MAX2 QA ... or the story of KWAH
Special Note to fellow Webmasters: If you have a website, you are welcome to include this webpage (in full or in part) on your site.
Warning: It is suggested that you print or save this page in case it has to be removed. To make it easy for you to do this, all content for this contest is included on one long page (rather than cross-linked pages).
On Thursday, July 23 the MAX2 HEAVEN website posted a very nice report at "high noon" that has since been removed. They spent over 8 hours working on that report and are sorry that you can't see it now. However, that incident inspired this contest which we think you may find more fun than playing MAX2 itself!
You do not have to have a website to enter this contest, though if you do it gives you an extra option.
The contest itself is extremely flexible, based on this concept:
The TITLE of the Thursday July 23 news report that was removed was:
MAX2 QA ... or the story of KWAH
To enter the contest all you have to do is to write an Editorial, News Report or Story (serious, sad, funny, factual, advisory or any combination) that has the same title! Say QA 10 times real fast (or try to pronounce it) and you will understand the second part of the TITLE.
Entering this contest could be more fun and challenging than playing MAX2 in GOD MODE! Work as a TEAM ... become an ALLIANCE that submits one entry for your TEAM.
Anyone (or any team) who wishes to enter should send an EMail to CaptComal@hotmail.com to get the details on how to submit your entry. If you have a website, you are welcome to post your entry on your site as well (but still send for the details in addition to that). If you want to talk about this contest or your entry, please use the ALLIANCE MAX2 FORUM (interesting that one of the premier MAX2 websites is called ALLIANCE now that MAX2 was released and does not support ALLIANCES even though Interplay advertised that ALLIANCES would be part of MAX2).
There are no prizes in this contest ... it is merely for your fun and entertainment. However, if there is a real "Knock Your Socks Off" entry, they might be surprised when a real COMALite T-Shirt arrives in the mail (courtesy of CaptComal - we may include a blurb at the end of this page about the pride in having a COMALite shirt, a sign of integrity).
The deadline for contest entries is one week after this announcement is posted (in the spirit of the MAX2 1.3.1 patch, we might extend this date, so let CaptComal know if you need more time).
OK, enough of the preliminary stuff, here is the resources that should help you construct your entry...
We realize that often researching a story takes MUCH longer than actually writing it, so we are providing you with a good supply of research that is already done for you ... we want your entry to be GOOD, but we want you to spend more time on the entry itself rather then on the research!
Who Is MAX2 QA?
Since MAX2 QA is part of the title, you might wish to know the names of the Interplay staff involved in QA (which is an Interplay abbreviation for Quality Assurance). There are at least four places you can get this information:
- http://www.interplay.com/max2/heroes.html provides the name of the Lead Tester.
- the readme.txt file in your MAX2 subdirectory includes the names of the Director of Quality Assurance, QA Manager, QA Project Supervisors, Testers, QA IS Manager and QA Technicians.
- Pages 84 and 85 of the MAX2 Manual includes a similar list.
- When you start MAX2, click on CREDITS on the MAIN MENU page to get a list similar to those above.
- (you may wish to cross reference them all to see if the list of names is identical or not).
Who Approves The Game & Patches For Release?
MAX2 QA might also be part of the title since the Quality Assurance person/team appears to be the ones who give final approval for the release of the game and for each patch. You might wish to ask Interplay if this is correct, but this message ( http://www.interplay.com/max2/online/messages/291.html ) from Meghan seems to confirm this (she is listed as the On-line Manager - MAX 2 on this Interplay webpage: http://www.interplay.com/max2/heroes.html )
Who Are The Bosses Who Set The Policy For Releasing A Game?
Your contest entry may also wish to refer to the "bosses" of the company since they set the policy for when a game should be approved for release and bear the responsibility for company actions. There are several places you can find this information, but two Interplay pages are the handiest:
- http://www.interplay.com/interplay.html - This page includes this Recent Interplay Milestone: "Interplay Entertainment Corp., Inc. goes public (NASDAQ:IPLY)". From this we know that Interplay is a public company and not privately owned. We also know that it's stock is traded on the NASDAQ with ticker symbol IPLY. As a public company, customers should be allowed to contact the "bosses" referred to as "Principals" on this page (a few screens down from the top). You are provided with the names of 12 top people at Interplay (CEO, President, etc).
- http://www.interplay.com/press/bios.html - This page gives the biographies of many of the "Principals" at Interplay (see previous page for a similar list).
Consumer Contact Information
Your contest entry might want to advise consumers with information about how to contact people at Interplay. Interplay themselves provide us with this information (broken down to phone, fax, mail and EMail):
- Contact interplay staff by phone using phone numbers supplied on this webpage: http://www.interplay.com/contact.html
- Contact interplay staff by FAX using the FAX numbers supplied on this webpage: http://www.interplay.com/contact.html
- Contact interplay staff by mail using the addresses supplied on this webpage: http://www.interplay.com/contact.html
- Contact interplay staff by EMail properly referencing the persons name (see below)
Note: companies can employ various ways of using a persons name for their EMail name, usually a combination of their full or truncated first name and last name. Some typical methods (using John Doe as an example Interplay person) are: