Well, I submitted this resume to Cryptic just after Christmas 2010. So, I guess its sitting in their recycle bin by now, if that. Since all the ideas here are only good if Cryptic uses them, I see no reason why I cant just release them all online, since they passed on me. To give you a little context, Im trying to move back to California and obtain a job there to support me while I change career paths from Business Admin to Game Design or Screenwriting. I figured, well, I dont have the technical know how, yet, but as long as Im going to need some job while I go pursue another career path, I might as well let Cryptic squeeze every last good idea out of me for a franchise I love. But now Im wondering, were my ideas even good? Am I as creative as I thought? I know obviously you can not send a wall of text as your resume in this day and age for any normal job, but I figured I couldn't lose with taking a long shot in the dark, and see if giving Cryptic a peak into my creative style was enough to make up for a lack of real experience in the industry. So, don't bother bashing the insane length of this, I know I know.
Keep in mind, I had JUST bought STO, and only played the game a few minutes, which I explain below. Now, after playing up to Lieutenant Commander, where I am now, I can see how my ideas may require a totally new game engine, so perhaps thats why they passed on me. Don't judge this on how its totally different from the direction they are going, judge it from the perspective of: this guy NEVER played an MMO before, and barely touched this game, and THIS is what he thought of all on his own. I want to know if the raw ideas themselves were good in theory, or am I just a nut? I see many here upset with the direction the game is going in some ways. Well, based on what you read here, would I have made a good addition to the dev team, or were they right to use my resume as a basketball for their trashcan jump shot? I've got tough skin, I can take it. I need molding in this early stage of my career, so any constructive feedback will help me to become awesome in this field.
Obviously, this thread isnt for the faint of heart for those who cant bring themselves to read past one paragraph. I just figured it would make a good read for the VAs inbetween Dailies, lol. So, here is the unedited uncut resume I actually sent them, picking up right after my personal info, and an honest, no BS listing of my skillset, I followed up with this:
What I Can Contribute to Cryptic Studios:
Aside from the multiplayer levels I designed in Lego Indiana Jones 2 for the PlayStation 3 (proof via game save file available upon request), and the hospital unit map I drew by hand (PC mouse) for my current employer using only Microsoft Paint (bmp. file also available upon request), I can only offer a sample of my creative thinking style to help you determine if I truly am a diamond in the rough worth taking a chance on. Cryptic Studios caught my attention because you are the game developer for Star Trek Online. I am a long time Star Trek fan, having watched every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, nearly all the motion pictures, and loosely followed the Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise television series.
I literally just bought Star Trek Online this week and have barely played any of it because I was too excited to submit a resume to you with my thoughts and ideas for the game franchise. Since I also just recently obtained a PC capable of playing MMO games, I have zero experience playing any MMO title to date. Having said that, I would like to share my vision for the direction I would like to see this game franchise take, a direction I want very much to participate in via employment with your company. I understand due to legal restraints, you may not be able to read the following portion of this resume, assuming you have even read up to this far, but my creative ideas are all I have to offer you in lieu of previous game design experience. Please forgive the unorthodox nature of this resume, and I ask for just a few more minutes of your time. If after reading the following information, you do not find me to be a credible asset to your company; you may disavow all knowledge contained below.
To help keep the franchise feeling fresh, alive, and competitive against other MMO titles for many years to come, I would like to see Cryptic Studios consider the use of live in-game actors employed by your company. The goal of these game actors would not be to just offer pre-scripted live interactive events, as others have tried before, and admitted failure in their attempts; but to be consistently effective spoons to help stir the plots as needed. I am excited by what I have read by your incorporation of The Foundry Beta, which allows the players to contribute to the story experience within the game. I would like for you to really take that ball and run with it, by co-writing with the fans the future storylines and direction of this franchise.
As an example of how this would be implemented, I offer you a possible plot scenario. Cryptic creates a new section of unexplored space, somewhere on the outer reaches of your current maps. You do not announce publicly what is out there; simply that something new is out there somewhere to be explored. The first explorers, of whatever faction that comes across it first, discover a new planetary system, rich in resources. Something juicy to fight over, and keeps the fighting going. On the outskirts of this system, is a large planet, seemingly with no value, by initial scans of a raw science officer. Potentially, this planet is ignored for a while as factions fight over the resources on other planets in the system, as the community will assume these new resources were the only real addition to the games galaxy. Eventually, a more seasoned and experienced science officer catches an unexplainable surge of indescribable energy that briefly emits from this ignored planet, just as their starship pulls away to leave the planet because they originally found nothing with their probes. Basically, the planet is programmed to emit this brief energy blip to the first passing player with the prerequisite science officer experience aboard their ship. It is an Easter egg planet.
The player has the option to listen to his science officers report, and send an away team down to the planet surface that has no atmosphere, or simply ignore his officer and move on, potentially passing by the biggest Easter egg of the season to another more curious player that also met the prerequisites. The first away team to the surface discovers a fissure in the planet's crust that appears as a narrow cave, just large enough for the away team to crawl through, even fully suited up in spacewalk gear. Forensic clues will reveal that the cave passage was deliberately collapsed, but the how and by whom remains a mystery. A special mining phaser with enhanced surgical precision suddenly appears in the games inventory as a ship upgrade. The newly available upgrade is not mentioned to the player, but only alluded to by an AI away team member Cryptic would pre-script to react and comment by saying that they would need to come back with one equipped on their ship if they wanted to delicately drill through the fissure without causing catastrophic seismic activity in the process, due to the sensitive metals the planet's crust is made of. The metals also prevent them from bypassing the blockage with their transporters. Maybe the player returns to starbase, equips the upgrade, and returns to the planet immediately. Or maybe the captain is distracted by more pressing needs in the galaxy, and does not have the time to follow up on this seemingly unprofitable mystery. Perhaps the captain passes along the information to another captain in his fleet for them to follow up on, and they potentially reap the hidden rewards. This is the part that makes the MMO feel alive, your studio would have no idea what player or what faction would find this Easter egg first, and when.
This is when the live actors can potentially come into play as your personal ace up your sleeve. Acting as either a Cryptic employee who has taken the role of a character in the universe every player obviously realizes is being controlled by Cryptic, or perhaps disguising themselves as an ordinary player; the actor is supplied with lines of dialogue or an action they must do to draw just enough attention to the unfound Easter egg. This would be done in a way so that the community is not given an obvious clue that makes it easier for them, or sends several fleets warping to the planet at once, but just subtle enough that it peeks the interest of a few players to go investigate, in the event the community takes too long to find the Easter egg. You program the universe to have any potential possible outcome, and the eventual direction the universe storyline goes is left entirely to chance and the random decisions of the players. However, you use your actors as point men to go to a hot spot, or a kink in the hidden storyline that you want the players to get through. This approach still keeps things entirely random and a genuine feeling of being alive, but your point men give little hidden or obvious nudges to guide the MMO players in the direction you want them to go in general. Instead of just reacting to player comments in message boards, or opinion polls, a few Cryptic employees live inside the MMO world with the players every day. That is their forty hours a week job description. Actors may be given obvious roles to attract attention to themselves to drive a season storyline, and will be supplied with general dialogue to say and plot direction. It is up to the skill and improvisation of the live actors to provide the experience to the players for that season. The actors who worked on the old Star Trek experience in Las Vegas made a living out of their characters for years by interacting with the fans in a way a game's artificial intelligence never could.
Not only would actors be required to have great improvisational skills to play along with the MMO customers, but they must actually be able to play the game well too. You can not make a good character villain for the community to fight, if you get your starship destroyed in the first five seconds of a fight. It will be entirely possible for actor characters to be killed by other MMO players at any time during the course of the game. In fact, that may be an actor's specific assignment, to become an antagonist from a specific faction, to deliberately antagonize all other players attracted to that particular part of the galaxy or that storyline. Their role would be to become the main villain, or help prop up an actual player to become the main villain of the day, and work alongside that player to generate hate toward themselves or the player villain from the community. The actors may or may not be given any special in-game powers to accomplish their roles. If they die prematurely, they can come back as a newly named character, and try again. They are guided missiles by Cryptic to help stir the plots as needed. Conversely, the actor may be given the assignment to play the hero of the day, or prop up a player hero. Imagine the effect on the community as players rally around this character to work with him and support him in his mission to go against the villain of the day, who may also be an embedded actor. Maybe the hero gallantly dies in the line of duty, perhaps deliberately, or perhaps not. The community of players who were working with the hero or villain will naturally take on the characters attributes and ideals the actor instilled in them as they continue to role play and fight on toward their goal, even if the actor's character was killed. Star Trek Online does not simply have to be about static experiences for all to participate in. Embedded actors can stir the ebb and flow of the seasons on a massive scale, even indirectly. The community as a whole will know what is going on in the universe, and even if they never work with or fight directly against the actors, they can play some other role toward the general goal of the season.
