On July 22, 1999, we were lucky enough to conduct an interview with Rachel Olhava from PFM. We received answers to many questions and clarification to some of the rumors floating around. We thank Rachel for taking time out of her busy schedule for the interview. And now on to the interview...
How long have you worked for P.F.Magic?
Rachel: Well, that's a little hard to say exactly. I originally temped for 3 months as a tester on Catz I (uh, whatever year that was *grin*). They kept calling me back to test for them on other stuff, but I had to say no until Petz II came along. Petz II testing started right when I decided to quit my Test Manager position at a 3rd party test company. I temped as a tester on Petz II until it was released and was then offered a permanent position as PF.Magic's Tech Support and Customer Service Manager. That was cool until the next year when we were bought by Mindscape/TLC and they took over all our TS and CS and dissolved my position. It was either lose my job completely or try to get on the web team, so I joined the PFM web team as the Production Assistant/Community contact person. I learned a lot from the Producer, Margaret Wallace, and found that I really enjoyed web work. Then they moved PF.Magic from its offices in SF to the Mindscape offices in Novato - and I was one of the many who were laid off in November. But thanks to Margaret, I was rehired as a contractor around March or so this year. (Margaret unfortunately left us to work at another company about 3 months ago.)
What exactly do you do?
Rachel: Good question! Sometimes my job description is far from set in stone. *chuckle* My titles technically are: Webspider/Web Community Coordinator/Web Test Manager, for Petz.com. I update the site with downloads and newz. I am supposed to fix broken stuff, do all the upkeep of the site and report anything I can't fix myself to the web programmer - we haven't done a lot of that lately since we kept thinking the improved site was supposed to go up any day! I oversee the WebPalz that answer the hundreds of emails we get, monitor certain areas of the site, and approve pictures and linkz - I troubleshoot for them too. I am in charge of the testing of any new features to add to Petz.com or sites to replace Petz.com. I yell at the engineers and MIS people when they hold up site launch *grin* - I don't actually yell, but you know what I mean. I handle the Early Adopters programs right before product release. I am basically the only link between the Petz community and the product teams. I keep my eye on as much as possible in the Petz Community (even the scandals *grin*), and put together reports for the product teams. This helps them know if they are going in the right direction with what new features, products they have decided to make. I push for what the community is asking for - even though I don't have any definite say in what they put in the products, I can influence them if the community is clamoring for it. Even though it is "technically", not my job, I put together the content specs for the upcoming revision of Petz.com for the release of Petz 4. I have performed Producer duties and Web Content design among the rest of my web duties. Basically I am a really busy bee!! Right now, I am also trying to take over Oddballz.com and get that running properly - the Oddballz community has been sorely neglected! I will also most likely be in charge of the same duties for Babyz.net after product release in November.
How many people are on your web site team?
Rachel: That depends on what we need at the time. We just hired the new Web Producer, in fact I get to meet her tomorrow (Yay!). Mindscape has somewhere around 50 different websites, and people work on many projects at once. I am the only person that works solely on Petz.com. Petz.com is given more people as needed - for instance, because we need to get the new version done for release with Petz 4, we will be getting more resources soon. We contracted a 3rd party company for the improved Petz.com, which I am hoping will be up any time now.
Your work focuses on the petz.com website, are you involved in any other Petz project?
Rachel: Not really, except in the sense that I push for products and features that the Petz Community wants. I was more so when we were still PF.Magic.
You've had many problems with trying to get petz.com relaunched, this must be so frustrating. Do you have a definite date for the relaunch?
Rachel: I wish I did!!! It had better be no later than the end of this month. I have been very frustrated, the site is way overdue and I feel horrible that people have had to deal with all the problems on Petz.com for so long. The improved site is ready, we're just waiting for some technical server and remote access issues to be resolved within Mindscape.
Will there be a redesign of petz.com for the release of Petz 4 (as was done for Petz 3 last year)?
Rachel: Yes there will be! It is really cool too. I just hope that none of the features I want to implement get cut due to time constraints or anything. *fingers crossed* That can and has happened before. I am really excited about the new design we have in mind. And I have made sure that although a couple sections will pretty much be Petz 4 only, there will still be plenty to do for people with Petz I, Petz 2, and Petz 3.
Many folks have been eagerly awaiting the release of pigz for Petz 3. Will pigz in fact be released?
Rachel: Yes!! The Pigz were supposed to be released this month, but as can happen, there have been some problems getting the pig bug free, so it will hopefully be released in August. That is not a promise, but a "we think" it will be. All the changes from being bought by first Mindscape, then TLC and most recently Mattel, has changed our schedules/resources and has been a lot of adjustments for the product teams to deal with in just one year. We will get that Pig out to you though!
