|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
41779 Players Online
Take me to the game |
|
| Ch@t Zone: Meet Sgw_@zone! | |
|
Just exactly who are the creative minds deciding which games come to the Zone and how the site is going to look? Who writes all those cool articles? Well, to get your answers, pull up a chair and sit down with the @zone folks!
If you've ever seen a Zone member with an @zone ID, you've found someone who both works and plays on the Zone! Behind the many, many Zone Web pages and games are a group of exciting, fun-loving game fanatics who work diligently and creatively to bring YOU the best games online!
Let's meet one of them!
Sgw_@zone is originally from New Jersey and has been on the Zone since it first started. Sgw_ @zone came to Microsoft as a program manager developing a budgeting system. After a few years of that, she landed a management position with the Zone. Besides gaming, Sgw_@zone spends a lot of time in her Japanese garden and spends even more time reading, primarily books related to the history of freedom. She also collects American art and furniture, and loves learning how and why both were made.
Zone: How did you come up with your Zone ID?
Sgw_@zone: It's my initials. Boring, I know. The way I came up with it is this: I tried one of my regular handles. "Too long," I'm told. "Then how about this handle?" "Nope, no go." "OK, OK, just use sgw_! That should be short enough!" Zone: What other Zone IDs are you also known as? Sgw_@zone: conoisseur. Yeah, yeah, I know it's misspelled, but at the time I created it, I was only allowed 10 characters, so I thought the best one to leave out was one of the "n's." Also, connoisseuse, the female form of connoisseur. Zone: What part of the Zone do you work for and what are you in charge of? Sgw_@zone: Like most people who work for the Zone, I hold more than one job. I'm the lead program manager for our Online Family Entertainment offerings (card games, board games, puzzle games, etc.). I'm also the program manager for our subscription and billing system for Premium games. Zone: Is playing games part of your day-to-day job on the Zone? Sgw_@zone: Yup. Ain't it grand? Zone: And what is your favorite part of working on the Zone? Sgw_@zone: Seeing games I'm passionate about become popular (or more popular). It's very satisfying to produce something that other people like. Zone: What do your friends and family think about your job? Sgw_@zone: They think it can't be a real job if I'm being paid to play. "What did you do today?" my husband asks. "Oh, I had to do a lot of competitive research today, so I played on a variety of competitors' game sites to see how we compare." But seriously, my friends and family understand that I'm really working, and that what I'm doing is a business, and that I'm a professional with professional responsibilities just like people in other industries. Zone: Were you always interested in games/gaming? Sgw_@zone: Well, yes and no. You see, I'm compulsive. When I start a thing, I like to do it well. So first I learned Bridge when I was about eight. I'd lie under the covers after lights-out with the usual flashlight and a device called "auto-bridge," which would let me play against the machine. When I got into high school, I got too busy to continue playing Bridge, so I basically decided not to take up other card games -- 'cause then I could get some sleep. Fast-forward to the late Seventies. Star Trek was all the rage on timeshare systems. Well, I took my company's version, added a black hole and a Tholian Web, and off we went with little x marks all over the screen. Then came the first adventure game -- you remember, a text game just called Adventure. It wasn't long before I was hooked on that. "You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike?." I left games for awhile to advance my career and pursue other outside activities, but now I'm with the Zone, I'm back to playing my favorite games. Zone: What is your favorite part of working in the online gaming community? Sgw_@zone: Being able to help other people. Nothing feels better than being a know-it-all! Zone: Tell us what you think about the Zone Community. Sgw_@zone: Well, I see both the best and the worst of the Zoners, and, like any population of several million people, there are both honest and dishonest people. In the online family entertainment world, I have met some wonderful people, people willing to take someone (like me) new to a game and teach them how to play. Zoners are always friendly, helpful, and looking for a pick-up game. On the other hand, from the subscription and billing system, I also see the worst of people -- those who lie and steal. But I can honestly say that the good people outweigh the bad by a factor of several hundred to one. Zone: What do you think is the coolest feature of the Zone and why? Sgw_@zone: The population counters everywhere. Why? Because they let me have the experience I want, either social or solipsistic, depending on my mood. Zone: What is your all-time favorite game? And why? Sgw_@zone: Actually, Myst. Go ahead and laugh, but I found the world so beautiful and intriguing that I didn't want to leave. I'd go back to the game even after I'd solved all the puzzles, just to look at the environment, to enjoy the beauty of the world. Zone: What's so cool about this game that makes it your favorite? Sgw_@zone: I love art, and this game was full of art. SPQD was another beautiful, beautiful game, but being Web-based, it made you wait too long to pull the pictures down. Zone: What is your current favorite game available on the Zone and why? Sgw_@zone: Oooooh, this is hard. I guess I'd start with Mind Aerobics, which I am passionate about, then move on to Cribbage (which I just learned here on the Zone) and Spades. Why Mind Aerobics? I love puzzles, and these are doozies! I find myself getting better at the puzzles I was never very good at and, at the same time, I get the satisfaction of whipping through the puzzles I am good at. Zone: What advice would you give a Zoner who wants to do what you do? Sgw_@zone: Gaming is about a lot more than playing games. My advice would be (1) get a good education; (2) cultivate the habits associated with being well organized; and (3) build your people skills. You've got to be able to persuade, to cajole, to reprimand, to reward, to mediate, to confront, to console, to argue, to listen, to act, and to keep your equanimity at all times. If you can do this, you too can be a program manager. Zone: If you had a magic wand and could change anything about the world of online gaming, what would it be? Sgw_@zone: More bandwidth! We need more bandwidth! And we need PC manufacturers to ship monitors at a 600 x 800 resolution as the default. Then we could get better-looking games while, at the same time, lessening the download times. Zone: What do you think the future will be like for online games? Sgw_@zone: I think playing games is essentially a social activity, but playing computer games has, up until now, been a solitary experience. I think in the future, we'll see more games take advantage of voice chat and eventually of live video of the players you're playing with. Zone: Tell us something you've always wanted to share with Zoners everywhere. Sgw_@zone: If anyone wants a nice, social game during which we chat about the Zone, art, music, history, collecting, or gardening, look me up! |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
