Sunday, August 16th, 2009
Issue: 139   Editor: MikaTheGoofball


Boot-Guide Follow-up FrickenChicken
Many players on Bootleggers would not be where they are today if it wasn't for Help Sites. The Buzz conducted an interview with Sean, owner of a relatively new Help Site called Boot-Guide.

The Buzz started off the interview by asking Sean what it was like to run a popular help site. He replied, "Not sure whether I'd call it "popular" yet, but I think the amount the site has grown this far is incredibly exciting and it makes me very proud to have not "flopped" like a lot of other help sites. I enjoy running the site, it gives me something to do for the community of Bootleggers."

Seeing as there are many other Help Sites dedicated to Bootleggers, the Buzz asked Sean if he felt he had any major competition. He said, "Ha, I don't like the word "competition" when talking about helping other players. We all have the same goal, though, in my opinion, it's undeniable. There IS an element of competition, I have to admit. Everybody wants to make their site the most helpful with the coolest, unique features. The competition I'm talking about would obviously be the other big help sites right now."

The next thing the Buzz wondered was how Sean came up with the idea to begin the site. He explained, "Well, I was involved with several other help sites in the past. After Boot-Graphics.com was stopped by the creator, I began to realise that most help sites are just given up on and left idle, never updated to help with the new features of the game. That's when I decided to make the most up to date help site, which I always kept on top of."

The Buzz then inquired what Sean's main aim when he created the site was. He said, "Simply to bring the community closer, while at the same time helping players. Bootleggers' community is unique and I am always looking to improve it in some way. Our main goal today is still the same, however, it has grown." We then asked him what his goal for the site is today. He said, "Well we have some short term and some long term. As you can see on the homepage, I don't hide upcoming updates from the players. Long term: Just to continue bringing the community closer together in anyway I can. I think everyone KNOWS the site now, it's just about using its reputation for the right reasons."

Most Help Sites are just given up on by their owners because not many people are using them, like BLHelp.com and www.jmorden.co.uk. So the Buzz asked Sean if he ever thought his site would join them, and if he ever thought his site would be as popular as it is today. He said, "I created the site and when it got off to a bad start and when it was given a lot of criticism, I didn't think it was going ot last. Then people were getting put off by "walls of text" and it didn't have a proper domain and the list goes on and on and on... But, honestly, I think we've fought through it and I'm proud of where the site is at now."

features, 'Bootleggers Book of Records,' and 'Boot-Guide Live Interviews.' The Buzz asked him how he views these features. He said, "I think the Boot-Guide's Live Interviews is the most attracting feature to the Bootleggers public so far. If it takes off (which I admit, I'm very sceptical about), then I think it could be the best thing since sliced bread, if I'm honest. If not.. well, there's plenty more ideas swimming around in my head for the site! As for Bootleggers Book of Records, I'm VERY happy with how that turned out. It was slow at first, but once I introduced a money incentive, people were submitting records like there was no tomorrow. That is probably the biggest hit on the site right now because the records STILL get updated at least 3 times a week."
"The Bootleggers Timeline." Because of that, the Buzz wondered what Sean thought of the feature himself. He said, "Ah, the timeline. To be honest, I'm not sure where that came from. I thought it would attract old-school players to the site because they just LOVE talking about stuff in the past on the Game Forum. In my opinion, that feature was a bit of a flop so I'm currently trying to think of how I can breathe life back in to it."

Sean left us here at the Buzz by saying, "My plans for the sites future are the same as they were when I first set it up. I'll ALWAYS be updating and making it the most useful and informative site out there, while providing a place for players to come closer together. Hopefully, it will get bigger, and bigger over time, so that it's a name known out there for new players to get help!"

Sean seems to have fun running a help site, frequently updating it, and showing new players what the game is about. We wish Boot-Guide.info all the best in the future, and hopefully it does not become one of those "shelved" help sites.