Hello everyone, i'm currently a sophmore within my highschool, and am starting to get pressured upon thinking about my future career. I know i want to either get into the gaming buisness, or become a history teacher. Payment is not really an issue for me, i'm not really concerned about that as of now.

I want a job that i WANT to wake up to. I know that if I pursue becoming a teacher, my path is not as complicated as if i were to choose the gamin path.

My passion in life is gaming. Whenever i can, i eat, sleep, and dream gaming. However, i also have a passion for history, and applying that to people and making it interesting and meaningful.

Gaming, to my knowledge, is also the more complicated career to become successful in. To figure out where i want to be within the gaming buisness(if i choose so), i'm taking a introduction to Q-Basic class my junior year, then introduction to programming with JAVA.  As of right now, i plan to be a animator or game designer, but i'm open to anything.

I realize that if i were to major in computer science in college, and figure out the ways of programming, that programming is always a needed job in both making software and etc.

So if theres anyone with any advice, please and thanks.

 MrTuMn3s

Underpaid, overworked, crappy upper management, long hours, and more long hours.

However you do get an interesting work environment where you're working with people from just about every artistic field, social field, and IT field to work on one goal.  Which is why people love it.

As mentioned earlier, long hours, poorly paid, lots of stress. A lot of people join the industry thinking its fun, its not. Its work, and can make you hate video games before you finally leave.

The long hours put strain on your relationships, your health, everything really. It's quite crappy, and a lot of studios have an attitude of "you should be grateful to work here, you get to work on games", which they use to grind you into the dust. They know full well that for every person they work to death, there are 10 fresh grads eager to jump in and take their place.

Get a decent job at a nice company, with good working conditions and reasonable pay. Enjoy your day, go home at a reasonable hour to enjoy your life. Don't bother with video games until the industry cleans up its act. And don't join thinking you're willing to do those kind of hours, within a year, you won't be, and because you're just allowing them to continue operating like that.

Well as of now, i don't sleep untill 3 in the morning. I can't sleep that well at night, so that factor COULD possibly work in my advantage, however i understand what you guys are saying.

Real bummer to know that you get underpaid for such long hours too.

Originally posted by MrTumN3s

Well as of now, i don't sleep untill 3 in the morning. I can't sleep that well at night, so that factor COULD possibly work in my advantage, however i understand what you guys are saying.

Real bummer to know that you get underpaid for such long hours too.

That factor doesn't work in your favour in the slightest. In bed at 3, up at 8 to get to work at 9? At best you'll average 5-6 hours of sleep/night. Add to that the long hours, stress, and game studios are fairly cheap about dinner too, and tend to order garbage like McDonald's.

Originally posted by AsprnBtl

As mentioned earlier, long hours, poorly paid, lots of stress. A lot of people join the industry thinking its fun, its not. Its work, and can make you hate video games before you finally leave.

 

The long hours put strain on your relationships, your health, everything really. It's quite crappy, and a lot of studios have an attitude of "you should be grateful to work here, you get to work on games", which they use to grind you into the dust. They know full well that for every person they work to death, there are 10 fresh grads eager to jump in and take their place.

 

Get a decent job at a nice company, with good working conditions and reasonable pay. Enjoy your day, go home at a reasonable hour to enjoy your life. Don't bother with video games until the industry cleans up its act. And don't join thinking you're willing to do those kind of hours, within a year, you won't be, and because you're just allowing them to continue operating like that.

Not that I'm doubting you and much of that seems plausible, but are you speaking from first hand experience?

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by AsprnBtl

As mentioned earlier, long hours, poorly paid, lots of stress. A lot of people join the industry thinking its fun, its not. Its work, and can make you hate video games before you finally leave.

 

The long hours put strain on your relationships, your health, everything really. It's quite crappy, and a lot of studios have an attitude of "you should be grateful to work here, you get to work on games", which they use to grind you into the dust. They know full well that for every person they work to death, there are 10 fresh grads eager to jump in and take their place.

 

Get a decent job at a nice company, with good working conditions and reasonable pay. Enjoy your day, go home at a reasonable hour to enjoy your life. Don't bother with video games until the industry cleans up its act. And don't join thinking you're willing to do those kind of hours, within a year, you won't be, and because you're just allowing them to continue operating like that.

 

Not that I'm doubting you and much of that seems plausible, but are you speaking from first hand experience?

Yes I am, but any of it can be verified by doing some quick lookups on quality of life and game developers. Lookup "ea_spouse" for one wife's rant about what the industry was demanding of her husband. It was only posted a couple years ago, and things haven't changed.

why not become a teacher and do freelance modeling or coding in the summer and on weekends and holidays?

Originally posted by ketrine

why not become a teacher and do freelance modeling or coding in the summer and on weekends and holidays?

Now that is a good plan