The People of Rivals of Aether: Europe – Frikinin

Hello everyone, I am hok0ri and as part of this RCS season, I have had the opportunity to interview a few of the European community members, from those who have been here for a long while and cemented their place to members that have joined us more recently. I gave the following members the same questions, and it was really nice to hear their answers and see what they think of their time in RoAEU.

View the other interviews from this series:

• Interview #1: Frikinin (you are here)
• Interview #2: OliveOily
• Interview #3: Readek
• Interview #4: TheDripCollector
• Interview #5: Transco
• Interview #6: Fireicey
• Interview #7: hok0ri

For our first interview we have the king of good mornings and wonderful TO, Frikinin.

Who are you?

Good morning! ❤️

My name’s Frik, 24, single. I’m from Badalona, Catalonia. Though I’ve been playing rivals since before Absa and Etalus even came out, I’m mostly known for my contributions as a TO and as a moderator in the european and spanish communities.

I am *very* aware of most mistakes I’ve realised I’ve made, but people seem to be very thankful of my job here, so maybe it’s just me being too self-aware. At the end of the day, I just want everyone to have fun playing this good old *furry trash smash*.

When did you first join the community?

As I said, I got the game a long time ago, though I didn’t join the community until about early 2017. For the most part I was just in the small spanish community, and on some rare occasion, I’d go to EUcord to have some small chat or enter a Supernova or RCS.

Then, early in 2018, following the failed Nova League, Readek and I tried to follow up with Rivalry. It was a bit of a mess, but we managed to actually finish it! This effort got me closer to the EU community, but what finally drew me in full was attending Traction 4 later that year. I might be a pretty antisocial dude, but meeting so many people in real life kinda is a life-changing experience.

What has been your best/favourite moment with Rivals?

Well, it has to be either Traction 4 or 5.

4 got me to take the step to fully enter the community. Even if I felt lost, I felt incredibly welcomed by Oily, Slime, Mayoi, and… basically everyone. I wouldn’t still be here if it wasn’t for that weekend.

5 was fun. Incredibly fun. It turns out that not being socially awkward makes you enjoy gaming more! Readek was also in charge of stream production™, and I spent a lot of time next to him helping him run that hell, subbing for him when his time to play came, and even come up with some ideas on the spot *(Remember that clip of Fireicey popping off from the end of that year’s PR? That was me!)*. It turns out that being involved with the production of a thing makes you enjoy it a lot!

How would you describe your playstyle in Rivals?

Have you ever heard about epicondylitis? Tennis elbow? It means there’s an inflammation in your elbow’s tendons that makes your whole arm hurt badly. There’s also a chance for it to be chronic.

I haven’t really played much Rivals since mid-2020. Me getting diagnosed with epicondylitis happened to coincide with Oily stepping down as the RCS TO, which is a neat coincidence, and the reason I took the “job”.

My playstyle as a TO is to try to maximise everyone’s fun. I guess that’s what everyone who’s doing this as volunteer work is doing, but I like to add a bit of empathy to every DQ related to bad connections, thank everyone who joins for their time, and generally try to create a good mood in chat in the middle of an ocean of @pings for sets and salty 0-2’ers.

If the powers that be force me to talk about my actual playstyle, I think the best description is “intentional stupidity”. By that I mean, I’m aware I suck. My best placing is a 6th (wasn’t better because I had to leave) at EURAS, many moons ago; and I haven’t really put much effort into labbing or grinding. At some point I guess I just decided the funniest approach would be to embrace sucking so much, and fishing for stuff that shouldn’t work. A random fstrong in neutral sounds as such a bad idea that many players around my level don’t consider it “an option their opponent will use”. But it works! Sometimes! Usually only once in the set! And I get to have a laugh, which is the most important part of the game!

What are you looking forward to most in Rivals 2?

Not much, I guess? There’s a chance that not being able to play has gotten me a bit disinterested in how Rivals 2 will come out. I’ll say, though, that it looks great! If I can let the TO inside me speak, I’m just hoping the new rollback saves us a lot of trouble and DQ’s!

Any closing statements?

Someone will have to fact-check me on this, but I’m probably the only “player” in here who has never PR’d, so it’s an honor to be here typing these words! I’m glad me being here running a discord or some brackets has brought joy to a few hundred people.

Oh, and take care of your body: Remember to sit upright and keep a comfortable position at all times!

Good morning! ❤

Join me Thursday as we continue The People of Rivals of Aether: Europe!