I just
recently started listening to the internet radio Pandora. I’m a big fan of Tool, Deftones, and Korn but
not when listening to those same bands over and over on the “Industrial”
station. Come on, guys. Is there a “This song is nice and all, but
doesn't fit the genre you think it does” and I just don’t see it?
So last night
I went to an event at 5th Planet to see their new studio. There were about a hundred people there with
tons of food and a keg(which I later found out was full of root beer--and it
was good). The CEO came by, saw me
checking out the scene and asked me how Stigma Games was doing. We talked production methods for a
while. I still can’t believe what a nice
guy he is.
I’d say
about a third of the people there were people I knew, but I was so engrossed in
checking out the studio, I didn't even want to talk to people yet. That place is massive. There was an 8-10 foot tall dragon in the
reception area. Past that, you walk into
the studio and it’s maybe 10k square feet with dozens of work stations. No cubicles.
Everyone can see everyone else.
The kitchen was about the size of a Starbucks. The break room was about the size of a tennis
court. No, bigger. There was another large empty area where I was
told later that they race go-carts in. There
were also half a dozen “chill out” rooms with couches and tvs in them. The game room was straight out of a mega
corporation meeting room only with tons of popular board games, consoles, a
giant projector screen, and nerf darts and guns all over the place. Even the office buildings were loaded with
gamer related stuff. In one business
office I saw a replica of Frost Mourne, a sword from one of the Final Fantasy
games, and the Portal gun. I just
thought, “This looks like Disney Land.”
I looked around again and thought, “If anyone is wondering what I’m
trying to do with Stigma Games, this here, is it.”
After that,
I did a fair amount of socializing.
There were people from KlickNation there. One of their artists that got laid off used
to be in a writer’s group with me and I talked to her about seeing if she’d
like to join my current group. I met
another woman from KlickNation (which EA has since renamed “Capitol Games”) and
she saw the “Stigma Games” title on my shirt and told me how cute it was to see
young, unheard of studios in the area trying to make it. Nice, huh?
All that really does is push me to want to build up Stigma Games
more. And once we’re a big studio and I
meet someone trying to get their game studio off the ground, instead of being condescending
to them, I’ll encourage them. I believe
the best revenge is to do on to others what should have been done to you.
I made
another post recently, so this might be strange so close to that one. But I wanted to talk about the various stages
Stigma and I have gone through. I
remember when I first started this, anytime someone would answer a Craigslist
add, I’d meet with them and tell them how awesome Dawnshine was going to be and
why they should want to join. No need to
send me a resume. If you were a gamer
and knew anything about code or art, I’d talk to you. Eventually, it turned into, “Well, do you
have a portfolio?” first. And then I
started giving tests. And now it’s
gotten to the point where people need to demonstrate to me that they have a
proven history of doing the role they’re applying for and the drive to push it
further. I've now seen the life cycle of
the “I've never tried to make a game before, but I’m a big time gamer and I just
want to be part of this” type applicant who ends up taking up space and slowing
the morale of the team. I have to stop
seeing them as people that just want a chance that they haven’t otherwise
worked for and see them instead as anchors that make it more difficult to reach
our goals. From now on, I’m only recruiting
people that have the same drive I do. We’re
starting to attract applicants like that now.
It’s time to
raise the bar.
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