Sony Online has posted another in a series of articles to introduce Vanguard players to the development team. This time out, the article features Associate Programmer "Jason W.":

Hi Jason! Thanks for taking some time out of your busy day to answer a few questions. What's your official title and how would you describe what you do?
Official Title: Associate Programmer

What I do:

* Update/create design tools.
* Fix gameplay/ui bugs.
* Add gameplay systems (Riftways).
* Manage/maintain the development database / network.
* Compile & send out new vanguard builds/patches.

Where are you originally from, and how long have you lived in Southern California?
Washington State, been here about a year now.

What was your first job?
I washed dishes in some little restaurant when I was 15. I only did that for about 3 weeks though.

Why did you choose to work in the gaming industry?
I loved playing EQ1 and figured working on an MMO would be more fun than programming server tools. I was right too; it's a lot more fun.

What did you do before coming to work on Vanguard? Have you worked on any other games?
I worked on enterprise server tools for Intel.

What are you currently working on?
I am working on speeding up builds, fixing gameplay bugs, and improving tools so designers can work faster.

What was the first MMO you played?
EQ1, I played it from Beta 3 until around when OOW came out.

What's your favorite area in Telon?
Pantheon of the Ancients and Stirrhad.

What race and class do you play?
50 Dwarf - Paladin, 50 Gnome - Sorc, 50 Gnome - Necro

What games other than Vanguard do you play?
I play a few new games a week. I haven't played anything long term other than Vanguard in quite a while though.

Who is the funniest person at work?
Adam Bley...

"The grossest thing I have ever tasted was.."
An Olive, I really hate those things.

"I never leave home without..."
My secureID. Need it to push patches, or help other people push patches when I'm not home.

"The last thing I heard a co-worker say was ..."
Fix the QA Build so we can patch.

"For a million dollars I would..."
Sell someone my VG GM account info? *grin*

If you were forced to eat the same food for an entire week, what would it be?
Pizza!

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?
I have no idea. I really like it here in SD.

If you could have any super power, what would it be and why?
I'd want to fly, so I could avoid traffic on the way to/from work every day.

If you were forced into doing karaoke (and it could happen when attending Fan Faire), what song would you sing?
We'll have to wait until Fan Faire to find out.

You heard it here first! Be sure to write down your requests for Jason...

Favorites:

Band: Tupac
Food: Pizza
Ice Cream Flavor: Mint
Holiday: Christmas
Villain: Adam Bley
Sports Team: Seahawks
Movie: Half-Baked

Do you have any advice for those who want to pursue a career in the gaming industry?
Email Silius on a daily basis with your resume...

Or... Find a job in QA/CS for a game company you want to work for, then work your ass off.

If you want to do programming, make some tools for the game you want to work on. Work on some small game projects on your own so you have something to show. And play the game(s) you want to work on a lot.

Thanks again Jason!