How NOT to get in the Gamer Spotlight
We've shown you how to submit your nomination for Gamer Spotlight (check out the video with KP's smiling mug on this page) , but apparently there are still some questions. Here are some tips on what not to do.
1) Send your nomination via Twitter, Facebook or Xbox LIVE. You need to send an email to xlmail@microsoft.com. I'm sorry if you don't have a computer. Go use one at the public library.
2) Insult past Spotlight gamers. Go ahead, mock last week's interview's gamerscore, answers, profession or gender. Good way to get your email deleted.
3) Don't do your research. Tell me I've never put a kid/someone in their thirties/a woman/a grandparent/an African-American in the spotlight... I've done Spotlights on all these and more over the past six years. Check your facts before making a claim like "You never..."
4) Tell me you're under 13 years old. I can't interview you if you're under 13. I can't even respond to your email. COPPA is a law that protects the online privacy of children under 13, and trixie don't like jail.
5) Brag about your gamerscore. I. Don't. Care. Good for you, but that doesn't make you an interesting interview. In fact it might even mean you don't have much else going on besides gaming.
6) Send me multiple emails complaining you haven't heard back. I get THOUSANDS of nominations. I'm not going to reply to every one. I will only reply if I think you might be a good interview.
7) Demand to know when your Spotlight is going up. Getting interviewed is no guarantee it's going to be published. If you send me a lot of one-word uninteresting answers to my questions, your interview is unlikely to see the light of day.
8) Tell me how much you game and what games you play. We ALL play games; that's why we're here. Tell me what you do when you're NOT gaming. Do you have an interesting job, or unusual hobby? Do you interact with the Xbox LIVE Community in a unique way? Just playing games and being in 7th grade are not that fascinating to my readers.
9) Don't read the Gamer Spotlight. There are hundreds of people that have been interviewed. Read some of them. You'll get a feeling for what I'm looking for.
10) Ask me to interview your clan. This is a Gamer Spotlight not a clan spotlight. And honestly, there's not much new or interesting about another Halo clan. Unless you're all hearing-impaired, or you only play for charity or you're in Zimbabwe.
Hopefully this will lead to more thoughtful nominations. Also: for the love of Master Chief: run freakin spell check! If I can't even understand your email because of your crappy spelling, l33tspeak and lack of punctuation... I'm not going to even consider having to clean up your interview!
