Poll: Would you rather test, develop, or produce the games?

[TheIceface]

Now since the last thread I made turned into a warzone so quickly, due in no part to me of course, I'll try something a bit different.
The question is, would you rather be:

The Game Developer: The guy who does the coding and fixing.

The Game Producer: The guy who decides what direction the developers should take, like choosing which bugs to fix and what to remove or add to the game.

The Game Tester: The grunt who plows through all the bugs in the game, reporting them to the producer and hoping they deem the bug important enough to be passed on the developer.

Obviously the question is, which would you rather do, but I would more like to know the reasons behind your decision.

 

[stompy]

Tester, simply because I get to play games... yes, they will be buggy and not so great, but still, I'm not creative genius, and not so great at coding, so tester it is.

 

[Drugar]

Producer.
Designing the feel, direction and depth of the game, overseeing the final product and setting priorities.

I'm a hopeless coder, too impatient for bughunting and a horrible artist, but I know how a story works, I know how to oversee a project and I know what's important in a game.

 

[Nugoo]

Developer, because coding is fun, and so is making video games.

 

[Mr_Cynical]

I'm with Drugar, I'd much rather produce a game than anything else.

I know sweet FA about coding, but I can write a mean script, and I know what I'd like to see in games.

Nuff said.

 

[Fangface74]

Games testing can kill your love of games, there's a simple test;

Pick your absolute favourite game, pick your best scenario in this game (fave character, fave level, fave equipment etc.), now play for 3 minutes only, one section of that level and ONLY that section. Writing down anything quirky or buggy you see, then repeat to see if it happens again. Now, do it again, and now again.

Do this for the most of the day (at least 5 hours with breaks), tomorrow you MIGHT get to do 3 minutes later in the level, but it's doubtful.

This was with a game you love! What if your into FPS's and you have to test a racing sim?

Friend of mine was in QA for awhile, last thing he wanted to see every night when he got home was a video game!

 

[TheIceface]

Fangface makes a good point. Both games I tested would be games that I would normally play for no more than a few minutes, and wouldn't even consider buying. For some this can be a deterrant to playing games altogether, for me, it made me yearn to get home and kick it with a nice FPS.

Producers often have never been testers, but they still decide which bugs are insignificant enough to ignore, to many producers, most bugs are ignorable. Therefore Testers hate producers 'cause they are often uninformed, and are in positions to make crucial decisions. Producers hate developers because the devs say things like "It can't be done in that time frame.", "That is impossible to code." or "You ran over my bike with your Porsche." Developers hate testers because testers say "This game is crap, redo it." and all too often, the testers are right. This means the Producers have to wrap their heads around "This game will not be ready by the deadline."

Its a wonderful hate triangle, full of stress for each group, just for different reasons. Speaking of hate, I'm surprised I haven't been insulted in this thread yet, or offended someone.

 

[Arbre]

- Test sucks. You're the *****.
- Dev is great, if all goes right, as you may do what you'd like to do, explore new ideas, and be creative, and be appreciated for your input and creations.
- If you want to make money, better chances going for Producer. I've seen a member of my family be the best in his domain in the country, and yet be pressured to low his prices, while those who'd sell his stuff makes millions. You don't cut it. Have people work for you if you want the bucks.

 

[Jumplion]

Well, there are sub-categories in Developer, and i think Mo-Cap is one of them so i'd be a developer with Mo-Cap.

I like animating...

 

[fix-the-spade]

I'd like to (read: am trying to) work in the pre rpoduction stuff like character and level/texture design. Plenty of naf games have gorgeous artwork (see Turok).

Then work on the same game again at the testing stage, so the developers will get an extra hard time if they do anything to damage my work!

 

[Rabid Toilet]

I'd say it's a toss-up between developer and producer.

While I love to code and create games, I also have plenty of ideas for where I want the game to go, and wouldn't take kindly to having someone else telling me strictly where to keep my little coding fingers.

On the other hand, as a producer, I would keep wanting to do all of the coding myself, and would keep trying to micromanage my programmers until they finally quit.

Maybe I would just do all three on my own then, saying bugger all to the classifications and labeling myself a "game maker".

 

[roo18]

If I could do any of those, it'd probably have to be the more creative side of development. There something satisfying about making something that looks good by using a computer.

 

[Gooble]

Producer, so that all my (imo) awesome gaming ideas could be put into practice; also, first up on the gaming credits

 

[DeathsAmbassador]

Developer, 3D modeling is great!

 

[Nikita89]

i'd be a producer and i'd bring y'all some really, really, really revolutionary games the sheeeeer thought of it *aaaaah* ...

 

[MRMIdAS2k]

I'd rather be the guy who comes up with all the crazy ideas, and orders my devteam to make it so, then take all the credit.

 

[Zombie_King]

Frankly, I'm wondering what IDIOT would let me test their game? I'm also wondering how I would get this far? I could be in a river of gold and have a pan in my hands and I still probably wouldn't go for it. But I'd wanna be a tester, mostly because developers have to have a basic knowledge of HOW to make video games, and producers have to have great ideas. I have a huge imagination, but it's uncontrollable. One second I could be thinking of the next biggest thing in video gaming, and the next second I could be thinking of why I have ten toes instead of eleven. Testing requires no skill, just that to play the games themselves

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

None of the above. Seriously, I've got no programming skills and I'd far rather spend my time blathering on about why you should or shouldn't play certain games. Games journo job for me, if anything.

 

[Zemalac]

I would really, incredibly like to be a producer. I want to create some of the ideas for games that have been bouncing around in my head. Plus I like to write and create characters and stories. I'm fairly decent at programming stuff, but not half as good as I am at the creative side of things.

 

[TheIceface]

None of the above. Seriously, I've got no programming skills and I'd far rather spend my time blathering on about why you should or shouldn't play certain games. Games journo job for me, if anything.

I had a tester friend who had the same idea. While he worked at his job, and constantly bugged people to let him be a producer, he really wanted to do reviews and such. Unfortunately, since everyone and there mother has ideas and points of view, odds are there is someone out there saying close enough to what you believe to render your POV redundant.

Also there is the angle that even if you do have a totally new point of view, you have to be "different" and "original" enough to make people want to listen to you. Look at some of the popular ones, Penny-Arcade is big simply because its been around for forever, has a distinct art style, and keep the deadlines well enough for "consumers" to want to tune in every week.

And then theres Yahtzee, I actually watched my first ZP video when I was in training class for testing. I thought to myself at the time, "Self, this is awesome, someone who doesn't pander to all the Halo fans, and isn't obsessed with Japanese crap. I can relate to this person, so I will tune in every week." In reality, a big reason why I, and so many other people are getting hooked on the Y is that simple flash anims, with fast, foul-mouthed voice over in a funny accent is more interesting than reading written reviews.

I don't mean to oversimplify things, I am a fan of Yahtzee, and have been for longer than I knew I was. I used to play the Rob Blanc games back when I was a little kid with an addiction to "point and click". But you also have to look and realize that the Yahtzee rants are all scripted, Y-man may not be the hilarious, kangaroo-riding, crocodile wrastlin', cool-guy you imagine him to be from the reviews. In truth he is just a good writer with a funny accent and a fresh perspective, and unless you have something like that, it is going to be hard to get ahead as a reviewer.

P.S. It helps to be brutally honest rather then politically correct, if you want P.C. listen to a politician. Furthermore, "Screw you, fatty!" to nobody in particular.