Other developers who attempted live events for their MMO games admitted failure for a few reasons. Timing was an issue, because maybe not everyone could attend these events, and they felt cheated that they could not participate in the experience. They cited griefers that would deliberately try to disrupt events, just for the sake of disruption. Eventually they noticed some players were able to work the system of these live events, and go to where these events were repeated on other servers, and simply have all the answers and horde the rewards for participating in these events. To effectively combat these problems, the focus is not to provide live scripted events for all to participate in, but to provide a live and dynamic, yet semi-controlled universe the players participate in at any hour. The goal is not to reach every player with the same exact experience, because that is impossible. The goal is to make every player feel somehow apart of the season's storyline by involving themselves in a manner of their choosing. Perhaps they get directly involved with the actors, or maybe they are just a part of a fleet given an assignment by the actor as general orders to follow if they are of a particular faction. Regardless of how they participate, in general, the entire community is participating in the plot that the embedded actors are stirring up.
When you program the game to evolve as the games seasons and actual years of the player's lives go by, you let the embedded actors do the dynamic heavy lifting of the season's plot, and program the AI in a supporting role in various supporting episodes and missions. If you want your Star Trek universe to truly feel alive, you must live inside it yourselves. You could think of it as literally being The Matrix. The roles of the actors would be to not only push the storyline, but be there live to see and hear how the players respond to certain stimuli and then be in constant contact with the design team on what they seen and heard. Ideally, as embedded actors act as spies, they hear player's wishes or approaches to certain elements introduced to them. The design team could then program the game's upcoming seasons to give them what they want and pretty much how they wanted it. If there is no way to legally use the player's ideas, and give them public acknowledgement and rewards as the creators of their idea they thought they said in passing, then the design team could use the information they obtain from embedded actors to provide similar game candy. Conversely, if Cryptic spies hear the players of a particular faction want to take that faction or fleet in a particular direction, the studio can respond with upcoming seasons to deliberately attack their approach, and either redirect them from an unwanted path, or simply provide resistance to their plans for the sake of resistance. Players in the community will all become aware the game just secretly adapted to their gaming approach and went along with their plans, or went against their plans, all for the sake of providing a live dynamic gaming universe. If the studio wanted to react to something on the fly that they caught wind of, they could direct actors toward that hot spot in the universe, take on new or existing characters, then set out to go along with or resist the plans of the community. Essentially this could buy time for the studio to program new content and properly respond to the changes in your dynamic universe.
This type of approach keeps the universe consistently alive, where the players and even the developers never really know what will come next, because the studio will be adapting and essentially co-writing with fans upcoming season plots on the fly. The dynamic approach also prevents griefers from disrupting plans and events, because they never know when and where to be, or even what the answers are, because it will be a truly live and unpredictable universe. Various actors could be given identical roles for each server, but each server could be its own microcosm of the main plot for that season across all servers. Players from separate servers may network amongst themselves for a perceived advantage, and get a general idea of what is similar about their respective servers, but each server will be alive in that the answers and gameplay approach that worked in one server, may not work in another. This thwarts their plans to cheat the system. The servers would all be alternate universes of the same season plot. I would think this would be exciting for your company, because not only are you developing gameplay as the years go by, you get to experience your work alongside the customers.
If you have not already, put an emphasis on economy, as an added game element for the players to keep fighting over. Allow the players to literally control the higher ranks and government of each faction, having embedded actors in high ranking roles as well, to provide a voice in the direction the players want to go with for that faction. Your actors should always be in the know of what each faction wants to do, so the developers can respond in whichever way you chose. Provide simulated conference rooms, senate chambers, and ship to ship teleconferencing that features the avatars faces and their chat text, for players to go over governance of their factions. Let the conferences be able to be recorded, so other players can login and watch the video of the avatar conference if they could not attend live. The video recording is actually just footage of the avatars sitting around their tables or captains ready room discussing things, not actual real life video. Make the community feel like they are living out actual every day events and problems in the lives of their Star Trek characters as they have seen it portrayed on television. Federation factions will generally act like Federation characters because they chose to play as the Federation character, and your embedded actors will help keep that theme going. If the Klingon community is getting soft, embedded Klingon actors could stir up an uprising, or compel their empire to go attack this planet, or mine that part of space to horde resources for themselves. If there are resources, weapons, or uncolonized planets to constantly fight over, it keeps the fighting and starship battles alive and gives each battle real meaning to the community. A Klingon player could be proud his avatar died in the epic Battle of Wolf 411 for instance. Make death and starting over sort of fun for Klingons, who are somewhat looking for a good day to die. Each server could keep a record of its own epic battles and the players could name them for that server's Memory Alpha. The goal is to keep the community pot stirred through the life of the MMO game franchise, and keep the reasons for war constantly alive in at least one sector of the galaxy at all times. As the Ferengi say, "War is good for business", and for Cryptic Studios' bottom line as well.
Provide ways to continuously stir up the politics of the galaxy. If certain players in high ranking political positions start abusing their faction leadership roles, and if other human players do not do it for you, you send in actor assassins to assassinate those players, and make them start with a new character and work their way back up the political ladder, if they chose to play as that same faction in their next life. While the players may feel annoyed they were just killed, it will at least feel alive to them, whether or not they realize why they were just taken out. What you do not want is a faction with political leaders all being jerks, so that no human player wants to be under their governance in that faction. You could always get an actor to raise up an armada of human players for the sole purpose of destroying those jerks, all in the name of good gaming fun.
There is more to Star Trek Online life than just commanding a ship. Are there opportunities for a player to just be a Ferengi, run a bar, literally converse with his or her patrons about real life or STO imaginary life, and login to the game and simulate going to work? Can a player simply decide to be a colonist on a planet, build civilizations like Sim City, participate in galaxy commerce, and raise up a community for good or evil intentions? Can the game be coded to allow multiple humans to be a part of the same bridge crew for one ship within the game during battles? Instead of relying on AI bridge crew, players may want to get together and simulate living on one ship and collectively fighting on the bridge of their ship in the game, or collectively dying in battle all at once. Memories like that give their game avatar's death more meaning. If a particular member of the human bridge crew is unavailable to login with his shipmates and man his post, the AI takes control of his senior staff bridge crew avatar as it does now, with the same name and appearance the player selected as his avatar. Imagine the offline humor when the bridge crew has to tell their buddy that his avatar died along with them in battle, as he was stuck at work in the real world. Players could opt to logoff, and leave their avatar on the ship to meet whatever fate befalls the crew, or at the safety of the nearest starbase as his shipmates go off without him. Assuming that starbase or colony is not destroyed by a warring faction while you were at work. Maybe only sleeping at a densely populated planet is the safest place from harm. The players avatar may be asleep or AI controlled when the player is offline, but the potential for danger and avatar death could always be there depending on how the studio wants to program it. I think the Star Trek Online galaxy would be even more fun if everyone was not commanding a ship, but just living life in various roles of the universe. Think about Ferengi running bars on starbases, transport ship captains to ferry players from planet to planet, colony leaders, wedding chapel ministers, pirate ships captains, archaeologists, ship scrapyard keepers, shipyard builders, etc. The fun of commanding ships of the line is less fun when everyone is doing it. Give the players an option to have their characters be commanding officers or just ordinary citizens of the galaxy contributing to the Star Trek Online experience as other fans travel around and see what is happening and who is doing what and where. Let the fans be the experience, instead of trying so hard to bring the Star Trek experience to the fans.
And now back to our story. A captain comes back to that planet with the mining phaser equipped. They engage the beam, and then send an away team back down to examine the cave again. As they eventually make their way towards the center of the planet through the narrow tunnel that was carved just wide enough for their small portable personnel transport carrier, a futuristic version of a mining coal car train, they approach something they have never encountered before, but may already be familiar with. An active wormhole stuck inside the center of a planetary body! Visualize a quarter standing on end, inside of a golf ball, where the quarter is the shape and diameter of the wormhole. The pinhole sized tunnel the ship just carved out gives them a tiny view of the much larger diameter of the actual wormhole. The personnel transporter can not be taken into the wormhole, but it will allow a humanoid in his spacesuit equipped with his rocket jetpack to pass through the wormhole. A player may order another AI controlled avatar to pass through, but when that crew member does, they are never heard from again. Finally, some brave human controlled avatar decides to walk through them self. When that first player walks through, a new ship upgrade is unlocked at the starbase. When the player or players walk through the wormhole, their jetpacks short circuit as they come through to the other side, and their bodies helplessly tumble and drift out into cold empty space from the momentum of their walking speed. Their avatars just died. Sometimes it does not pay to be the first brave explorer.
