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My studio was officially shut down today. Many are transferring to the mothership in SF. http://venturebeat.com/2013/02/25/zynga-shuts-baltimore-studio-and-consolidates-three-other-locations/ I'm not exactly sure what's next for me, but I'm trying to see what my options are. I may be looking for work as a mobile/social games artist if anyone knows of openings. I am a senior artist. This is my portfolio I put together in a weekend: http://art.helenzhang.com Please pm me if you want to see the password protected entries. I may be adding more to it later but wanted to get something up ASAP. I have a pretty diverse skillset - I'm a wizard of flash animation and drawing cute stuff. I could clean house on a UV unwrap and texture painting. I'm going to devote some time to filling holes in my portfolio and skillset as an artist -- top on my list is to get more environment work in my portfolio. I'm also frighteningly good with solving technical issues. Anyways, that's my spiel! Thanks for any support. Frown Town fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Feb 25, 2013 |
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Feb 25, 2013 20:14
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Heh. Apple rejected my build again. For the same reason as last time. All I can figure (since they offer zero explanation) is that they didn't notice my options menu. So now the options button is big and obnoxious-er, AND I added a second restore purchases button into the store interface itself, parallel to the actual purchases. It looks stupid / makes zero sense from a user flow perspective, but oh well. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 22:42 on Feb 25, 2013 |
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Feb 25, 2013 22:39
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You can reply to those rejections, you know! And you can add notes for the reviewers when you submit. I've had rejections that were really terribly worded and had to open a dialogue to sort things out. There is a system in place to let them put your submission on hold if they have a question, which it sounds like they absolutely should have done in your case if you got knocked back for the same thing twice. It's terrible that they didn't use it, but I do wonder about the staffing situation of the review team because like I said, sometimes the notes on a rejection are so bad that they're riddled with typos and make no sense. Edit because it sounds similar: Once got rejected for not having a restore purchases button, then got submission paused because it wasn't big enough relative to the purchase button (which was on the same page.) Akuma fucked around with this message at 22:53 on Feb 25, 2013 |
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Feb 25, 2013 22:50
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Frown Town posted:My studio was officially shut down today. Many are transferring to the mothership in SF.  I might be out of a job next week too, if my company can't secure funding 
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Feb 25, 2013 23:04
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Frown Town posted:My studio was officially shut down today. Many are transferring to the mothership in SF. I'm not sure if we're hiring for artists; I'll bug my Art Director and see. But in general, if you or your co-workers are considering the move to SF anyway, the company I work for is hiring: http://www.booyah.com/jobs/. We're just down the street from Zynga HQ in SOMA, and it'll be loads more fun to work at.
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Feb 25, 2013 23:34
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Akuma posted:You can reply to those rejections, you know! And you can add notes for the reviewers when you submit. I've had rejections that were really terribly worded and had to open a dialogue to sort things out. I am dealing with my grief via a cuppa and cherry streusel. If I get rejected again, I'll probably eat an entire pie. Shalinor fucked around with this message at 23:54 on Feb 25, 2013 |
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Feb 25, 2013 23:51
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Shalinor posted:I've added feedback and tried to start a dialog every time. They have never responded. It is frustrating, but - hey. That's the process.
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Feb 26, 2013 00:06
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Another rejection, not the right experience. I'll just go out and get some then.
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Feb 26, 2013 00:14
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They sell that in stores, right? :downsicide:
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Feb 26, 2013 00:22
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So I just left my role at Kabam to join Z2Live where I will be heading up their publishing/BD department. Also where I may die from frostbite due to living in California my whole life before this.
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Feb 26, 2013 02:53
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Comrade Flynn posted:So I just left my role at Kabam to join Z2Live where I will be heading up their publishing/BD department. Also where I may die from frostbite due to living in California my whole life before this. Congrats! As a signing bonus, you'll get to hear our pitch a second time!
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Feb 26, 2013 03:09
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Comrade Flynn posted:So I just left my role at Kabam to join Z2Live where I will be heading up their publishing/BD department. Also where I may die from frostbite due to living in California my whole life before this. Awesome! One of the first guys I ever worked with is the CEO of Z2Live right now. Been great to see him make it.
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Feb 26, 2013 03:27
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devilmouse posted:Congrats! As a signing bonus, you'll get to hear our pitch a second time! I yearn deeply for the day when you can actually show me something. Acethomas posted:Awesome! Lou is the one that personally recruited me. Great guy.
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Feb 26, 2013 03:57
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Comrade Flynn posted:I yearn deeply for the day when you can actually show me something. And there are a lot of us in this thread. So stop by the platform side when you get here!
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Feb 26, 2013 04:25
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Shalinor posted:Heh. Apple rejected my build again. For the same reason as last time. I had my build rejected once for suggesting that if performance was bad to consider resetting your iPhone. This was back on the Gen2 iPhones that were notorious for having terrible memory cleanup and it was common practice to reset your phone for games.
