Vanguard: Unsung Interview Series: Michael Butler

1) First off, would you tell us a bit about yourself, such as your name, your position at Sigil, and anything else you'd like to share?

Hi, My name is Michael Butler. My official title is Operations Manager, OSHA Boy, the IT Guy, and "Hey you, where is my new video card?" and "Mike, I need you to look at something. I clicked on this link and well..."

I, along with Nick Parkinson, was responsible for most of the lore put out on our website in the early days. Writing is another passion of mine that lately has fallen below books, football, and well just plain working.

2) What are the responsibilities that your position entails?

If it has a wire or an electrical current runs through it during any of its life cycle, it is my responsibility. I maintain all PC's and servers running within the Sigil Games building. I also assist most all of the employees with their own home systems if they are doing work from home. I have been known to change light bulbs, fix the copier, and even the fax machines. I maintain the phone system as well. This accounts for about 75 percent of my tasks.

The other 75 percent (yes, that is a full 150 percent) of my job is pushing all the files for the beta server to SOE Operations, assisting SOE with the procedures for patching and running Vanguard. I spend a lot of time interfacing with Customer Support and Quality Assurance tracking down server issues, mismatched files, and any other problems that creep up during the production cycle. I also work closely with Mike Thompson, our Database guru, to ensure we have the correct database running.

In any spare time I have, I usually spend it tormenting Paul Luna and lament that I have to go up a whole flight of stairs to bug Glip. I don't usually have time to go up all the stairs so Glip remains untormented most of the time.

3) Why did you enter into your current field of work?

I started out in the Wide Area Networking field way back when networks were young, AOL was the premiere way of connecting to anything and X.25 was the best thing since sliced bread. I cut my teeth on the temperamental IBM AS/400 systems and co-designed the worldwide network for a Fortune 100 company. I then moved on to sales engineering for several value added resellers of networks and networking services.

4) Why did you choose to go into the Game Development Industry? And specifically into Sigil?

I have been a lifelong gamer, video, card, and board games. As such, I tend to have friends who share similar interests. Many of those friends were employed at Verant, and later SOE and I joined them.

When Sigil formed, I still held very close relationships with many of the key people and waited for an opening that would fit with my skill set. In September of 2003, I joined Sigil and began maintaining the office network as well as begin the operational process to use for Vanguard.

5) How did you gain your job with Sigil Games?

I answered most of this above already but I will tell you the Sigil initiation can be quite daunting. First, you have to navigate an entirely dark build while being chased by artists carrying whiffle ball bats. If you survive that, you have to build an igloo made from 12 packs of soda in 15 minutes... On second thought, I might be saying too much here. Nevermind.

6) What sort of positions have you held in the past?

Way back when, I started as a library page but never got promoted to a full book...ok I know, bad joke. Within the IT industry, I have been a network technician, network engineer, Sales engineer, systems engineer. I joined SOE and became the Game Operations Manager (still one of the coolest titles ever, I think) for 3 years until moving to Sigil and becoming OSHA Boy (don't ask).

7) How did you get started in the industry?

I really don't know how I fell into IT. I went to college and studied Political Science, History, and Literature. I never took a single course that had anything to do with icky math or programming. Then, I ended up fixing cash registers, doing data entry, and running Point of Sale end of day jobs for a major company.

8) What do you enjoy the most about your job?

Coming to work and being surrounded by people who actually care about the product they are making and the impact it will have is something that everyone should experience. I won't lie and tell you I haven't had jobs that were just a job. Sigil is more about making a commitment and a conscious effort to excel. We all want to do the best we can but we actually play our game. I can't think of a single person around here who isn't passionate about what they do.

We have a lot of fun around here as well which really helps. Although if I have to sit through another argument of whether Spiderman can beat Batman, I am going to scream. (Clearly it is a non-debate because we all know that neither of them can hold a candle to Cable)

Now if only I can get Darrin to give me Artois' Song of Glorious Exploitation as a bard song, I will feel complete.