[MEGA ATN] ATN - The Past, Present & Future.

ALERT:Ask LDK questions below! LDK will be in our hotseat this time so fire away!

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Yes! ATN is back after going two weeks without an article. As always, we apologize for the inactivity and we hope you enjoy this one. It's been a long time since an article like this was produced and after our lack of activity in the last two weeks, Madara and I decided you deserved better.

As we all know ATN has somehow dragged itself to be the longest serving AtWar news contributor for around a year and a half. Although not popular now as it was before, it's always been something in the background of the community which people enjoy reading. Previously lead by retired rank 9 LDK ATN took new heights, raised new standards and kept going even if inactive. In today's edition I have interviews with the former President LDK and former Vice-President Safari. Some members of the Network and a few members of the public.
Starting with LDK, obviously it wasn't going to be easy to get a hold of him. Fortunately, Madara could contact him through Skype so the interview took place there as Madara asked him my questions.

Trooper21: Hello, I'm interviewing for your truly beloved ATN. LDK, would you like to be interviewed by your business?
LDK: Let's do it

Trooper21: Great. I'm creating an article based on the history + reasons behind the company I'm working for & the franchise you used to own. I've always wondered what tempted you to make such a thing?

LDK: Mhmm, that's a tricky question. It's not one of those answers where you have only one answer. Many answers.
For starters, I wanted to create a news company ages ago. I just didn't see it settling into a community such as AW.
I then put myself straight and created a CW Reporting team with V-dog115.
The first cw report (which should be in the archives somewhere as the first report ATN did) was very successful.
So I wanted to expand. Hence AT News or AtWar Times in full.
I wanted to contribute to the community with exciting articles that would take players off the game for a minute or so to read.
Cool them off after a heavy defeat or just read, you know?
I think the main purpose of ATN was to provide news for AW obviously but although I won't admit it 100%, I did want to mock certain players at times.

Trooper21: Wow! The majority of your time must of been committed to support ATN. Would you like to tell me how you managed to deal with AW, ATN and real life?
LDK: Time consuming? Man, ATN was nothing haha! I didn't need to worry about time, I was happy with contributing and writing/sharing articles. That was all it for me. Time didn't matter much as long as everyone loved my articles.

Trooper21: I hope that was the same for your recruits! Please tell me, when you started to recruit members I know you made a criteria but what exactly were you looking for?
LDK: The criteria was made to show an outline summary of what I was looking for. After looking deep into the person, I would make my assumptions.
They would have to be a committed person, not your best friend.
You need to know whether they'd be making articles on trolling other players or "atwar's shi**est mods.
You also need to be fair and accept those who don't really have a say in atwar's community.
I remember Bertank who applied. Before he was a quiet individual who did all his talking in game. After his articles came out, he started having big says in the forum too.
Nice question though, never expected that.

Trooper21: I see. I can't imagine all your recruits were quite so spectacular! How did you deal with the inactivity of journalists? Did you have a strict timetable? Do you remember a time where you had to swipe someone off your board for misconduct?
LDK: Hmm, how do I go about this question. Firstly, it's a game. With something like ATN, you're always going to get inactive reporters/journalists. There's a timetable in place, as always, but you need to show flexibility because RL > AW.
I've never had problems with members, mainly because I had such large powers of nagging that they usually publish their articles.
Although, this one time I had to kick out Bonks, mainly because he annoyed me and because it was Bonkz.

Trooper21: Lmfao. You wrote the majority of the articles back in your day which were almost all master pieces. You set the high standard for our articles today! But, what was your favorite article?
LDK: Hahaha, I get asked this a lot. There's always one, and it's called "Arming to Farm? or Farm in Arms?" http://atwar-game.com/forum/topic.php?topic_id=7869
I loved it because the sheer information I had to get was incredibly tough.
Information from mods these days are quite hard to get but the ATN source always comes through.
I loved Pera's interview because I put him on the spot a lot. He has no clue about what he's doing in a clan of 12 members where around 6 SP farm. But nothing can beat EAB's interview, you always need an EAB humour interview

Trooper21: Yes, quite the performance. So, you retired a few months back and handed over the reigns to Madara. Why him?
LDK: Well, Madara has a different character and personality compared to my vice at the time Safari.
Safari is reliable and one of my most trusted vices, but Madara is the bloke that seems organised, structures well and is ready to take on the commitment.
Is willing to take on challenges and not to take them on in a laidback way but a "come at me" way. Which is why I chose him.
Safari was going to the Austrian Army anyways but that wouldn't of made a difference.