Will we have at least one more playscene before Petz 4 is released?
Rachel: I honestly do not know at this point. It could go either way. Wish I had a more definite answer for you. :(
Would you care to explain the why the voice recognition and email module have not been released for Petz 3?
Rachel: As I understand it, it was a Mindscape management decision. I don't really know more than that except that the Petz team made sure the voice rec got put into Petz 4. We still want to do the email, but that may not be possible until next year.
What is your favorite Petz program - Catz, Dogz or Oddballz? Do you have a favorite breed?
Rachel: My favorite is Catz probably because I have had cats my whole life! I cannot imagine life without my 2 darlings to curl up with, even if one of them sheds white cat fur all over everything I own! I have a white male cat named Starlyte (after a horse on a ranch I used to work on) and a black female cat that came with the name Midnight - a kinda ying/yang thing going there. In Catz, my favorite breedz are Sophisto (the Siamese) and Scaredy (the orange). I love how Sophisto is sooooooo true to life cat-like and independant, and even a bit prissy. Scaredy brings out the nurturing side of me, the poor thing needs so much love and extra TLC. I guess they kinda represent 2 parts of my personality. Uh-oh!
Honestly, what do you think about all the hexed breeds/accessories out there?
Rachel: I think it is amazing what Petz owners have done, I cannot believe the number of hacked breedz out there, not to mention the clothes, toyz and the PlayScenes!! Some of those Playscenes are awesome! But, as with anything, when you mess with a program file, it can mess up the program and I have seen emails from many people who have lost petz they dearly loved because a hacked file made the program unstable. It's too bad there is this side effect to hacked files, but the amount of creativity, thought and effort that goes into them is really awesome to see!
Do you have any personal favorite petz sites? If so, what are they and why do you like them?
Rachel: I definitely do, but I think it would be very unfair of me to name them as it could easily make others feel bad and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I have a running list of Petz sites that I keep adding to - my goal is to get a complete list of Petz sites, but I don't know if it is even possible - there are so many and new ones keep popping up all the time! Overall, there are so many great Petz sites and seeing what you have all done with them is just amazing! I frequently send URLs to the product teams to check out, so they can see what the Petz Community is doing out here on the web. You all rock!!
There seems to be so many rumors and gossip floating around the Petz community. Would you like to set the record straight about the following?
Spas and Pools
Rachel: Have not been made, not sure they are even on the "to do" list. But email the WebPalz and we'll make sure the product teams hear about it!
Leashes and Collars
Rachel: Not made, probably won't be either due to technical difficulties implementing them. But you never know.
Horsez
Rachel: I hope so! I want Horsez as much as any of you. *grin* Some of us are totally pushing for it, and it has been considered for the last couple years - hopefully we can convince Mindscape that we need to do it. Keep those emails coming to WebPalz!
Golden Retrievers
Rachel: I can't promise anything, but I would not be surprised if you see them sometime in 2000. Celes' campaign has been quite successful and the product teams have taken note of the number of people that want them and put them on the "breedz to do when we can" list. :)
Petz 4 demo
Rachel: I imagine there will be a demo of some kind - I just don't happen to know exactly what kind of demo they are doing. Most people don't seem to realize that the Petz 3 demo is an online demo. If you go to the newz article "Download the Petz Player and Play with Petz on the Internet", there are links to live Petz. This combined with the About Petz section of the site was intended to be the Petz 3 demo. Due to the purchase of PFM, it was never quite integrated the way we had intended, but it is still there. You can actually play with all 10 petz online if you go to Jester or Scrappy and click the red "Back" link on those pages.
The "unreleased" Front Yard (Gate) playscene and Living Room playscene (pictures have appeared on several sites)
Rachel: You know what, I don't know anything about any Playscenes like this except that they exist and are being passed out in the community. As far as I know, they aren't from us - but I could be wrong. If they are, they are probably totally buggy first versions from last year that were never completed, cause I haven't seen them anywhere on our "to do"/"to release" lists for this year.
What information can you give us about the future of Petz (including Petz 4 and beyond)?
Rachel: The future...hmmmm..unfortunately, I can't say much except that there will not be a product called Petz 5, but there will be another Petz product. I wish I could tell you more, but at this point, the specs for it haven't even been done yet, just the general idea, so we don't even know for sure yet what it could turn out to be. :) We're still trying to finish Petz 4 and Babyz right now! I can say that we are leaning towards creating a completely new Petz engine in the next couple years, but what that will mean we can do with Petz must be left up to the imagination for now. *grin*
Hope I didn't overdo it with the questions.
Rachel: No problem, hope I didn't overdo it with the lengthy answers! I hope this information helps everyone!
Thanks so much Rachel for agreeing to this interview.
Rachel: You are more than welcome. :) Thank you Abby
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