Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
RPG Evolution: Making It in the RPG Industry
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Deset Gled" data-source="post: 8054207" data-attributes="member: 7808"><p>I think your point about risk mitigation bears repeating. Especially because I believe that working as a RPG/board game designer is, by itself, a bit of a career risk. The skills are simply less fungible than others.</p><p></p><p>I know a guy who is a programmer that started a company doing freelance software and consulting. If his business fails, he'll have to shut down shop and get a new job as a programmer at any other company that uses programmers. Worst case scenario, his freelance work becomes his portfolio for future job interviews. Ditto for the guy who started an independent mechanics shop; failure means he goes back to working for a dealer. Even failed restaurateurs have something to show on their resume and experience they can bring elsewhere. There are ways to fall up.</p><p></p><p>If you get into RPG design and spend years of your life starting a company and fail (for any reason), what do you have to show for it? To be clear, I'm talking about your career only here; obviously, you still have personal satisfaction, life goals, etc. Is there any place you can go that will look at that "game design" and "worldbuilding" experience on a resume and say "Wow, that's this skill we need for this job"? The marketing experience my be the only re-marketable skill from starting your own small RPG company, and if that's something you don't enjoy you're SOL.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Deset Gled, post: 8054207, member: 7808"] I think your point about risk mitigation bears repeating. Especially because I believe that working as a RPG/board game designer is, by itself, a bit of a career risk. The skills are simply less fungible than others. I know a guy who is a programmer that started a company doing freelance software and consulting. If his business fails, he'll have to shut down shop and get a new job as a programmer at any other company that uses programmers. Worst case scenario, his freelance work becomes his portfolio for future job interviews. Ditto for the guy who started an independent mechanics shop; failure means he goes back to working for a dealer. Even failed restaurateurs have something to show on their resume and experience they can bring elsewhere. There are ways to fall up. If you get into RPG design and spend years of your life starting a company and fail (for any reason), what do you have to show for it? To be clear, I'm talking about your career only here; obviously, you still have personal satisfaction, life goals, etc. Is there any place you can go that will look at that "game design" and "worldbuilding" experience on a resume and say "Wow, that's this skill we need for this job"? The marketing experience my be the only re-marketable skill from starting your own small RPG company, and if that's something you don't enjoy you're SOL. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
RPG Evolution: Making It in the RPG Industry
Top