Trooper21: ATN is a year and a few months old since you retired. She's getting older every day yet there are no signs of you returning. Are we able to see a return of you in the future?
LDK: HAHAHAHA, I knew this was coming. Mhmm, I've always said no to everyone that's asked me but if truth be told, you'll never know .

Trooper21: That's much better than a no! ;P
LDK:

Trooper21: Is there anything you'd like to say before we close, LDK?
LDK: This seems like an interesting article if made correctly. I might actually pop in and say something when it gets published. All readers out there, enjoy AW!

---

ATN was made for the community to enjoy after playing a game or when players want to check out something interesting in the forum it seems. When asked if ATN took most of his time out of AW & real life, he said no. He must of been one committed individual! He didn't care about time as long as everyone liked his articles. Moving on, he talks about decisions he's had to make. For one, he chose Madara over Safari because the differences in the two. He also states he might come back in the future, which is exciting.

Safari was there at the start of ATN too. Immediately promoted to Vice-President after two articles, I interview him on what ATN was really about.

Trooper21: Hello, Safari! I'm producing an article on behalf of ATN. I know you have been a life long supporter of ATN and as a former vice president you have experienced the history of ATN. Would you like to give up time answering some of my questions?
~Safari: Sure, let's do it! I hope i can help you with my answers

Trooper21: I'm sure you will too. What made you decide you wanted to join ATN?
~Safari: Well that's very easy to tell you, as not many people know I am writing diary. So I am used to writing a lot. I do also write a lot with my 3 pen pals. To come back to the question, according to the fact that i like writing stuff, I just thought "why not".


Trooper21: Right so the fact LDK was President of ATN, didn't tempt you to join at all?
~Safari: To be honest i didn't even knew him well. We became friends after i joined ATN.


Trooper21: Right so you wanted to join for the fun of it and the fact that you could write.
~Safari: Well yeah, that sums it up. LDK wanted some pictures also and fortunately I'm a Photoshop guy so I could help him with that. I can't forget to mention I wanted to improve my English which was another reason I wanted to join.

Trooper21: ATN's produced more than a handful of articles, what do you think is the factor behind this? Why did ATN become so successful in your opinion?
~Safari: I guess LDK was one reason, because he reminded everyone to write his articles and also scheduled everything perfectly. Also, I remember there have been some competitive News companies at the very beginning. From Fruit to Gardevoir but they all failed because a lack of Motivation and Organization.
LDK also tried to bring in new features into the articles. Like ask the player.


Trooper21: And how do you think "features" such as "Ask the Player" went well for ATN?
~Safari: In hope the readers like it, ask questions and cant wait for the responses in the next coming articles. Well so they raised interest in the readers mind.


Trooper21: Haha, seems like a great strategy.
~Safari: Of course. Real newspapers do it the same way and the aim was to replicate a similar method.

Trooper21: Moving on now, at times did you see any signs of ATN crumbling? Have you ever though ATN would fall?
~Safari: There are such moments every now and then
Trooper21: Care to explain?
~Safari: I mean if there came no article for 1 month (which has happened). Then you start thinking that ATN gets inactive. But our president LDK always reorganized everything last minute. So because of that ATN is 1.5 years old I guess :p.

Trooper21: Right, have you ever doubted LDK's moves to help/move ATN forward?
~Safari: Never, he always drilled me hard. He has these nagging powers which never stop amazing me. It works all the time, lol.

Trooper21: As LDK retired he chose, in what seems a controversial decision, Madara to lead ATN over you even though you were his vice. Where you disappointed? Express your feelings at his actions.
~Safari: Lol disappointed. That was just a sign that LDK does know me

Trooper21: What do you mean?
~Safari: He knows that i am not Power greedy and that. I am too lazy to do that. I mean sitting in atwar room chat is enough for me. I need to take care of all the trolls of Atwar and entertain them and that makes me busy.
Trooper21: So you think he did it for the good of ATN and so you wouldn't be too busy either?
~Safari: Yup, you said it.

Trooper21: We talked about the handful of articles being produced, you never told me your favorite. Which one?
~Safari: Let me check. Ohhh, Farms in arms by far. Was the funniest and made me laugh the most. I like news like that :p


Trooper21: Haha, that's the same article LDK chose.
Trooper21: Well that's it! Before we close this interview, do you have anything to say to our readers?
~Safari: Yeah. Please be nice to each other and stop abusing global chat. I am watching all of you!

Trooper21: Loool, thanks for sitting down and letting me interview you!
~Safari: Np tiger!

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Safari certainly reveals a lot here! His motto should be "Started as the photographer and now I'm here", which is all true. Taking screenshots for "cw reports" he then got promoted to become a journalist who would write brilliant articles and more cw reports. Eventually (although sooner rather than later) he became LDK's closest friend in ATN and became Vice-President. He also doesn't seem to be hurt by LDK's choice of Madara to rule ATN rather than giving power to his vice. He's rather calm about it, maybe he doesn't want to reveal much of his true feelings or maybe he actually legit didn't mind. He does say he has a lot on his plate right now, so maybe LDK did it because he cares.

I needed to interview a long standing member of ATN to get to know the roots of it. Bertank was one that came to mind, so he entered the frame. Bertank, a "player that has little say" according to LDK, is one of the oldest members of ATN.

Troops: Hello Bertank! I'm going to fire some questions at you and I want you to instead of dodging them, answer them instead?
BertanK: Haha ok, when do I ever dodge questions? well unless they're personal or embarrassing lol

Troops: Haha, great! I wanted to know what convinced you to join ATN?
BertanK: Well, when I read the article about SM (by LDK), I found it nice and so wanted to join up to be able to write articles like them. Plus, they're good practice for my English class as well, not only for class but also for my own benefit of course. I could improve my writing skills further.

Troops: Mhmm, that's funny because it's similar to what Safari said. Did you enjoy writing too?
BertanK: Hmm, I don't particularly enjoy writing, though I like improving my vocabulary/writing skills. And also I like that I can share stories to others who aren't maybe fully aware of the recent topics.

Troops: Right so when you joined ATN, was it anything like what you thought it would be? Did LDK give you a job straightaway? How did he treat you as a colleague?
BertanK: It was actually exactly how I thought it would be like, though I don't remember much what I had thought it would be like since it's a pretty long time ago and I'm not good at remembering things haha. I think LDK wasn't too serious and also wasn't too sloppy about ATN either. That was good since this is not a full time job, but also didn't mean that we could just write whenever we wanted. So it was balanced. Not implying that he wasn't serious about ATN. Just wasn't his #1 priority for obvious reasons.

Troops: Mhmm, sounds good. You've said it's been a long time since you were recruited by LDK. Do you think the amount of articles you wrote is around the same to what you initially expected?
BertanK: I guess not, because ATN went inactive for a long time, if it had continued, I would have probably had many more.

Troops: Do you think it went inactive because LDK retired and Madara couldn't bring ATN back again?
BertanK: Well, madara was never set to bring back ATN, he just thought he'd pick it up since LDK requested it. And, yea ATN went inactive because LDK left it, then mathdino picked it up and he went inactive, then LDK picked it up again. So yea, when the 'president' leaves it, ATN usually goes inactive because no articles are produced, so it gets forgotten about.

Troops: Honestly, I think Madara is doing a fine job. Being leader of ATN & the Radio was always going to be a hard job. If he has the right members under him that are willing to give up time and write then ATN can be back to what it used to be.
Troops: Moving on, throughout your time in ATN, what has been your favurite ATN article?
BertanK: I guess the one I mentioned before, "SM, rise of the Dead" one by LDK, since it is about SM and it was nice to see our struggles being shared in an article. It really was surprising and I found it very entertaining to read.
Troops: Haha, that's great. I interviewed LDK himself and Safari and they both felt their best articles were "Arming to Farm". It's nice to see a different article being said
BertanK: haha, alright.

Troops: Speaking of those interviews, in a recent interview with LDK I asked him what exactly he was looking for in recruits
Troops: He responded with, to quote, "You also need to be fair and accept those who don't really have a say in atwar's community." He referred to you, and said, to quote, "Before he was a quiet individual who did all his talking in game. After his articles came out, he started having big says in the forum". Do you agree?
BertanK: Hmm, that's interesting. To this day, I don't really share my opinion much on the community forums, though when I do, I usually get ignored. Never thought of it that way though. I guess it wasn't the only factor, I think it was more because I was starting to get interested in the forum. ATN was probably one of the many reasons why.

