We’re back with another All the RAGE profile. This week we meet QA tester Erica Stead…

What do you do at id Software and how long have you worked at the company?

I’m a QA tester. I’ve been at Id for over a year.

When did you decide you wanted to get into game development?

When I was in high school, I spent most of my weekends alone with the Playstation, thinking about how cool it would be to work on games. But it didn’t really seem like a realistic goal, so I don’t think I ever mentioned it to anyone. It was a long time later, after I had gotten a degree in something else, moved to Texas and went to QuakeCon for the first time that I realized I really did still want to work with games.


Why do you think working at id is the best job in the world?

On a typical day, I get in almost a full eight hours of video games – and that doesn’t count playing when I’m not working. Aside from the obvious appeal of being around not yet released games, QA is an enjoyable job to me because I enjoy coordinating with different people to get a task done, and I also enjoy trying to eliminate different factors to figure out what is causing a bug or a crash. It’s sort of like detective work. I also do get a kick out of having impacted the final game, even in a small way.

Working at id in general is awesome, because the people, the perks, and the benefits are great, and its good to work for a company that’s known for producing a quality product.

What’s your favorite story from the office?

I can’t say for certain, but it likely involves nerf weapons.

What’s your proudest accomplishment at id?

Bug regressions are sort of my specialty – when someone fixes a problem, they send it back to QA for regression, and we test it to make sure the issue is truly gone. I’ve been helping coordinate the regression efforts for awhile now, and I always feel a bit of accomplishment in making sure they are done thoroughly and efficiently. Its a little cheesy, but its one of my favorite parts of the job because I feel like I’m the last line of defense, protecting the consumer from bugs. I’m considering getting a super hero outfit with a cape just to add to that effect. (I usually don’t admit to the cape ambitions.)

Do you remember the first game you ever played?

I am not entirely sure, but I suspect it may have been Ms. Pac Man. I have a very vague memory of my dad holding me up to play at an arcade. I also remember not being any good at the game.

You’ve got a dinner reservation for two and you can invite one gamer developer to join you. Who do you pick??

Roberta Williams from Sierra Entertainment.

What games have you been playing lately? Anything in particular that stood out?

I always have a bunch of games in progress at once, but right now Total War: Shogun 2, Fallout New Vegas, Resonance of Fate, and Doom 3 are getting the most hours logged.

What are your non-gaming hobbies?

Sewing, writing, and rock n roll.


If you want to see the picture of the girl come to the source.

She so hot!


http://www.bethblog.com/index.php/2011/09/14/all-the-rage-erica-stead/

Hah! They posed that "same going out to dinner" question to Matthew Michler of id last week. His answer:



Not a bad choice, but when you've got this lady roaming around your office, it seems like he missed a good opportunity.

She's certainly attractive, but I doubt she likes getting attention on a gaming forum just because she's a woman.

She's so attractive in fact, that I question the legitimacy of that picture... Maybe she's just the rare case of the attractive gamer.

Hey, I'm an attractive gamer... but male