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Comte de Saint-Germain posted:Working on D&D was always interesting because everything had to be approved first by WotC, then by Atari, then by Hasbro. Sounds miserable. I'm not sure any IP sounds appealing enough to deal with having to get ideas approved by some uninvolved party.
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Apr 25, 2013 15:23
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mutata posted:So this title has been a ton of fun to work on, but the approvals process for art for 19+ different high-profile properties each with their individual gatekeepers is proving pretty nerve-wracking and often infuriating. Some days I come to work and I'm in licensed IP heaven. Other days I'm in approvals hell. You need the Anointed One! Working on Lord of the Rings, the Tolkien Estate appointed someone who could speak on their behalf authoritatively on all things Tolkien-related. Sure we had to pay his exorbitant contracting rate, but it was so much nicer to channel everything through a single dude who could yay or nay things for us. He'd also write up sweet explanations that we could give the players on why there was magic in the world or how come this color of squirrel was acceptable to include. His title from the Tolkien Estate was actually "The Anointed One", which gave me a pretty aspirational goal for my career. Dealing with Lucas on Indiana Jones was similarly painless due to a single point of contact (though I heard that dealing with the Star Wars guys was a shitshow). WotC/Atari/Hasbro for Dungeons and Dragons on the other hand? gently caress ME OH GOD THE SUFFERING.
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Apr 25, 2013 15:26
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Man, I wish we'd had a LEGO annointed one. We spent the first year I was on the project gussying up look and feel demos for groups of execs flying over, and we were told "it's just... not LEGO enough" so many times it became a company-wide meme.
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Apr 25, 2013 15:40
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Shalinor posted:Man, I wish we'd had a LEGO annointed one. We spent the first year I was on the project gussying up look and feel demos for groups of execs flying over, and we were told "it's just... not LEGO enough" so many times it became a company-wide meme. I know that feel! We have a good meme collection going as well. The interesting thing about the Mouse that will not shock any of you but would probably take the average fan aback is that nothing is connected and there isn't some pool of IPs that we can all go drink from. On top of that, games is the annoying little brother of the family and trying to get certain higher-profile teams to give a poo poo about our product is a pretty silly experience. It's a corporation comprised of dozens of separate businesses, so trying to do something like Infinity that brings them all together is an adventure even for me, and I'm only a junior artist. Sometimes I go home and gripe and my wife wonders why the CEO can't just kick down some doors and go "look, play nice" but yeah, no Anointed One for us. That would be awesome.
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Apr 25, 2013 15:51
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2nd art test JUST for this month submitted, fingers crossed. I'm already tired of these things but there's not much I can do other than keep making art hahaha. Got a couple freelance gigs coming up for an ubisoft studio so that might be fun. If anybody knows a place looking for a character artist let me know! 
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Apr 25, 2013 16:20
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Shalinor posted:Man, I wish we'd had a LEGO annointed one. We spent the first year I was on the project gussying up look and feel demos for groups of execs flying over, and we were told "it's just... not LEGO enough" so many times it became a company-wide meme. No matter what job I get, my title will never be as cool as Annointed one 
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Apr 25, 2013 16:42
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Sion posted:No matter what job I get, my title will never be as cool as Annointed one The Anointed One.
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Apr 25, 2013 16:50
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devilmouse posted:The Anointed One. So, wait, can there only ever be one of them? Is it like Highlander?!
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Apr 25, 2013 17:13
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Sion posted:So, wait, can there only ever be one of them? Is it like Highlander?!
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Apr 25, 2013 17:29
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Shalinor posted:Can I become The Annointed One if I take his head in honorable 1 on 1 combat? Would the mantle come with medical and dental? No but does come with 22 paid vacation days.
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Apr 25, 2013 19:01
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If the on-boarding process does not include an actual anointing with some form of elven potion the title is a sham.
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Apr 25, 2013 19:16
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Fortunately I never had to directly deal with the bugs they put in, but I remember LucasArts generally being a hassle to work with in that regard. Also whoopee, project got pushed back/canceled, so I'm effectively unemployed again! 