Troops: I see. We're almost finished, do you think ATN still has a future in this game? If yes, then how would you rule ATN to make it a frequent talking point of the community
BertanK: Well, it really depends. If Madara is willing to keep the ATN alive, it does have a future, but otherwise as it already started, some will miss their articles and this will eventually again lead to an inactive ATN. I do think that an article per week is too much considering the fact that usually nothing interesting happens in a week time. Therefore most of the time we struggle (at least I do) finding an interesting topic, this leads to not having very interesting topics, which the community gets bored of reading about. I have realized the decline in the comments in the articles and I think this is the reason behind it. I guess to make it a frequent talking point of the community, we need to have less frequent articles, so that each article can reflect on more, which would make it more interesting to read, and the community would be more excited about a next release.
BertanK: So maybe once a month or something because as we know, the less there is of something, the more valuable it gets
BertanK: But I do understand that this is a tradition which LDK wanted follow, and madara wants to keep this tradition alive.
Troops: Mhmm, very interesting views you have there! I would like to thank you for your time and I will see you next time when you enter the interviewing seat!
BertanK: No problem mate! Yep, and I'll see you when you enter the interviewee seat

---

Next, I needed to find out what the community thought about ATN. Do they find it interesting? Do they even know about it? I roamed around the streets of AtWar to find out.



Trooper21: Can I ask you some questions for ATN?
Spartacus1843: Sure mate!
Trooper21: When I say ATN, what's the first thing you think of?
Spartacus1843: A glorious online news paper! It's really unique because the journalists you guys have are normal members of AW so they know what's going around.
Spartacus1843: I'd say the online version of New York times?
Trooper21: Right. Do you know who started it?
Spartacus1843: LDK i think?
Trooper21: Correct. Do you think ATN was and still plays a major part in AW?
Spartacus1843: Yes it is. Not sure if it was before, but at the moment it is. Because it gives you a brief summary of what's going around, etc..
Reading ATN for me is like waking up and reading the morning news paper to be honest. It would be amazing if it was published on daily basis.
Trooper21: That's all, thanks.
Spartacus1843: No problem! Good luck with your article!

Trooper21: Hey, got time for a quick interview?
Syndispart: Sure.
Trooper21: If I said "ATN" to you, what's the first thing that comes to mind?
Syndispart: Honestly, the very first thing that comes to mind is Article. But also, Madara comes to mind. He has been the face of it for a while and has done a great job trying to keep it and the radio on track.
Trooper21: That's cool. Do you think ATN whilst LDK in charge was more popular than the current one?
Syndispart: I think ATN has more publicity because LDK was more vocal about it, and he got the word around a lot. Madara is more of the quiet type when you compare him with LDK. But I prefer the articles that come out with Madara in charge. I just wish they came out a bit more frequently.
Trooper21: The activity thing is an issue of late. Do you think that will cost ATN missing out on becoming a major theme of AW?
~Syndispart: Perhaps. I am much more concerned with the activity on the radio rather than with ATN itself though. If ATN can come out with at least an article once a week, they will be fine I think.
Trooper21: Well, thanks that will be all.
~Syndispart: Not a problem. Anytime. Hope your article goes well.

---

These interviews I got in show what the active players of AW think of ATN. ATN has given itself a reputation over the last one and a half year that it can be very inactive and inconsistent. Although players find it entertaining and interesting, they think ATN needs to boost its hard work in supplying news to AW. However, finding news day in day out every week is extremely difficult. Especially when some argue AW is dying. Can it be done though? Madara answers these questions in the following interview:

Trooper21: Welcome to the interview studio, Madara! Shall we begin?
Madara: Greetings, indeed.

Trooper21: Cool beans. Starting on pressing matters first. You were given the reigns to take charge of ATN. Express your feelings.
Madara: First of all my honored. It was a complete surprise to be handed it over something I feel is an important feature of the atWar community. I was sure the vice would soon make his move and bring back ATN but his move never came.
Me and LDK go way back so it felt right when he let me take over. It was very exciting aswell. I remember LDK having a very very harsh time while he was over with hdrakon and Safari so I guess their relationship didn't play out right.

