Sunday, April 12th, 2009
Issue: 121   Editor: Nyxxie


Bootcast phone-in: A Week Later Chiron
Last week, we at the Buzz gave you an insight into the introduction and initial use of the Bootcast’s new phone-in feature, as well as explaining how you can make calls to the Bootcast at no cost to you by using Skype. However, there was still some information that eluded us here at the Buzz, and this was information surrounding the more technical side of the feature, in addition to finding out the opinions of YOU, the players regarding the overall reaction to the feature. As a result, we set out on a mission to find out more.

This week, we accomplished our mission and got in touch with some of our very own community, a good mix of regular Bootcast listeners and regular players who do not use the feature as much. Reaction to the feature was mostly positive, with DemonV11 saying. “I haven't tried it but the fact that you guys made it free is cool.” Besides the ability to phone-in and use the feature for free, another positive brought up by the players is the overall enjoyment that the feature brings, with DrZoidberg commenting on how fun the feature is while our own Moderator Andy stated that he liked the fact you “get to hear what people who play BL sound like.”

Player drawbacks of the feature mainly surrounded technical aspects of the feature itself, with BrickTamland commenting on playback issues when people’s phone messages are played. This negative was responded to by head DJ MagzFuckenTastic who made us at the Buzz aware that problems surrounding the phone lines were known, and are currently being dealt with. A more interesting comment surrounding the Bootcast phone-in came from Menton, who suggested that a two way phone-in feature be added, making the Bootcast more like a phone-in radio station, where listeners and DJs can talk to each other. This suggestion was well received, and we may end up seeing a feature like this in the future.

To finish off our fact finding for this week, we got in touch with game Administrator and Bootcast DJ, Sabin. He agreed to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule to answer a few questions for us regarding the amount of work he had put into the feature itself, as well as providing a sneak peak at what he has planned for the future.

We first asked Sabin just how long it took to properly code, create and implement the new feature, to which we were told it had taken “about two weeks. There were a lot of security and formatting issues that had to be overcome,” which resulted in Sabin eventually presenting “a final feature that works really well.”

Sabin also revealed to us that a contributing factor to adding the call-in feature was the popularity of the fledgling Bootcast when it had first been introduced to the game, and the convenient fact that the numbers used to phone-in were already available to be used, as they had been used before (those of you who remember the weekly podcast that acted as a precursor to the current Bootcast will remember this). These factors, combined with demand from some for the feature to come back, made Sabin decide that it was time to “dedicate the time needed to make the phone-in feature a reality”.

With the time Sabin has recently invested into adding the phone-in feature, we were curious to see if this recent time taken to build up the Bootcast meant if he is planning any more Bootcast upgrades in the future. Sabin’s answer was simply, “There are a few more upgrades planned for the BootCast, but they're on hold for now due to other more important matters (such as the elusive AW bug, and other game upgrades that are in the works).” So if you are a regular listener to the Bootcast, you can be looking forward to some new updates in the future, in addition to some game-wide improvements in general. A promising outlook for the future of the game in general, we must say.

As our short interview came to a close, we at the Buzz asked Sabin if he had any messages for the listeners of the Bootcast, and the playing community in general. Sabin gave us this statement, “Watch for me to co-host with DJ Mags (aka Duke Magstrom) again in the near future. Anything I want to say to the listeners will be said on-air... and more! The BootCast is rapidly becoming its own sort of community, which is part of BL and separate at the same time. I look forward to the future of the BootCast, and am thrilled to be part of it!”

Should you be excited about the future of the Bootcast and the game in general? Well, if you are active in participating with the Bootcast and its features, or you just enjoy playing Bootleggers in general, then it is highly likely that you should be, as it would appear that more change is on the horizon! And if Sabin’s answers are anything to go by, we may not have to wait that much longer to see these changes revealed.

For now, we at the Buzz hope you continue to enjoy the Bootcast and its features, and appreciate the work that goes into the Bootcast (and the entire game) behind the scenes.

Happy Gaming!