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Apr 25, 2013 23:10
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How is working with Disney, in regard to making games based on their movies? Are they known to have a painless single point of contact too to make sure we respect the canon? VVVV Yeah sorry, didn't make the connection with "the Mouse". Senso fucked around with this message at 09:35 on Apr 26, 2013 |
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Apr 26, 2013 02:15
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Senso posted:How is working with Disney, in regard to making games based on their movies? Are they known to have a painless single point of contact too to make sure we respect the canon? I believe mutata's post, fourth from the top, will help with that question. (late edit: this sounds more condescending to me than intended now that I re-read it. I meant in case you didn't see that post earlier. Sounds like it's pretty rough going.) In other news, I am super-excited, as I've officially landed a Production/QA Internship with good prospects beyond. I love the team, like the company, the product is cool. I don't often ask questions around in here, but reading regularly has been super-helpful, so thank you all for being yourselves. Zizi fucked around with this message at 08:35 on Apr 26, 2013 |
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Apr 26, 2013 03:36
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Sooooo anybody know of anybody that might need a senior / lead writer? A friend of mine was a victim of the recent EA layoffs, and I figured, hey, doesn't hurt to ask around on his behalf. also semi-related, when they say they're mostly done with layoffs now I find it difficult to believe them any less than I do at the moment. http://kotaku.com/heres-the-memo-ea-sent-employees-during-todays-layoff-481434626 I never really liked those memos, they read like EA just committed mass murder. "We are extremely grateful for the contributions made by each of these individuals – they will be missed by their colleagues and friends at EA."
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Apr 26, 2013 05:48
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Really sorry to see you go guys, we'll see you again some time until the project ends and we get rid of you again xx
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Apr 26, 2013 14:00
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What an amazing day I've had. Also we have a launch party later. Hopefully I'll be able to talk about things more in a few months. 
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Apr 26, 2013 14:31
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concerned mom posted:Really sorry to see you go guys, we'll see you again some time until the project ends and we get rid of you again xx Last place I was at, the publisher acquired a new studio in a merger and moved a bunch of people in with us. A short time later there was a layoff of excess and one of the UI engineers from the other studio was laid off. About 9 months later the project really needed a UI engineer so he was hired back. 9 months later, another lay off and he was let go again. With strong graveyard humor we'd joke anytime there was an opening anywhere in the project that we should go and bring him in so we could get the three-fer.
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Apr 26, 2013 14:49
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I guess that's the one and biggest perk with Ubisoft, at least in Montreal. No layoffs, ever. Still not sure it's worth the tradeoffs...
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Apr 26, 2013 14:58
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Jones On Fire got featured on the GooglePlay store   Should be interesting to see how it does. I'm considering dropping it to $0.99, if it doesn't spike in downloads like it should (ie. I've heard I should see on the order of 7k downloads over the next week or so).
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Apr 26, 2013 22:34
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Can you actually make a game with the free version of the Unity 3D engine?
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Apr 28, 2013 20:12
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Mr Interweb posted:Can you actually make a game with the free version of the Unity 3D engine? Yep. ...To elaborate, you miss out on some fancy features like post-processing effects and things, and if you're a big fancy company that makes over $100,000 you have to use the Pro version, but otherwise yes, you can defs make a game with the free version of Unity.
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Apr 28, 2013 20:15
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floofyscorp posted:Yep. Awesome. Thanks.
