Sunday, July 4th, 2010
Issue: 35   Editor: HowlingMadMika


Congratulations BuzzLew! Altro
This week 5litre announced a new recruit. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it a Simpson character? NO! It is the Buzz’s very own Lew, BuzzLew.

Congratulations BuzzLew, or from now on referred to as Lew, our newest Help Desk Operator. His servitude began on the 29th of June when 5litre accused him of hacking, before offering him a chance to join the ranks of HDO. We started by asking Lew if he received his own desk, or if he had to share. “Seans on top of me when I am at my desk ** Insert innuendo here **.”

You may be interested in Lew’s past, he was kind enough to give us a brief run down. He roughly started playing in September of 2004, “My main crew has always been The Deadly Alliance from 2005.” He described how he rose up the chain of command, “I eventually worked myself up through the ranks of recruiter for about a year and then onto council and eventually left hand man.” A position that he held until the crew’s retirement, however, he still has strong links to the crew. “I am currently council in Immortal Ghosts and back with some old TDA friends, of which I have known a few since my first day in TDA.”

Lew has been a valued member of the Buzz for some now, and one of the most experienced of the current writers. According to 5litre, his dedication to the role was one of the reasons he was given the job. “[He] isn’t the only person who has helped out the game with the Buzz to become HDO.” 5litre said on the blog, before adding, “while we may not say it, helping the game in that way helps anyone greatly if they are interested in becoming a member of the staff.” A long list of writers and editors has been promoted to higher staff roles. We asked Lew if he felt that his time at the Buzz would help him in his new role. “I suppose it gives you a guide of how to be professional, which is a fundamental requirement of a HDO,” he told us.

We sat Lew down on our red psychologists chair to ask him about his feelings. So Lew, are you nervous about joining an elite group of players? We asked. “To a certain extent I am, with the enormous amount of experience in the help desk you can always expect a challenge to follow in their footsteps and be a good HDO.” We were curious to learn exactly why he had applied to become an HDO. “Well just like the Buzz, it add’s something extra to the game. I’ve played the game for over 5 nearly 6 years, so throughout I have a good knowledge of the game and enjoy sharing it with players.” We inquired; if Lew felt his promotion would change the way he played the game. “Not at all,” he told us. Given that Lew is normally the interviewer in these situations we asked; what is it like being the interviewee. “Difficult, especially trying to give a good in depth interview to ensure the writer has all the information they need to write a good article. Especially because I ask the Bootleggers community to spend their time do this for me.”

We wanted to get to the important matters that you the players really care about. We wondered if his next name would follow on from BuzzLew to HDOLew. “Who knows, I generally get told name suggestions and go with them if I like them, so feel free to send in suggestions in case I follow the deadly path of David and ex HDO Sylv.” We wanted to know what he would change about the game if he could. “Probably more ‘ranking” features, I find this game more social than actual game, the majority of the game play well ranking for instance is the same old missions we’ve had for years.” An interesting response, given the introduction of the blog this week. “OC’s which can only be done every 12 hours and crimes really aren’t much fun.” He used as an example.

This was the first time the decision making process behind his promotion was made as public, via the new Bootleggers Blog. 5litre said, “I chose Lew not only for the positive reaction the staff gave about him, but the help he has given the game. There has been many times Nyxxie and I have been approached by Lew regarding bugs and glitches in the game that he felt needed out attention and we like that- a lot.” We asked Lew if he was having any training now he has been promoted. “Not at all,” he replied, “its more about understand the rules and guidelines and learning as I go, some of you may have received odd research remakes in your tickets, for that I apologise.”

Congratulations to Lew for the promotion, I will leave you with a few final words from him. “I would just like to thank the Administration for the opportunity and the Bootleggers community for the congratulations I have received, I look forward to helping you in the near future.”