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Feb 26, 2013 08:06
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Aha, oh boy, the hits just keep coming. So today was our very small coming out party as a Real Studio complete with a website and whatnot. There were a couple of brief articles on Polygon, Kotaku, and the like, and since it happened to unfortunately dovetail with Zynga closing down the Baltimore office, it let the journos write a "rising from the ashes" type thing. No big deal, back to work... Until! Apparently random people at Zynga, having seen said press, are now actively making fun of us for some reason? "They made a stupid sloth hugging game and now they're going to release a word game? LOL Can't wait to see their DAU!" I'm so confused that I'm laughing. Yes, because there's ample chest-puffing to be done when a few dudes from a closed studio are doing their own thing, unfunded, for the joy of it. Stay classy, Zynga.
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Feb 26, 2013 23:53
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I hadn't heard about our ex-coworkers talking smack. That's awful and I can't imagine it being more unnecessary, although I never remembered the mothership taking even oblique criticism well.
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Feb 26, 2013 23:58
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Sloth Snuggler by Zynga.
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Feb 27, 2013 00:10
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What's DAU?
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Feb 27, 2013 00:12
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GetWellGamers posted:What's DAU? Don't Ask Us.
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Feb 27, 2013 00:18
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Monochrome posted:I hadn't heard about our ex-coworkers talking smack. That's awful and I can't imagine it being more unnecessary, although I never remembered the mothership taking even oblique criticism well. It's sort of awesome. Someone stepped in to defend us, I guess, with the equivalent of "Well, they've shipped as many things as we have in the past few months and haven't had to lay anyone off, so there's that." Oh, how I wish I still had some of those skype channels open! GetWellGamers posted:What's DAU? Daily Active Users - how many unique people are playing the game on a given day. Sloth has ~800 DAU steady-state! SynthOrange posted:Sloth Snuggler by Zynga. Only in my wildest dreams...
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Feb 27, 2013 00:19
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devilmouse posted:Apparently random people at Zynga, having seen said press, are now actively making fun of us for some reason? "They made a stupid sloth hugging game and now they're going to release a word game? LOL Can't wait to see their DAU!" I am genuinely bewildered how there can be people who work their arses off trying to get into games, an industry where most everyone knows each other, can then turn around and poo poo on other devs. It's like the worst mixture of unprofessional and childish.
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Feb 27, 2013 00:20
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devilmouse posted:It's sort of awesome. Someone stepped in to defend us, I guess, with the equivalent of "Well, they've shipped as many things as we have in the past few months and haven't had to lay anyone off, so there's that." Oh, how I wish I still had some of those skype channels open! Got so mad I posted on fb about it. Grr.
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Feb 27, 2013 00:24
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Aliginge posted:I am genuinely bewildered how there can be people who work their arses off trying to get into games, an industry where most everyone knows each other, can then turn around and poo poo on other devs. It's like the worst mixture of unprofessional and childish. There's a reason our industry has a reputation for being the domain of gigantic man-children 
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Feb 27, 2013 00:24
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devilmouse posted:Daily Active Users - how many unique people are playing the game on a given day. Sloth has ~800 DAU steady-state! Just to add to this: DAU/MAU (D, Daily; M, Monthly) is a measure of engagement. You want to target at least 20% DAU/MAU. You obviously want to measure return, too, but a high engagement ratio is generally indicative of a healthy product. http://techcrunch.com/2012/05/26/never-take-your-eyes-off-this-hacker-metric/
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Feb 27, 2013 00:31
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Chasiubao posted:There's a reason our industry has a reputation for being the domain of gigantic man-children I think I was slightly spoiled at my last job, working with family men for the most part.  I was probably the most manchildish there given my airsoft fixation.
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Feb 27, 2013 00:33
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devilmouse posted:Apparently random people at Zynga, having seen said press, are now actively making fun of us for some reason? "They made a stupid sloth hugging game and now they're going to release a word game? LOL Can't wait to see their DAU!" I'm so confused that I'm laughing. Yes, because there's ample chest-puffing to be done when a few dudes from a closed studio are doing their own thing, unfunded, for the joy of it. That's extremely atypical from what I've seen so far in the industry. People are generally very supportive even of people quitting a company to start a new project, let alone being laid off and still finding a way to make fun games. I think the problem may be that Zynga is full of assholes.
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Feb 27, 2013 00:37
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Does Zynga create assholes or attract them? 
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Feb 27, 2013 00:47
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devilmouse posted:Stay classy, Zynga.
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Feb 27, 2013 00:48
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I'll agree with that as soon as anyone in authority says that behavior isn't okay and officially wishes their ex-developers well in their future endeavors. When acompany's that big and that influential, permission of that kind of employee behavior may as well be endorsement.
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Feb 27, 2013 00:55
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FreakyZoid posted:Woukd have thought in your position you'd know this isn't one corporate behemoth that can all be tarred with one brush. "Everyone still there is a bitter prick with hostile feelings toward ex-employees" isn't exactly a healthy attitude for you to be spreading either, indie-champ. I'm with ceebee on this issue. Let terrible behavior be shouted from the rooftops. It's the assholes who are unprofessional, not the whistleblowers.
