People at imago: Michal "Regis" Dlouhý

Today we're talking to a man of many talents, obscure skills, and a connoisseur of old-school boomer titles like Ultima Online, Fallout (yes, the first one), or the futuristic Sim City 2000, which came out in 1993.

Hi, how's it going?

Hi, pretty good. I've got a vacation coming up soon, I don't know where to start, but apparently, I still have to do an interview. It fits perfectly.

And who are you, exactly?

When I want to make sure someone connects my name to my person, I sign off as Michal “Regis” Dlouhý.

Why Regis?

Back in 2002, when I needed to fill in a nickname on the (still existing!) server dracidoupe.cz, I chose it based on the name of my favorite character from Andrzej Sapkowski's novels. And it stuck to the point where some people don't even know my real name. Not even at work.

Speaking of work, how did you get to imago?

I needed a change of work environment, and imago happened to be looking for someone for marketing. So I showed up for the interview, and when the owner laughed at me in the doorway for wearing a suit, I took it as a good sign and a perfect start to our collaboration.

So you do marketing?

Sort of – if you get an annoying newsletter with cool stuff you just have to buy, it's probably my fault. Occasionally I pop up somewhere, on the blog or in product descriptions, trying to put together some text that makes sense. My success rate in that regard is about fifty-fifty.

And that's it?

Actually, no. Not long ago, I decided to change offices and sit with the buyers, thinking I'd have less work there, but that didn't quite work out. I'm also trying to improve my rhetoric, and company meetings are my passion. And sometimes I let myself be photographed with a horse mask on my head.

<img src="charekter-sheet-regis.jpg" alt="People at imago: Michal "Regis" Dlouhý" class="rounded"/>

You must be a real tough guy.

The toughest, believe me :) (If this exchange means nothing to you, you probably weren't watching the legendary Total Gym teleshopping commercial with Chuck Norris in 1998.)

Have you ever messed anything up at work?

Oh yeah, I manage that quite regularly – I'm constantly running behind, forgetting important deadlines, and once I drove to work three times. Actually, there's not much to brag about. I usually manage to mess things up more in my free time.

For example?

Last time, I cut myself while trying to make a new hole in my belt. Twice. After the second attempt, I admitted that maybe it wasn't a good idea to have the belt on while doing it.

Okay, um, let's move on. What do you like to do in your free time when you're not trying to kill yourself?

I run regularly, unless an injury sidelines me. And among safer activities, I regularly choose DMing – for the last few years, I've been running an epic campaign in Dnd 5e. Last but not least, I also spend a lot of time playing board games – I especially enjoy stuff from Vlaada Chvátil and Vláďa Suchý, like Through the Ages, Dungeon Lords, Underwater Cities.

Those are some really old pieces, do you play anything from this century?

I'm really looking forward to Essen 2023, where a few cool pieces are supposed to be released. Like the new expansion for Arnak, or Evacuation by Vláďa Suchý. And even though I swore I wouldn't buy any more DnD manuals, I'm very tempted by Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse.

Evil tongues claim you also play card games, what do you say to that?

Back in the day, I played everything I could – Wastelands, Doomtrooper, Magic, Hearthstone, AGOT, Cthulhu, Runeterra, and my favorite Hex: Shards of Fate, which unfortunately didn't last long. Now I only play the undead classic Vampire: the Eternal Struggle. Something for the old-timers again.

Do you have any plans for the future? What would you wish for?

Mainly world peace.

Amazing, and anything else?

I have an urban fantasy saga in the works about a wizard who is a bit of a… jerk. I hope I manage to put it together to the point where someone will want to publish it.

Great, so good luck and thanks for the interview.

I'll definitely need it, and thanks for the interview too; it was about as pleasant as a root canal.

author Karel Krajča