Good news on my end? Let's see... I won't have to wake up obnoxiously early again!

Tomorrow is National Day, where we celebrate being booted out of Malaysia :D

@NES: Oooh, that's always good... my current job has me waking up at 4:30 AM.

Okay granted that's because I work out for an hour in the morning, but still.

What's sad is, I've always wanted to work with gamesworkshop. Not in one of the shops, though that would be nice. I mean at the actual headquarters. Designing the game themselves. But the sad part is, despite playing the games for over a a decade and a half, through multiple editions, you would probably still need a degree to do that. So, I'm not qualified to do my own passion.

edited 8th Aug '13 8:45:46 AM by ApplelightLimited

You want some good news? I have two things that are pony related, and are good news at least to me. The Equestria Girls DVD is out in stores, according to the Toys R Us website, and the Princess Celebration Bakery Set is probably out in stores too. I haven't found either yet, but I know they're out there now and will be hoping to get both of them sometime soon.

I signed up for the Enter-Play CCG volunteer program in case they decide they want to run meet-ups and tournies way out where I live. Fingers crossed, I guess.

I don't usually do this but that sounds rough, Syd. I really hope you find a better solution to your problem.

Good news? Well, I have a new job and I'm going to be the first of my family to go to university.

@Apple: Actually, you'd be surprised what you 'need' to get a job at a place like that. Generally speaking, it's no education at all. I mean, the very first game deisgners didn't have any degrees or anything, and a course on game design is actually a fairly novel concept, from the last decade or so.

Most of the game designers I know got into the industry in a few different ways. Some started in QA, and got promoted to designers. Some started in other disciplines, like programming or art, and just kinda shifted disciplines once they got into the industry because they enjoyed design more. Then some, probably the largest group, got their jobs by making games. They just cobbled shit together wherever they could, making mods and crap like that.

if you're interested in working for Game Workshop, my recommendation would be to... well, I don't know much about the underlying mechanics of Warhammer, so I can't give a precise plan, but basically, if I wanted to work for Wizards of the Coast, I'd make a set of Magic Cards, or write a campaign or new class or species for Dungeons and Dragons. Then I'd make a few more, until I got really comfortable working with the overall mechanics and feel of the respective games.

Then, get in touch with the company. All company websites will have a contact form, or careers page(Though they may be hard to find - they're generally at the VERY bottom in small print to avoid getting any fan with bright eyes applying). Send them an email with example of your work and resume, and ask them to keep your resume on hand or bear you in mind for future opportunities. IF they have a job open you're interested in, apply for it. Keep on applying, try and get yourself a name with them, and most importantly, keep building units or game types or campaigns or whatever you're making for them, to keep getting better. Put them into practice so you can balance them, get other players to test them at games shops on the weekends or something.

Go to conventions and try and meet some of the people in the company. Be polite with them, and not to pushy, but agressive at the same time. Let them know you're interested, ask them for any advice or if they know about anything happening. Be pleasant, and try and get to know them a bit.

The Hierarchy in the games industry is founded on two things: Who you know, and what you show. My degree has gotten me squat so far. Based on degree alone, I should have gotten a job at WB, but I was rejected for limited technical experience, because my portfolio wasn't up to snuff. I understand and accept that. What you have to show will go a lot further than a bit of paper. That just makes the suits happy.

@ keg

I suddenly feel a lot better. See building and designing my own take on 40k stuff has been my bread and butter with it for years. It's...ok it's a small thing but, on a 40k years I frequented years ago, I won the annual award for best house rules two years in a row. And I've made a good attempt at re-writing my favorite codex (army rule book) for the current edition.

So...maybe...just maybe...

Aha, see? Best house rules is a pretty good achievement to show off, too. But yeah, actually having re-written codexes and the like will go a long ways if they look good.

Just keep on pushing with it as a hobby, really. If you do something you enjoy for a hobby, most people will get good enough to give it a shot professionally, in cases like this.

To be fair...I was up against poor competition. Lots of silly kids making overpowered units. And, it's like...they could say 'who cares'? Some anonymous people gave you a thumbs up? That's not a qualification.