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Apr 28, 2013 20:23
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Hey guys! I'm making a sudden move into the "Games Business" and figured this was a good place to ask some advice. I landed a design internship through a long-time gaming buddy of mine at a startup working on a new social game platform. I got it through my experience/passion in running tabletop games/taking an interest at the "crunchy" details of how the games I like worked, and my apparent responsibilities are as follows: "Daily responsibilities will be to define the requirements for video game mechanics for the __________ systems which include point rewards, level thresholds, virtual currency store, badges, quests, tournament game mechanics and cheats, in game advertising and mini games. In addition, there will be a side project to create a grass root tournament portfolio game for schools." They know/I know that this is a new field for me (I come from a production management background in the performing arts so I'm used to how poo poo Gets Put Together) and I definitely plan on absorbing as much as I can as I start out but was wondering if there's any particular suggestions people may have as for what to look out for/keep in mind/research as I'm starting up. I don't want to be "That Intern" and open my mouth too much but I definitely want to show that I'm driven and interested as this could turn into a nice full-time position if they get their funding/would be good leverage to continue in the field. They had me come up with a rough design document for a quest as part of the hiring process(how it'd be implemented etc etc) and that went well enough so I know I can do the work, I was just wondering if there's any other people from the design side of the industry with any pointers. an cow fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Apr 28, 2013 |
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Apr 28, 2013 23:24
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Nope. Just wing it. Don't be a dick. edit: I'm not even trying to be snarky. You've already gotten past the hard part, so you're probably going to be fine. emoticon fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Apr 28, 2013 |
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Apr 28, 2013 23:43
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emoticon posted:Nope. Just wing it. Don't be a dick. Actually didn't take any snark from it and basically matches up with what I had in mind already so thanks for that bit of confirmation!
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Apr 29, 2013 00:00
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http://www.greenheartgames.com.nyud...ause-of-piracy/ This is fuckin' beautiful. It's a message that will be lost because people who pirate are selfish dickheads who will always find a way to justify their piracy, but it's still fuckin' beautiful.  
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Apr 29, 2013 20:51
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If that company has such a problem with rampant piracy that they go out of business, they probably shouldn't be in the games business. I assume there isn't a game over screen that says that the fortunes of the company are ultimately on the shoulders of the people running it. Adapt or die, I believe is the phrase that sums it up best.
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Apr 29, 2013 21:06
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Juc66 posted:If that company has such a problem with rampant piracy that they go out of business, they probably shouldn't be in the games business. I assume there isn't a game over screen that says that the fortunes of the company are ultimately on the shoulders of the people running it. While I agree with the need for the market to adapt, I still think there's a place in the world to make fun of people stealing from you and then justifying it. Just my 2 cents though.
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Apr 29, 2013 21:10
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Juc66 posted:If that company has such a problem with rampant piracy that they go out of business, they probably shouldn't be in the games business. I assume there isn't a game over screen that says that the fortunes of the company are ultimately on the shoulders of the people running it. Yeah but it still sucks to make World of Goo and have 90% of the people playing the game pirate it. But the business side of me agrees with you and says they should've made the game free to play with microtransactions. Design the game around the piracy. Adapt or die.
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Apr 29, 2013 21:33
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We announced our new project today: http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/04/29/soul-fjord-reveal-trailer
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Apr 29, 2013 22:08
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Juc66 posted:If that company has such a problem with rampant piracy that they go out of business, they probably shouldn't be in the games business. I assume there isn't a game over screen that says that the fortunes of the company are ultimately on the shoulders of the people running it. Some people just want to make fun, interesting games. Having to jump through hoops to prevent piracy is frustrating, especially for smaller developers who don't have the time or money to implement strong anti-piracy countermeasures.
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Apr 29, 2013 22:10
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Juc66 posted:If that company has such a problem with rampant piracy that they go out of business, they probably shouldn't be in the games business. I assume there isn't a game over screen that says that the fortunes of the company are ultimately on the shoulders of the people running it. Except this company isn't doing it because they have a problem. They are doing AP just like a few other games. Not many games do it. I laughed at it. I like it when developers give the middle finger to pirates once in a while in form of a joke.
