This is an interview with Jrb, the site director at Battlefieldo, I am very excited to bring you this interview, it was a true pleasure to talk to someone just as passionate about Battlefield and gaming as me, maybe even more so!! Enjoy the interview, you can check out Battlefieldo here.
What gave you the idea to create Battlefieldo?
I'm actually not the original creator. I'll have to give credit to my good friend, Stadler, who started Battlefieldo as a Tumblr blog about a year before BF3's release date. However the original plan was to have an impartial place where people can discuss the franchise, all while maintaining important sources as the number one place for Battlefield news.
What academic route did you take to have the knowledge to create Battlefieldo?
Going back to the first question, I'm not the original creator, but my academic background fits in quiet well with some of the things we do. I majored in computer science with a heavy focus on programming. Successfully running a community based site requires several different backgrounds. You'll need not only a design & development team, but also a set group of people that focus on bringing people into the site and posting news, which implements a marketing strategy. Thankfully, we have an amazing team which is highly dedicated to making sure we stay on top of our game.
What inspires you in your day to day job?
My day to day job, as a programmer in real life, and as the director of Battlefieldo, both consist of doing things that I love. When you're as passionate as I am over your real life job and the Battlefield franchise, you never have to stop working, and never get burned out. I have the freedom in my real job to make sure I can always keep an eye out for the site.
What do you think of the possibility of dynamic maps in BF4?
From the things I've seen around, both public & non-public data, there's no doubt that the maps in BF4 will be dynamic. You may have seen the recent marketing material for Battlefield 4, which tells us about a new feature for Frostbite 3 called "Levolution", which promises a high level of interaction with the map and its contents. I believe that Levolution will be a major factor in why people will really enjoy Frostbite 3 – Not only in Battlefield, but for other titles using the new engine.
If you could put one single feature into BF4 what would it be and why?I would definitely bring back commander with a simple interface but complex functionality. This was missing from Battlefield 3, and it let down a lot of people. The core of teamwork is to have a chain of command instead of having a number of squads or lone wolves run around with no intel, support, or communication from a higher authority. This will add a great sense of teamwork, and make the Battlefield even more intense.
Do you feel much pressure in the up keep of Battlefieldo?
It can be tough being such a large site. When things aren't going so well in the community, all eyes are on you. Though we've been a little slow lately, we plan on going big once E3 comes along and the BF4 hype will be non-stop. We've been working hard on a large-scale side project called Overpwrd (www.overpwrd.com).
How many people work on a day to day basis on Battlefieldo?
We have a team of about 10 people, though as I mentioned earlier, things have been slow as we work towards the release of Overpwrd. A healthy estimate would be about 3-5 people who do daily work on Battlefieldo, but we have the means to double that number at any given time.
If you could work with any development team in the world, which would it be and why?
I've visited a number of different studios, most of which were under the EA umbrella, but the most fun interaction I've had was with the men & women at Rockstar Games. I have always enjoyed the content they put out, regardless of how controversial it is. The quality & level of fun in their products are a golden standard of the industry.
Do you think Battlefield as a series will ever be the biggest selling FPS on the market, and if so when?
It has the potential to be, but I don't think it'll happen anytime soon. The marketing team at EA/DICE has been trying to topple Call of Duty for quite some time now. My opinion is they shouldn't focus on being number one in sales, but rather be number one in community and fun. Their attention should focus on the fan base that's already in place for Battlefield, instead of trying to bring in a different market of players.
Which next gen console do you think is looking the best right now, and why?
I've always liked XBOX better than the Playstation console, but the PS4 is definitely shaping up to give Microsoft a run for its money. There are some controversial decisions being made for the XBOX One, which will ultimately give the PS4 an advantage on the initial release.
I hope you have enjoyed this interview, there are more to come soon, so stay tuned.
Thanks for reading
Ed
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