A Great Quote About Being a Game Designer

I heard this from a fellow designer that I did not have as much of an opportunity to work with as I would have liked, James Mouat. It's a quote about being a game designer:

"To me, the real brilliance of a great designer is not the ability to flesh good ideas into good designs, but the ability to survive the production process. When the Big Push comes, the designer is out there all alone with most of the responsibility and almost none of the authority, constantly second-guessed from above and below, ever on the defensive and at the mercy of the talents and loyalties of his team and unable to prove the validity of his vision, as most games are neither fun nor graphically/aurally stunning until near the end of development." --Jason Shankel 

It's fairly accurate, as quotes go. It might sound a bit depressing, but having that drive is what keeps me going every single day. Ideas are easy. Fleshing them out is a bit more challenging. Living and breathing a design, communicating it daily with conviction, knowing how best to talk to everyone on your team so that they understand and buy into your vision for whatever feature/mission/system you're working on all the while knowing that it could all go away...to quote Mark Henry, "THAT'S WHAT I DO!"

I've worked in the industry eight years. The one original IP I came up with that was actually picked to be made by the first studio I worked at wasn't protected correctly. Three of the projects I've worked on have been canned, one of which had a feature I can't get into but was incredibly awesome. This is the game industry. Have I been upset about these things? Sometimes, sure. Because when you pour your soul into something and see it tucked away for the world to never seen, it's a bit disappointing. But you keep going, working away at the next project, because when something you've worked on does make it's way out, and you see gamers play it, it's the best feeling in the world. You know that you've been part of a team that has helped make something that someone, somewhere, will get enjoyment out of. It doesn't have to change their lives or make them think about some deeper meaning all the time either...these are of course things to strive for in certain types of game. But sometimes...sometimes putting a smile on someone's face is enough. And knowing that makes all the 'bad' worth it.

What I'm saying is, I love my job and all the challenges it brings. I work with extremely intelligent individuals who always give me something new to think about and are able to bring excellent knowledge to the table in any discussion we have. I hope I get to do this for as long as I'm on this Earth.

Quick Notes:

• I totally used to be in choir in high school and later. Multiple auditioned groups, even. Check out my baby face around 47 seconds into this video. Third row, to the left of the guy with glasses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6u_OiMJo7M
• Sorry if I rambled above. It's late, but I wanted to post to keep my 'one a day' promise
• This is the worst article ever: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-problem-with-the-gaming-industry-is-that-developers-make-too-much
• My Oculus Rift is out of customs hell! I hope it gets here next week! Huzzah!