Interview with Sheepyy

Can you introduce yourself? 
-What’s up guys, Eric Psy... Sheepii here. 

What’s your name, where are you from, what do you do in real life etc.
-My name is Matt or Sheepii, I’m from the US, I currently live in Boston, and I’m a software engineer who specializes in quantum engineering. 

How did you start your Tibian journey?
-When I was a kid, we had a recreation hall that had a bunch of basement dwelling nerds in it. The basement was a computer lab that had various games on it, warcraft 3, ages of empires, you could surf the internet, and you would sign up for blocks of time, like you did at libraries. I saw a friend playing a level 60 sorcerer on Primera. So, I asked him what game he was playing and made an account. I was a kid, and I didn’t know at the time that it was going to be a huge part of my life. I started on Rookgaard on Elysia with a few friends and we made it to level 19 on Rookgaard. 
In Rookgaard, I met a bunch of Rookgaardians, who really sealed the deal for me. They spoke of the Iron Helmet and Sword of Fury quest on Rookgaard, and I was fascinated with the idea of an untold story and that was enough for me to fall in love with the game. 

What is the origin of your name?
-This is actually a story that I don’t tell people often, because I’m not too proud of it. My childhood best friend had a girlfriend. I hated this girl, because I thought for one way or another, she was driving a wedge between the man that I’ve known since I was little. One day, I came over and she decided to give me a nickname, and that nickname was “Sheepii”. We got in a huge fight, and that was probably the last time I saw my childhood best friend. I believe they’re married now. Maybe, next is making amends. But, I wore the nickname as a kind of badge of shame. 

What made you decide to become a rares collector?
-I knew what these items meant to other people. I had seen several pictures of the Tibianic, and I wanted to recreate the event for the Red Rose. Which, I did.

Which item were you the proudest of?
-My wedding ring. Those items are legendary, yes. I know it sounds sappy, but the wedding ring was a memory before all the glamour, it was one of the few interactions I knew for certain that was real and authentic. 

Which item was the hardest to let go?
-All of the items were relatively easy to let go. To you, they’re monuments of history, relics of time. To me, they were a constant reminder that I had to meet people’s expectations, and I sincerely did not want to be that person.
But, I came to the decision very easily. About two years ago, my mom had a cancer scare, and she cried to me on the phone. She didn’t have the money to afford chemo.. I’m hesitant to say what happened next because of obvious reasons, but I think you can connect the dots. 

Which was the most expensive item you purchased?
-The Rose Shield. I won’t say how much I bought it for, but it was such a high offer, that none of the other items had even come close and what makes it kind of funny is, I gave that item away. What I said before I gave it away (At a Red Rose meeting):

Greetings everyone,

Before I begin, I would like to thank all of you for being here. As many of you know, I am an ex-Rose member, who met a lot of you in real life. I am stubborn, argumentative, and loyal to a fault, and those qualities drove me from this guildhall, but never from this family. Despite all of that, I still consider this family my own, regardless of wearing a title. While many people know me from the community and throughout Tibia, the Red Rose will always be my roots. It’s not often that a guild in a video game, not only helps you reevaluate yourself as a person, but helps nurture your best qualities. 

Name Redacted, out of all the people I’ve met in this guild, no one has matched your mature and calming demeanor, your honor in virtue, and your unmatched loyalty to your friends and family. You were one of two people I met in this guild, when I first met the Red Rose. You were kind, professional, and classy. You embodied everything I thought the Red Rose was, and my opinion has never changed. You are deserving of your leadership role, and you understand the merits that comes with the responsibility of that role.  Above all, you’re a great friend and I hope anyone who crosses paths with you is lucky enough to have the privilege to see the same. 

In my possession is one item, that is a relic of the Red Rose. Effective immediately, I am retiring from Tibia. As such, I made a promise to the Red Rose guild, that this item, although technically mine, would return to the Red Rose if I ever decided to leave Tibia permanently. Today is that day. 

I will bestow the Rose Shield to Name Redacted, a friend, a mentor, and a brother. Under the conditions that you never sell this shield, and it can only be given to a Rose member if you feel it should not belong to you any longer, giving these same conditions to those who you grant it to. From this day forth, this shield shall be yours. I will not return for it, it is my gift to you. 

Do you understand and accept these conditions, Name Redacted?

The first message is a reference to a bitter argument I had with members of the Red Rose that resulted in me leaving. It wasn’t actually until this day, the day I had given the Rose Shield, that I had made amends with those people. I later that year, rejoined the Red Rose. 

Have you ever been scammed?
-On Tibia, no. I’ve had several people who tried though, haha. 

There are people who consider you a legend, what do you think about it and how does it feel?
-I’m just a normal guy. The items are legendary, I am not. 

You managed to trick people into believing you had Boots of Waterwalking, how did you come up with the idea? 
-I still get people to this day to ask me to show them how to get the “boots of waterwalking”, haha. As a content creator, you just need to come up with ideas that you think people will like.
There’s really no thought process, just understanding the people you’re around, what they want, and being a fool about it. 

Do you think it’s good to be open to people in the game or is it better to keep private things to yourself? 
-I suppose it depends on the context of the question. 
I believe being authentic with people is important because I don’t want people to get the wrong idea of who I am, or what I mean when I say something. But, that doesn’t mean I have to tell everyone everything. A lot of keeping the mystery is well... keeping the mystery. It’s not always easy, but I think sometimes it inspires people enough to find out for themselves. That being said, I have never treated people differently. I regularly speak to random people who find me “legendary”, to perhaps convince them that I’m just an ordinary guy. 

Is there any other rares collector that you ever competed with or admired in any way? 
-Lightbringer and Darth Saldria were inspirations. There was no one in direct competition with me, as far as I know. 

“Once a Tibian, always a Tibian”, what do you think about this saying? 
-There’s a lot of truth to it. Tibia is more than a game for me. I met a lot of people that have significantly changed my life on this game, and the memories that have defined who I am. 

Why did you decide to stop playing Tibia? 
-I wasn’t happy and instead of doing what everyone else does, and just endures, I decided to make a change. I never regretted it. Tibia is and will always be a huge part of my life, but it’s the people who made it for me, not the game, and the people are still in my life, just not the game. 

Do you think you will ever come back to Tibia?
-Never say never. Tibia, as I’ve said before, is a huge part of my life. I still talk to important people in my life who ritually play the game. Like Addled. Follow Addled at https://twitch.tv/addled, great streamer.