Return to Pojo's Dragonball - Interviews



Q: Your site finally was put back up after a long downtime. What was the cause for the downtime? Also, are you getting pretty sick of cvg going down so often or do you view it as quality time away from the site?



A: I think that the downtime was due to some bandwidth from GGG, DB Vortex, and CMDBZ. I'm getting a little tired of it, but it's a nice break from the site. When it's not up, it's like "I don't have to update anything today." It's pretty nice. After all, updating is almost becoming a chore, nowadays.



Q: You lost Mason to another site. He was one of the founding members of the site. Is this a major blow to the site in anyway and how will his leaving affect the site?



A: I wouldn't call it a "loss." And I wouldn't say he was a "founding member." See, I started off on my own about 3 years ago with my Vegeta shrine, which had everything that CMDBZ has now. Then last year, Mason asked to work with me. He came along and only did a couple things. FUNI mistakes, and Music. I didn't feel he was anymore a part of the site than anybody else. This is not a major blow in any way. It's actually nice. Nobody on the CMDBZ staff really cared for Mason anyway. His leave will not affect us in a bad way at all.



Q: While we are on the topic of talking about your staff workers, you have a total of eight staff members. I have many mixed thoughts on this, but my main question is whether or not all of these staff members are truly needed. Also, do you see the addition of any new staff members in the near future?



A: Well, I don't just hire anybody. I have a lot of friends that I'm really close with, and it seems like it would be fun to work on a site with them. If I have a close friend that likes dbz, I'll ask him if he wants to work for CMDBZ. I say "You don't have to do anything, wanna join?" I mean, just look at Sai =P (JK). Well, I've offered work to most of my close friends, and all the ones that said yes are already part of the staff. I don't see anybody else joining anytime soon. Sometimes I, or other staff members, get emails from fans asking to join the site. Sorry, it doesn't work that way. You gotta be a friend. But in the case of Crazy C, he was one of Greg's buddies, and he had some killer art, so I asked him if he wanted to join the staff.



Q: Your site started off just like every other site, it was nothing, but you kept working and it is finally starting to get some recognition. What exactly does it take to establish and maintain a successful site?



A: Hehe, lots of time. I worked on my Vegeta site for about 2 years, that never made it, CMDBZ was created last year, and it just started to gain popularity at the beginning of 2001. I started out on Geocities, using a pagebuilder. Then I learned some HTML, but I stayed at Geocities. Then, I sharpened my HTML skills, got some skills using Adobe Photoshop, and the site you see now is the result of lots of time and effort.



Q: Are you happy with the current success of your site? Also, do you feel your site has what it takes to compete with some of the larger Dragonball sites that are currently on the web?



A: I'm happy. It's pretty much all I ever wanted. I always wanted my site to get about 1000 a day. That was my goal when I first started. I pull in around 600 a day. That's close enough for me. I think that CMDBZ has what it takes. Nowadays I don't go to a dragonball site so much for news and content, but just to read updates. CMDBZ has lots of content, and lots of updating. What more could you ask for?



Q: For most people, working on site starts off as a hobby, but after a while it becomes a chore. Do you feel this way about working on your site? If this is the case, do you see yourself leaving the site anytime soon or shutting it down?



A: YES I DO. It's become a very big chore. Dragon Ball is a great show, but when it comes to Dragon Ball on the internet, it's just not very much fun anymore. Same things at every site. I've been talking with the staff about leaving CMDBZ. It could come soon, but then again, it might not come at all. We'll just have to see.



Q: A lot of sites have been going down over the past year or so. The most recent site that comes into my mind is DBZ Uncensored. This was a site that truly changed how dragonball fans thought about the series. All sites are eventually bound to shut down, but how do you feel about the closing of all these top-notch sites.



A: I don't really care about any of that. I totally understand why they shut down. Dragon Ball on the net is only fun to a certain extent.



Q: Do you or your other staff members have any special projects that you are working on for the near future? If you do, can you give us some info on those projects?



A: I will give you a hint on how to find out... CHECK CMDBZ EVERYDAY FOR UPDATES =D.



Q: Planet Namek's irc server was one of the few ways that I communicated with other people from the db Internet community. Now, even though I stopped going for a while, I still enjoyed the place. Now, I know that you were a regular in #namek. What are your opinions on the shutting down of the server?



A: I really enjoyed irc.planetnamek.com. It was something to do while I was on the net. It sucks that it's not up anymore. It sucks really bad. But there's nothing we can do about that.



Q: FUNimation is finally moving on with the dbz movies with the upcoming release of Movie 4. Now, despite the fact that Movie 4 isn't really that entertaining, at least they are moving on. How do you think FUNi will handle the remaining movies and do you think we will ever see a theatrical release for the DBZ movies?



A: I think they'll do all right. I just hope to hear Jon Allen in movie 6, 8, and 10 =D



Q: Who is your favorite character from DBZ?



A: Vegeta of course.



Q: What is your favorite song from the show and which series do you feel has the best music?



A: Dan Dan Kokoro Hikareteku from Dragon Ball GT was definitely my favorite song, and I didn't like anything from Z, so I guess that GT had the best music =D



Q: If you could match your favorite character from DBZ up against a character from any other anime, who would the character be and from which anime would he come?



A: Recca (Flame Of Recca) VS. Vegeta. Vegeta would kick his ass, but it'd be fun watching Recca try. It always is. =D



Q: What other anime's do you like besides DBZ?



A: Flame of Recca is my favorite. I also like Vision of Escaflowne, Kenshin, Slayers,



Q: Now, for the final question of the day. I hope you will be able to answer what is on the mind of all your fans. What is going to happen to the "M" in CMDBZ? Hmm....it seemed like a great question at the time.



A: lol. I think we'll leave it in there... Just cause it sounds good. =P Besides, it could always have a new meaning... Like Bravo said.. "Cracka - Mexican Dragon Ball Z" =P



Andy: Well, thanks a lot for doing the interview, it was a lot of fun. It is also nice to have a fellow Michigander holding it down.



Carlos: No problem, interviews are always FUN. Of course. And it's not just me. Crazy C, Sai, and MutenRoshi are all Michiganders. Hell yes. CMDBZ is holding it down Wolverine style. YES. o.o