Gaming Source - Looking for Staff!

[Dark0ne]

Hey folks,

As some of you may know MW Source is not my only online exploit. I currently own MEO Source and the mother of the sites, Gaming Source.

 

Gaming Source was originally setup by myself and another company, Krystal Hosting (whom I also work for) to provide free hosting for clan, mod and game sites. The service has gained popularity and reputation, recently especially, and we are starting to become a name around the gaming industry for popular fansite hosting. In response to this we've been trying to expand into other areas to further the sort of traffic Gaming Source receives.

 

My plan is to expand Gaming Source into the general PC gaming news industry over the next couple of weeks, and with it introduce interviews, previews and reviews of popular (and not so popular, I suppose) games.

 

I won't be able to do this on my own however, and I have two associates currently working on some reviews, but I believe I need more.

 

One of the main things I noticed when running a stand-alone fansite (that is, a site such as MW Source rather than a site like "Warcry", "Stratics" or "IGN") is that its much harder for certain game developers to recognise you and give you the time you believe you deserve - instead they choose to spend their time with the big publishers such as the three networks stated above; as a good review in this sort of site means more people know about their product. Its all very well being told you're on a "PR Mailing List" but when screenshots turn up on one of these networks before you've even heard about them you know there's some backdoor activity going on! ;)

 

My plan with Gaming Source is to become a name in the industry, whether its a big name or not it hopefully won't matter, as long as fans and developers a-like will be able to see "A new interview cropped up at Gaming Source today" and recognise the name. With this in mind the aim will be to gain some of the special attention the larger networks receive, and filter the content we're able to receive down to our gaming network sites. For instance if we were to get an exclusive for Morrowind, I'd immediately filter this down to Morrowind Source. Although Gaming Source would be in contact with the developer, our network sites won't come out of it empty handed.

 

This is a general call of arms to any able bodied person who has always wanted to work for a larger network, or thought to themselves "I wish I was there from the start" - sure we've been around nearly a year and have over 60 hosted sites under our belt, but this is a whole new ball-game!

 

I will be needing the following sorts of people:

- People with average literacy skills - no l337 talk on Gaming Source! If you know what a full-stop (or period) is and where to put it, and a few other pieces of punctuation then thats great

 

- People with patience

 

- People with good "People" skills. Some people may be in direct contact with people from other companies, in which case you need to know how to conduct yourself properly.

 

- People with a good knowledge of the recentlty released games, and the upcoming releases

 

- People who strive for the best, willing to question but also willing to take no for an answer!

 

If you believe you fill this sort of criteria (or most of it!) then please review the currently available jobs:

- News reporters. This covers the whole of the PC gaming industry to new releases, high priority news (such as Half-Life 2 being delayed/not being delayed) and general interesting points.

 

- Game reviewers. If you're into games and like writing, then this ones for you. Game reviewers have good literacy skills and know what they're talking about (i.e. they actually have to play the game a little while in order to review it :P). Game reviewers may turn into previewers (i.e. you get pre-releases) if (1) we think you're good and (2) we can get a copy of the game too ;)

 

- Interviewers. If you've got good people (or PR) skills and want to have a go at getting some one-on-one time with game developers then try this one. You'll need to research other site's interviews to make sure you're not repeating questions and think of original and inventive questions of your own!

 

- Editors. If you've got a lot to say when it comes to games, and can put your thoughts and ideas into written form then this ones for you. Editors choose a subject to write on and create an editorial - this could be from "why are there so many MMORPGs being created?" to "What ever happened to the Jaguar?".

 

 

The benefits? Well, Gaming Source is by most means, a non-profit organisation. Its true we put advertising on our network sites, but nearly all of it is ploughed back into the system to pay for expenses. The rest goes towards feeding me!

You'll be working in a team, hopefully getting upclose and personal with the gaming industry and learning new things everyday. I've been a webmaster for over four years now and it never ceases to amaze me how much I've learnt since I began. That little ramble basically means you won't be paid by Gaming Source (unless you provide us a particular service that we request and are willing to pay for - such as scripting).

If you're a reviewer, it could quite possibly happen that we will be able to receive pre-releases of games for free. Over the past two years I received Dungeon Siege, Morrowind, Freelancer and Neverwinter Nights all in my mailbox well before release date - and that was all for the late Morrowind Chronicles! Developers and Publishers really do want to make there game known.

 

On a final note, let me say this isn't something I want people to lunge head-first into. Its a large undertaking and will require some time on your behalf. If you've got a six week holiday to Alaska coming up soon, or think there will be periods of weeks where you won't be able to work then please, reconsider your offer. I've loved working with the people at MEO Source because I know when I leave them for months at a time, they can get on and make brilliant decisions without me - they don't even need to ask permission for most things now (oh, unless they want to leave their houses, toilet, et cetera)

 

If you think you've got the time, dedication, knowledge and skills to join our team then please give me a heads up at the following address - [email protected]

Let me know who you are, how old you are, what country you currently live in, what sector you'd like to work in (out of the jobs listed above) and if you have any experience with writing (or in reference to the requested job), whether it be previous sites you've worked for or working on the school paper!

 

If you want to work at Gaming Source you'll be receiving news and "orders" from me - so if you don't like my tone, the way I speak, the way I comma (,), hyphen (-) and bracket (()) everything, or just generally don't like me then don't bother applying (but kindly send me an email saying why you don't like me :P)

 

Feedback, as always, is welcome.

 

Regards.