Mass Effect 3

Originally posted by General Kaliero
Out of curiosity, what degree, and what part of dev are you looking into? Your example is pretty across the board, which... isn't a good sign, honestly. Jacks of all trades are conventionally okay at everything and great at nothing.

Haha! Damn you! Shite all over my dreams! 😄

But I have a BA in English, and I'm working on AA's in Japanese and Korean. I'm a linguist, what can I say.

But I excell in storytelling and plots, so "Creative (insert title here) whatever" would be preferred.

Oh and, not to blow my own trumpet, but this Jack of All Trades is pretty damned talented 😉

Hate to break it to you, but those degrees aren't going to help you at all in that industry.

Also, LA isn't really a big city for game studios. The Pacific Northwest, or further east in Chicago or Austin, are much better places for that.

Originally posted by Th3birdman
Haha! Damn you! Shite all over my dreams! 😄

But I have a BA in English, and I'm working on AA's in Japanese and Korean. I'm a linguist, what can I say.

But I excell in storytelling and plots, so "Creative (insert title here) whatever" would be preferred.

Oh and, not to blow my own trumpet, but this Jack of All Trades is pretty damned talented 😉

For your interests you'd want a degree in Game Writing - Development and Storyboarding, or similar.

Originally I wanted to be a screenwriter, but game design became very interesting.

But-

Originally posted by Peach
Hate to break it to you, but those degrees aren't going to help you at all in that industry.

Also, LA isn't really a big city for game studios. The Pacific Northwest, or further east in Chicago or Austin, are much better places for that.

That is Bollocks. I want to be in the creative are of GD, as I could care less about programming (no offence Kal). How is my degree in English ( with a concentration in creative writing) not AT ALL helpful? Bioware's website disagrees with you, mate.
In addition, LA is a FANTASTIC avenue for anyone wanting to break into creative arts. Major video game pubs and devs are located here- Santa Monica (God of War studio, in Santa Monica, CA), Activision, Treyarch, THQ, EA LA, and 2K (technically in Northridge). I've QA'd at all these places.

I would say - from a British stand point, not sure how American employers differ - that the English degree would be perfect for the creative writing bit. I mean, if you got a substantial certificate.

As for the Graphical Design bit, Peach and Kaliero are right. I've noticed that getting any foothold in the Graphical side of the Gaming Industry is extremely hard. Unless you know someone or excel in some area.

Though it seems you're already a bit ahead of the game if you've started contacting all those LA based companies.

Originally posted by CadoAngelus
I would say - from a British stand point, not sure how American employers differ - that the English degree would be perfect for the creative writing bit. I mean, if you got a substantial certificate.

As for the Graphical Design bit, Peach and Kaliero are right. I've noticed that getting any foothold in the Graphical side of the Gaming Industry is extremely hard. Unless you know someone or excel in some area.

Though it seems you're already a bit ahead of the game if you've started contacting all those LA based companies.

Haha that makes me wish my mum would have moved us back to London, although I'm not sure I would have gotten the diploma I have now. I was lazy in primary school. Well according to me mum anyways.

I like these games

Also I wouldn't mind getting into the Game Industry as a developer as well. Could be fun.

Originally posted by Peach
Hate to break it to you, but those degrees aren't going to help you at all in that industry.

Also, LA isn't really a big city for game studios. The Pacific Northwest, or further east in Chicago or Austin, are much better places for that.

1. That was a bit rude and obviously incorrect. Having a degree in different languages can help he make an incredible language consultant for any project using the languages he specializes in. Also, he could also function as a region specialist: the types that help develop/translate games for specific regions/countries. If you a project manager and you need a language specialist to help you get a game to market in multiple countries, the most useful employee is the one that can help that "to-market" for multiple countries. You don't want to end up with 'all your base are belong to us' types of errors.

2. While correct, there's still plenty of video game opportunities in LA. Quite a bit, actually. EA has a "hub" there, Activision is there, Santa Monica is around and if those are not "big" gaming, I don't know what is. There's also quite a few small to mid-sized developers in LA. LA is one of the better cities for gaming out there and due to so many "smaller" guys, it actually might be a great place to start before he moves to Redmond.

As for the commentary on sandboxing ME, it's already very open, I just want it to be more open and for the side quests to be much more developed. I would also prefer that most of the map be open from the beginning while also having the option to do whatever you wanted at any point. Add in Th3birdman's ideas about better environments and characters and we have ourselves a winner. I want more random planet exploration with no obvious objective. It would be sweet to discover some good stuff on some random planet. Of course, that would take massive amounts of development but that's what downloadable content is for.

Originally posted by General Kaliero
Yeah, I kind of meant a degree in game design. I'm finishing up an AA in Game Design - Visual Design, with plans for a BA after.

For your interests you'd want a degree in Game Writing - Development and Storyboarding, or similar.

That's pretty cool.

And, ditto on your last statement: great stories and character development can make a game much more enjoyable.

