“Inside the Red Dot” is a new Call of Duty interview series here at TeamPandemic.net. In each edition, Ted “sang” Ottey sits down one on one with various members of the Call of Duty 4 community, both North American and European, to discuss a variety of topics prevalent to the individual in the interview.

These individuals will range from head league admins, team leaders, media personnel, players and even eSports executives who change the very face of the sport.

In this first edition, Ted sits down with Kyle “Hackett” Feeley, Head of North American CoD4 coverage at GotFrag.com as well as CoD4 coverage head for Nexus Gaming. Besides writing, Kyle has also been an influential member of the community on the matter of rule sets as well as pushing CoD into major tournaments.


Hello Kyle thanks for taking the time to sit down and do this interview. To start can you give a brief introduction of who you are and when you started playing CoD for the people who may not know you?

Hi Ted, usually I’m the one asking the questions but it’s refreshing to be on the receiving end every so often. My name is Kyle “hackett” Feeley, I began playing CoD when it came out but never reached the top competitive level until CEVO-P s1 in CoD2. Right now I’m playing CoD4 in CEVO-P and TGL-P with Focal and I will be shaking hands and signing pictures at NERV 2 this summer.

Kyle, you are currently the head of North American CoD coverage on GotFrag.com. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into the eSports coverage business? What prompted you to start writing for the community in the first place?

My path getting into the eSports coverage business was perfectly linear but perhaps a touch unconventional. Toward the end of CoD1’s competitive tenure, I discovered the land of incessant flames and hardline censorship otherwise known as the calforums. It was here that I, an unknown open player with a slightly above average capacity to express myself, began writing colorful and detailed match predictions. Over time, it was suggested by the community that I put my predictions up on GotFrag which, to me, had up until that time been the site I only registered on so I could download demos. A combination of the communal plea and the content itself was enough to draw the attention of then editor Andrew “yalgar” Damiter. Basically my task was to write predictions every couple of days, he would post them, and that was that. The time came when he had had enough of the editing and coverage business and decided to step down. I suppose my present position at GotFrag has much to do with being in the right place at the right time as Andrew selected me to be his successor.

We’ve both seen a lot of different people now try to break into the CoD coverage scene but give up after a while. Obviously you do get some compensation, but you and I both know there isn’t a whole lot of money in writing about CoD, so what keeps you motivated to continue writing?

Yes, it is true that you and I are both in similar positions to comment on the comings and goings of a variety of short-term commitments and the sort. I suspect that our motivations are quite similar as well. Just as you pointed out, it obviously isn’t about the money because that would require there be money in the first place. The closest analogy I can draw is of someone who likes to talk politics but isn’t a professional pundit or talkshow host. There’s no money in sitting around with a group of friends talking about the latest in world news but people enjoy doing it all the same. The game is ripe with team drama, competitive potential, and everything in between. I’m motivated to continue writing primarily because I enjoy it and sometimes other people might enjoy what I write too and that doesn’t hurt.

Getting back on the subject of new people trying to break into the CoD coverage scene, what do you feel are some key factors in determining whether a writer/caster continues what he is doing or just gives up after a while?

The most important key factors are work ethic and networking, Beginning with work ethic, it is important that up and coming writers/casters learn quickly that scoreboards don’t update themselves. Requiring up to the minute updates might be a bit extreme, but that’s just an example. Let’s look at journalism more abstractly. News is only “news” for a short period of time. If the story breaks and you put off writing about it for a couple days, nobody will gather any new information from your post. Typically what happens is that somebody gets on board with a deep seated interest in journalism or helping the community. That person then contributes one or two news pieces, starts to lose their spark, and then fades into obscurity. I recommend to anyone considering taking a shot at writing/casting that they think about what they could be getting into and then either go 100% or not bother. As far as networking goes, if anything is more important than putting the time in “at work”, it’s putting the time in away from work. Get to know everybody and anybody. It’s an everyday life example that works the same way in journalism. People are more likely to share news with a friend then with a stranger. It’s the little things that go a long way.

How important do you view community recognition as a writer? Obviously you never have a shortage of page hits working for GotFrag, but there are also a lot of writers out there who are just unknown and get flamed by the community. Do you think community recognition has helped you become a better writer?

Community recognition is everything man. If you aren’t reaching an audience, it’s time to start questioning your goals. Nobody gets up one day and decides to write a news post or editorial in the hopes that it will go unnoticed. I have been VERY fortunate to have lucked out and gotten on board with GotFrag when I did, and you’re right, there’s no shortage of page hits over there. The recognition has definitely helped me become a better writer because it is proportional to the community’s expectation.