Trooper21: Mhmm, even if the relationship between those 2 did break down. Why do you think he chose you out of many candidates?
Madara: Because he knew how I was. My attitude, reputation and we had a close relationship.

Trooper21: Haha, he must of had a good opinion of you. Moving on, it's been a few months since you've been in charge now. Articles have been published frequently until lately, what are you doing to correct this?
Madara: Currently, it isn't a problem. One of our writers was in open opposition with the atWar staff. Therefore he thought it made sense that he didn't write an article.
Trooper21: Care to elaborate?
Madara: Well, I removed one from our schedule. The other I plan to do the same.
Madara: The others were just inactive and forgot to write an article. Or they didn't even bother to check our forum.
Madara: Seeing this, I'm going to have to act in a more serious manner from now on when it comes to missing articles.

Trooper21: It's clear you don't want to go into too much detail so I'm not going to press it further. Looking into the future, what are your suggestions, new features to take ATN to the next level it once was?
Madara: Well, first we need to find the best writers around. Able writers that have time they're willing to set aside to write an article.
Madara: Not only that, I'm debating if we should keep writing articles every week.
Madara: I've also recruited more reporters so we can start getting more CW reports out. A ton of CWs are being played lately. And ATN wants to get as much coverage as we can on these CWs.
Madara: Also before, ATN was much more open to bashing players and fooling around. Which was I enjoyed a lot back then.
Madara: Soon, the admins will decide whether or not to go full time with atWar. I want ATN be ready when that time comes
and that means we have to take things a bit more seriously.

Trooper21: Roaming around the streets of AW, I wanted to know what players thought of ATN. Some of them thought it was great but it would never reach a big part of our community because of the inactivity. What are your comments on this?
Madara: We're just getting started. In the coming months, maybe the summer, ATN and the radio will be working today. We'll have DJs talking on mics, which will be very fun. We'll have live casts of CWs. Both on twitch, and audio on atWar radio.
Madara: If you look at the forum there's been a lot of hate from the community thrown at the atWar staff. Of course, from map makers. It isn't nice to see something positive in the forum for once?

Trooper21: Hehe sounds promising. You mentioned the radio there and believe it or not I was going to ask you a question about it! Managing the two of them must be hard, how do you do it?
Madara: Well, until recently I haven't been writing articles for ATN. Instead I've been guiding them and keeping our writers on track. But now that they've lost interest, I've had to step in and start writing an abundance of articles.
Madara: As for the radio, I've found some real DJs that exhilarate our listeners. They play every now and then.

Trooper21: care to mention a few names?
Madara: No one likes my music, otherwise I'd DJ a lot more for the sake that there's music playing on the radio.
Madara: Hugo & Trooper of course.
Madara: Being a 'retired' Moderator, even Hugo sets some time aside to DJ every now and then.
Madara: Which really helps.
Madara: I just keep building slowly.

Trooper21: I've heard this Trooper person is a real life DJ, with wealth of experience. Sounds like a real top guy, he does. Do you think that's the reason why he's so popular as a DJ?
Madara: Absolutely. He's determined aswell. He WANTS to work more and contribute. He's excited about the radio!
Madara: Not only that, I'm resuming recruiting for both ATN and the radio.
Trooper21: AH, nice some advertisement going in my interview. Nothing wrong with that
Madara: Haha.
Trooper21: Madara: But anyway, thanks for answering my questions today, even though it was halted halfway through because of the laggy servers
Trooper21: Madara: It was a great pleasure to do so
Madara: I look forward to the finished product of this article. Good luck!
Madara: And thank you.

---

Here Madara and I talk about how he's going to go about making ATN make the big jump to produce frequently and consistently. He talks about the difficulty of managing both the radio and ATN but he knows by working patiently and slowly, the job can be done. Looking ahead, the future looks bright for AW forum wise. You see all those flaming troll posts and then you take a look at ATN, not everything here is that bad. On the other hand, can ATN deliver consistently? I leave you on that question and thank you for reading!

Trooper21.

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As mentioned above LDK is the Ask The Player for this week. Ask him questions you wouldn't dare ask if he was here!

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Great article

@LDK: are you sometimes checking with guest accounts on atWar?

