Curious Silence

Dear Old Friend,

Two years ago, you helped me get a job down in your home town. It wasn't without some irony that I was the one that encouraged you to get the job you know hold, and now you were working to get me a job at the same company.

Up until that point, our closest point of contact was email. We'd met in chat rooms, communicated via ICQ and later MSN Messenger. We'd put our collective creativity together several times with great results. We communicated well, and on more than one occasion, had a clarity of creative vision that had not experienced with another person before. So, in working with you directly, I was expecting that sort of collaboration once again.

And it all started out very well. I should have seen the warning signs within the first few weeks, but I convinced myself it would get better. I could feel an undercurrent of fear, that questioning decisions made by some in management would either be seen as insubordination or grounds for termination. I even mentioned it at one point when we went out for lunch, to which I respond "Well, not at this point, but I certainly feel the undercurrents that I could be fired unless I fell into line even if I feel the decisions are bad."

It wasn't for another 8 or 9 months that the reality of the situation really presented itself. And when I was let go, I certainly was surprised, but to be honest, it was not unexpected. I was already looking around, and within a week, I had two phone interviews, within 2 weeks, I had my first onsite interview, and within 3 weeks, my first offer, and within a month, 2 offers, and another two onsite interviews planned. I've since moved on, and I wouldn't have had the opportunity I have now had it not been for your hardwork in getting me that job, so thank you!

The petty side of me is finding satisfaction that many of my major warnings are finally being heeded, after being proven in code that they were indeed bad ideas. I lament the fact that it took several months to illustrate just how bad those ideas were, particularly in how little time there was in the schedule for error, and that no one else had the balls or the conviction that push back with me, particularly when folks around the table knew they were bad ideas and that it was a waste of time. Which only serves to reinforce my opinion of the undercurrents in that company.

I made several good friends who I would gladly work with again down there, and I worked with others that, I can honestly say, that I would actively discourage others from working with, and would point people elsewhere who ask me about joining that company. I've already been asked my opinion by several folks getting ready to get out of school and I told them to look elsewhere or be ready to move on after the project ships.

There are great people there, but there are also...somewhat gifted amateurs...and the worst thing is: the benefits are terrible. For such a large company, the health benefits are a joke, the relocation package are laughable, and despite all of the rah-rah from management, nothing is done to keep morale up. And it's down, really down. Even in my first project, where we crunched for six months, Morale was never bad there as it is in that office. I'd expect that most of the folks that are working there that have worked elsewhere will leave as soon as the project goes gold, assuming it reaches that state. Not a commentary on the state of the project, mind you, but I've worked on enough projects to know that nothing is certain until it goes out for duplication.

But, you know, there is one discouraging thing that continues to haunt me to this day: your silence since the day I was let go. No email. No MSN. No XBL Voice or Text. Nothing. Silence. My email hasn't changed - I know you have it somewhere. My instant message capabilities have not diminished or changed.

That hurts, and I thought we were friends enough to not let something like this come between us. But, it looks like I was wrong.

So, I'm writing this as some catharsis (funny how that works here on a Blog). I don't think you'll ever read it unless one of our mutual friends points you to this humble bit of cyberjunk. I just want you to know I don't blame you. It didn't work out, and I likely hung myself by pushing for many things that was against managements wishes (and, as it turns out, I was right, and given the circumstances, I will say this: I told you so!), but believe me when I say: I was already looking to leave, and my dismissal simply showed me the door.

I will close with two things:
1) I learned a lot in my time there (see my previous posts), and feel I have grown a lot as a Game Designer.
2) I hope you move on at some point and see how other companies do things. I told those to many of folks down there, particularly those who were new to the industry and that was their first job. The company doesn't do a lot of things right, in fact, I can count on one hand the number of things they do right, and you and everyone else that has not worked elsewhere would be better served seeing how other companies do things.

I'll be the one that breaks the silence, and I'll likely point you at my blog so you can read this so I don't have to write it again.

Talk to you soon.

New Job, Thoughts on the Old Job

Well, I was let go from my job in Houston a little over a two months ago. Don't worry, in less than three weeks, I had no less than five job offers from around the country. I find myself working at a new job, better pay, better people, better potential. None of the political or bureaucratic crap of my last job, and while I'm not working on "AAA Game of the Year", and, I haven't been this happy since I got my first job.

