Yes, it's been quite a few.
So a few updates, and a little rant.
First, PAX was great. I ran into Jane again, always a great thing. She was busy so I gave her my card, since last time I didn't have any. Yes, I AM a game developer, imagine that.
Actually, PAX was great for reasons other than what was actually going on at PAX. I didn't really participate in anything. The panels were hard to get into, the place was too packed to really move around, I have absolutely no skills required for even competing in tournaments, and the tabletop room smelled horrible.
But seeing 20,000 people all packed into this convention center and bursting out of the seams really helped validate what I do. Seeing the success of the Behemoth, the accessibility of Torque, the sheer coolness of EETS. It's just, well, great.
Plus, I did see one panel - the Indie game panel. A lot of it was common sense, but the panel in general really inspired me to work on my own ideas. Before I would get on myself about spending so much time outside of work doing the same thing I do at work.
But you know what? At work, my job will get done. If I am working on a project, it will eventually ship, it has too. It might mean putting in extra hours down the road, etc.
But my ideas? My creations? Those aren't going to get made, if I don't step up to the plate and make them. Unless someone steals them, which would suck because then I have no influence over the final product.
The average American watches at least 2 hours of TV a day. If I spent 2 hours a day, 5 days a week working on my personal game, that is the equivalent of a full work week after a months' time.
Plus, I spent plenty of time doing things other than games. Whether it's martial arts, which I do about 3 times a week, going to the gym, which I do about every other day, riding my motorcycle, reading, playing guitar or piano, or drawing - the point is that I make sure to stay well rounded.
Which leads me to my next point.
Got done having an awesome conversation with Robin over IM. Robin and Santiago pretty much have the uncanny ability to make me feel great about what I do. Anyways, we were talking about the team dynamics and dealing with coworkers.
Working on a team is something that a lot of people who come into this industry are very weak on. It makes sense, there are a large amount of us game developers who got into the industry by working on stuff by ourselves. And there's a large amount of us that are lacking a lot of social skills. But once this becomes your job, you really need to learn how to deal with people. It's not just about your skills in your job field, it's also about your personality.
Now, I'm not going to pick on anybody about their personality traits, Lord knows I have a crapload of flaws myself. But one thing I've noticed is that when you become so focused on something like game development, it takes a little too much priority on your life. When you place so much emotional weight in what you do, it's hard not to take any criticism of it as a personal affront.
So what do you do?
Live!
Yes, get some hobbies outside of working on games. If it's 5-6 pm, and you're on schedule - GO HOME! Lord knows you'll be putting in enough extra hours once crunch time starts, get the hell out of there. Pick up a hobby that's different from what you do. Do you spend all day in front of a computer? Well go camping on the weekends! Don't get any exercise other than clicking your mouse? Take martial arts! or dance lessons! Pick up some books - learn about history, philosophy, whatever. Like computers because you have problems being social - take that head on! Invite some people out to a bar. Don't like bars? Do it anyways! Find industry gatherings, mingle, talk shop, whatever.
But for the love of God, get away from the videogame. I'm not saying stop playing them. On the contrary, developers should at least casually play games.
But the trap to fall in is the fact that all the sudden, your hobby became your profession. And obviously you enjoy it because that's the exact reason why it became your profession. But if you don't branch out, if you don't see how small developing games really is compared to how massive the fucking world is, how much there is going on outside of your own small focus, how our time is soooo short compared to the entirety of human history, then it's hard to take things in stride.
If you spend too much time focusing on yourself and what you do for a job, then you're going to become too self-centered, and it runs the risk of actually affecting your job in a negative way because you'll be too attached to the things that probably should be cut and you'll be so alienated from your fellow human beings that you won't know how to deal with them.
I know, it's something I have to deal with myself. Luckily I've met some great people over the last few years that make it much easier.
Good luck.
