OT - Career change advice - Game Designer

[deccan]

Hmm, after that romantic getaway advice thread, I'm beginning to feel sort of silly but anyway, this is lots more interesting...

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote to apply for a job. Now it seems that they're very interested to meet me, and even after I'd explained that I would only be in Malaysia (the place where the company is located) at the end of December, they said that they would be willing to wait.

The position is question is Game Designer with a fledgling company. I have no real experience in this, but apparently they were impressed by my c.v. (which makes for quite interesting reading I must say) and claims about being really into games.

The problem is I have a relatively high-paying job right now, though it's a dead-end one with relatively poor long-term prospects, and taking up their offer would mean earning much less money. The good point is that it'll probably be a lot of fun, plus I get to actually stay in Malaysia which is where my friends and family are after all, instead of jetting off to remote places like Africa and the Solomon Islands.

Any advice?

Anyway, their website is: http://www.phoenix-gamestudios.com/ and their main product is http://www.fungwanOnline.com/html/main.htm

I'd appreciate it anyone could give me any idea if they're any good or if they have a viable business there.

[Azselendor]

Have you pie and eat it too!

Telecommute!

[spoon]

Originally posted by deccan:

The position is question is Game Designer with a fledgling company.

It's usually pretty rare to be able to get a job as a level designer (which is what the position sounds like from its description) without any experience, so if you are interested in pursuing a career in the exciting field of video game design, this seems like a good opportunity to get your foot in the door.

I'd appreciate it anyone could give me any idea if they're any good or if they have a viable business there.

They seem to be "under the radar", in that there's not much info out there about the game, which seems odd, since it is in beta (maybe its not open beta, not sure...)

I wouldn't take this job if you had a family to feed or something, but if you want to change careers, and don't mind the cut in pay, then go for it. Doing what you love to do is worth more than the stuff money gets you.

[deccan]

Originally posted by spoon:
They seem to be "under the radar", in that there's not much info out there about the game, which seems odd, since it is in beta (maybe its not open beta, not sure...)

That's a big question for me as well. They seem to be aiming particularly for the non-Japan, Chinese-speaking Asia market, which explains its low profile in the EU/U.S. and the use of Chinese, and I highly question the economics of that. I just don't want to join a fledgling company only to see it die a year later.

I do think that the "Fung-Wan" license (anyone seen the movie?) has a lot of commercial potential though. Judging from the huge hits movies like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" were in the United States, I believe that this stuff, properly developed and marketed, would sell well in the U.S. As it is, it seems to me to be a second-rate Diablo 2 clone developed as an MMORPG.

I wouldn't take this job if you had a family to feed or something, but if you want to change careers, and don't mind the cut in pay, then go for it. Doing what you love to do is worth more than the stuff money gets you.

That's pretty much what I thought as well. I agree that it's more important to do a job that you enjoy that one that pays more, particularly when I'm not married and have no children.

[Erax]

It looks like they're trying for the Lineage market. For those who don't know, Lineage is the world's biggest MMORPG, with 10x (yes, TEN TIMES) the number of players that Ultima Online has. It runs mainly in Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

If this company's game meets with any success, you will become very popular - not rich, but at least famous.

[deccan]

Originally posted by Erax:
It looks like they're trying for the Lineage market. For those who don't know, Lineage is the world's biggest MMORPG, with 10x (yes, TEN TIMES) the number of players that Ultima Online has. It runs mainly in Korea, Taiwan and Japan.

Wow, that's a very interesting tidbit. Thanks. I'll look into it right away. Might come in useful.

[Erax]

Here's the article where I got the info : Lineage.

It's almost two years old, though. I have no idea what the scene is like today.

[Lord Chane]

Originally posted by deccan:

but apparently they were impressed by my c.v. (which makes for quite interesting reading I must say)

Okay, now I'm curious about your c.v. Care to share it?

[deccan]

Originally posted by Lord Chane:
Okay, now I'm curious about your c.v. Care to share it?

Well, I'm guessing that your curiosity comes from wondering what kind of c.v. it took for me to get a developer to be interested in hiring me as a game designer. Keep in mind that this is a Malaysian company and qualifications and skills that can impress a Malaysian company would probably just cause someone from a U.S. company to yawn in disinterest.

My academic background is in media/journalism and I studied in Tours, France, which of course means that I speak French and did a couple of internships with French newspapers. This is unusual enough among Malaysians that most prospective employers treat my application as not being just another piece of paper in the slushpile just for that reason alone.

I've done brief stints as a press stringer for one of the larger national newspapers in Malaysia and as a writer for a Malaysian dot-com. After that, I spent about a year and a half in Africa as an English-French interpreter and I've been in the Solomon Islands for the past three years, helping to manage one of the larger logging companies. I've some interesting experiences and adventures to relate about working in those remote places, which you can read if you want to dig up my old Solomon Islands thread.

In my application letter, I've emphasized my experience in senior management, which I'd bet, relatively few of the other applicants have done. I'm guessing that they're probably inundated with applications from youngish people who are wildly enthusiastic about games, but are relatively immature and haven't worked in management before. Part of a game designer's job is to provide direction to programmers and artists after all.

Mostly however, I think I've managed to identify what precisely they are interested in. For example, I've managed to toss in references to Jin Yong's (Louis Cha) wuxia novels, which is an important source of ideas for many martial arts epics, mentioned stuff about designing scenarios, characters, items, add-on rules etc. for games like RuneQuest - Land of Ninja and Shadowrun since I was kid, and yes, I've even mentioned that my favorite strategy game of the moment is SEIV and pointed them to MM's website. And it probably helps that I have a website with some relatively interesting reading material on it, have written at least one science-fiction short story, and have decent computer skills (I've done some distance learning courses with the University of California Berkeley Extension in computer science in my spare time). Not enough to write a game certainly, but enough to know when I'm asking the impossible from programmers and enough I hope to be able to give some useful input in overall game design.

Hope that satisfies your curiosity. What's happening with our KOTH game anyway?

[deccan]

Originally posted by Erax:
Here's the article where I got the info : Lineage.

It's almost two years old, though. I have no idea what the scene is like today.

Thanks for the link Erax, I really appreciate it.