As I mentioned on the show this past Saturday, I had a special Showcase in store for today.  I present Xbox 360 Launch Team member, Precentor.

This is the first of what I hope are many special Showcases in the future.  Until then, I hope you enjoy!

First, let me just say thanks for taking some time to do this!

My pleasure.  And thank you for your work in the Xbox community.

You’re welcome.  I love doing it…Can you take a moment to first tell all the fans out there who Precentor is and what it is you do in regards to the Xbox 360?

Sure.  I’m originally from St. Louis, Missouri.  Prior to working at Microsoft I lived in Germany, and worked as a systems engineer for the U.S. military’s European theater network.  That was a fun job, since my work took me to Italy, Belgium, England, and just about anywhere else in Western Europe.  I’ve been with Microsoft for just over four years now, all of which has been working with Xbox Live.

Have Xbox, will travel it seems.  How does your job directly relate to what an Xbox 360 owner experiences?

I’m a shift lead in the Xbox Operations Center.  At any hour of any day, one of these teams is actively watching and maintaining the health and performance of Xbox Live.  The reliability of Xbox Live is something that the entire Xbox Live group is very proud of.  The service is very well designed, with an eye to uptime.

We’re very protective of our reliability.  I remember working on Thanksgiving, and I was on the phone troubleshooting an issue that only impacted fourteen people.  A partner exclaimed that he couldn’t believe that we had millions of users, and I was this upset over fourteen.  And I told him that the reason we have millions of customers is that I’d be this upset over one.  And I’m really proud to say that everybody on the team feels the same way.

So 24-7-365, if a user is playing Xbox Live, there are people in the Operations Center making sure that Xbox Live is there.

Restless job to say the least.  Those 14 guys love you now.  Is there a cool launch party story behind your Gamertag?

Well, there is a story, but it isn’t very cool.  It’s an old English word from the Latin phrase “prae cantare” and was commonly used as a title for a monk that would lead the others in chants.

I would’ve never known that.  What is a ‘normal’ day for you like working in the environment that you do?

In a way, my job is like a fire fighter’s, in that I don’t know what each day will hold for me.  If there are no problems, and no maintenance is scheduled, then I spend a chunk of my time developing or improving our tools.  For example, I’m currently working to make one of our tools faster by having it divide up the work, and then have each piece of the work done at the same time.

Also, like a fire fighter, we check each other constantly.  So you have to leave your ego on the parking lot, as everything we do on the Live service has to be checked by another person.  It can be a little tedious, but the act of constantly checking each other is a major key in our reliability.

How often do you find time to just sit back and be a gamer considering you work in what I’d say is a ‘busy’ job at the least?

We really don’t have time to play games much at work.  We do have copies of every Xbox and Xbox 360 game that can be played on Live.  But those are usually used to investigate or test specific issues.

However, almost everybody at work is a gamer.  And when we’re not working, most of us enjoy playing games.  I was a big EverQuest junkie since 2000, and play EverQuest II now.  Those are big draws for me since my wife also plays those games.  I’m sure most of your listeners could appreciate the value of a video game that you can enjoy with your significant other.

Copies of every Xbox Live game?  Gotta love the perks.  Which title is getting the most play time in your Xbox 360 and why?

I’m currently really enjoying Chrome Hounds.  The game is a little slower paced than run-and-gun games, but I enjoy a game that takes both reflexes and thinking.  The ability to completely build your robot from the ground up appeals to me.

I’ve spent hours in the garage playing with different generators, computers, weapons, and ammo.

The jury is so iffy on that one.  I’ll have to rent first.  What’s the one title that you can’t wait to get your hands on?

Bethesda is working on a game called Star Trek: Legacy.  My wife and I are both huge Star Trek fans, so I’m hoping that the game will interest her as well as me.  I played the old pencil-and-paper Starfleet Battles in college, so I’m looking to recapture a little of the space war experience.

Star Trek: Legacy?  I may have something for the two of you soon.  Is it hard to enjoy something that you sometimes have to see as work?

Not really.  My average day at work has very little joystick time, so when I’m at home I’m always up for a good game.  Although sometimes I do end up “working” a little in a game.  I spent my first game of Project Gotham Racing 2 pulled off to the side of the road explaining how to download ghost races and helping a guy troubleshoot his brother’s router.

I can only imagine that your friend’s list is full and if it isn’t, how do you maintain keeping within the 100 friends limit?

Actually, my friends list isn’t full.  I go through it from time to time and clean off the people that I don’t play with anymore. And I only add people that are friends outside of Xbox Live or people that I plan to play frequently with.

My attempts to increase the limit have been foiled. ;) The Xbox 360 community is filled with ‘passionate’ gamers and you’ve never been shy about responding directly on the community boards when there are questions.  What makes you so willing to be hand’s on within the community?

I know this sounds like canned marketing talk, but we really do care about the community, and we do listen to the community.  However, navigating the forums as an employee can be a little … warm at times. Gamers are passionate and enthusiastic, but this can sometimes lead to some pretty harsh flames.  Sometimes it can be frustrating to have worked sixty hours a week on something, and then have it flamed on the forums.

I’m actually kinda picky about the threads I participate in.  I usually look for people that have a specific question that I know the answer to, that hasn’t already been answered.  I also know how it feels to be on the other side.  I am active on the EverQuest II forums as a user, and I know how frustrating it feels to have a question ignored, and how rewarding it is to have an employee answer your thread.

Well those you help really appreciate it.  You have a pretty decent Gamerscore. Are you a Gamerscore junky? Do you know any on the Xbox Team who are?

Well, I will confess to letting achievements add a little replay value to some games for me.  But I haven’t simulated 30 years in Madden. That’s my measure of a Gamerscore junky.

Since almost everybody at work is a gamer, we watch the achievements of our buddies and this leads to some good-natured teasing.  I know a few people at work that really go after Gamerscore, but most of us just play to have fun, and let the achievements show how great we are (or aren’t)

So far, what has been your most rewarding Achievement obtained?

I’m gonna go with the Bloodless Award in Chrome Hounds.  You earn that for playing five games in a row without attacking the enemy. And I didn’t play with getting the achievement as a goal.  I was playing some really tough battles with my squad.  And I was driving the Commander robot, which has a big radar dish that allowed me to see farther than my squad mates.  I spent all of those battles glued to the radar, calling out enemy sightings and directing my friends to help each other, ambush the enemy, and sneak around.

So I’m proud of that for the teamwork that went into getting it.

Chromehounds may be more than a rent for me now!

Ok.  One game.  One shot.  You against J.Allard.  Who wins and what are you playing?

If I was playing J, then it would be a car racing game, and he would destroy me.

I’ve heard about him and his racing.  What would you like to say to the fans that are reading this right now?

Well, looking back on my responses, I think I made this a bit of a theme, although I wasn’t trying to.  Everybody at Xbox Live is a gamer.  We love to play games, and we work very hard to make a service that we know we would enjoy playing on, and we hope you all do too.  We play the same games, on the same consoles, on the same network that you all do.

Also, if you are looking for help on the forums, please use the “Search” button.
- Precentor