Wired Article About Robert Bowling
Wired Magazine posted up an article about Robert Bowling (402). Very interesting read. Check it out:
Strangely enough, the title doesn't match what is in the magazine that 402 posted a pic of that you can see here.
Now it takes time to create an article and get it published, so I am sure this was all before the PC changes were announced. It does show a lot of things that 402 does in the background.
Wired Source
Magazine Picture Source
When the hotly anticipated Modern Warfare 2 is released in November, millions of fanboys will be fragging each other in online matches, dissecting the level design in discussion forums, and grumbling about the game’s perceived shortcomings all over the Web. Then the work will really begin for @fourzerotwo. That’s the Twitter handle of Robert Bowling, a 24-year-old who serves as the game’s community manager. <!--more-->
He’s the liaison between the players and Infinity Ward, the developer of Modern Warfare 2. Such positions have long been de rigueur for makers of MMORPGs, which immerse players in a persistent online world. But as online play becomes increasingly important for console shooter games, more and more developers are hiring a go-between to interact with fans. Bungie has a community manager for Halo. Insomniac has one for Resistance. EA has one for Spore.
Bowling logs on to do battle with fans, eavesdrop on their discussions in the forums, and explain the developer’s design decisions to them; he also uses Twitter and Facebook to deliver a steady drip of sneak-peek screenshots and wonky weapon details to keep interest in the games piqued.
Bowling stumbled into this job after doing online marketing for indie bands in Kentucky. “I try not to think of what I do now as marketing,” he says. “I like to think of it as having the fans as part of the team.” He explains that what he does is make the game design process more of a collaboration with fans. Early on in the development of the latest game, Bowling tweeted, “Name one thing you’d like to see in Modern Warfare 2.” Requests for snow effects resulted in a blustery mission set in the perpetual winter of the Tian Shan mountain range in Kazakhstan. Still, keeping everyone happy isn’t easy. Here’s a look at some of his other daily duties.
Be the bad cop: Bowling investigates in-game misdeeds. Once he got a tip that a player was exploiting a flaw in the game’s physics. “He flew in front of me blocking my shots,” says Bowling, who banned the punk and helped get the bug patched.
Solicit feedback: He gauges fan opinion and asks for input on design decisions, like the shape of the thumbstick on a special controller being made for the game (winner: concave).
Flatter the fraggers: “It’s important to tell players when they get off a good shot,” he says. “It’s a conditioning thing.”
Push back politely: When players lobbied for the ability to dismember enemies, Bowling gently explained why that feature would not be added. “You have to filter what the community says through our design philosophy.”
Be a good sport: One gamer tried to embarrass Bowling by posting unflattering childhood photos of him on an enthusiast site. “I thought it was hilarious,” he says. “A photo of me with acid-washed jeans and a bowl cut.” Ah, the joys of being a public figure.
He’s the liaison between the players and Infinity Ward, the developer of Modern Warfare 2. Such positions have long been de rigueur for makers of MMORPGs, which immerse players in a persistent online world. But as online play becomes increasingly important for console shooter games, more and more developers are hiring a go-between to interact with fans. Bungie has a community manager for Halo. Insomniac has one for Resistance. EA has one for Spore.
Bowling logs on to do battle with fans, eavesdrop on their discussions in the forums, and explain the developer’s design decisions to them; he also uses Twitter and Facebook to deliver a steady drip of sneak-peek screenshots and wonky weapon details to keep interest in the games piqued.
Bowling stumbled into this job after doing online marketing for indie bands in Kentucky. “I try not to think of what I do now as marketing,” he says. “I like to think of it as having the fans as part of the team.” He explains that what he does is make the game design process more of a collaboration with fans. Early on in the development of the latest game, Bowling tweeted, “Name one thing you’d like to see in Modern Warfare 2.” Requests for snow effects resulted in a blustery mission set in the perpetual winter of the Tian Shan mountain range in Kazakhstan. Still, keeping everyone happy isn’t easy. Here’s a look at some of his other daily duties.
Be the bad cop: Bowling investigates in-game misdeeds. Once he got a tip that a player was exploiting a flaw in the game’s physics. “He flew in front of me blocking my shots,” says Bowling, who banned the punk and helped get the bug patched.
Solicit feedback: He gauges fan opinion and asks for input on design decisions, like the shape of the thumbstick on a special controller being made for the game (winner: concave).
Flatter the fraggers: “It’s important to tell players when they get off a good shot,” he says. “It’s a conditioning thing.”
Push back politely: When players lobbied for the ability to dismember enemies, Bowling gently explained why that feature would not be added. “You have to filter what the community says through our design philosophy.”
Be a good sport: One gamer tried to embarrass Bowling by posting unflattering childhood photos of him on an enthusiast site. “I thought it was hilarious,” he says. “A photo of me with acid-washed jeans and a bowl cut.” Ah, the joys of being a public figure.
Strangely enough, the title doesn't match what is in the magazine that 402 posted a pic of that you can see here.
Now it takes time to create an article and get it published, so I am sure this was all before the PC changes were announced. It does show a lot of things that 402 does in the background.
Wired Source
Magazine Picture Source
Comment