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Apr 29, 2013 22:12
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Chainclaw posted:Some people just want to make fun, interesting games. Having to jump through hoops to prevent piracy is frustrating, especially for smaller developers who don't have the time or money to implement strong anti-piracy countermeasures. strong anti-piracy countermeasures aren't all that effective actually, and generally speaking the stronger the DRM I've worked on has been, the bigger of a pain it has been for legitimate customers, so it ends up hurting pr as well. The best I'd been able to see when I was working on the stuff was that the game didn't get fully pirated for 2 weeks until after we shipped, and that was seen as a major victory to the top-bosses at the time (most sales happen in the first couple weeks, so it was viewed as if piracy didn't affect sales thanks to the measures that were taken) The effective strategies I've seen basically all boil down to making legitimate copies of the game provide more benifits or be more convenient to get than pirated versions. so basically: -added value drm, like steam (friends list, acheivements, easy directory for downloading /etc, forums. and so forth) -making the game so cheap that it's better to just buy it than pirate it (been doing this for year in Russia, game packaging is super bare-bones, and games cost a fraction of what they do in say Australia, like $5 vs $105 or whatever their prices are currently) -or making pirating 100% irrelevant, ie make the game freemium. even tiny teams can try one or more or those if piracy is an issue for them at any rate. What bothers me more than piracy personally, is if people don't play games I worked on at all, that's sure a kick in the balls. edit: I was totally talking about the in-game company needing to fold if it couldn't combat piracy.
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Apr 29, 2013 22:23
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Sigma-X posted:http://www.greenheartgames.com.nyud...ause-of-piracy/ Haha, that's pretty funny. The "piracy makes you go bankrupt" part is bullshit though. At least in my experience (I don't make physical retail AAA games), piracy numbers are really just a constant. There's a bunch of people that will just download anything and almost never pay. If your piracy numbers completely overwhelm your sales numbers, the real problem is your sales numbers. CASE IN POINT, their numbers: 214 actual sales, 3104 pirated copies.
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Apr 29, 2013 23:13
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Apparently so many people are pirating their website that it went out of business (because I can't reach their website and see the funny  )edit: jk, it works now ZombieApostate fucked around with this message at 23:29 on Apr 29, 2013 |
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Apr 29, 2013 23:21
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Kepa posted:The "piracy makes you go bankrupt" part is bullshit though. At least in my experience (I don't make physical retail AAA games), piracy numbers are really just a constant. There's a bunch of people that will just download anything and almost never pay. If your piracy numbers completely overwhelm your sales numbers, the real problem is your sales numbers. What's the average piracy number for an iOS game?
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Apr 29, 2013 23:28
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Kepa posted:Haha, that's pretty funny. Piracy is a pretty heavy 80-95% of your total userbase, and that's pretty consistent, but moving from 95% piracy to 90% piracy means you've doubled your legitimate users and therefore doubled your sales. Piracy is an issue that needs to be addressed by developers, through different monetization schemes, differing products (especially those aimed at differing markets), etc. Just because the onus is on developers to accept the fact that people are shitheads who want something for free doesn't mean that piracy is justifiable or that loving with pirates in this fashion isn't amusing as all hell. Also the really cool thing they did is that for the low, low price of making a custom build, they've now gone viral with their advertising in way that an advertising spend never could have. This has been all over my facebook, kotaku, front page of reddit, etc.
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Apr 29, 2013 23:35
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Jan posted:Nothing leaked, this is just standard policy that didn't get put in place since the acquisition, until now. It's ridiculous paranoia all around, both in terms of internet security and physical security. It's a good thing that keeping good talent isn't important in the game industry so pissing employees off with asinine pointless security measures isn't a bad idea! I love our IT. We have pretty stringent security but it's all directed in entirely justified ways and if you ask them they'll try to get fun stuff (e.g. games, websites) working for you.
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Apr 30, 2013 01:13
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emoticon posted:What's the average piracy number for an iOS game? I hear different numbers. 60%-80%? For my games I'd say it hovers around 40-50%, though we don't really keep very accurate piracy numbers anymore so that may be off. Sigma-X posted:Piracy is a pretty heavy 80-95% of your total userbase, and that's pretty consistent, but moving from 95% piracy to 90% piracy means you've doubled your legitimate users and therefore doubled your sales. "Therefore doubled your sales" assumes stopping piracy actually leads directly legit users at a 100% conversion rate, and that a pirated copy is 100% a lost sale. What if you had 200 legit sales with a 95% piracy rate for one game, and 200 legit sales with a 90% piracy rate for another game? Same amount of paying users for each game, now you just have less pirates with the second example. No argument on the advertising value. Didn't McPixel do something similar with piracy-based marketing?
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Apr 30, 2013 02:18
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