But before they die, their bodies are allowed to float off for a few minutes. As they float away, they see on their screens, as their body tumbles away, that the wormhole they just walked through was several hundred times bigger than they were, because they only had a tiny glimpse of it inside the cave on the planet. So, these players do not get to have contact with the crewmates they just left behind in the game. Offline, the dead players get on the STO message boards and describe their death experience to the community and mention the actual size of the wormhole. Other players notice and comment how the anti-matter cloak just showed up at the starbase as a ship upgrade, but was listed as only available to the first player account that walked through the wormhole first, even if more than one player walked through behind him. The actual prize listing does not allude to the wormhole, but would simply say the prize was only available for use by account name BraveSoul24 for example. The game will be programmed to reward that first brave soul, whose previous avatar just died from his bravery. The community will be wondering why the anti-matter cloak can only be used by player account BraveSoul24. He alone is credited as the actual Easter egg winner because he walked through to a brave new world first. The game will now tell this player, that fresh out of academy for his new avatar, he alone is tasked with the assignment of equipping the anti-matter cloak, and taking a full sized starship through the planet and through the wormhole. But first a delicate decision must be made. Before equipping the cloak, the player is told that the leaders of his faction must vote to publicly nullify the Treaty of Algeron. The senate has the option to publicly announce, and make the gaming community suspicious of why that faction wants to break the treaty, or they can vote not to announce it, and use it covertly to uncover the secrets behind the new wormhole for themselves. If they vote not to publicly break the treaty, Cryptic will know, and send in actors whose role will be to assume opposing faction characters and increase suspicion of what is really happening at that planet everyone chose to ignore.
The Easter egg winner takes his ship through the wormhole after whatever decision was made. After leaving a homing buoy at the exit of the wormhole, and traveling out towards empty space, sensors pick up a star system and an M class planet nearby. The Easter egg winner gets to make first contact with a new species in this unexplored section of space. Preferably, I would like the wormhole to connect to an entirely new galaxy near the Milky Way, or it could just open up to the Gamma Quadrant. If it is a new galaxy, Cryptic Studios has the creative freedom to design the new place, its parameters, star systems, planets, and species at will. It would be a new playground separate from, but connected to the existing Star Trek galaxy, and capable of being visited and explored by all the existing factions of the Milky Way. When the player makes first contact, the planet's inhabitants are controlled by a few actors, who were given a rough template of how the new species will behave. They will be a docile species, but not the ones responsible for closing the wormhole on their end centuries ago. The community gets to uncover that secret species later. If it is a Federation player that makes first contact, then the Federation players will act like the Federation usually does. But what if it was a Klingon, or Romulan player? That faction would then be given a specified amount of time to potentially exploit, conquer, or befriend the new species before the other factions in the community were given access to anti-matter cloaking technology to pay a visit themselves. Klingon players would be expected to loot and plunder, and if they did not on their own, you send in actors to start the looting party for them.
Now, the previously ignored planet, located in an unzoned sector of space, just became the hottest commodity in the galaxy. Can you imagine the epic battles as factions fight for control to this gateway? Some will try to mine it for their faction's use only. Others will try charging passage fees. You can rest assure that the MMO community will fill their faction roles to the fullest in an attempt to control access to this wormhole into a brave new Star Trek world. If players die now, they have the option to come back as new species, as they are found and introduced, and help steer that faction's history. One more additional award I would like to see for the Easter egg winners, is the ability to have design input into the next new species that will have a homeworld in this new galaxy, if it is legally possible to use their input. If not, the season story awards we just gave them should be sufficient, and have the entire community dying to be the next big MMO Easter egg winner. Rinse and repeat these types of Easter egg rewards as the seasons go along, and you will have gamers constantly coming back for more, renewing their subscriptions, and purchasing game content for all the new stuff the studio creates to coincide with each new species. If a Star Trek universe is truly alive and dynamic, Star Trek Online, because of what that license already means to so many people, will be the envy of the MMO community and make even World of Warcraft players envious.
I really do not know what exact title or role you would give me in your company, if you felt my creative thinking skills were worth hiring. Based on what you read here, hopefully you have something in mind. I could see myself working as one of the in-game actors I mentioned, tasked with supplying constant feedback to the design team, and then helping them implement our ideas. I believe my skills would be best applied to the role of adapting to and learning what players want from the game, and then helping Cryptic Studios provide them with new dynamic gameplay, missions, and storylines season after season. I would liken it to being an amusement park designer. Only your amusement park never closes. Thank You for your time. I hope to hear from you.
Without reading everything I'll say this: The games industry is hard to break into. Really hard. Incredibly hard. Mind bogglingly hard. It follows the old adage that you need to have experience to get a job, and you can't get experience without a job. In addition, arguably most jobs in the games industry are obtained via networking.
Without reading everything I'll say this: The games industry is hard to break into. Really hard. Incredibly hard. Mind bogglingly hard. It follows the old adage that you need to have experience to get a job, and you can't get experience without a job. In addition, arguably most jobs in the games industry are obtained via networking.
The games industry is harder than most "hard to break into" industries, too. Similar to teaching, the people coming out of schools with game design degrees far outnumber the job availability for it, even after you disregard all the less recognized or reputable schools. Half of my coworkers have game design degrees and they're stuck working IT and help desk. I do kind of envy them, since most design programs are accelerated and they got in eighteen months all the relevant CSC education it took me four years to sleep through.
Now, on to the resume, I didn't read much of it. A resume is pretty much universally not the place to put forward design discussion. It's a document for relevant skills and experience. It's pretty common in many industries to simply set aside every resume exceeding one, sometimes two pages anyway. I'm not directly involved in hiring in my workplace, but I do get tasked with narrowing down applicants from time to time. If I came across a four page wall of text in the stack, the job just got one resume easier, because that one's getting cut.
It's not because that applicant doesn't know his stuff, doesn't have good ideas, or isn't qualified. It's just that he didn't give me a resume.
Your ideas are really out there and unrealistic. Plus everyone has ideas. People don't usually get hired for ideas. They get hired for having proof that they've done something worth hiring them for. You have to be a big name already for people to take you seriously JUST for your ideas (like Miyamoto :P).
I don't think you realize how much resources it would take to put your "ideas" to use. I mean it's like when a client of mine wants to pay me $5 for an entire detailed and smooth sprite sheet (pixel art graphics, think Super Mario). They don't realize the amount of work it actually takes which could be several days for a good one.
Or people who want me to make them a website for $20.
I mean to hire enough live actors so that it doesn't just service like .0001% of the game population would be financially HUGE.
The games industry is harder than most "hard to break into" industries, too. Similar to teaching, the people coming out of schools with game design degrees far outnumber the job availability for it, even after you disregard all the less recognized or reputable schools. Half of my coworkers have game design degrees and they're stuck working IT and help desk. I do kind of envy them, since most design programs are accelerated and they got in eighteen months all the relevant CSC education it took me four years to sleep through.
Now, on to the resume, I didn't read much of it. A resume is pretty much universally not the place to put forward design discussion. It's a document for relevant skills and experience. It's pretty common in many industries to simply set aside every resume exceeding one, sometimes two pages anyway. I'm not directly involved in hiring in my workplace, but I do get tasked with narrowing down applicants from time to time. If I came across a four page wall of text in the stack, the job just got one resume easier, because that one's getting cut.
It's not because that applicant doesn't know his stuff, doesn't have good ideas, or isn't qualified. It's just that he didn't give me a resume.
Yeah, I get all that, I do. But figured, well, I already lost the interview I had a 1 in a million shot at to begin with, so might as well let experienced gamers and MMO players see how my mind works, and what areas I need to tweak. Also, Im getting the idea how hard game design can be to get into. Thats why Im also looking into screenwriting and just use the talent I think I already have. Everyone is always telling me, "You should write books". Well, when the business industry went into the crapper, and people with Masters degrees arent getting jobs, I have no chance any time soon of getting a good job with only a bachelors to compete with. So, Im making a drastic course correction, and listening to the advice of all the people who have ever read my school work, and novel length emails from time to time, lol. And, i do love creative writing, so if I concentrate on that, and polish my craft, I could be directing Superman and Batman movies somedays. Or Star Trek I see guys like JJ Abrams and say, "I can do that". Fortune favors the bold, and I figured there was no harm in sending a ridiculously bold resume. As for this NOT being the place to do it, well, I get real feedback from users here. Feedback I cant get from people in the industry, because as you mentioned, its Mission Impossible to actually land a job. Only the truly creative will stand out, and Im airing all this stuff here to get an idea of just how creative I actually am, not what I think myself, because that means squat.
Once I played the game, and began to understand how they were doing things, I soon realized my ideas were totally in a different direction. I get that.
