what do you do outside of FFXI

[Jugil]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

I'm a Ph.D. student in civil/structural engineering at a state university. I spend most of my time doing research and writing reports/papers. I plan to graduate by 2008 (just shy of the 10 years in college mark XD).

Aside from FFXI, I like to play basketball (used to like to play american football, but it hurts me to do so nowadays ><). I also pretend i can play guitar .

[Icemage]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

I have had a wide range of jobs. Nightshifts, PC Tech, Something else... Currently nothing.

Thinking of going to college for Game Design or Law Enforcement? I know those are both far from eachother. I love games, yet do I really want to stay inside all day and night? I like to be outiside and know some cops, maybe I should just keep the shoot-outs to gaming... I am leading toward Game Design.

As for hobbies... I like to go out and shoot my bow or practice Fast Draw with a SAA Colt (Yes, I can spin a revolver like Ocelot...). Also used to be in Kendo.

Do yourself a favor and don't get a degree in Game Design. I used to think Philosophy was the most useless major in college until I saw what happens to Game Design graduates.

How do I know this? No, I don't hold a degree in game design. But when I'm not being a database programmer / freelance consultant, I do game modification design and programming as a side hobby (5 years and counting now), so I have a pretty good idea about what the industry looks for.

The average game design job requires: 4 year degree + 2 shipped titles where you were either lead or level designer. Huge catch-22. You can't get a job as a game designer unless you've shipped a title. You can't ship a title unless you have a job as a designer. What does that leave room for? Industry insiders only.

Word to the wise.


Icemage

[Taskmage]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

I'm a house-spouse at the moment. Both my wife and I slowly lose our sanity staying at home with the kids all the time, so we take turns going out and earning a living. I'm "off" right now. Before that I was QA at a game developer, and before that I wrote reviews for a gaming site, so my notable work experience involves playing games.

Hopefully someday I'll work my way up to making them, but to draw a parallel to FFXI, I'm like a level 65 rdm right now and the game industry is only interested in 75blms and whms. With only C+ and C- ratings in digital art and programming respectively, there's no way I could land a spot in an HNM-level company. My only saving grace is an A+ in communication skill, but alas you don't get invites on that alone. So for now all I can do is solo for skillups.

[Macht]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

What's this! You mean there's a life outside of the game...


For me I'm a Systems Admin / Cartographer / Programmer / Database Designer. That's what I'm doing currently, before that for about 2 or so months I did the job of 7 people (Data Entry, Data Survey/Collection, Webmaster, Ad planning, System Admin, & Cartographer).

Also looking more into Web Applications and learning RPG Programming both look like they'll come in extreemly handy. Especially if the people in our IT programming catch wind of the money they could be making for knowing RPG.

Outside of work I do Tae Kwon Do I'm 3 belts away from Black (1st Dan) in my current instructor's system. Aparently his system is harder then most the other TKD places around, because for placement on all of them they are putting me as a Black Belt already or 1 belt away in their system.

The other that don't place me though try to sign me up to that "Buy Me Belt" plan eer also known as the "3 year Black Belt" plan. So ironic that such a plan would exist part of Martial Arts is to challenge yourself with the goal being to reach the black belt out of noticable improvement and skill. How does getting the belt for free weather you improve or not fit into this?

Oh well, outside of that I draw and have debates with my friends on MMORPGs. Currently at a draw they keeps trying to get me to stay with Everquest and I keep trying to get them to go to FFXI. What I found funny is the excused used is they say FFXI is harder to understand then EQ.

[Hantz]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

The thing I have actually devoted the most energy/time/sacrifice to would be being a musician/songwriter (see signature). I left college (on a scholarship no less) to do it, and not just to have it be my #2 on the back burner while I grind my soul away at some job I didn't want.

That was cool until I had kids . Now I float through work like a zombie while I daydream about writing the next song, or playing our next show. Work happens to be Quality Control at a maufacturing plant that produces (drum roll please...) concrete sewr pipe. Yes, pipes to carry crap. If I let something slip past me, poop may well escape into the general population. Gotta make that damned dollar. It's a lot of pipe crushing, record keeping, and dust, dust, dust. It looks like somebody put thousands of pipe in stacks all across South Gustaberg.