Napísal Safari, 16.02.2014 at 14:41

Great article

@LDK: are you sometimes checking with guest accounts on atWar?

I think he's bullet. They have SOOO much in common, idk.




.
Trooper21: I've heard this Trooper person is a real life DJ, with wealth of experience. Sounds like a real top guy, he does. Do you think that's the reason why he's so popular as a DJ?

I lol'd at that.

WOW LDK?
Hi LDK, long time no see. Is bullet your alt? Why does he do everything exactly the way you do? Do you play on other accounts? Do you miss me? I don't know much on why did you leave. What happened? Can you give me your alt "Percy" so I can have WTH?

BAHAHAH Fag. Still released my article though you should do an article on why LDK is so bi-polar and why he thinks he matters at all to AW. Saying that the 'news' is a good legacy to leave, about the only thing to congratulate him for. Whatever...

Nice article trooper, a long read though.

My questions for LDK:

1) Why do you matter to AW?

2) Nice win in Shitfield, Liverpool sure can play football for 20mins, do you think they will win the EPL?

Napísal b0nker2, 16.02.2014 at 14:50

BAHAHAH Fag. Still released my article though you should do an article on why LDK is so bi-polar and why he thinks he matters at all to AW. Saying that the 'news' is a good legacy to leave, about the only thing to congratulate him for. Whatever...

Nice article trooper, a long read though.

My questions for LDK:

1) Why do you matter to AW?

2) Nice win in Shitfield, Liverpool sure can play football for 20mins, do you think they will win the EPL?

Liverpool narbs, they have no chance in winning EPL. Arsenal stronk <3

Great article Trooper!! Enjoyed reading it! <3

Cituj:

Cituj:

Liverpool narbs, they have no chance in winning EPL. Arsenal stronk <3

You know, I don't recall telling you who I support. Perhaps you are indeed LDK, mulitple persoanlities and being bi-polar are a dangerous mix.

Liverpool strong Good read

Cituj:

Cituj:

Napísal b0nker2, 16.02.2014 at 14:56

Liverpool narbs, they have no chance in winning EPL. Arsenal stronk <3

You know, I don't recall telling you who I support. Perhaps you are indeed LDK, mulitple persoanlities and being bi-polar are a dangerous mix.

When I was in SM.... We used to talk about soccer.. Omg, don't you remember anything? Either way I support Arsenal and everyone knows that

Napísal bullet86, 16.02.2014 at 14:58

When I was in SM.... We used to talk about soccer.. Omg, don't you remember anything? Either way I support Arsenal and everyone knows that

You claim you're English, yet you say "Soccer" instead of Football.

Napísal Trooper21, 16.02.2014 at 15:03

Napísal bullet86, 16.02.2014 at 14:58

When I was in SM.... We used to talk about soccer.. Omg, don't you remember anything? Either way I support Arsenal and everyone knows that

You claim you're English, yet you say "Soccer" instead of Football.

I play too much AW. Blame AW, and it's not like YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO USE IT, but sure you can assume anything.

What the actual fuck is wrong with the format of this page.

The always honorable LDK! Glad they invented skype If you're reading this love ya bro!

Napísal Mr_Own_U, 16.02.2014 at 22:58

The always honorable LDK! .............

10/10 for trolling, although for you it is sincere.

Question 3: LDK do you like Hippos?

Napísal Goblin, 17.02.2014 at 08:36

Dudes ...bullet is not LDK.

^^

Napísal Leaf, 16.02.2014 at 22:50

What the actual fuck is wrong with the format of this page.

Looks like I'm not the only one. I'll look into this and get in contact with Trooper to see if we can fix this problem. You have my apologies for the inconvenience.

Napísal Madara, 17.02.2014 at 14:47

Napísal Leaf, 16.02.2014 at 22:50

What the actual fuck is wrong with the format of this page.

Looks like I'm not the only one. I'll look into this and get in contact with Trooper to see if we can fix this problem. You have my apologies for the inconvenience.

I see it 100% working, but LOL I put some weird & random text in my post, and now it's censored. xD Maybe, that fucked it up?

Whatever it was, I'm glad it's fixed. Well done on the article though, must've taken some time to do.

Let's keep getting questions for LDK, also absolutely fantastic article Trooper! Especially for your first time. A job well done