And, frankly, all I was thinking of was like 10 actors. Did you read the part where I said we'd elevate actual players to be the heroes and villains of the day? It was never about having an army of actors for these jobs. Just enough to go here and there and stir things, and let the enertia of the community itself keep the storylines going. It IS feasible, and not expensive, it just had to be done from the start. I see its too late to go that direction for them now.
But would you be mad if they released STO2, made you pay $10 for a new disc, but kept the subscription price the same, or honored your lifetime subscription, to go in a new direction the fans agreed on going?
A 15 page cover letter will never get read by HR or the hiring manager, and you won't find many here that want to read it either. If your resume doesn't have the keywords their filtering software is looking for, they won't even know you applied.
Moving this to general feedback where we regularly review game suggestions.
For anyone applying to Cryptic Studios - HR does review resumes submitted and determines qualifications of candidates. Most corporate hiring teams can take months to review resumes and select interview candidates - so be aware that you might not get an immediate response.
Oh geez. Am I the only one here that realizes that this must be a joke?
So this guy who admits that he has no training, skills and experience in computer programming, game design and writing, as well as almost no experience playing the actual game, posts that he submitted his resume to Cryptic and wonders why they didn't hire him?
On top of that am I the only one that actually read his posts? Seriously, did anyone here actually read what he wrote? Not only were his ideas ridiculous and completely unworkable. Not only would they be excessively manpower intensive in return for no real benefit to the game. Not only that, but I believe that the forum rules actually prohibit me from stating my honest belief about the mental stability of the OP.
Seriously guys. It's Revlot/Superlink1 all over again.
No, its not a joke. Yes, I realized the insane odds of it succeeding to get their interest in me. The insane length was never meant for the forums, but for them to get a really detailed essay of what I COULD be capable of.
It does appear that its pointless trying to get a creative gopher type job with a game company, doing the misc research and all the tedious bookwormy stuff they'd rather not waste their time on, but I thrive on. Realistically, I think Im better off pursuing screenwriting and directing, and just let my talent for writing lead me to prosperity. As someone pointed out, you cant get in till you have experience, and you cant get experience till you get in. I figured only the truly creative will stand out, not just another game degree. So, thats the angle I took, let them see how I think for free. If it doesnt work, oh well, nothing lost.
Moving this to general feedback where we regularly review game suggestions.
For anyone applying to Cryptic Studios - HR does review resumes submitted and determines qualifications of candidates. Most corporate hiring teams can take months to review resumes and select interview candidates - so be aware that you might not get an immediate response.
Well, if it wasn't in the recycle bin before this thread, it is now
Oh geez. Am I the only one here that realizes that this must be a joke?
So this guy who admits that he has no training, skills and experience in computer programming, game design and writing, as well as almost no experience playing the actual game, posts that he submitted his resume to Cryptic and wonders why they didn't hire him?
On top of that am I the only one that actually read his posts? Seriously, did anyone here actually read what he wrote? Not only were his ideas ridiculous and completely unworkable. Not only would they be excessively manpower intensive in return for no real benefit to the game. Not only that, but I believe that the forum rules actually prohibit me from stating my honest belief about the mental stability of the OP.
Seriously guys. It's Revlot/Superlink1 all over again.
It's the internet. I've learned that there are people who are actually serious about this stuff.
I see what the OP is trying to say. I'm sorry the rest of you don't. And he has already pointed out that he has come to realize that the concepts cannot work with the direction Cryptic is taking THIS game. What he is seeking is validation of his thought process. IS he thinking as a Developer should think? He is questioning whether or not he should bother pursuing a career in game development.
He is me... or rather, his concerns are the same as mine were for a while.
Oh, and by the way, there are a lot of games where the Creative Director has never written a line of programming code or made a single 3D model, whose sole goal is to hash out concepts to a team and listen to them tell him he's full of it and then have one guy in the back say something like... "Well, if we do it like THIS, it may just work, and then it turns into a genuine discussion on how to actually make the Creative Director's impossible pipe dream become a reality...
To the OP:
Follow your heart. If you can honestly say, as you see professional developers reveal their games to the public, "I was just thinking about something like that the other day, how the hell did they read my mind?", then you are qualified to be a Creative Director... the driving force behind the game concept, without which a game cannot exist.
Dont look to get HIRED by a team... START a team... If you are coming up with the same kind of ideas that the professionals are realizing, then you have what it takes... Convincing others to join you is another matter entirely. As is providing an incentive for them to consider joining you when they have their own projects or ambitions to pursue.
That was my problem. I have no problem getting people to join me. But I have nothing to offer to solidify their protracted involvement. I've had 3 projects start and collapse like that. Well, I am engaged to be married as soon as I get some debts squared away, so I do not have the luxury to gamble with my time. I have no experience, so nobody will hire me to lead a project. I know I can do it if entrusted with the task, but that isnt how the industry works.
I was unable to get my independent game developing career off the ground. But you my friend may have better fortune than I.
I see you as a Diamond in the Rough. All you need is some pollish. Then you can shine.
The rest of you may say, "What do YOU know?"
Visit www.ariana.org, official web site for the acting career of Ariana Richards, presently an artist on the west coast. What you are looking at is the culmonatuin of one man's vision, made possible with assistance of like-minded people from around the world coordinating for seven years until that one man was blessed with the opportunity for direct contact with Ariana and resulting from a decision he made, obtained official status for that web site.
I am Gregory Jackson, First of three co-founders of Ariana.org, which now serves as merly a footnote to Ariana's professional history, but served as a centerpoint for her friends around the world. I have corresponded with talent agents, motion picture directors, and with Ariana herself. I have been and remain a community administrator for the official forums which Ariana visits from time to time. Durring those formative years, I had frinds and family ridicule me and tell me I was wasting my time, and that nothing would come of it... My mother was one of the harshest of them. Yet before she passed away I saw the look of pride in her eyes as I read Ariana's email granting official status to her.
For the record, I live on a dirt road on the gulf coast, with no contacts in hollywood. Nothing was handed to me durring the process of forming and administrating Ariana.org. All of us involved worked very hard to earn Ariana's respect and trust. It was a team effort, but I spearheaded that effort. I lost sleep over it. I sweated over it. I wept over it. I prayed over it. I'm sure the others did to. We lived a dream... And we achieved.
It isnt much now, but everything has its season. And for that season, to us, to Ariana and to the fans who made use of the site... it mattered.
So you will excuse me if I elect not to stand with you all, ridiculing the OP for his boldness here, but rather to stand WITH him and pass along the words Ariana wrote on a photograph she autographed for me:
OP, keep tryin'. It's when you stop that you fail.:)
Pursue the writing.
It is something that requires talent, dedication, and a bit of knowledge. You don't need advanced degrees to do it. I would suggest a night class or two in creative writing though.
Look up CreateSpace. It is an Amazon company that will publish your work and distribute it. They even send you status reports on how well your book is selling and send you a check from a percentage of sales. They keep the lionshare of profits, but they also do the lionshare of work in publishing, distributing, and advetising. I know lots of folks that publish this way, even textbook authors.
Forget the game design job.
I say this not as an insult, but from a perspective of helping my son get into the industry. There are limited positions. So, a weeding of candidates is mandatory. The first tier is education, if you have a game design degree and many companies these days require a masters in game design. The next level is experience. Most companies require at least 3 years of on the job experience.
How do you get past this seeming catch 22? The internship. You do that for a few months or longer, get a job there or use it as experience somewhere else. Unless you have a direct networking connection due to your Dad playing golf with someone pertinent. Yah, I know, but you would be surprised how much this happens.
But, even if you fulfill all of these requirements (and don't fool yourself, they are requirements) you still come up against the most formidible hurdle of all. Access. I know everyone thinks talent is the bottom line, but it isn't. I have seen very talented people work minimum wage jobs because they have no access.
What is access? Money really. First, is the almost insurmountable hurdle of paying for an art school education. It costs roughly 4 times that of a regular liberal arts college.
Next, is that internship. Most are unpaid and far from home. Even if you borrow to get the education, you still need to live off zero income with bills while you intern. Most people just can't afford this no matter how talented they think they are.
This is why "the level playing field" that keeps being thrown up at us is completely false. The field is heavily pitched toward those with money and they are the ones with access. They're parents pay for that unreal expensive degree from an art school. They also pay for that internship and help their child move to the new location and support them for a bit.
That's how it works in the real world. Talent be damned.
I'm not rich, and honestly, contrary to every brainwashing technique in this country, I do not want to be. But I saw this access problem as soon as I enrolled in a class in a local art school. Rich people go there. Their kids get the jobs.
