[TRENCHES] Tuesday, August 11, 2015 - Leakage
LegionPerseus VeilRegistered User, Moderator, Penny Arcade Staff, Vanilla Staff vanilla
Leakage
http://trenchescomic.com/comic/post/leakage
Not to be optimistic, but…
AnonymousI’m by no means an industry vet. My time with gaming was short-lived and for the foreseeable future, not a candidate for revival. But I’d like to share a story that isn’t gut-wrenching, one that doesn’t cause horrid flashbacks in all the readers out there who have toiled in the hells of the gaming world.
I had just gotten out of high school. My job had cut my hours down to a single day a week, so not the greatest situation. No career prospects or money to get anywhere should I have any. A particularly nice client of mine (I worked at an animal hospital) heard this and casually asked me if I wanted to earn some extra bucks building furniture for his new startup’s office. I immediately accepted.
What began was that start of a wondrous time in my life (I can say that without a hint of sarcasm which is shocking even to me). I had built the office up, got to talking and let fly the fact that I am an illustrator. Intrigued, he offered me a job in his office keeping things stocked and tidy, while occasionally providing ideas. Turns out I had a knack for it. Go figure.
That lead to being predominantly an idea man, eventually growing to be the small but efficient team’s game designer. Promotions weren’t something I was familiar with, so this was utterly amazing to me. I played the games and as it turns out, I had a knack for breaking them which my boss (and at this point, friend) assured me was a very valuable skill to have. Just like that, lead tester/game designer for the studio. I ended up with my own office with a phone extension, and company business cards with my name and title. I was actually happy to go to work for the first time in my life.
The games we made were casino video slots. Not exciting in the least, especially since they didn’t interest me as games I could play for fun let alone games I would eventually tire of after months of testing. That being said, I didn’t despise the practice of day in and day out meticulously cataloging even the smallest, most nit-picky of errors because I knew that if I didn’t the testers that approve a game’s release would. I’m by no means a fan of tedious and repetitive things. I have never enjoyed being paid to go through monotony, and have yet to enjoy it since. But that studio had such great people and was led by such an excellent boss, that I didn’t mind the drag.
The studio fell through after just two years, though we accomplished way more than was ever expected of us. We all said our goodbyes, extended our heartfelt condolences, and moved on down separate paths. I stuck around through the final days of that company and with the help of my boss tore down the office that I had helped him build. It was a harsh thing to go through, but I can safely say that I don’t regret it in the least. If I had somehow had known the company would end up shutting down I still would have joined (the only difference being that I would have had a job lined up immediately afterwards) and still contributed as much as I did. It was a excellent experience that showed me that there’s still good people working this business, even with all the treachery that takes place.
I still have one of the business cards with my name on it, framed and perched atop my desk.
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Its nice to hear a tale where the narrator isn't screwed in a Kafka-Orwell bureaucratic structure.