehog for the Game Gear). This is partly why I feel at odds with the common Sonic fanbase because I feel Sonic's gameplay is way too limiting, and would rather be Tails or Knuckles, and so I continue to get disappointed with the recent releases of the main series Sonic games."

Q5. Wait. If you are TailsMk4... WHERE ARE MARKS 1-3?!?!? (TobyJoey)
Tails: "Ok, fine, short answer this time. Look me up on Youtube...and you'll find out what the MK REALLY stands for. :P"

Q6. Is "Cookie" a number or "7" a letter? (Retro Pikachu)
Tails: "Numbers aren't letters, but if you really dig deep inside..."Cookie" can actually be a number. That's because "C" can be a number too, as well as "o", "k", "i", and "e". "C" and "c" are different numbers too. Do you understand, or does my answer seem just as confusing as the question? :P"

Q7. Favorite genre of gaming? (TheDoc, general)
Tails: "One of my favorite arcade games of all time is Galaga, and I grew up with series like Gradius and Contra, so my favorite genre is the side-scrolling shooter variety, though I take more of a preference to the games with free movement like Gradius. Do I like "bullet hell" variety type games like Touhou? I'm not too crazy about them, but I do enjoy Ikaruga and those varieties as well."

Q8. What is your most hated stage in the classic megaman games? (ThatOneEnderMan, general)
Tails: "King's Fortress Stage 2. Great stage theme, nice boss theme, but the bosses like to punish you for being imperfect. I did it all once as Mega Man, not sure how I did it."

Q9. What made you reset and do you have any regrets doing it? (Various)
"My one main objective that led me to resetting my account ultimately wasn't resolved due to how Player Battle stats are stored. I wanted to remove all of the losses I had accumulated, so the thought of resetting had been on my mind probably the day before I commited. No such luck there, but it did reveal a bug that Adrian overlooked (that Starforce also doesn't get reset). I still don't have any regrets doing this, though, since it stopped people grinding on me for their own personal gain, and I now have two records that will never get broken as long as I'm still playing: Most Player Battle Wins and Highest Player Battle Rating."

Q10. Besides Gemini Man, who else are your favorite Robot Masters? (Various)
Tails: "Few questions about favorite RMs...so instead of answering them individually, I'll just answer this here in a list:

Hero Bots: Bass. In a setting with multiple roles, I typically find myself liking the anti-hero the best: Vegeta in Dragon Ball (series), Zuko in Avatar The Last Airbender, but NOT Shadow the Hedgehog. I do not like him at all.
MM1: Elec Man. This guy is tough even with his weakness, and I like tough bosses.
MM2: Metal Man. True, weak to his own weapon, but he's fun to fight with the Mega Buster.
MM3: Well...I already said my favorite here, but second favorite is probably Shadow Man.
MM4: Ring Man...well, if you think about my username, it kind of makes sense.
MM5: Gyro Man...for the same reason as Ring Man.
MM6: Tomahawk Man. I grew up most of my life in Texas, so he kind of represents the area I live in well.
MM7: This is tough for me since I do not care much for the Robot Masters here, but I would probably say Cloud Man. His battle sticks out a little more than the others...can't think of any other reason.
MM8 (and MM&B): Astro Man, cause I really like the theme of outer space.
MM9: Galaxy Man for the same reason as Astro.
MM10: Nitro Man for me really stood out. Fun fight, though not on Hard mode.
MMV: Stardroids are pretty much equal for me...maybe a slight nod to Mars for the variety in attacks."

Mikey's Q's.

Q11. What's the WORST official MM game you've ever played, in your opinion?
Tails: "I'd say Mega Man X6. While they did have some interesting stages, I remember the bosses in this game being very difficult, and of course X6 introduced the infamous Reploid Rescuing, which most of the time they were under attack by the Nightmares. I cannot remember how many times I've had to reset the game due to a Nightmare catching a Reploid."

Q12: ...and the BEST official MM game?
Tails: "There is actually one game that I play over and over and even try to do it online: Mega Man 2: The Power Battles. I really like the bosses in these games, and it's not a struggle to beat Wily unlike in the first Arcade game."

Q13: Climbing the Leaderboard, and getting your Star of Immortality TWICE. How insanely difficult is it?
Tails: "Much more difficult the second time around since the largest source of BP was FemaleForte, AND prior to me finishing the climb, Adrian changed the way Rain Flush worked, AND the fields changed to make abilities weaker. No longer was it possible to finish her team in two turns except in special conditions. Water going from x2.0 to x1.5 made it much more difficult to finish quickly. And of course, my target BP was 550 billion the second time around."