I met a few people that were washing windows to get hrough, or piling up massive debt in combination with a GI bill in order to get through art school. But they are the tiny minority and struggle constantly. They are much more likely to give up and just go teach somewhere or settle for a job in an IT department.
My son caught a break you will not get. My wife works at a local art school. He got free tuition. He got a degree in game design that way. We could not have afforded it otherwise. We support him so he can devote full time to working toward an industry job. His "internship" is a job working for a company over the internet that is soon releasing a FPS based on the unreal engine. He works for them for free and the amount of hours he puts in is insane.
His work on that project has gotten alot of attention and he is flying to NY this week for an in person interview after having a positive phone interview. He's major stoked right now and I don'rt blame him. He finally got some access.
I did this for myself as much as my son. I didn't get access when I was young, so I am still struggling. I actually gave up my dream to animate and settled for T-shirt printing instead. At least I was doing artwork sometimes. But, I got fed up, sold my T-sgirt shack and am doing short films now that actually are getting some aclaim worldwide. At 52, it's a start.:)
But, I decided long ago that my children would have access if they wanted it. And, most importantly, when they needed it. I remember holding a brochure for the Cleveland Institute of Art in my room all through High School, knowing I would never be able to go. It was just way beyond my family at the time.
I knew I would have to teach myself. Which has become much easier these days with the internet providing any info you need in seconds. But, it doesn't matter how well you understand or how much talent you have, it's about the credentials. You need those to just get past the first desk and the guy at the first weeding has no interest in your talent.
I just wanted to relay all this to you OP as you seem quite sincere yet also very naive. My hope with all this typing is that you will think about all this and come away just as sincere but much less naive.
And, seriously, check into CreateSpace. All you need to self publish there is the time to do the work. And good luck! You are going to need it.:)
THANK YOU, that was awesome advice. I dont know so much that Im naive on this issue, just inexperienced, lol. But I get what you're saying Harry. Quirk, you understood EXACTLY what I was doing, asking if I WAS thinking like a game designer would. Harry's advice probably seals the deal for me. And I was getting that feeling already. Stay with writing career. And honestly, screenwriting and directing makes more money anyways, if Im good at it. I see the formula Hollywood uses these days, and I know I can beat them at their own game to put butts in seats, and keep em coming back for more. Ive got that Christopher Nolan attention to detail attribute.
I obviously have to start polishing myself for the writing craft. But, Im confident Im better than average, because every English teacher Ive had always pulled me aside to say I was far better than most of their students, in high school and college. What I write on forums and stuff is me not even trying hard.
I just divorced last year, and was pursuing a BA in buss admin degree at the time. Once the economy went into the crapper, I realized the degree I was getting wouldnt get me squat. So, might as well cut my losses, and just stop, 3 years into it. Why pay for the extra year of debt when I know I'll never use that degree the way it was meant to be used. Ive got a creative mind, and I realize now I'll only be happy with a job that gives me a creative outlet, and rewards me for it. Not counting some other guy's beans in a cubicle somewhere. My ex would have never let me go for a game design degree, but now that Im free to decide what I want for MY life, the film or game industry were at the top of my list. At 33, I have to reboot and go a new direction. I could never figure out what I wanted to do when I was younger, and wound up getting married before I did. Went to business school at ITT Tech after I got married, but was starting to envy the guys there working on game design.
Now, I realize the film industry isnt that much easier to get into, but like you say, publishing is MUCH easier these days. And if you actually have a gift for writing and directing, you CAN stand out from the rest of the crowd and rise to the top and get offers to direct Superman, Batman, etc. THATS my goal. I do have a movie hero concept of my own, as well as a sci fi tv show concept to fill the void of Trek since they stopped trying. By going the insane resume length route, and posting here, I just figured Id go swim in the big lake, jump up out of the water a few times, and see if anyone wanted to catch me while Im young and cheap. At some point, if I stay in the water, Im going to grow into that huge trophy bass that everyone wants to catch, so whether they invest in me now or later, the story is going to end the same, because I know where Im going. Im that late rounds draft pick everyone wants to pass up, but Im the guy with the chip on his shoulder and HOF in my future.
Moved again? First DStahl himself moved me from Star Trek Online Discussion to General Feedback. Now Im moved to Ten Forward. Dont know if two moves is good or bad, lol.
Moved again? First DStahl himself moved me from Star Trek Online Discussion to General Feedback. Now Im moved to Ten Forward. Dont know if two moves is good or bad, lol.
Just means Cappy is gonna have fun with you when she gets here
Moved again? First DStahl himself moved me from Star Trek Online Discussion to General Feedback. Now Im moved to Ten Forward. Dont know if two moves is good or bad, lol.
It is neither good or bad. Like lemurs. And like lemurs, things are going to get weird.
I'd consider hiring you. I need more Disposable Henchmen.
Couple questions...
1. Do you look okay in spandex? Not too fat, no cellulite, that kind of stuff.
2. Can you handle guarding doors for hours upon end?
3. How willing are you to die or be horribly disfigured in the normal course of your daily work activities?
4. Do you work well in the kind of groups where everyone dresses exactly alike and seemingly has no individuality?
5. Can you do a Wilhelm Scream upon request?
6. How well do you bungle?
7. If the person next to you is unexpectedly and violently killed by your boss, would you be able to carry the body away and clean up the blood?
8. If someone asked you to do something completely and physically impossible, would you do it?
9. Would be interested in working for 'DOOMbucks', a mythical currency that will be all the rage after your boss takes over the world?
10. Finally, if promoted, what is your favorite Tarot card suite?
Comments
The player has the option to listen to his science officers report, and send an away team down to the planet surface that has no atmosphere, or simply ignore his officer and move on, potentially passing by the biggest Easter egg of the season to another more curious player that also met the prerequisites. The first away team to the surface discovers a fissure in the planet's crust that appears as a narrow cave, just large enough for the away team to crawl through, even fully suited up in spacewalk gear. Forensic clues will reveal that the cave passage was deliberately collapsed, but the how and by whom remains a mystery. A special mining phaser with enhanced surgical precision suddenly appears in the games inventory as a ship upgrade. The newly available upgrade is not mentioned to the player, but only alluded to by an AI away team member Cryptic would pre-script to react and comment by saying that they would need to come back with one equipped on their ship if they wanted to delicately drill through the fissure without causing catastrophic seismic activity in the process, due to the sensitive metals the planet's crust is made of. The metals also prevent them from bypassing the blockage with their transporters. Maybe the player returns to starbase, equips the upgrade, and returns to the planet immediately. Or maybe the captain is distracted by more pressing needs in the galaxy, and does not have the time to follow up on this seemingly unprofitable mystery. Perhaps the captain passes along the information to another captain in his fleet for them to follow up on, and they potentially reap the hidden rewards. This is the part that makes the MMO feel alive, your studio would have no idea what player or what faction would find this Easter egg first, and when.
This is when the live actors can potentially come into play as your personal ace up your sleeve. Acting as either a Cryptic employee who has taken the role of a character in the universe every player obviously realizes is being controlled by Cryptic, or perhaps disguising themselves as an ordinary player; the actor is supplied with lines of dialogue or an action they must do to draw just enough attention to the unfound Easter egg. This would be done in a way so that the community is not given an obvious clue that makes it easier for them, or sends several fleets warping to the planet at once, but just subtle enough that it peeks the interest of a few players to go investigate, in the event the community takes too long to find the Easter egg. You program the universe to have any potential possible outcome, and the eventual direction the universe storyline goes is left entirely to chance and the random decisions of the players. However, you use your actors as point men to go to a hot spot, or a kink in the hidden storyline that you want the players to get through. This approach still keeps things entirely random and a genuine feeling of being alive, but your point men give little hidden or obvious nudges to guide the MMO players in the direction you want them to go in general. Instead of just reacting to player comments in message boards, or opinion polls, a few Cryptic employees live inside the MMO world with the players every day. That is their forty hours a week job description. Actors may be given obvious roles to attract attention to themselves to drive a season storyline, and will be supplied with general dialogue to say and plot direction. It is up to the skill and improvisation of the live actors to provide the experience to the players for that season. The actors who worked on the old Star Trek experience in Las Vegas made a living out of their characters for years by interacting with the fans in a way a game's artificial intelligence never could.