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Feb 27, 2013 01:04
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And if he was whistle blowing I'd agree. But saying 1000+ people are unprofessional because of the behaviour of a tiny subset isn't whistle blowing.
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Feb 27, 2013 01:33
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Oh, it's definitely just random cranky people (who got shouted down by friends still there, like I said above). I didn't mean it as whistleblowing or to paint with a wide brush, it was just more a interesting reflection on my previous employers and the attitudes possessed there. It bends my brain to even think of that as a sentiment that could be had somewhere.
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Feb 27, 2013 01:40
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Aliginge posted:I am genuinely bewildered how there can be people who work their arses off trying to get into games, an industry where most everyone knows each other, can then turn around and poo poo on other devs. It's like the worst mixture of unprofessional and childish. To be fair Zynga doesn't make games, so anyone working there isn't really in the games industry.
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Feb 27, 2013 02:05
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I am comfortable making fun of Zynga, even if I know a lot of people there trying to make genuinely good games. It's, like, tradition, at this point. Though the dude I knew best there is now a head honcho over at the dudes making World of Tanks, which is 1000% cooler. Totally wish I could take a job with him, but agh, must stay indie, "because."
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Feb 27, 2013 02:09
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Frown Town posted:I have a pretty diverse skillset - I'm a wizard of flash animation and drawing cute stuff. I could clean house on a UV unwrap and texture painting. I'm going to devote some time to filling holes in my portfolio and skillset as an artist -- top on my list is to get more environment work in my portfolio. I'm also frighteningly good with solving technical issues. Anyways, that's my spiel! Thanks for any support. Have you thought about adding more high res stuff or are you mainly interested in assets/environments and/or iphone style games?
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Feb 27, 2013 02:19
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I got some really solid experience at ZEast and met people I truly respect and admire- the only solace I have about the big Z is that many of those coworkers are transferring; I'm hoping they have a positive influence on the culture out there and don't get sucked into the vortex. I've had a lot of recruiters contact me and a bunch of help from SA-- which is a huge morale booster for me. I think every time I've hit this kind of bump in the road, there's always been something more rewarding on the other side. At the very least it's an opportunity to grow as an artist and individual-- and a good refresher on how the hell to interview/negotiate. E: ^^^ I've considered it but I'm not particularly interested in huge teams or console development. I think where I shine is smaller teams that can use my skillset and ability to communicate with developers and designers. If the job stuff goes south ill look into some higher poly stuff. I just don't think the future of gaming is in super high poly and high res stuff. At some point I might try to get really good with UI design since that's easier to apply to other fields and might mean I'm employed more often than not. I'm really not cut out to be a cog. I don't have the attention span for that kind of cut and dry work. The kind of projects I'm attracted to require a lot of creative problem solving and are less about showing off my ability to render each pore. At the end of the day, I want to make games that are fun. If the art style supports the gameplay, I'm down to do whatever. Frown Town fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Feb 27, 2013 |
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Feb 27, 2013 02:22
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Frown Town posted:I got some really solid experience at ZEast and met people I truly respect and admire- the only solace I have about the big Z is that many of those coworkers are transferring; I'm hoping they have a positive influence on the culture out there and don't get sucked into the vortex. It's very important to know that just because you were laid off that you're not a failure. I know it's easy to say and easy to understand but it still stings like a son a of bitch. I'm not familiar with the skillsets required for IOS type companies but your resume/artwork/assets all seem decent. I'd hate to give bad advice since I only work in a cinematics department. I think your attitude of looking at it as a chance to brush up on old skills and learning some new ones is a good idea.
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Feb 27, 2013 02:31
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Buckwheat Sings posted:It's very important to know that just because you were laid off that you're not a failure. I know it's easy to say and easy to understand but it still stings like a son a of bitch. Very very true. When DNA Studios collapsed in November it was a kick to the stomach. I knew that it wasn't due to me and my art, but what did feel like my fault was the fact it took what seems like a long time after that for me to get any job interest. Like I am back at the bottom of the ladder and you have those stories of how Game Dev hubs like Leamington Spa or Dundee regularly swap staff and then it doesn't turn out true for yourself. That said it gets better when interest starts coming back, like I'm hoping to hear back from 4j any day now and I may have secured an interview with another dundee studio! Helps the ego a bit! 
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Feb 27, 2013 03:40
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I stopped internalizing that kind of stuff after witnessing some gnarly poo poo at literally every company I've been employed with, including BHG. I recognize that games (the kind that command a salary or can pay people to work on them) are a business and if they aren't profitable, often for reasons outside of your control, people can't keep getting paid. What I struggle with is the idea of signing up for such a tumultuous and unstable lifestyle, but part of me is extremely drawn to high risk, high reward type development (and maybe in these scenarios I become much more integral to the success or failure of the team-- feeling like I matter drives me). The only thing now is picking places more smartly that I think will keep me on board long enough for me to achieve some degree of personal and artistic growth. I'm really lucky to be in that kind of situation since I have zero debt and a lot saved.
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Feb 27, 2013 04:12
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