People who make roleplaying games do so under a variety of job titles, especially those at larger companies. Developers and designers are two roles which on the face of it sound similar - but are they? Is a lead designer like a developer? What does a producer do? Erik Mona's job title at Paizo is "Publisher". Obviously, every company has its own job titles, and a title at one company may mean something different at another. Paizo's Editor-in-Chief, F. Wesley Schneider, shared what a developer does, at least at Paizo -- the short version is that "Developers are to Pathfinder RPG products what directors are to films"; the longer version is below. Talking of developers, Paizo has a new assistant developer, Linda Zayas-Palmer.
They're involved in concepting projects. They pitch ideas, participate in product brainstorms, take part in world-building discussions, create outlines, and determine the best freelancers to work on products.
They're freelance wranglers. They divide projects into assignments, contact and organize freelancers, oversee milestones and deadlines, stay in communication throughout the project, review freelance handovers, request revisions, and serve as liaisons to other parts of the company the freelancer might need to contact. Internally, they report on their experiences with freelancers and their work with the rest of the creative team.
They're accomplished game designers, writers, and editors. They review the work of freelancers checking to make sure their decisions are logical, interesting, and in keeping with Pathfinder game rules, world canon, and company philosophies. This often means reworking stories, revising statblocks, redrawing maps, adjusting/recreating rules subsystems, improving the writing, and creating new content whole cloth. Many of the words you read in Pathfinder RPG products are the writing of developers (and designers and editors).
They're bookmakers. They select what parts of the text will receive illustrations, write art briefs, work with the art staff to make sure text fits/fills every page, write credits pages/back cover copy/preview text, answer all questions relating to their projects (from editors, art staff, or others), and solve any of the countless problems that might arise at any step of the book creation process. They do all this while striving to keep to the march of our varied subscription lines.
And a thousand other things. A developer helms the organization and creation of content for nearly every one of our product lines—Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Modules, Player Companion, Pathfinder Society, etc. Additionally, they're all active on these boards, attend and run games at conventions, and help chart the course of the Pathfinder world. They're advocates for the Pathfinder game, representatives of Paizo, and active agents in making the gaming community more exciting, engaging, and welcoming.
They're involved in concepting projects. They pitch ideas, participate in product brainstorms, take part in world-building discussions, create outlines, and determine the best freelancers to work on products.
They're freelance wranglers. They divide projects into assignments, contact and organize freelancers, oversee milestones and deadlines, stay in communication throughout the project, review freelance handovers, request revisions, and serve as liaisons to other parts of the company the freelancer might need to contact. Internally, they report on their experiences with freelancers and their work with the rest of the creative team.
They're accomplished game designers, writers, and editors. They review the work of freelancers checking to make sure their decisions are logical, interesting, and in keeping with Pathfinder game rules, world canon, and company philosophies. This often means reworking stories, revising statblocks, redrawing maps, adjusting/recreating rules subsystems, improving the writing, and creating new content whole cloth. Many of the words you read in Pathfinder RPG products are the writing of developers (and designers and editors).
They're bookmakers. They select what parts of the text will receive illustrations, write art briefs, work with the art staff to make sure text fits/fills every page, write credits pages/back cover copy/preview text, answer all questions relating to their projects (from editors, art staff, or others), and solve any of the countless problems that might arise at any step of the book creation process. They do all this while striving to keep to the march of our varied subscription lines.
And a thousand other things. A developer helms the organization and creation of content for nearly every one of our product lines—Pathfinder Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Modules, Player Companion, Pathfinder Society, etc. Additionally, they're all active on these boards, attend and run games at conventions, and help chart the course of the Pathfinder world. They're advocates for the Pathfinder game, representatives of Paizo, and active agents in making the gaming community more exciting, engaging, and welcoming.
