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Subject:Re: jobs documenting games From:Beth Agnew <bagnew -at- INSYSTEMS -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 16 Oct 1997 16:52:53 -0400
To the anonymous poster:
> I'm starting to think about a career change to documenting software
> games. Could you ask your tech writing list about this?
>
> I want to know about working conditions, pay, deadlines, SMEs, etc.
> Also, how much midnight oil do game documenters burn?
Now, here's a job for the arrested adolescents among us! Yes, I mean to be
flip. I've done my share of documenting
CD-ROM games. The working conditions are awful, the pay is bad, the
deadlines are horrendous, the SMEs never as expert as they claim to be, and
you burn a lot of midnight oil. BUT, you can have a lot of fun: Nerf(tm)
wars, pie eating contests, pizza in the boardroom, horror movie posters on
the walls of your cubicle, and so on. All of this occurs at a "creative"
company where
the intentions are better than the project management. It can still be
rewarding to do this work and see your name on the game. There *are* some
good game companies, but it's a tough market to crack and very volatile.
For the more, um, mature of us, it's more fun to be paid and fed regular,
and go home when yer tired. (Don't jump on me, this is the first gross
generalization I've made all week!!)
I would recommend taking the odd contract first, to see if you like it,
rather than making a "career change".
--Beth
Beth Agnew
Senior Technical Writer, InSystems Technologies Inc.
65 Allstate Parkway, Suite 100 Tel: (905) 513-1400 ext. 280
Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 9X1 Fax: (905) 513-1419 mailto:bagnew -at- insystems -dot- com Visit us at: http://www.insystems.com
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