Money, money, money...

[vhal_x]

Is it really that bad? Wow, yeah I was worried about that whole "losing the buzz of gaming" thing from working with the games 24/7, but other than that, I hadn't realised how bad it was, maybe I'll stick to teaching xx

[lhurgoyf]

I went to school near where Epic game's studio is. We had an interesting talk one day by the CEO of Epic. One of the words of warning he had for people aspiring to get into the gaming industry is that if you have any reservations about working a 100 hour week for minimum wage then do not bother. Upward mobility in the gaming industry is very hard and is more about who you know than your actual skill sets.

[twistedsymphony]

The thing is, it's one of those jobs where they essentially have people lining up outside the door who want positions... so it's easy for them to overwork and underpay their employees because if anyone doesn't like it and leaves, they have dozens of people waiting in the wings to fill the position.

It's not uncommon that in the last 4-6 months before a game's release they have "crunch time" where they bring in cots and expect people to pretty much sleep in the cubical so they can work super-long days, 7 days a week. and where most employees are salary they don't get paid overtime. (in the programming world there is a common saying: "overtime is free!").

Also I've heard that some developer houses hold getting your name in the credits over people's heads with options like "well we can give you that bonus, or if you forgo the bonus we'll put your name in the credits" basically forcing you to chose between getting credit for your work or getting paid appropriately.

I would recommend you read the legal documentation about West's and Zampella's Law suit against Activision, they pretty much spilled their guts about all the ridiculously abusive and unfair employment practices that they use.

It's also important to note that Activision was FOUNDED by a group of game developers who left Atari because they wanted to form a company that treated it's developers with respect

[vhal_x]

Bloody hell that's given me a lot to think about, I think I will DEFINITELY stay with teachin that all seems so ridiculously unfair, I feel pretty thankful now that Rockstar turned me down !!! xx

[twistedsymphony]

I doubt it's the same everywhere, I don't know much about rockstar but I have more faith in them seeing as they broke ties with the Studio behind LA Noire after they discovered how they treated their employees. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...r-la-noire-dev

Without a doubt though, it's a job where you get paid substantially less for the work you do simply because it's a job a very large number of people want to have.

EDIT: This is the Activision Lawsuit if you're interested in reading it: http://kotaku.com/5788193/west-and-z...aint/gallery/1

keep in mind that West and Zampella aren't just two programmers, they're the two guys who created Call of Duty, they're a level of developer up there with Cliffy B, Miyamoto, Kojima, etc. maybe not as great, but certainly the same pay-grade and corporate position.

[gu8]

im pretty new here, the way i see it is this

if your not harming anybody, getting into debt/trouble etc, then why not???

you only get one go in this life and when its gone its gone, do what you think is best, wether thats buying £4000+ fortune hunter editions or spending it on other shite. if it makes you happy then go for it

i personally like to save my money but we all have a vice, collectors editions can be pretty expensive but so can daft shite like ciggarettes

yes i am a ex smoker, yes i have been saving my fag money for the last 2.5 years £70 per week and yes i bought a car for £5000 cash but thats my choice

now weres that fortune hunter....... lol even im not that daft

[Onyxia]

I do something rather similar. I have a budget and video games are part of it (CE or not, though let's face it, CE are more expensive, haha). I have a calendar with all release dates. If I don't spend much in one month, I save it for the next. I keep track of all the money spent in a little book so I make sure not to go over it. Of course, sometimes I do, but I try to spend less on clothes and such to make it up for it. Games and clothes are not my priorities, obviously, though I think it's fine to spoil yourself now and then (as long as you're within your budget). I know it makes me happy. Doesn't have to be a CE, though those do make my day (or even week/month).

vhal, I wish you good luck with teaching if you go back to it! I think if you love it, that's what matters. It doesn't have to pay THAT much. If it makes you happy, it's a good start! AND it helps you buy CE so it makes you even more happy, hehe.

[vhal_x]

Yeah, it's always within my budget, I just try to make the most of it as I can

Thank you, yeah I think I'm gonna try and get back into teaching as I loved it, and as a teacher, you never stop learning yourself, and I don't know if this makes me strange, but I love to learn.

I randomly just buy higher biology (or any other subject) books and read through them to learn the stuff (granted, I did take Higher Biology in school but that was the class I unfortunately refused to pay attention so I failed, despite the fact I love science ) xx

[Gemini-Phoenix]

I keep a physical notepad beside my desk containing a list of all the pre-orders I have made, so I always know what I have to reserve cash for that month, and can cross them off as and when I get them. It's a simple process, but seems to work for me

[vhal_x]

I have a word document of all my preorders, well, a Notes document since I'm a MacBook user, (although I much prefer MS Word!) and yeah, I colour things orange once paid for/received. It's not so much the preorders that make me want to jiggle my money around, but all you guys selling things I want at the times I'm skint xx