Basic needs analysis
What I am looking for with a job in the game industry is an environment where I can make a difference and be creative. It is an environment with great potential for new ideas and new, better solutions for problems. I am in it for the fame and glory rather than the money. I want people to see and enjoy my work and my ideas.
As I aim to start up an indie game studio I am quite prepared to work hard in the beginning. The so called “Hygiene factors”, such as salary and work hours, are not expected to be the best. I expect long hours of work late at night with little security as to whether it’s going to pay off at all, but I also expect that to be phase that will wear out as the studio get more successful and has more money. The next few years I expect to be quite bohemian.
That said, it cannot be denied that the past few years have been pretty much like that as well. I at this point I already work a lot creating games, and in fact the only part of the above mentioned dream I have yet to try is to actually release a game and have people playing it. That, and getting paid for it.
My main contribution to a group of colleagues is the motivation of doing something never seen before. I fight to maintain an artistic approach even as I am currently stepping into an industrial world. Together with a group I strive to make sure the product is interesting and challenging to create, by not being afraid of designing in a way that requires new ideas and new ways of thinking. Of course this may lead to difficulties selling the product, as that is not my first priority aim, which might lead to not-so-pleasant “Hygiene factors” for the lot of us.
Predictions
My primary role, in the best case scenario, will be that of an Idea Generator, an Imagineer, and both in the areas of graphics and game design. On top of that it is also vital that I should be able to participate in every step of the process, from the first idea to the releasing of the product, without being in the way or work against those who are in charge of the specific steps.
I am not fit for a position where I have to tell people what to do and be responsible for making sure they do their job. The way I see it there are two types of power-and-reasonability in projects like this. One is the administrative power over who is doing what when and the other is the power over the final product. These are often mixed up with each other. People often think that if they have money the can tell people what to do, and then their ideas are worth more. Optimal for me would be to have responsibility over the product, but not over the team putting it together. In order for me to work properly people have to listen to my ideas, even if I do not pay them to do so.
Study goals
My primary goal right now is to be part of the finalizing and releasing of a game. Preferably that game should sell enough copies for me and my team to be able to make a living out of it.
Furthermore I aim to secure at least the financing part of the next project, so that I will know what I am doing summer and fall 2012, and how I will make money during that time.
It has been said already that right now, in my life, is not the time to learn new things. Right now I have to try and put the things I have learned into practice, and see how they work out. When that process is over I can go back to learning new things again, in the beginning of the loop.