Originally posted by Th3birdman
Originally I wanted to be a screenwriter, but game design became very interesting.

But-

That is Bollocks. I want to be in the creative are of GD, as I could care less about programming (no offence Kal). How is my degree in English ( with a concentration in creative writing) not AT ALL helpful? Bioware's website disagrees with you, mate.
In addition, LA is a FANTASTIC avenue for anyone wanting to break into creative arts. Major video game pubs and devs are located here- Santa Monica (God of War studio, in Santa Monica, CA), Activision, Treyarch, THQ, EA LA, and 2K (technically in Northridge). I've QA'd at all these places.

Originally posted by General Kaliero
I'm not a programmer, so no offense taken. But where does BioWare say different? I was just in Austin two weeks ago at GDCOnline, and talked with BioWare Austin reps between seminars and they absolutely prioritized Game Design degrees above all else. Their little book of job requirements specified Game Design (Production, Artist, Programmer, or Writing specializations as necessary), at least AA and preferred BA.

I spoke to a dev in the forum area. He said creative writing is a plus (for them at least), as their games rely heavily on story.

I was just using the example I know of because Peach spoke in absolutes, and I know for a fact that there are ways other than going to school for game design.

A plus, yes, but in this industry you either have to know people, or have a degree in Game Design (preferably both). I was speaking with hiring managers, the people who actually look at the resumes, so there is that.

I'm not trying to shatter your dreams here, and if you can get someone interested in you with a BA in English, great. Just warning you that right now we're one of the hardest industries to get into, and the studio heads are very, very reluctant to bring on anyone who is a gamble.

Also...an AA in another language really isn't that great. You're looking at two years of study, tops, with that. That's not enough to have anything more than a pretty basic grasp on the language. And since there are very few companies that do bring over games from other countries and localize them here (Nintendo of American and SCEA being the biggest), it's not going to be hugely helpful.

And writing for a game is not like writing short stories, novels, screenplays, etc. Screenwriting is seen as a separate area of study; writing for games is as well.

Been reading through this discussion, fascinating. But my ignorance of the American education system raises this question, what is AA? I guess BA is something along the lines of "Bachelor in Arts", but AA?

Associates.

Originally posted by Morridini
Been reading through this discussion, fascinating. But my ignorance of the American education system raises this question, what is AA? I guess BA is something along the lines of "Bachelor in Arts", but AA?

Myself, I'm finishing up an AA at a community college because it's significantly less expensive to transfer that to a full college, cutting out the first half of their BA program, and allowing me better job opportunities in the meantime.

Originally posted by General Kaliero
An AA is an Associate's in Arts, which is essentially a lower-tier degree that generally takes two years to earn instead of four. They're roughly equivalent to half a similar BA.

Myself, I'm finishing up an AA at a community college because it's significantly less expensive to transfer that to a full college, cutting out the first half of their BA program, and allowing me better job opportunities in the meantime.

Originally posted by Peach
Also...an AA in another language really isn't that great. You're looking at two years of study, tops, with that. That's not enough to have anything more than a pretty basic grasp on the language. And since there are very few companies that do bring over games from other countries and localize them here (Nintendo of American and SCEA being the biggest), it's not going to be hugely helpful.

And writing for a game is not like writing short stories, novels, screenplays, etc. Screenwriting is seen as a separate area of study; writing for games is as well.

Wow.

You really weren't thoroughly reading/comprehending almost anything I've been saying.

I wasn't touting my AAs as pluses at all. Kal asked what I had a degree in and basically what was I studying. I just told him I was studying those subjects, as I actually have yet to receive AAs in those subjects.

The reason I'm studying Japanese and Korean is because I am (this may be confusing) a Half Black Half Korean British American. The reason I'm studying Korean is obvious, but in my original school, they didn't offer Korean so I took up Japanese and have been studying for around 4 years now. Korean is comparatively recent (about 2 years). Needless to say, the Asian language are personal endeavours. However, English is a very broad degree to have, as I have a great current position with it, and other offers, not even related to games. But designing games are a fleeting interest, as the desire honestly comes and goes

Originally posted by General Kaliero
An AA is an Associate's in Arts, which is essentially a lower-tier degree that generally takes two years to earn instead of four. They're roughly equivalent to half a similar BA.

Myself, I'm finishing up an AA at a community college because it's significantly less expensive to transfer that to a full college, cutting out the first half of their BA program, and allowing me better job opportunities in the meantime.

Thanks for the clarification, we don't have anything lower then a Bachelors degree over here so that definitley sounds interesting.

Originally posted by Morridini
Thanks for the clarification, we don't have anything lower then a Bachelors degree over here so that definitley sounds interesting.

Yeah, I was about to say the same. In England we don't have an 'Associates' but we have something that sounds similar according to people's descriptions called an 'Fd' which is a Foundation Degree.

Also, I didn't even know there were so many breakdowns of the Game Design degree. I mean it makes sense, but I didn't realise the list was so big.

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