Q14: In 5/3's SNC, I publicly nominated you as a Prototype Contributor [E-Tank]. Your thoughts on this?
Tails: "I honestly was not surprised that I was nominated. I don't want to brag, of course, so I leave the official decision up to Adrian, since whatever he says, goes. Really it's just my dedication to this game that led me to start reporting bugs. I want this game to be the best it can be, and after this college semester, bug reports can be among the most important things as it makes a game more stable. So really now it's just a matter of whether Adrian needs more help or not. If he does need it, I'm ready to answer his call.

If not, I'm more than content to help what I can as a player."

Q15: You also work as a moderator on another fangame project; "Mega Man 8-Bit Death Match". For those that don't know, tell them about it.
Tails: "Eh, the question does need to get rephrased. Basically, what I do is, as a regular member of the community, I create some additional "mods" that play on MM8BDM. These are things that change up the gameplay a bit. My first short-lived project was a racing mod, for example. I am not an actual moderator for the Cutstuff forums (the official forum for the game), but I simply "produce" content. My current project is based off an existing project by the creator of MM8BDM himself, but much more extended.

For those interested about the last point, it's kind of like a 3D recreation of the original stages, but can be played by multiple people."

Q16: You're majoring in computer programming in college; Does this mean that we should expect some independent games from you at some point? :P
Tails: "Ha, I might do one or two as a hobby. I have had ideas of games I wanted to do. I am waiting to see what career I go into first, and if I got time left over I might attempt a project of my own. For the time being, the most that would happen out of me is the project I mentioned the previous question.

It is something I want to do in the future, though."

Q17: College. How insanely difficult and expensive is it?
Tails: "Well, the work is only slightly harder than in high school because the concepts in college are more advanced, and demand you spend a lot of time working on assignments. If you slack off in high school and generally do not care about the education you get, and do not mind working in fast food your entire life, then college will not be for you. As far as costs...learn about getting financial aid. Do not expect your parents to pay for the entire education, especially if you go for a Bachelor's. If I recall my math correctly, I will be about $20,000 (roughly $5,000 a semester) in debt once I get my degree, and I go to one of the cheaper but stronger public colleges.

Getting a degree is worth it in the end, though. The more time you spend in college, the more likely you'll get the job you want."

Q18: College. How little free time do you have because of it?
Tails: "I am probably better off than most students because I do not have a job of my own. The assignments can be quite long. I once had a programming assignment take a classmate and myself 40 hours over a few weeks to finish. Because I do not have a job, though, I have plenty of time for assignments and for what I want to do.

Most assignments probably take me a few hours to do, but that also depends on the subject, so that is a give or take on the number of hours."

Q19: A new Prototyper comes to you and asks you, "675 billion?!?! That's IMPOSSIBLE! How do you DO that?!". Your answer back would be...?
Tails: "Dedication and knowing the quickest ways to defeat your foes. The initial climb can be quite tedious to set up, but it makes BP collecting faster in the future. Get as much Starforce as you can, but if you do not want to get all of it, go with Water and Time Starforce first, then probably also collect a lot of Cutter, Electric, and Flame Starforce since those elements cover a lot of abilities in the game. You really just have to keep at doing Player Battles for the most part, but it may be faster to use your collected Time Starforce to do repeat battles of Final Destination III in Cossack's story, as that rewards 28 million BP if you beat it first turn. Flash Stopper is the only ability that will work that well, but you also need to select stronger opponents with no resistance to Time. Once you start running into stronger Player Battle opponents, finish them as quickly as you can, and always do 8 vs 8 if possible. It will take a long time, but that's the way to go."

Q20: Admit it, you love debating every idea I come up with during SNC's, don't you? C'moooon, admit iiiiiit. :P
Tails: Geez, I guess I do debate you a lot, but not every single idea. It's not fruitless either. :P


The game that Tails makes mods for, "Mega Man 8-Bit Deathmatch", can be found here: http://cutstuff.net/mm8bdm
If you're interested in *trying out* Tails's "Deathmatch" mods, go here: http://cutstuff.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=5600

Special thanks to TailsMK4 for being a top notch interviewee. Additional thanks to Meta, Retro Pikachu, ThatOneEnderMan, TheDoc, TobyJoey, ZeroDXZ, and everyone else who suggested Q's 9 and 10. You were all a big help, too.