Both you and I can agree that sometimes when writing an article you can really piss someone off, causing a huge flame in a comment (or multiple comments). What is your typical response to those comments, how does it affect you personally, and how do you think it affects new writers in the scene?

On occasion I write something controversial, make a statement that upsets somebody, or, very rarely, make a mistake. As with anything, different people will take things different ways. Typically, I don’t get bothered by casual or personal flames. I’ve been around the block long enough as a fairly public figure and have ran the gauntlet from being called a sensationalist liar to being threatened with physical violence at LAN. You absolutely cannot keep a cool head if you take comment flames personally so I do my best to note and, in turn, ignore them. I can empathize with new writers who get flamed because I’ve been there and done that and it isn’t fun. The last thing anybody wants when they finally post their 2000 word predictions article they’ve been spending the last six hours researching previous match histories and team rosters for is to get flamed. Nothing ever comes easy though and I think new writers earn their stripes by taking a few hits to the chin. In the long run, if you’re working hard and writing decent stuff, I can guarantee you’ll see far more support than flames.

A lot of new writers to the scene get overwhelmed by the sheer number of teams competing and the fact they really don’t know the top teams on a personal level. How does someone who doesn’t compete in the top team’s tier circle stay in the know about roster changes, the team’s play style, and who is better than who?

They do that by reading gotfrag =]. But to answer your question another way, it’s absolutely necessary for anyone who plans on covering the game to learn it inside out. Become an active member in the community, become known or at least recognizable, let people know you’re interested in writing or casting and get to know the players, their teams, the leagues, and the game itself. A great place to start is by joining the discussion on IRC or on the forums.

Regular season online coverage is generally easy because matches are usually always on the same night and schedules are done ahead of time. Event coverage, on the other hand, is completely different. How do you stay on top of the many different matches going on to get accurate up to date scores? What have you found the best way to do on-site live interviews when pressed for time?

Event coverage is, in a word, hectic. Picture trying to add a tournament bracket to the backend of some website while the LAN organizers live at the event don’t even know if they’re crossing brackets for the lower half. Or, imagine keeping tabs on a 16 match first round when the tournament is two hours behind, four games are going on at once, and you haven’t eaten since the day before. Bunch all of that together with competing at the event yourself and there is your typical LAN coverage. Toss in an 11 hour blackout for good measure.

The only way I’ve found that works every time when staying up to the minute on score updates is to be a presence at the event for its duration. If there are three matches going on at once, I walk back and forth until a game reaches halftime, record the score, then find the next game closest to half and do the same. Once the matches near their ending, you do it again and then get confirmation from a player (winning teams are typically more approachable.)

At WSVG in Dallas, the BYOC was across the venue from the tournament area so I would watch a game until it approached match point, run back to my computer, and have someone else that was watching call me during match point so I could learn the final score instantly. Sometime during the fourteen hour day of recording scores and adding score tables, maybe you’ll find some time to write a commentary, a review, or some kind of blog. On-site interviews are helpful in that they’re 10% writer input and 90% subject input. So if I’m pressed for time and feel like putting up an interview, I’ll find a willing participant and knock out a few questions.

What would you say is the best thing about working in the eSports coverage scene? What do you think is the worst? What would you say is one thing most people don’t realize about working in the eSports coverage scene?

If I say that the best thing is knowing who’s getting cut and preparing an article before the poor guy knows himself, it’ll look like I just love drama (who doesn’t?) If I say the best thing is the satisfaction of knowing that I’ve contributed my time to something others can enjoy, it would sound too phony. I’ll just go ahead and say that the best thing about being a part of the eSports coverage scene is playing an active role in the growth of our game and community. There isn’t really too much I don’t like about the eSports coverage scene. I’ve spent a good while just sitting here thinking about this question and haven’t come up with anything legitimate. One of the things most people probably don’t realize about working in eSports coverage is that there’s a ton going on behind the scenes. This isn’t like politics where the media is a separate entity. eSports media typically have their hands in quite a bit whether it be rule set deciding or LAN tournament seeding.

I’d like to thank you for your time Kyle, do you have any last comments or shoutouts?

Yea I’d like to thank you, Ted, for this rare opportunity. I’d like to thank GotFrag and Liam in particular for being so hospitable and helpful. I want to give a shoutout to my teammates, past and present, to the staff I’ll soon be helping out over at Nexus, and to all the little birdies that perch on my shoulder everyday. Keep chirping, keep reading.