Alright, I need to have some catharsis, so, here we go:

If I ever own my own game development studio, I learned the following:

1. If you are going to pay top dollar for experienced talent - use it, exploit it. Don't be arrogant, thinking that the way it is done now is the way it must be; let your new talent challenge assumptions and the processes.
2. If you are going to pay top dollar for world class technology, be prepared to modify your workflow to fully embrace that technology. Licensing an engine means understanding the workflow of the company that made it and bending your processes to that method; if you try to fight that, you're going to spend a lot of time, energy, and effort trying to shoehorn in what you think is right, even if its suboptimal to the workflow established by the creators.
3. Too much secrecy is a morale killer. Game Developers love what they do - they get excited when they are working on something cool - and then telling them they can't talk to each other about what they are working on is killer. Secrecy makes good sense in worrying about with people outside of the office, for obvious reasons, but within the office, is really hurts.
   
4. Sending memos asking people to limit discourse in the office is a morale killer. See above. And, more importantly, good game development is all about communication. Stifle that, and you might as well put out the "Help Wanted" sign, because people will leave.
   
5. Micromanagement is a killer. Good Leads ensure people stay on task, they don't tell people how to do their jobs as long as the end product performs as requested and is optimized for performance. Present subordinates with a problem and let them solve it - you'll often be amazed at the results.
6. Not everyone is going to be happy, but learn who the talkers are and convince them what is happening a good thing. In every team, there are the most vocal folks and they drive the morale of the company. Don't ignore the problems, and don't say "this is always the way we've done things" because that means nothing to someone that you brought into the company - if they see problems, explain the process. If they point out flaws in the process, don't ignore them and if you do ignore them, more importantly, don't look for input and then tell people that change is not coming. That is brutal for morale and, for folks not intimately tied to the company, will have them running for the door. Game Development is one of the few corporate ventures where everyone can express their creativity toward a common goal, and contrary to what you tell yourself, there are always other jobs.
7. Worry about word of mouth from former employees. The game industry is still small, but word gets out fast when it comes to how a company does business. Like all business, the best thing you can get is positive word of mouth.
8. Benefits are more than free dinners and soft drinks.
9. Retain experienced, senior-level staff. The best companies in the industry retain more than leads and recruit more than entry level staff. If you have trouble keeping your mid level employees, you have problems. Either they are under payed, overworked, under appreciated or feel ignored and marginalized, or all of the above. Game Developers can be incredibly loyal, but, that loyalty only goes to a point - and given how much interest a experienced developer gets on the open market, retaining them should be top priority. Entry-level folks can burn out. Mid to Senior-level are in it for the long haul; most have seen the fire of crunch and wear it with a badge of pride.
10. Disagreeing with Management isn't insubordination, particularly if they go ahead and do what is asked for anyway. Good management is all about communication, and if you aren't communicating properly - no matter how many meetings or verbose emails you send - expect their to be miss communications. Further, if you have someone create something, and you as a manager have preconceived notions on what that something should be , don't be surprised if what is created doesn't match your notions. Also, don't be surprised if you, as a lead, have to fight to have your idea used, particularly if someone else was instrumental in designing a system.
    
11. Object Oriented Design is only as good as the long term plans allow. People are more willing to work in the more generic, esoteric designs if they know that the hard work they are doing now is going to be used multiple times - see the discussion about secrecy above. However, if no plans are made (or are communicated) as to the next project, expect morale to take a huge hit as people work extremely hard for a one-project game, creating code and designing systems that may or may not be used again.
12. Be realistic with your development schedule. If management wants more out of the game, get estimates sooner and modify appropriately. Minimize wasting development time on systems and content for something you never had the time or manpower to address anyway.
    
13. Be prepared for people to challenge management, particularly on creative things. Management needs to be prepared to either compromise or abandon their ideas if they are either unfeasible or are simply bad ideas. Wasting time to indulge management kills morale and, more importantly, will waste time. This is not always possible, particularly if they are expressed at the start as being core to the game, so this is a two-way street. Management needs to be willing to abandon ideas that test poorly. Talent needs to be willing to embrace other ideas that test well.
    

I wish well of my former colleagues, and if the game is a success, it will be a success despite the creative direction and management, not because of it. Which is a shame, the IP has potential.

Anyway...

I'm currently working at a startup, surrounded by industry veterans that have been behind some huge hits. Communication is open and free, which means we actually talk less and get more done. We're incredibly incentivized, and everyone is busting their asses. More to the point, I'm working on something I never thought I'd work on, and its much more stimulating than my last job.

We're having fun, and after a year and a half of work, its a welcome change.