LaniDoodle: Okay, my name is Lani, otherwise known as LaniDoodle. I live in the US, in the state of Virginia. Other than being addicted to the Rail Nation, I have a handmade craft business and I’m currently working on my PhD at Harvard in Computer science.

LaniDoodle: Christmas Eve of this year will be seven years.

LaniDoodle: First, a friend of a friend had once told me they had opened a diner. A restaurant eating place, and they did it out of a rail car. They told me to look it up. The guy’s name was Nathan and I didn’t know the name of the restaurant. So, I googled it: “railcar restaurant Nathan” and Google gave me Rail Nation, so I was like “What is this? Okay, let’s try to play this game!” 

I opened it up, and I had no clue what was going on.

I saw the train, saw all these little buildings, and said “Oh, how cute!” So, here’s the grain building, I guess I buy seeds, I plant them, I grow grain and then I carry them on this little train. But I spent all my money so I couldn’t buy the little seeds, you know, I’m just like… I had no clue. Then I saw cows and I said “Oh maybe I can pick the cows up, put them on the train, take them somewhere”? Nothing! I just thought “What in the world?” I had no clue, so I just shut the game off…

About six months or a year later, I heard my husband hollering and screaming at his monitor.

So, I went out and I said: “What in the world, who are you hollering at?”

He said, “This team, these people, oh my God!” And he said a whole lot of words that I can’t repeat. I just laughed and walked away.

Then, it was a few weeks later, I said: (you know, we were going somewhere) “Let’s go, we gotta go.”

He says: “I can’t, I’m in the middle of an endgame.”

I said: “Well, end it and let’s go!”

And he said: “No, it’s gonna be about two days”.

So, I just kind of rolled my eyes and said: “No, forget this”.

Then I saw him on the computer, and I said: “Who’s account is that? That’s not your name, who is that?”

He says: “Oh I’m sitting.

I said: “Did you hack somebody’s account? You can’t do that.”

He says: “No, no, I’m sitting. It’s on this Rail Nation game.”

And I said: “Okay, but you’re gonna go to prison and I’m not gonna know you!” 

And then he says: “You know what, you need to come on Discord, you need to meet my team, my friends, you need to play this game!”

And I said: “Well, I guess if I want to spend time with you, I’d  better.”

So, I went online, and I said I’m just gonna watch. And they’re like, no you can’t watch, you have to join the team, go into a game and play. So, I did, I joined the team, the Discord and they helped me through the game, and they taught me. They were the best teachers ever!

They had all the patience in the world with me. And that began my journey. Seven years later I chair my own team. Now I have my own association and the same guys are still supporting me, still teaching me and they’re in my team!

So that’s how that got started.

Rowena: Awesome!  I knew this story was great and I can see that all the listeners are think it was’s a really awesome story too.

LaniDoodle: I would have to say one of the best things would be the people that I’ve met. I used to travel the world internationally at my formal job, and meeting people that live in places that I visited has been awesome. Learning the language is learning the customs.

And besides the people, it’s a brilliant game! Brilliantly designed and it’s always changing; you never get bored. I mean, once you think you’ve got everything figured out, the next thing you know there are more features, there are changes. I’m still trying to figure out the trains from the last change.

It’s exciting, and I can’t wait to see what comes in the future. But yeah, it’s never boring.

Rowena: I woke up at three AM because I had to pee and I looked at my phone and I was like “Oh I could actually, you know, log in really quick.” [Laughing] I logged in at three AM! I don’t think I did much.I probably watched one ad or something and then I fell asleep again. But I was like, I’ve been playing for four days and I’m already hooked. It’s terrible!

LaniDoodle: It means that people appreciate what I try to do every day, and I think being appreciated is one of the best things in the world. You can make someone feel appreciated and that’s what it makes me feel. Because, you know, anybody in this game can do anything that I do.

It’s not a superpower or anything like that, but it’s just that you strive to do that. You just help people and be there for people. “If you can’t see the light, be the light” – that’s what I always say. It’s just being kind. Knowing that it comes back to you, it’s the best feeling in the world.

Rowena: Well, I’m great you get to feel it! I mean I feel it’s well deserved. I haven’t been here for that long, but I’ve heard only good things about you and when we were telling people internally who had won, I only heard things like “Really cool, she deserves this, she’s such a good person”. So yeah, congratulations again!

LaniDoodle: Helping people, and being able to answer questions. The ambassador program – Really, I love that program. I loved the way it was set up, that the players were involved and picking out the bugs that they wanted fixed and we went and gathered information and we got to meet with the devs.

It’s a well thought out program and it was working, and I love doing that. And I loved that from the beginning it’s been me, Naike and Yansi. They’re like the best two people in the world and we’ve worked together, they have my back. I can go to them if I have a question or it’s like “Do you know this?”. They’re very knowledgeable and they’re just really special to me, both of them.

As far as the moderator goes, you know, that’s challenging.  I guess it’s gonna be even more challenging at times, but it’s all about how you talk to people, how you make them feel and… I love people. I’m a people person.

So, both roles, I’m honoured to have both. Every day I try to help the team that we work with and make them proud too.

Rowena: Well, that’s a nice thing to say. I was part of a volunteer team for a very long time as well. So, I really get where you’re coming from. It is very rewarding, to be able to help on the game you love so much and, and just be part of it somehow. Right?

So yeah, if anybody here ever thinks about becoming a moderator, go talk to your Community Manager, we are always happy to have people help.

LaniDoodle: Oh yeah, it’s definitely going right in here in my craft room/office so I can see it all the time. It’s beautiful, it really is! And it’s funny because I collect posters. I collect old movie posters, like old horror movie posters. Yes, it’s awesome!

Rowena: This is to honour you, it’s to honour all the people that won, during the months. I’m glad to hear that you like it.

LaniDoodle: I’d like to thank everyone that has helped me along the way, that has taught me, given me tips and tricks and, you know – “integration, integration, integration!”. That’s one thing that took me the longest time to figure out and, just, you know, just being given a helpful hand. And even, the top players, because I’m really big on messaging. I don’t even have to know you; if I see you’re doing something cool and I want to figure out how you did it, I’m gonna message you! I’ve messaged people, especially people that are not from my city and if you’re taking majorities, I’m going to message you and ask you if you’re lost.

I’ll also message you and say we, The Misfits, keep a pet in a lagoon over there and it’s also right across from a graveyard.

I like to joke around, and I just love meeting people. So, whenever you’re out and we cross game worlds say hi. You never know, we might help each other out from now on.