I have been a daddy for a few years now, and I think I'm getting quite good at it. But if I ever want to make a better life for my young'uns and their kids, it's going to have to be through some kind of miracle with my music. Oh well, a guy's gotta dream. (At least our music isn't emo, dance-rock, retro, nu-metal or whatever shit is floating around at the moment. I like it anyway.)

In the tiny amount of "free time" I have, I play FFXI. That's not often.

[DakAttack]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

The average game design job requires: 4 year degree + 2 shipped titles where you were either lead or level designer. Huge catch-22. You can't get a job as a game designer unless you've shipped a title. You can't ship a title unless you have a job as a designer. What does that leave room for? Industry insiders only.

Word to the wise.

Icemage

That's not exactly true. Most companies put out crap for games, obviously, and even then they're usually developing a crappier game. The development teams for those 'crappier' games are usually entry level positions.

The place I'm working at is developing about two or three different high quality games at the moment, as well as a few no quality games with other publishers and developers. Somebody has to work on those NQ games, and it's definately not going to be the ones that can work on their top sellers.

There's always an entry level position somewhere, and there's always possibility for advancement in a place where creativity can be such a passing fancy.

[durecellrabbit]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

I did'nt know you got computer game design degree. I've just finished my first year as a computer games technology student (Programming), when I went for my interview I asked about such a degree. I was told that my uni had talked to various computer games companies and all of them said they would not reconise a computer games design degree.

[Bricklayer]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

The average game design job requires: 4 year degree + 2 shipped titles where you were either lead or level designer. Huge catch-22. You can't get a job as a game designer unless you've shipped a title. You can't ship a title unless you have a job as a designer. What does that leave room for? Industry insiders only.

This sounds strangely familiar to the electronics industry... I have my degrees in analog IC design (electronics engineering), and I found very few positions that require less than 3 years of experience, and everyone asks if you've taped-out. "How many full product cycles have you been through?" Of course, when it costs many thousands of dollars (100,000's i think?) to fab a wafer, I can understand that you want to get it right the first time. Thus, I write patents... better work hours, good pay, and still intellectually stimulating.

[Vasilis]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

I am in the Air Force and currently stationed on Japan. I also spend time with my wonderful wife, and beautiful daughter when I am not playing. And my wife plays in her spair time as well. Unfortunatly, we have 1 PC, and can only play when the other isnt playing. Or we would be getting married ingame by now.

[Lilani]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

Outside of FFXI?! BLASPHEMY! BLASPHEMY I TELL YOU!

[Icemage]

Re: what do you do outside of FFXI

That's not exactly true. Most companies put out crap for games, obviously, and even then they're usually developing a crappier game. The development teams for those 'crappier' games are usually entry level positions.

The place I'm working at is developing about two or three different high quality games at the moment, as well as a few no quality games with other publishers and developers. Somebody has to work on those NQ games, and it's definately not going to be the ones that can work on their top sellers.

There's always an entry level position somewhere, and there's always possibility for advancement in a place where creativity can be such a passing fancy.

Oh to be sure, there are some entry level positions but...

(1) Even getting such marginal positions is nigh on impossible. The ratio of new graduates to new design positions (disregarding the existing workforce, who already have the requisite experience) is something like 10:1.

(2) Getting wind of such an open position is all but impossible unless you "know someone." Most game development companies I know would prefer to promote an assistant designer or level designer to head up a new project (even a non-AAA title) than go through the extremely annoying hiring process.

(3) It's not a well-known fact but project cancellation is very common in the game industry. The industry tries very hard not to broadcast it when projects are cancelled, but my reading of the situation indicates that only about half of the projects that are started end up actually shipping (in a few cases I've heard of games in development being cancelled right before they've gone gold, either due to extreme budgeting issues or insurmountable technical problems).

In other words, yes, you might be able to get an entry level design position on one of the lesser projects, but finding such a job opening is difficult, getting hired for it is harder, and you're rolling the dice as to whether your project will ship. Considering you're going to be spending four years on a game design degree, that hardly seems like a worthwhile percentage chance of success for that much time invested...


Icemage