WOTC is hiring a new Game Designer for D&D

[Jester David]

Some people like having families, children...

And so do Crawford and Mearls. So the wage is probably enough to support kids. And being able to support the basic needs of your family is kinda the definition of "livable".

 

[Morrus]

Some people like having families, children...

Hasbro pays just fine.

 

[Parmandur]

Is it normal to not list a salary range in this kind of job advert? Seems odd to me.

Talking of which...



How many regular posters here get paid less than Mearls & Crawford?

Mearls owns a house in the Seattle area. I'm sure the pay is competitive.

 

[S'mon]

And so do Crawford and Mearls. So the wage is probably enough to support kids. And being able to support the basic needs of your family is kinda the definition of "livable".

If they do pay a living wage that's great. That's not what I'd heard elsewhere. The only number I can recall was from about 10 years ago, and it was a WoTC games designer making ca $35,000, which didn't seem very livable to me. Also the comments I saw recently on a rate-your-employer website for WoTC included frequent comments about not getting paid enough to live on, being dependent on partner's income.

 

[Jester David]

If they do pay a living wage that's great. That's not what I'd heard elsewhere. The only number I can recall was from about 10 years ago, and it was a WoTC games designer making ca $35,000, which didn't seem very livable to me.

Ten years is a long time and a lot of inflation. It'd be closer to $41,000 now. Assuming the money they paid D&D designers and developers at the tail end of 4e is the same as they're paying at the height of 5e.

Also the comments I saw recently on a rate-your-employer website for WoTC included frequent comments about not getting paid enough to live on, being dependent on partner's income.

Link?

Okay, being a game designer is not going to be a highly lucrative job. It's not up there with lawyer or doctor. The question is: does a job that makes you happy and that you enjoy doing worth making less money? How much is your happiness and enjoying your work worth?
Because any amount of money above the minimum doesn't necessarily buy you happiness. It buys you stuff. And stuff is nice. I love my stuff. But I'd rather have less stuff and have a job I didn't hate.

 

[Nagol]

Ten years is a long time and a lot of inflation. It'd be closer to $41,000 now. Assuming the money they paid D&D designers and developers at the tail end of 4e is the same as they're paying at the height of 5e.


Link?

Okay, being a game designer is not going to be a highly lucrative job. It's not up there with lawyer or doctor. The question is: does a job that makes you happy and that you enjoy doing worth making less money? How much is your happiness and enjoying your work worth?
Because any amount of money above the minimum doesn't necessarily buy you happiness. It buys you stuff. And stuff is nice. I love my stuff. But I'd rather have less stuff and have a job I didn't hate.

A big thing extra money can do -- if you can provide the discipline not to buy stuff -- is to buy your way out of wage-slavery for good. Squirrel the excess away and soon you find you've accumulated enough that you can stop working entirely and still maintain a standard of living equivalent to what you would achieve labouring at a lower-paying but more comfortable career.

 

[S'mon]

Ten years is a long time and a lot of inflation. It'd be closer to $41,000 now. Assuming the money they paid D&D designers and developers at the tail end of 4e is the same as they're paying at the height of 5e.

I think it was Chris Perkins making $32-35,000 and it was more at the start of 4e era. $41K doesn't seem much to me, and I consider myself an underpaid academic. Any games designer is likely to be college educated and have student loan debts, while Seattle is not a cheap city.

Edit: However a Google search just turned up this; $75K looks wholly respectable. It does bug me if games designers are earning much less than the non-creatives but c'est la vie I guess.

 

[Sadras]

I love my stuff. But I'd rather have less stuff and have a job I didn't hate.

Gawd yes!

 

[bedir than]

Is it normal to not list a salary range in this kind of job advert? Seems odd to me.

Talking of which...



How many regular posters here get paid less than Mearls & Crawford?

In the entertainment business (games, music, movies, tv, sports) most jobs don't list salaries. You will not be paid what you are worth because there are 1000s of people who will accept less to do the job. These are prestige gigs that are not about money, but about experience.

 

[S'mon]

In the entertainment business (games, music, movies, tv, sports) most jobs don't list salaries. You will not be paid what you are worth because there are 1000s of people who will accept less to do the job. These are prestige gigs that are not about money, but about experience.

OK thanks for the heads-up.

 

[Mistwell]

If they do pay a living wage that's great. That's not what I'd heard elsewhere. The only number I can recall was from about 10 years ago, and it was a WoTC games designer making ca $35,000, which didn't seem very livable to me. Also the comments I saw recently on a rate-your-employer website for WoTC included frequent comments about not getting paid enough to live on, being dependent on partner's income.

Their average salary is $75K.

 

[S'mon]

Their average salary is $75K.

Odd, you posted that half an hour after I edited the post you're responding to with the same factoid.

 

[Mistwell]

Odd, you posted that half an hour after I edited the post you're responding to with the same factoid.

Sorry about that...my kid had a slime emergency and I got pulled away from the laptop, and then came back later to finish the post

 

[Jester David]

A big thing extra money can do -- if you can provide the discipline not to buy stuff -- is to buy your way out of wage-slavery for good. Squirrel the excess away and soon you find you've accumulated enough that you can stop working entirely and still maintain a standard of living equivalent to what you would achieve labouring at a lower-paying but more comfortable career.

Which is the alternative. You take the job you hate as a "wage slave" and earn enough to stop working, while hoping you die before running out of money.
OR
You find a job that you love that pays just enough, and work for longer but actively enjoy your work.

 

[Nagol]

Which is the alternative. You take the job you hate as a "wage slave" and earn enough to stop working, while hoping you die before running out of money.
OR
You find a job that you love that pays just enough, and work for longer but actively enjoy your work.

I prefer the "take a job as a wage slave until you can completely finance your life as if you had a job you love that pays crap AND THEN do whatever you like with the rest of your life -- including working at a job you love because the pay, while low, is really just bonus income and no longer dictates your standard of living".

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

The best solution to the wage-slave dilemma is to love doing something that pays well.

 

[DEFCON 1]

The best solution to the wage-slave dilemma is to love doing something that pays well.

And the answer to that is scratch tickets!

 

[Jester David]

I prefer the "take a job as a wage slave until you can completely finance your life as if you had a job you love that pays crap AND THEN do whatever you like with the rest of your life -- including working at a job you love because the pay, while low, is really just bonus income and no longer dictates your standard of living".

Life’s too short to spend decades miserable.
You do the wage slave game for twenty years, waiting for that day when you can semi-retire. And the day before you quit find out you have cancer.
You have to enjoy life while you can...

 

[Azzy]

Some people like having families, children...

Families are overrated, and do you really want to bring children into this dystopia?

 

[Nagol]

Life’s too short to spend decades miserable.
You do the wage slave game for twenty years, waiting for that day when you can semi-retire. And the day before you quit find out you have cancer.
You have to enjoy life while you can...

Hey, it worked for me.