Not only would actors be required to have great improvisational skills to play along with the MMO customers, but they must actually be able to play the game well too. You can not make a good character villain for the community to fight, if you get your starship destroyed in the first five seconds of a fight. It will be entirely possible for actor characters to be killed by other MMO players at any time during the course of the game. In fact, that may be an actor's specific assignment, to become an antagonist from a specific faction, to deliberately antagonize all other players attracted to that particular part of the galaxy or that storyline. Their role would be to become the main villain, or help prop up an actual player to become the main villain of the day, and work alongside that player to generate hate toward themselves or the player villain from the community. The actors may or may not be given any special in-game powers to accomplish their roles. If they die prematurely, they can come back as a newly named character, and try again. They are guided missiles by Cryptic to help stir the plots as needed. Conversely, the actor may be given the assignment to play the hero of the day, or prop up a player hero. Imagine the effect on the community as players rally around this character to work with him and support him in his mission to go against the villain of the day, who may also be an embedded actor. Maybe the hero gallantly dies in the line of duty, perhaps deliberately, or perhaps not. The community of players who were working with the hero or villain will naturally take on the characters attributes and ideals the actor instilled in them as they continue to role play and fight on toward their goal, even if the actor's character was killed. Star Trek Online does not simply have to be about static experiences for all to participate in. Embedded actors can stir the ebb and flow of the seasons on a massive scale, even indirectly. The community as a whole will know what is going on in the universe, and even if they never work with or fight directly against the actors, they can play some other role toward the general goal of the season.
Other developers who attempted live events for their MMO games admitted failure for a few reasons. Timing was an issue, because maybe not everyone could attend these events, and they felt cheated that they could not participate in the experience. They cited griefers that would deliberately try to disrupt events, just for the sake of disruption. Eventually they noticed some players were able to work the system of these live events, and go to where these events were repeated on other servers, and simply have all the answers and horde the rewards for participating in these events. To effectively combat these problems, the focus is not to provide live scripted events for all to participate in, but to provide a live and dynamic, yet semi-controlled universe the players participate in at any hour. The goal is not to reach every player with the same exact experience, because that is impossible. The goal is to make every player feel somehow apart of the season's storyline by involving themselves in a manner of their choosing. Perhaps they get directly involved with the actors, or maybe they are just a part of a fleet given an assignment by the actor as general orders to follow if they are of a particular faction. Regardless of how they participate, in general, the entire community is participating in the plot that the embedded actors are stirring up.
When you program the game to evolve as the games seasons and actual years of the player's lives go by, you let the embedded actors do the dynamic heavy lifting of the season's plot, and program the AI in a supporting role in various supporting episodes and missions. If you want your Star Trek universe to truly feel alive, you must live inside it yourselves. You could think of it as literally being The Matrix. The roles of the actors would be to not only push the storyline, but be there live to see and hear how the players respond to certain stimuli and then be in constant contact with the design team on what they seen and heard. Ideally, as embedded actors act as spies, they hear player's wishes or approaches to certain elements introduced to them. The design team could then program the game's upcoming seasons to give them what they want and pretty much how they wanted it. If there is no way to legally use the player's ideas, and give them public acknowledgement and rewards as the creators of their idea they thought they said in passing, then the design team could use the information they obtain from embedded actors to provide similar game candy. Conversely, if Cryptic spies hear the players of a particular faction want to take that faction or fleet in a particular direction, the studio can respond with upcoming seasons to deliberately attack their approach, and either redirect them from an unwanted path, or simply provide resistance to their plans for the sake of resistance. Players in the community will all become aware the game just secretly adapted to their gaming approach and went along with their plans, or went against their plans, all for the sake of providing a live dynamic gaming universe. If the studio wanted to react to something on the fly that they caught wind of, they could direct actors toward that hot spot in the universe, take on new or existing characters, then set out to go along with or resist the plans of the community. Essentially this could buy time for the studio to program new content and properly respond to the changes in your dynamic universe.
If you have not already, put an emphasis on economy, as an added game element for the players to keep fighting over. Allow the players to literally control the higher ranks and government of each faction, having embedded actors in high ranking roles as well, to provide a voice in the direction the players want to go with for that faction. Your actors should always be in the know of what each faction wants to do, so the developers can respond in whichever way you chose. Provide simulated conference rooms, senate chambers, and ship to ship teleconferencing that features the avatars faces and their chat text, for players to go over governance of their factions. Let the conferences be able to be recorded, so other players can login and watch the video of the avatar conference if they could not attend live. The video recording is actually just footage of the avatars sitting around their tables or captains ready room discussing things, not actual real life video. Make the community feel like they are living out actual every day events and problems in the lives of their Star Trek characters as they have seen it portrayed on television. Federation factions will generally act like Federation characters because they chose to play as the Federation character, and your embedded actors will help keep that theme going. If the Klingon community is getting soft, embedded Klingon actors could stir up an uprising, or compel their empire to go attack this planet, or mine that part of space to horde resources for themselves. If there are resources, weapons, or uncolonized planets to constantly fight over, it keeps the fighting and starship battles alive and gives each battle real meaning to the community. A Klingon player could be proud his avatar died in the epic Battle of Wolf 411 for instance. Make death and starting over sort of fun for Klingons, who are somewhat looking for a good day to die. Each server could keep a record of its own epic battles and the players could name them for that server's Memory Alpha. The goal is to keep the community pot stirred through the life of the MMO game franchise, and keep the reasons for war constantly alive in at least one sector of the galaxy at all times. As the Ferengi say, "War is good for business", and for Cryptic Studios' bottom line as well.
Provide ways to continuously stir up the politics of the galaxy. If certain players in high ranking political positions start abusing their faction leadership roles, and if other human players do not do it for you, you send in actor assassins to assassinate those players, and make them start with a new character and work their way back up the political ladder, if they chose to play as that same faction in their next life. While the players may feel annoyed they were just killed, it will at least feel alive to them, whether or not they realize why they were just taken out. What you do not want is a faction with political leaders all being jerks, so that no human player wants to be under their governance in that faction. You could always get an actor to raise up an armada of human players for the sole purpose of destroying those jerks, all in the name of good gaming fun.
And now back to our story. A captain comes back to that planet with the mining phaser equipped. They engage the beam, and then send an away team back down to examine the cave again. As they eventually make their way towards the center of the planet through the narrow tunnel that was carved just wide enough for their small portable personnel transport carrier, a futuristic version of a mining coal car train, they approach something they have never encountered before, but may already be familiar with. An active wormhole stuck inside the center of a planetary body! Visualize a quarter standing on end, inside of a golf ball, where the quarter is the shape and diameter of the wormhole. The pinhole sized tunnel the ship just carved out gives them a tiny view of the much larger diameter of the actual wormhole. The personnel transporter can not be taken into the wormhole, but it will allow a humanoid in his spacesuit equipped with his rocket jetpack to pass through the wormhole. A player may order another AI controlled avatar to pass through, but when that crew member does, they are never heard from again. Finally, some brave human controlled avatar decides to walk through them self. When that first player walks through, a new ship upgrade is unlocked at the starbase. When the player or players walk through the wormhole, their jetpacks short circuit as they come through to the other side, and their bodies helplessly tumble and drift out into cold empty space from the momentum of their walking speed. Their avatars just died. Sometimes it does not pay to be the first brave explorer.
But before they die, their bodies are allowed to float off for a few minutes. As they float away, they see on their screens, as their body tumbles away, that the wormhole they just walked through was several hundred times bigger than they were, because they only had a tiny glimpse of it inside the cave on the planet. So, these players do not get to have contact with the crewmates they just left behind in the game. Offline, the dead players get on the STO message boards and describe their death experience to the community and mention the actual size of the wormhole. Other players notice and comment how the anti-matter cloak just showed up at the starbase as a ship upgrade, but was listed as only available to the first player account that walked through the wormhole first, even if more than one player walked through behind him. The actual prize listing does not allude to the wormhole, but would simply say the prize was only available for use by account name BraveSoul24 for example. The game will be programmed to reward that first brave soul, whose previous avatar just died from his bravery. The community will be wondering why the anti-matter cloak can only be used by player account BraveSoul24. He alone is credited as the actual Easter egg winner because he walked through to a brave new world first. The game will now tell this player, that fresh out of academy for his new avatar, he alone is tasked with the assignment of equipping the anti-matter cloak, and taking a full sized starship through the planet and through the wormhole. But first a delicate decision must be made. Before equipping the cloak, the player is told that the leaders of his faction must vote to publicly nullify the Treaty of Algeron. The senate has the option to publicly announce, and make the gaming community suspicious of why that faction wants to break the treaty, or they can vote not to announce it, and use it covertly to uncover the secrets behind the new wormhole for themselves. If they vote not to publicly break the treaty, Cryptic will know, and send in actors whose role will be to assume opposing faction characters and increase suspicion of what is really happening at that planet everyone chose to ignore.
