:)
Clearly you do too :P

@Xin: A close friend of mine (no he doesn't play earth) has worked for bioware for the better part of 10 years in more or less the same location as a tools programmer (they moved to a larger space in the same city). So yes, jobs in the game industry can be stable :P I guess he technically works for EA now.

As for the microtransaction thing: I never thought of it that way but I concede that it is a good answer to piracy. It's also quite an evil business model in terms of taking money from you and in some cases of questionable ethical value (when targetted at kids). It's almost working the same way a casino or carnival games do.
I don't mind the pay for extra content model (ie an rpg that has some extra dungeons accessable through micro transactions or is perfectly beatable but you can pay some money to power through it quickly by getting overkill gear). It's where the games are essentially designed to be unbeatable without paying extra money, or something like candy crush where your chance of winning is (probably) tied into your spending habits which is very much a slot machine model.
Some of these tactics are banned from casinos for a reason:P

Programmer
Pro: I get to sit at a computer all day
Con: I have to sit at a computer all day

Yup. In my experience no matter what you will always have to work a ton when a deadline approaches. Last year I was in deadline mode for *months* (goalpost kept moving) working 12-14 hours every day, including weekends. I heard it's like that all the time in the game industry, which is crazy.

There's always deadlines in any industry; developers just get shat on more because they can take the abuse. I think they get used to it during school -- I've only had a few times where the crunch I get at work is on par with the end of semester crunches I used to get. Game developers get it worse because game dev is perceived by many to be the "best" subfield of CS, either for personal reasons or for the amount of $$ it can deliver.

i didn't choose it. it's just that thing that pays the bills. course, with taxes and other required deductions, it's that thing where i only get to keep 25% of what the job pays. figure that i should only work 15 minutes out of every hour then let the other people who are getting paid for what i do finish up the 45 minutes that are left.

Jobs are stable mostly only for programmers. This isn't so for artists and level/content designers, where they are largely replaceable, one 3D artist isn't too different from another. Programmers on the other hand, the good ones are worth 10 times the average ones.

Also, you can't throw more programmers at a problem and hope to code the game faster, it doesn't work that way since a new programmer would need to learn all the existing code and game systems and constantly ask people questions. But need more artwork, or rigging done? That is so easily outsource-able, and many artists are hired on a contract or freelance basis.

Of course, there are good companies and studios that don't downsize between projects, and instead have better project planning to stagger multiple projects. EA is actually one of the better employers that will look after retrenched workers and help them find other opportunities.

Heh my wife works for DG. Works in management

Ill make this very easy for people to understand I drive 18 wheelers Canada to USA and back

Pros: I travel a lot. I drive a lot. I dont pay for feul or repairs. Never need a hotal room when I travel.

Cons: I never know when or where I am going next. Never Home always on the road. I do get most weekends home.


Pay is ok


ANY EARTHER THAT LIVE IN THE USA WOULD LIKE TO MEET UP ONE TIME WHEN I AM IN YOUR AREA. SEND ME YOU NUMBER AND STATE AND ILL GET A HOLD OF YOU WHEN I AM IN YOUR AREA NEXT.

Hobo like to know what broad crossing you work out of. I am sure we have ran into each other or talked on the phone just not knowing it.

PHP Developer

Pros: I get to create web shops. Pay is good.
Cons: Deadlines..

Where did you play? I played for many years on both online and live in various parts of the US.

I heard some contract truckers earn up to around 100k/year USD.

Paramedic in Ontario

pro....the pay :-P

cons....the vast majority of people who think taking an ambulance guarantees you be see sooner than walking into the ER. Easily 80% of our calls are this type.

@gongshow: I used to be a lifeguard at a pool right across from a hospital and the ER entrance was just down the block. I can confirm that calling an ambulance was not faster in most cases but
1) we weren't allowed (nor really trained) to carry an injured person out of the pool facility to the hospital and drop them off:P
2) we did suggest to some people with less severe injuries to walk to the ER with a buddy because it was faster and yet some folk insisted on calling/waiting for an ambulance

As for arriving in an ambulance getting you faster treatment, I can assert from personal experience that that isn't true having walked in and been bumped almost to the front of the queue myself once (fortunately it turned out to be nothing and I only went because a doctor told me to check myself into the ER asap, I wouldn't have bothered otherwise).

What's the most disturbing/grisly thing you have seen or witnessed?

you would think it would be a dead body, or a bad car crash.............................but the most disturbing thing I have ever witnessed: * is an older lady that had a bowel obstruction and was literally vomiting feces in front of us............nothing compares to that call......still makes me gag thinking about it..... :P

I'm a geologist.

Over the last 20 years I have flipped back and forth between environmental consulting and mining (and occasionally doing environmental consulting for mining companies). For the bulk of my career, I was by choice the designated field geologist. Very recently, I've become the Chief Compliance Officer for a small national consulting firm that provides environmental services for banks. I'm home with my kids a lot more, I eat better and go to the gym each morning - but drill rigs call to me at night. I've started doing some free-lance work for small oil producers to help keep my geology teeth sharp.

Pros - Something different every day, I've been underground, I've cleaned up superfund sites, I've sat on ASTM committees, and I've worked in a lot of fascinating locales. The money is pretty good depending on what I'm doing, though not great. I have a hell of a rock collection.

Cons - I like travel, but it can be a drag if you are stuck in rural Wyoming for a month in the winter. Geology does not come to you, you generally go to it. I once got a hand signed Christmas card from a VP for Holiday Inn for being in the top 1% of platinum members. My kids have looked at me funny when I came home a few times. Now I work in a more corporate setting, none of the people I work for have a clue what I know or why its important to them. They do seem to be happy that I'm keeping them from getting sued for the most part.

I love what I do, but not as much as I loved what I did when I was the young footloose field guy.

I could tell you, but then I would have to had you killed and then I wouldn't have anybody to play with anymore :(

Well, systemadministrator if you must know...... keep an ee on the men in black from now on :)

I own a little stock in DG :)

Shift supervisor at a local building materials wholesale distributor. Trex decking, engineered wood, lumber, siding, shingles, gypsum board, etc.

Pros: Very close to home, work days home every night. Easy job, I mostly supervise what others are doing.

Cons: Not what I wanted to do. Pay is ok, but I am not getting rich. I hope my investments will pick up a little where the paycheck leaves off in the future.

I work in health care lobbying.

Pros: we always have great health care benefits, decent pay, and decent time off
Cons: I miss the action working in politics itself, it can be tough to get people to recognize how long something will take or even how the legislative process truly works, and friends think you suddenly know something about medicine since you're talking about epidural steroid injections when in fact you know enough to know you don't know squat except for Medicare billing codes/policy disputes.

I am making about 43k CAD a year after tax. Thats because I am home every weekend. I also do LTL loads.

Wow, i didn't even know that was possible. I wanna hear more stuff :)

why is this thread not locked yet?!?!?!?!

You don't have the powers? It is at the bottom of the page. Just click it.

ah yes i see it now. i will refrain from abusing these newly gifted powers. for now.

plzgivemodpowahs i promise i won't abuse. too much.

It happened to me a few years back and it nearly killed me. It's by far the most painful thing I've ever gone through. I"m sure it wasn't pleasant for the nurses and doctors either. :P

Driver for big brown

Pros: decent pay and bene's for college dropout, good union, working outside and by yourself, lot's of flirting with attractive women.

Cons: physically demanding at times, Christmas sucks, long hours at times, pressure from management.