Charlotte ‘Chaz’ Conopo

Charlotte conopo

Name and Twitter handle?
 
Charlotte ‘Chaz’ Conopo / @BlueBerriMoon
 
Where were you born?

Northampton, UK

Which part of the world are you in now?
 
Birmingham, UK
 
What’s your favourite video game of all time?

Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask- it’s that amazing I have the mask tattooed on my foot!
 
What was the last game you enjoyed and why?

Pokemon White 2- because it was (and very embarrassingly) the first Pokemon game I finished!
 
Can you describe some of the bullying you experienced?

The bullying was more mental than physical. It was happening in secondary school, when I was having to go through my parents divorcing in 2001. What made it worse was that people found out that my Dad was gay so I got a lot of names called because of him coming out. Being gay at that time was shocking and frowned upon by some so I had to deal with major family issues at home, with surrounding family members and who I thought was my best friend decided to blurt this information out. It started a few years of feeling worthless, helpless and eventually suicidal. Also because I was a student who kept their uniform neat and actually did work in class, people decided that I would be perfect for their ‘abuse’. After dealing with that, I still got bullied by people for unknown reasons. Some friends decided to turn on me because I wouldn’t hang out with them, so it wasn’t until I left for college that I actually felt like I could be myself without being judged. I had no self confidence either as people at school called me the usual names of ‘ugly and ‘fat’, which then moved on to just taking the mick out of my surname and other things. 
 
When did you manage the bullying?

ASAP. I started seeing a councilor in school hours a few months after starting secondary school and the bullying began. I told my tutor about what was happening, and then he forwarded me to a group within the school grounds. I went there every week just to talk about how things were at home, but that quickly ended when my councilor got a job far away. My next tactic was actually playing computer games when I got home. I didn’t trust anyone with my problems so playing a game removed me from the real world to another where I felt safe.
 
What effect do you think bullying had on you?

The bullying made me very paranoid of others opinions about me, my actions and bought out the feelings of suicide so many times. I felt alone, unsafe, insecure, worried and useless. It also made me feel like I couldn’t trust anyone at all. 
 
What do you do now?

After graduating in Concept Design from Staffordshire University, I’m now working for Dojit Games.
 
How is your life better now?

Apart from graduating, I’ve moved out, found myself someone who loves me for who I am and I’m surrounded by family and friends who support me.
 
Did you think your life was ever going to be this good?
No, never.

What would you like to say to a youngster thinking about getting into video games who is experiencing bullying right now?

Keep strong. It might sound strange but playing your favourite game and making up stories helped me cope. I used to sit and play Legend of Zelda for so many hours making up my own adventures just to forget what happened at school. You will discover who your true friends are if they stick by you through thick and thin. Also it might sound like a bad idea but report the bullying to someone you can trust. Being bullied is horrible and scary especially if it happens every day. No one deserves to be bullied and those who bully will get their comeuppance one day. That’s karma for you.

Selection

A new profile will be going up today! 

A few people have asked if there are any selection criteria to getting featured, so here are some answers 

Do you have to be an indie? 

No

Do you have to be famous or well known?

No

If you experienced bullying and you didn’t think life could get better, but are now in games in some way and find that life is better, than we want to feature you. Contact us, we’ll send you a questionnaire and barring anything hugely offensive or illegal, you’ll get featured at some point. The premise of Beyond the Final Boss is simple: We want to show young people that because we in the games industry won, they can win too.

That’s it.

Rami Ismail

Rami ismail
 
 
Name and Twitter handle?
 
 Rami Ismail / @tha_rami
  
Where were you born?
 
The Netherlands.
  
In which part of the world do you currently reside?
 
The Netherlands
  
What’s your favourite video game of all time?
 
Metal Gear Solid.
  
What was the last game you enjoyed (feel free to list more than one!)
 
Dishonored, Antichamber and Clairvoyance.
  
Can you describe some of the bullying you experienced?
 
Bullying was constant – as it seems to be for most creative and intelligent kids. My things would be hidden, I’d be shoved around and told I was weird.  I taught myself to bury emotions away as deep as I could. Of course I did not want to show I was ‘weak’ or ‘bothered’. That’s the way a young mind works, and all I really wanted was to fit in with the cool kids. The most vivid memory I have is one of the few friends I had back then walking up to me and telling me I’d no longer be invited to his birthday party, because we were no longer friends or the other kids would find him lame. 
  
When did you manage the bullying?
 
By the time I turned fourteen, I had enough of pretending to be strong, or wanting to fit in. I had hoped college would be better, but things just continued to be terrible in general. I decided to intentionally flunk most of my tests so that I wouldn’t pass the year and I could start over in another class.  When that worked out and I went to school for the first day in that new class, I decided to no longer take any abuse and instead of trying to adapt to what people felt was cool, just to be myself. When I wrapped up college, I was the honor student that got to do the final speech on behalf of my year.
 
What effect do you think bullying had on you?
 
Managing the bullying was such a relief. I learned to never adapt to societal norms, never yield to anyone you don’t want to yield for and never take any abuse. More importantly, I learned to be myself. I sometimes look at a picture of my younger self and wonder why I ever thought I was doing something wrong. I was just being me – and they couldn’t deal with the way I wanted to learn, work and explore the world. Ambition is scary to those that do not have it – and seeing someone achieve something through hard work is terrifying to those who believe they will achieve great things through being lazy. 
 
What do you do now?
 
Nowadays, I am the Business & Development Guy at Vlambeer, an award-winning two-man indie studio in the Netherlands. Besides that, I developed presskit(), a tool many indies use for their marketing and I spend my time equal parts working at Vlambeer, giving talks around the world and with my friends and my amazing girlfriend.
 
How is your life better now?
 
My life is great. It’s busy, it’s stressful and I work long days, but I do what I love without compromise. I spend my days making games I am extremely proud of, I’ve won awards on national and international levels, I’ve given lectures at universities, I’ve traveled around the world, I’ve been in the New York Times, on national television, in magazines I used to read as a kid. 
 
Did you think your life was ever going to be this good?
 
I still don’t quite believe it.
 
What would you like to say to a youngster thinking about getting into video games who is experiencing bullying right now?
 
The reason you’re being bullied isn’t because you’re different – it’s because your bullies can’t deal with that. You’re most likely smarter, more creative or more ambitious than those that bully you. You, unlike them, have the ability to see the world through a perspective most people could never see. That gives you the capability to do amazing things, to see the world in a different way, to achieve things no one would ever think of. It gives you the power to create things – whether those are games or anything else. Spend your time honing those skills, finding people like yourself and reaching out to people you respect. You’re different – but that’s actually something amazing. It’s something to be proud of. Just don’t forget that you’re not the only one – that you are not alone. 

Welcome to Beyond the Final Boss

Welcome to Beyond the Final Boss!

For the post that describes how we started this initiative, please read my original post on Beyond the Final Boss on my personal blog.

We also have a Facebook page, which we (Mike, Byron and I) urge you to “like” and “share” to increase awareness of our mission.

What is our mission? Simply this:

We want to show youngsters who are being bullied, or are still suffering from the effects of bullying, that because we won, they can win too.

Later on Sunday, we will have our first profile page on this site. We hope you will share it widely, you never know who it might help. The first profile to be featured will be from none other than Rami Ismail, one of the giants of the indie development scene.