The Easter egg winner takes his ship through the wormhole after whatever decision was made. After leaving a homing buoy at the exit of the wormhole, and traveling out towards empty space, sensors pick up a star system and an M class planet nearby. The Easter egg winner gets to make first contact with a new species in this unexplored section of space. Preferably, I would like the wormhole to connect to an entirely new galaxy near the Milky Way, or it could just open up to the Gamma Quadrant. If it is a new galaxy, Cryptic Studios has the creative freedom to design the new place, its parameters, star systems, planets, and species at will. It would be a new playground separate from, but connected to the existing Star Trek galaxy, and capable of being visited and explored by all the existing factions of the Milky Way. When the player makes first contact, the planet's inhabitants are controlled by a few actors, who were given a rough template of how the new species will behave. They will be a docile species, but not the ones responsible for closing the wormhole on their end centuries ago. The community gets to uncover that secret species later. If it is a Federation player that makes first contact, then the Federation players will act like the Federation usually does. But what if it was a Klingon, or Romulan player? That faction would then be given a specified amount of time to potentially exploit, conquer, or befriend the new species before the other factions in the community were given access to anti-matter cloaking technology to pay a visit themselves. Klingon players would be expected to loot and plunder, and if they did not on their own, you send in actors to start the looting party for them.
Now, the previously ignored planet, located in an unzoned sector of space, just became the hottest commodity in the galaxy. Can you imagine the epic battles as factions fight for control to this gateway? Some will try to mine it for their faction's use only. Others will try charging passage fees. You can rest assure that the MMO community will fill their faction roles to the fullest in an attempt to control access to this wormhole into a brave new Star Trek world. If players die now, they have the option to come back as new species, as they are found and introduced, and help steer that faction's history. One more additional award I would like to see for the Easter egg winners, is the ability to have design input into the next new species that will have a homeworld in this new galaxy, if it is legally possible to use their input. If not, the season story awards we just gave them should be sufficient, and have the entire community dying to be the next big MMO Easter egg winner. Rinse and repeat these types of Easter egg rewards as the seasons go along, and you will have gamers constantly coming back for more, renewing their subscriptions, and purchasing game content for all the new stuff the studio creates to coincide with each new species. If a Star Trek universe is truly alive and dynamic, Star Trek Online, because of what that license already means to so many people, will be the envy of the MMO community and make even World of Warcraft players envious.
I really do not know what exact title or role you would give me in your company, if you felt my creative thinking skills were worth hiring. Based on what you read here, hopefully you have something in mind. I could see myself working as one of the in-game actors I mentioned, tasked with supplying constant feedback to the design team, and then helping them implement our ideas. I believe my skills would be best applied to the role of adapting to and learning what players want from the game, and then helping Cryptic Studios provide them with new dynamic gameplay, missions, and storylines season after season. I would liken it to being an amusement park designer. Only your amusement park never closes. Thank You for your time. I hope to hear from you.
If you do want to break in to the industry, I suggest checking out communities like http://www.igda.org/ (http://archives.igda.org/breakingin/) and attending games career seminars at conferences like GDC.
TL;DR Version
Hi Cryptic,
I really wish you would hire me but I haven't heard anything back from you so here are some ideas overhauling your entire game !
TEXT
Those were my ideas, so do I have a job?
Thank you for your time,
-AGNT009
Edit: Some of your ideas have merit, but this is definitely not the way to go about it.
The games industry is harder than most "hard to break into" industries, too. Similar to teaching, the people coming out of schools with game design degrees far outnumber the job availability for it, even after you disregard all the less recognized or reputable schools. Half of my coworkers have game design degrees and they're stuck working IT and help desk. I do kind of envy them, since most design programs are accelerated and they got in eighteen months all the relevant CSC education it took me four years to sleep through.
Now, on to the resume, I didn't read much of it. A resume is pretty much universally not the place to put forward design discussion. It's a document for relevant skills and experience. It's pretty common in many industries to simply set aside every resume exceeding one, sometimes two pages anyway. I'm not directly involved in hiring in my workplace, but I do get tasked with narrowing down applicants from time to time. If I came across a four page wall of text in the stack, the job just got one resume easier, because that one's getting cut.
It's not because that applicant doesn't know his stuff, doesn't have good ideas, or isn't qualified. It's just that he didn't give me a resume.
I don't think you realize how much resources it would take to put your "ideas" to use. I mean it's like when a client of mine wants to pay me $5 for an entire detailed and smooth sprite sheet (pixel art graphics, think Super Mario). They don't realize the amount of work it actually takes which could be several days for a good one.
Or people who want me to make them a website for $20.
I mean to hire enough live actors so that it doesn't just service like .0001% of the game population would be financially HUGE.
Yeah, I get all that, I do. But figured, well, I already lost the interview I had a 1 in a million shot at to begin with, so might as well let experienced gamers and MMO players see how my mind works, and what areas I need to tweak. Also, Im getting the idea how hard game design can be to get into. Thats why Im also looking into screenwriting and just use the talent I think I already have. Everyone is always telling me, "You should write books". Well, when the business industry went into the crapper, and people with Masters degrees arent getting jobs, I have no chance any time soon of getting a good job with only a bachelors to compete with. So, Im making a drastic course correction, and listening to the advice of all the people who have ever read my school work, and novel length emails from time to time, lol. And, i do love creative writing, so if I concentrate on that, and polish my craft, I could be directing Superman and Batman movies somedays. Or Star Trek
And, frankly, all I was thinking of was like 10 actors. Did you read the part where I said we'd elevate actual players to be the heroes and villains of the day? It was never about having an army of actors for these jobs. Just enough to go here and there and stir things, and let the enertia of the community itself keep the storylines going. It IS feasible, and not expensive, it just had to be done from the start. I see its too late to go that direction for them now.
But would you be mad if they released STO2, made you pay $10 for a new disc, but kept the subscription price the same, or honored your lifetime subscription, to go in a new direction the fans agreed on going?
For anyone applying to Cryptic Studios - HR does review resumes submitted and determines qualifications of candidates. Most corporate hiring teams can take months to review resumes and select interview candidates - so be aware that you might not get an immediate response.
Summarize.
So this guy who admits that he has no training, skills and experience in computer programming, game design and writing, as well as almost no experience playing the actual game, posts that he submitted his resume to Cryptic and wonders why they didn't hire him?
On top of that am I the only one that actually read his posts? Seriously, did anyone here actually read what he wrote? Not only were his ideas ridiculous and completely unworkable. Not only would they be excessively manpower intensive in return for no real benefit to the game. Not only that, but I believe that the forum rules actually prohibit me from stating my honest belief about the mental stability of the OP.
Seriously guys. It's Revlot/Superlink1 all over again.
No, its not a joke. Yes, I realized the insane odds of it succeeding to get their interest in me. The insane length was never meant for the forums, but for them to get a really detailed essay of what I COULD be capable of.
It does appear that its pointless trying to get a creative gopher type job with a game company, doing the misc research and all the tedious bookwormy stuff they'd rather not waste their time on, but I thrive on. Realistically, I think Im better off pursuing screenwriting and directing, and just let my talent for writing lead me to prosperity. As someone pointed out, you cant get in till you have experience, and you cant get experience till you get in. I figured only the truly creative will stand out, not just another game degree. So, thats the angle I took, let them see how I think for free. If it doesnt work, oh well, nothing lost.
The difference is they were both actually amusing.
Well, if it wasn't in the recycle bin before this thread, it is now
It's the internet. I've learned that there are people who are actually serious about this stuff.
He is me... or rather, his concerns are the same as mine were for a while.
Oh, and by the way, there are a lot of games where the Creative Director has never written a line of programming code or made a single 3D model, whose sole goal is to hash out concepts to a team and listen to them tell him he's full of it and then have one guy in the back say something like... "Well, if we do it like THIS, it may just work, and then it turns into a genuine discussion on how to actually make the Creative Director's impossible pipe dream become a reality...
To the OP:
Follow your heart. If you can honestly say, as you see professional developers reveal their games to the public, "I was just thinking about something like that the other day, how the hell did they read my mind?", then you are qualified to be a Creative Director... the driving force behind the game concept, without which a game cannot exist.
Dont look to get HIRED by a team... START a team... If you are coming up with the same kind of ideas that the professionals are realizing, then you have what it takes... Convincing others to join you is another matter entirely. As is providing an incentive for them to consider joining you when they have their own projects or ambitions to pursue.
That was my problem. I have no problem getting people to join me. But I have nothing to offer to solidify their protracted involvement. I've had 3 projects start and collapse like that. Well, I am engaged to be married as soon as I get some debts squared away, so I do not have the luxury to gamble with my time. I have no experience, so nobody will hire me to lead a project. I know I can do it if entrusted with the task, but that isnt how the industry works.
I was unable to get my independent game developing career off the ground. But you my friend may have better fortune than I.
I see you as a Diamond in the Rough. All you need is some pollish. Then you can shine.
The rest of you may say, "What do YOU know?"