Weeeeeeell, it's something. Granted, yeah, it might be better from like, a larger source, or a tournament or something. I dunno.

Like I said, I dunno much about Warhammer, so best I can give is very general advice. Especially since I'm largely geared towards video games(Though admittedly designing analogue can be pretty fun. I remember my Game Design 1 final project had an enormous borad that shifted where the players couldn't see[everything was hidden under tiles you checked when you stpped on them, and every turn an 'underboard' would be moved a number of tiles in a random direction] and you used different heroes to kill monsters and get loot. It was a fun game).

@Applelight: Take what you can get. If you enjoy doing it, no harm in giving it a shot.

One of these days I need to start drawing backgrounds. And actually draw more than once a month.

This is a large part of getting anything in life at all.

The position of the goo makes me think of Pinkie Tai.

edited 8th Aug '13 10:05:47 AM by KuroiTsubasaTenshi

Guys, I'm back from GalaCon. Since four days. Yeah, I'm kind of slow here.

The second wasn't as good as the first one. I didn't buy anything, since I was hesitating and misjudged the vendor times (something, a simple look onto the guide could have fixed). Also, I missed a few things, that I wanted to see. That was my fault too, since I wanted to play Mazes & Mares, A MLP RPG that's originally based on D&D. It's not done yet (they were doing test sessions at the con) and there isn't even a site for it yet. There is, however, a downloadable sample adventure (but only in German for now). It was quite fun, even though my character (a mix of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy) didn't do all that much and it was pretty much a disaster.

The main event was definitely the auction and that one was just crazy. Somebody bought and apple, signed by Peter New, for 60€. According to the MLP meme page, something like that happened last year too, but it was the host, Perrydotto, who signed it. This time, she signed an half-empty bottle of Fanta, which went away for a similar amount.

Something, that apparently happened last year too, was that a bunch of (apparently rich) Swiss bronies were... quite generous. Like, they bought a banner for over 1000€.

But the one who "owned" the auction was definitely Peter New. He dressed up in a bra, wearing wings, a horn and... other stuff. He is definitly best princess now.

Also great was the "Fluttershy Cute-Off" between Andrea Libman and Anneli Heed (Swedish VA of Spitfire). How I managed to avoid a heart attack, I will never know.

Overall, it was pretty great. However, my biggest regret is that I didn't really interact with other bronies. My withdrawn personality got the better of me. Also, I'd have liked to give more money to Bronies for Good (I didn't for reasons I mentioned in the beginning of the second paragraph). I only bought a button for 3€, that advertises a donation drive, I can't even take part in. I should have gotten a print for 20€ when I had the chance...

I certainly want to visit GC the next year too.

edited 8th Aug '13 10:11:57 AM by Nyarly

I will admit that I harbor no small amount of resentment against the "who you know" bit.

Because if that's the case, then I'm screwed.

I know... you guys.

Ah crap.

Villains (Human)

I kinda benefited from that while I was writing my thesis, as I knew several people who had gotten their doctorates from the school I was attending and could help proof it for me.

Career-wise, though, yeah I got nothing.

Prince King Sombra looks so bishie!

Also, which one's Nightmare Moon, and which one's Chrysalis?

edited 8th Aug '13 10:18:39 AM by KylerThatch

Nice humanizations.

It's... certainly not the most pleasant aspect, but it sadly is true.

it's not that hard to meet people, though, at least not in game design. Because of that law, and because there's really only so many big companies, the industry is really tight-knit, and there's a lot of meetups and stuff. And, once you're in, it's not as important to know people. IT's still useful, certainly - if your company sinks like THQ, it'd be nice to know your buddy Joe or whoever can recommend you for another job somewhere.

It's an unpleasant truth, though, and there's sadly very little to do to get around it. There's gonna have to be some socializing in your career, unless you're absolutely fantastic, and even then you'll likely be a freelancer. Which can be nice, but job security is also nice.

@Kyler: The lady with the long straight hair and green eyes second from left is Chrysalis, so that should help you work out the other one. They look like a squad of villains on some dark anime.

edited 8th Aug '13 10:43:18 AM by edvedd

Those are cool, but Discord isn't Discord without a goatee.

Would you all see Discord as middle aged looking?