If you could, would you work in the RPG field?
- Thread starter Nightfall
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Psionicist
Explorer
No thanks.
I have better things to do. Things I enjoy more I can earn more money from
I have better things to do. Things I enjoy more I can earn more money from
Hard8Staff
First Post
Eol's got it:
<<I think a better question (or perhaps a follow-up to this question) is what kind of pay cut would you take to work in the RPG industry? I think those results would be more telling.>>
We often kid around here about the cost of "Living the Dream". 'Course we're better off than some, but not a whole lot (we have insurance and 401k, etc., but we're the exception not the rule)
<<I think a better question (or perhaps a follow-up to this question) is what kind of pay cut would you take to work in the RPG industry? I think those results would be more telling.>>
We often kid around here about the cost of "Living the Dream". 'Course we're better off than some, but not a whole lot (we have insurance and 401k, etc., but we're the exception not the rule)
Thorin Stoutfoot
First Post
Hm...
Before I had exposure to the PC game industry, I thought it was exciting, glamorous, and fun. Then I worked in it for awhile, and it was well, underpaid, most of the programmers were inexperienced, the code written was really bad, and most games just weren't that great or creative. (And I worked with a broad cross-section of the industry, from Hasbro's game division to Id to Westword Studios, Monolith, and Blizzard)
I'm willing to bet that the RPG industry is similar. It pays very little, and inspired designers/adventure writers are really far and few in between.
Before I had exposure to the PC game industry, I thought it was exciting, glamorous, and fun. Then I worked in it for awhile, and it was well, underpaid, most of the programmers were inexperienced, the code written was really bad, and most games just weren't that great or creative. (And I worked with a broad cross-section of the industry, from Hasbro's game division to Id to Westword Studios, Monolith, and Blizzard)
I'm willing to bet that the RPG industry is similar. It pays very little, and inspired designers/adventure writers are really far and few in between.
Psion
Adventurer
Nightfall said:
I am already a content editor for the RoE stygian, and may contribute to next issue. Also, I will have some stuff appearing in their upcoming ESD "The Dead Will Worship."
After that, who knows? I ALMOST was going to pitch an idea to Mongoose after their last author call, but I thought better of it.
Doc_Klueless
Doors and Corners
Absolutely not. After seeing how rabid some fans get about "their" game, I wouldn't want to expose myself to their venom. It just ain't worth it.
TalonComics
First Post
Re: Hm...
I honestly don't think the RPG field is the same as the PC game field.
The reason being is it's pretty obvious when a RPG game suffers from mechanic problems or an obvious lack of time put into it. With video games though the bad coding and writing isn't always easily found. Also, especially in the PC game field, you can work on a game that debuts at 49.95 and literally 7 months later it's 19.95 in the bargin bin. The competition is much fiercer with video games.
I'm in the RPG industry not to make loads of money but to do something I enjoy doing. That's something many freelancers learn early on.
~Derek
www.taloncomics.com
You Local Gaming Store Online!
Thorin Stoutfoot said:
I honestly don't think the RPG field is the same as the PC game field.
The reason being is it's pretty obvious when a RPG game suffers from mechanic problems or an obvious lack of time put into it. With video games though the bad coding and writing isn't always easily found. Also, especially in the PC game field, you can work on a game that debuts at 49.95 and literally 7 months later it's 19.95 in the bargin bin. The competition is much fiercer with video games.
I'm in the RPG industry not to make loads of money but to do something I enjoy doing. That's something many freelancers learn early on.
~Derek
www.taloncomics.com
You Local Gaming Store Online!
Thorin Stoutfoot
First Post
PC games versus table-top RPGs
I honestly don't think the RPG field is the same as the PC game field.
The reason being is it's pretty obvious when a RPG game suffers from mechanic problems or an obvious lack of time put into it. With video games though the bad coding and writing isn't always easily found. Also, especially in the PC game field, you can work on a game that debuts at 49.95 and literally 7 months later it's 19.95 in the bargin bin. The competition is much fiercer with video games.
Well, video games that are broken through bad design are just as obvious as RPGs. And given that most reviews written in RPG-land seem to be written without even playing the game, it's probably significantly easier to get critical acclaim without having a game that's playable. (Witness the number of reviews praising Nobilis over at rpg.net that comment that they don't see the game as one they would ever play) I'd say that the pc game industry is much better at weeding out pretentious unplayable games than the RPG industry.
The competition is fierce with video games mostly because the top 10 games of the industry make 90% of the money (just like movies). But I'm pretty sure that's true of RPGs too. The reason why the PC game industry has in the past managed to draw a lot of top RPG designers (Sandy Peterson, the designer of Call of Cthulhu, for instance, went on to become a level designer for 3D first person video games!) is because the RPG industry pays so little and so badly that anyone who wants to make a decent living has to have a day job or spousal support. At least the PC game industry has and will continue to make its top designers and developers enough money to stay in the industry, and filthy rich in most cases, thereby continuing to draw talent into that industry.
The thing is, given that its so cheap to publish an RPG (all it takes is enough money to put out a .pdf), we should be continuing to see lots of innovation despite the fact that many talented people in RPGs are really only working part time, and the OGL really will accelerate that. My guess is that the next big thing in d20 will be built not by the professionals, but by some bright guy working on his own who's not being paid professionally coming out of the left field.
I honestly don't think the RPG field is the same as the PC game field.
The reason being is it's pretty obvious when a RPG game suffers from mechanic problems or an obvious lack of time put into it. With video games though the bad coding and writing isn't always easily found. Also, especially in the PC game field, you can work on a game that debuts at 49.95 and literally 7 months later it's 19.95 in the bargin bin. The competition is much fiercer with video games.
Well, video games that are broken through bad design are just as obvious as RPGs. And given that most reviews written in RPG-land seem to be written without even playing the game, it's probably significantly easier to get critical acclaim without having a game that's playable. (Witness the number of reviews praising Nobilis over at rpg.net that comment that they don't see the game as one they would ever play) I'd say that the pc game industry is much better at weeding out pretentious unplayable games than the RPG industry.
The competition is fierce with video games mostly because the top 10 games of the industry make 90% of the money (just like movies). But I'm pretty sure that's true of RPGs too. The reason why the PC game industry has in the past managed to draw a lot of top RPG designers (Sandy Peterson, the designer of Call of Cthulhu, for instance, went on to become a level designer for 3D first person video games!) is because the RPG industry pays so little and so badly that anyone who wants to make a decent living has to have a day job or spousal support. At least the PC game industry has and will continue to make its top designers and developers enough money to stay in the industry, and filthy rich in most cases, thereby continuing to draw talent into that industry.
The thing is, given that its so cheap to publish an RPG (all it takes is enough money to put out a .pdf), we should be continuing to see lots of innovation despite the fact that many talented people in RPGs are really only working part time, and the OGL really will accelerate that. My guess is that the next big thing in d20 will be built not by the professionals, but by some bright guy working on his own who's not being paid professionally coming out of the left field.
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