Visit www.ariana.org, official web site for the acting career of Ariana Richards, presently an artist on the west coast. What you are looking at is the culmonatuin of one man's vision, made possible with assistance of like-minded people from around the world coordinating for seven years until that one man was blessed with the opportunity for direct contact with Ariana and resulting from a decision he made, obtained official status for that web site.
I am Gregory Jackson, First of three co-founders of Ariana.org, which now serves as merly a footnote to Ariana's professional history, but served as a centerpoint for her friends around the world. I have corresponded with talent agents, motion picture directors, and with Ariana herself. I have been and remain a community administrator for the official forums which Ariana visits from time to time. Durring those formative years, I had frinds and family ridicule me and tell me I was wasting my time, and that nothing would come of it... My mother was one of the harshest of them. Yet before she passed away I saw the look of pride in her eyes as I read Ariana's email granting official status to her.
For the record, I live on a dirt road on the gulf coast, with no contacts in hollywood. Nothing was handed to me durring the process of forming and administrating Ariana.org. All of us involved worked very hard to earn Ariana's respect and trust. It was a team effort, but I spearheaded that effort. I lost sleep over it. I sweated over it. I wept over it. I prayed over it. I'm sure the others did to. We lived a dream... And we achieved.
It isnt much now, but everything has its season. And for that season, to us, to Ariana and to the fans who made use of the site... it mattered.
So you will excuse me if I elect not to stand with you all, ridiculing the OP for his boldness here, but rather to stand WITH him and pass along the words Ariana wrote on a photograph she autographed for me:
Live your dreams...
Originally I posted some objective thoughts, but I'm just gonna bow out of this....thing
Pursue the writing.
It is something that requires talent, dedication, and a bit of knowledge. You don't need advanced degrees to do it. I would suggest a night class or two in creative writing though.
Look up CreateSpace. It is an Amazon company that will publish your work and distribute it. They even send you status reports on how well your book is selling and send you a check from a percentage of sales. They keep the lionshare of profits, but they also do the lionshare of work in publishing, distributing, and advetising. I know lots of folks that publish this way, even textbook authors.
Forget the game design job.
I say this not as an insult, but from a perspective of helping my son get into the industry. There are limited positions. So, a weeding of candidates is mandatory. The first tier is education, if you have a game design degree and many companies these days require a masters in game design. The next level is experience. Most companies require at least 3 years of on the job experience.
How do you get past this seeming catch 22? The internship. You do that for a few months or longer, get a job there or use it as experience somewhere else. Unless you have a direct networking connection due to your Dad playing golf with someone pertinent. Yah, I know, but you would be surprised how much this happens.
But, even if you fulfill all of these requirements (and don't fool yourself, they are requirements) you still come up against the most formidible hurdle of all. Access. I know everyone thinks talent is the bottom line, but it isn't. I have seen very talented people work minimum wage jobs because they have no access.
What is access? Money really. First, is the almost insurmountable hurdle of paying for an art school education. It costs roughly 4 times that of a regular liberal arts college.
Next, is that internship. Most are unpaid and far from home. Even if you borrow to get the education, you still need to live off zero income with bills while you intern. Most people just can't afford this no matter how talented they think they are.
This is why "the level playing field" that keeps being thrown up at us is completely false. The field is heavily pitched toward those with money and they are the ones with access. They're parents pay for that unreal expensive degree from an art school. They also pay for that internship and help their child move to the new location and support them for a bit.
That's how it works in the real world. Talent be damned.
I'm not rich, and honestly, contrary to every brainwashing technique in this country, I do not want to be. But I saw this access problem as soon as I enrolled in a class in a local art school. Rich people go there. Their kids get the jobs.
I met a few people that were washing windows to get hrough, or piling up massive debt in combination with a GI bill in order to get through art school. But they are the tiny minority and struggle constantly. They are much more likely to give up and just go teach somewhere or settle for a job in an IT department.
My son caught a break you will not get. My wife works at a local art school. He got free tuition. He got a degree in game design that way. We could not have afforded it otherwise. We support him so he can devote full time to working toward an industry job. His "internship" is a job working for a company over the internet that is soon releasing a FPS based on the unreal engine. He works for them for free and the amount of hours he puts in is insane.
His work on that project has gotten alot of attention and he is flying to NY this week for an in person interview after having a positive phone interview. He's major stoked right now and I don'rt blame him. He finally got some access.
I did this for myself as much as my son. I didn't get access when I was young, so I am still struggling. I actually gave up my dream to animate and settled for T-shirt printing instead. At least I was doing artwork sometimes. But, I got fed up, sold my T-sgirt shack and am doing short films now that actually are getting some aclaim worldwide. At 52, it's a start.:)
But, I decided long ago that my children would have access if they wanted it. And, most importantly, when they needed it. I remember holding a brochure for the Cleveland Institute of Art in my room all through High School, knowing I would never be able to go. It was just way beyond my family at the time.
I knew I would have to teach myself. Which has become much easier these days with the internet providing any info you need in seconds. But, it doesn't matter how well you understand or how much talent you have, it's about the credentials. You need those to just get past the first desk and the guy at the first weeding has no interest in your talent.
I just wanted to relay all this to you OP as you seem quite sincere yet also very naive. My hope with all this typing is that you will think about all this and come away just as sincere but much less naive.
And, seriously, check into CreateSpace. All you need to self publish there is the time to do the work. And good luck! You are going to need it.:)
THANK YOU, that was awesome advice. I dont know so much that Im naive on this issue, just inexperienced, lol. But I get what you're saying Harry. Quirk, you understood EXACTLY what I was doing, asking if I WAS thinking like a game designer would. Harry's advice probably seals the deal for me. And I was getting that feeling already. Stay with writing career. And honestly, screenwriting and directing makes more money anyways, if Im good at it. I see the formula Hollywood uses these days, and I know I can beat them at their own game to put butts in seats, and keep em coming back for more. Ive got that Christopher Nolan attention to detail attribute.
I obviously have to start polishing myself for the writing craft. But, Im confident Im better than average, because every English teacher Ive had always pulled me aside to say I was far better than most of their students, in high school and college. What I write on forums and stuff is me not even trying hard.
I just divorced last year, and was pursuing a BA in buss admin degree at the time. Once the economy went into the crapper, I realized the degree I was getting wouldnt get me squat. So, might as well cut my losses, and just stop, 3 years into it. Why pay for the extra year of debt when I know I'll never use that degree the way it was meant to be used. Ive got a creative mind, and I realize now I'll only be happy with a job that gives me a creative outlet, and rewards me for it. Not counting some other guy's beans in a cubicle somewhere. My ex would have never let me go for a game design degree, but now that Im free to decide what I want for MY life, the film or game industry were at the top of my list. At 33, I have to reboot and go a new direction. I could never figure out what I wanted to do when I was younger, and wound up getting married before I did. Went to business school at ITT Tech after I got married, but was starting to envy the guys there working on game design.
Now, I realize the film industry isnt that much easier to get into, but like you say, publishing is MUCH easier these days. And if you actually have a gift for writing and directing, you CAN stand out from the rest of the crowd and rise to the top and get offers to direct Superman, Batman, etc. THATS my goal. I do have a movie hero concept of my own, as well as a sci fi tv show concept to fill the void of Trek since they stopped trying. By going the insane resume length route, and posting here, I just figured Id go swim in the big lake, jump up out of the water a few times, and see if anyone wanted to catch me while Im young and cheap. At some point, if I stay in the water, Im going to grow into that huge trophy bass that everyone wants to catch, so whether they invest in me now or later, the story is going to end the same, because I know where Im going. Im that late rounds draft pick everyone wants to pass up, but Im the guy with the chip on his shoulder and HOF in my future.
Just means Cappy is gonna have fun with you when she gets here
Hort never reads anything larger than his head. Or was that about food? Meh, it's a good policy anyway.
I miss superlink...
It is neither good or bad. Like lemurs. And like lemurs, things are going to get weird.
I'd consider hiring you. I need more Disposable Henchmen.
Couple questions...
1. Do you look okay in spandex? Not too fat, no cellulite, that kind of stuff.
2. Can you handle guarding doors for hours upon end?
3. How willing are you to die or be horribly disfigured in the normal course of your daily work activities?
4. Do you work well in the kind of groups where everyone dresses exactly alike and seemingly has no individuality?
5. Can you do a Wilhelm Scream upon request?
6. How well do you bungle?
7. If the person next to you is unexpectedly and violently killed by your boss, would you be able to carry the body away and clean up the blood?
8. If someone asked you to do something completely and physically impossible, would you do it?
9. Would be interested in working for 'DOOMbucks', a mythical currency that will be all the rage after your boss takes over the world?
10. Finally, if promoted, what is your favorite Tarot card suite?
Note, this survey is for comedic purposes only.