Rina
Interview with Mark
When I sat down to write the first of these articles, I had no illusions as to the reception they would receive. I had figured, at most, approval from staff to post it on my own and that would be that. Instead, graciously, I have been given the opportunity to continue this work at a larger scale than I had imagined prior. And one of the voices for this support is VWA’s Own CO, Mark. He made it very clear that creative works is something he wishes to foster within VWA as a community.
As a result, and to gain an insight into the history of VWA, I sat down with Mark to discuss the motivations, challenges and future plans of VWA.
Mark was not at all shy to admit that the early history of VWA has to do with his own style of learning. He readily admitted to being a hands-on learner who benefits greatly from having other people around to ask questions and try new ideas with. Add to this Mark’s ability to relate to other people, and he figured correctly that there are more people like himself. This resulted in the creation of VWA for the express purpose of facilitating community and mutual learning and assistance with DCS.
Mark then went on to discuss DCS beyond the aircraft, which he happily elaborated on when asked to. He brought up as an example the ATC classes and also the teaching of how to use the mission editor, and how this ties into “DCS is more than the aircraft”. It is important to know he meant the operating of aircraft, as there was also mention of a course on livery creation being in the works. It should be mentioned that this is still in the earliest stages, and is quite a ways off. I bring mention to this since, as written in the introduction, the creative side of VWA is something which Mark and other staff wish to foster. It should not go understated that there is creativity and passion to be found within the community of VWA, especially not given the explicit wish to foster those aspects.
What fascinated me, and I am sure will fascinate others, are the challenges faced by Mark and the other members of Staff. Despite the sheer size of the VWA Discord (2,262 members at time of writing), the the primary challenges which faces the Staff are technical. Just before the interview, Mark and staff were in a protracted meeting that lasted for eight hours and resulted in a number of small changes, not all of which are visible. Mark mentioned “the upkeep”, in reference to this work, and used the example of ensuring that the training servers contain what instructors need.
Mark goes on to state, when asked specifically about the social challenges, that it mostly resolves itself as VWA has managed to foster a largely mature and professional community wherein the need for direct moderation action is not all that great. Mark stressed that this is due to the fact that everyone has the same general interest (though, unlike Jacob, he didn’t specify it was planes and blowing shit up) and as a result the risk of conflict lowers. He does however admit that the combined efforts of the moderation team are efficient at weeding out potential bad actors. Perhaps, then, the credit belongs to moderation, instructors and community members alike.
It was a breath of fresh air to hear Mark’s insights about his leadership style when it comes to VWA. He called explicit attention to his efforts to remain social within VWA and as a result foster a welcoming spirit. He underlines that this is resultant of his own observation that a lot of leadership/server owners can be kind of disconnected and distant as a figure rather than as a member of their own community, and that he wishes to continue aiding people as hands on as possible.
A bit paradoxical then, perhaps, is his stated desire to transfer out of his role as the F-5 instructor, which he is attempting to find a “someone better than me” for. We are also treated to, as I originally asked about his preferences for flying, a small window into Mark’s approach to flying. He stated to liking the F-14, and particularly having a thing for Iranian Operations and liveries. The limitations of not having an external fuel tank, as an example given by Mark, “It’s different from the usual style of the F-14.”
As part of this, Mark also decided to share a small story about an encounter had between himself and a hostile aircraft. His opponent held an altitude advantage at 10,000’ whereas Mark was at 200’ off the ground. He describes a launch of some kind from the enemy, and recounts it exploding somewhere near him. Shortly thereafter Mark was able to get under the radar of his foe, and launched an AiM-7F which netted him a kill. A hostile JF-17 soon came upon Mark, and shot him down in the resulting dogfight. This was shared with me with a tone of levity which clearly implied a great enjoyment.
Perhaps this great enjoyment can also be found in how Mark discusses two stories from VWA, the first being something called “VWA Zombies”, which Mark thinks to be everyone’s favorite event thus far. Comparable to Call of Duty Infected, someone starts with Fox-3s, and upon scoring a kill that person is infected, and weapons swapped to guns and Fox-2s. Mark made no mention of a penultimate victor (if you can even find one in such a gamemode), and stated “I think so far that’s been everyone’s favorite event. But really it’s been every event so far that I’ve been part of”. Mark also offers insight into something called “Operation Tango Mango”, a Grad only PVP mission. In the end, it came down to Mark and one other redfor player left, both of whom realized they were going to lose. So instead, they surrendered and flew a defector profile towards bluefor. Mark highlights this as a particularly fun, dynamic and unique occurrence. Perhaps no better example of Mark’s easygoing and funloving attitude can be found than the story behind his callsign “Pinocchio”. Having been bored one day, he decided it would be funny to attempt to mildly gaslight people in general chat. Just to garner reactions out of people and see what would happen. Instead everyone caught on very quickly, and a vote was held to determine his new callsign, and it landed on Pinocchio.
Finally, Mark decided to share some insights into the near future of VWA and the work being done for the betterment of the server and folks therein. Mark is quoted as saying “2026 I think is gonna be a big year for us”. There is work being done to create new missions and operations, new courses, and more stories and adventures to be had as a result. Mark noted that special attention should be paid to the 18th of July, as that is the start of the 26 - 3 cycle and cryptically, though he declined to elaborate, July 10th will have its own surprises of a certain scale and importance.
Lastly, Mark wishes to make it known that VWA endorses PandaExpress
by Rina