4 ms·

On a side note: If you were successful in MtG and other 'deep' games, would you list it on your CV? Or does it still have the image of a children's card game?

manfredo 6y ago
In tech circles it's pretty highly regarded. When learning programming, understand the stack comes very easily to MtG players since card players are resolved in a stack. Most highly competitive MtG players also come from math or other quantitative reasoning backgrounds.
- shakezula 6y ago
  Hard agree. It's also a great way to teach resource management and trade-offs with immediate consequences.
vsareto 6y ago
These things have been around long enough that there are people now making decisions at a high enough level who also played these. So it's probably not as bad as it was 10-20 years ago? So this can happen: https://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/dl3o2p/billionaire_shopify_ceo_finds_out_on_twitter_that/ https://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/dl3o2p/billionai... If you're applying to stuffy places where the people aren't known to be into deep/complicated games, you might get rejected if you don't have something else. It depends if you want to apply to stuffy places because you need any job ASAP. If you're doing okay and want to select businesses that like hobbies on resumes, go for it.
k__ 6y ago
I learned much with MtG. Problem with such games is that they are "winner takes it all" and in "real life" a win with "one life point" usually isn't worth it.
- taneq 6y ago
  There are plenty of pass/fail situations where it is, though. A sale where you get the job due to a 1% lead over a competitor is still a sale.
- hkmurakami 6y ago
  Trading is basically this, repeated many times.
pmiller2 6y ago
I would say winning a major tournament or title would rank up there with certain competitive math or programming achievements.
shitloadofbooks 6y ago
In Australia at least, it's not unusual for CVs to include an "interests" section with 2-3 interests listed. It's typically used to list hobbies and interests and if it gets mentioned during an interview, the candidate can briefly touch on their success (and maybe even how it lossely relates to the role).
thom 6y ago
For what it's worth, I know enough people who went on from MtG to make a ton of money in poker and/or finance that I'd probably perk up if someone with decent Grand Prix or Pro Tour finishes popped up during hiring. That said I am also biased and sentimental.
- shakezula 6y ago
  I learned the ins and outs of how to resolve a stack in CS from experiences playing MTG at a young age. I absolutely would perk up if this was on someone's resume, but I'm also biased and sentimental.
- hkmurakami 6y ago
  There's a whole team of them in SIG, Pikkula now works at Citadel, John Finkel runs a $1B AUM HF, etc.
  - thom 6y ago
    Yup, and a few went to sportsbooks or gambling syndicates. I wouldn’t want to over analyse it but I do think there’s something to be said for having viscerally suffered at the hands of probability.
alexpotato 6y ago
Not necessarily related to card games but as a hiring manager I do take into account non work related hobbies. For example, I played on a nationally ranked college club sport team(paintball) and was also the club president and team captain at the same time. This was on top of getting a dual-BA/MBA. Running the club and team was essentially the same as running a small business or medium sized department in a larger firm with a budget of $50K (this was all volunteer) and a "staff" of 20+ people. The experience taught me that anyone who has done: - full time college - played, at a minimum, a club sport or was part of a debate team, competitive dance whatever - was also an officer in said organization had the wherewithal to "volunteer" three times for activities that required a large amount of commitment, discipline and organizational abilities. In other words, they chose to do more than the people who were just students. I am, of course, biased because this was my background. That being said, I have always found a strong correlation between people with the trifecta of college/extracurricular/officer and the skills necessary to do well in a work setting. YMMMV
- caseysoftware 6y ago
  Years ago, one of my DnD buddies listed me as a reference. Luckily, I knew the call was coming so I prepared. I spent the entire time talking about his ability to collaborate in a team, have an eye for detail, and solve problems creatively. He's 12+ years into that job with a few promotions so not all bad. ;)
  - hkmurakami 6y ago
    Major respect to anyone who DMs a game
ausbah 6y ago
hard to call it a children's game when the playerbase is easily mostly people in their 20-30s
gambiting 6y ago
From the other point of view - as someone who frequently interviews people for technical positions in the video game industry - I definitely wouldn't take it as a negative thing and most likely would ask about it in the interview. After all, we're usually looking for passionate people, and if your passion is playing MtG at a competitive level(or maybe you just love the game), I definitely would like to hear about it.

manfredo 6y ago

In tech circles it's pretty highly regarded. When learning programming, understand the stack comes very easily to MtG players since card players are resolved in a stack. Most highly competitive MtG players also come from math or other quantitative reasoning backgrounds.

shakezula 6y ago
Hard agree. It's also a great way to teach resource management and trade-offs with immediate consequences.

vsareto 6y ago

These things have been around long enough that there are people now making decisions at a high enough level who also played these. So it's probably not as bad as it was 10-20 years ago? So this can happen: https://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/dl3o2p/billionaire_shopify_ceo_finds_out_on_twitter_that/ https://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/dl3o2p/billionai... If you're applying to stuffy places where the people aren't known to be into deep/complicated games, you might get rejected if you don't have something else. It depends if you want to apply to stuffy places because you need any job ASAP. If you're doing okay and want to select businesses that like hobbies on resumes, go for it.

k__ 6y ago

I learned much with MtG. Problem with such games is that they are "winner takes it all" and in "real life" a win with "one life point" usually isn't worth it.

taneq 6y ago
There are plenty of pass/fail situations where it is, though. A sale where you get the job due to a 1% lead over a competitor is still a sale.
hkmurakami 6y ago
Trading is basically this, repeated many times.

pmiller2 6y ago

I would say winning a major tournament or title would rank up there with certain competitive math or programming achievements.

shitloadofbooks 6y ago

In Australia at least, it's not unusual for CVs to include an "interests" section with 2-3 interests listed. It's typically used to list hobbies and interests and if it gets mentioned during an interview, the candidate can briefly touch on their success (and maybe even how it lossely relates to the role).

thom 6y ago

For what it's worth, I know enough people who went on from MtG to make a ton of money in poker and/or finance that I'd probably perk up if someone with decent Grand Prix or Pro Tour finishes popped up during hiring. That said I am also biased and sentimental.

shakezula 6y ago
I learned the ins and outs of how to resolve a stack in CS from experiences playing MTG at a young age. I absolutely would perk up if this was on someone's resume, but I'm also biased and sentimental.
hkmurakami 6y ago
There's a whole team of them in SIG, Pikkula now works at Citadel, John Finkel runs a $1B AUM HF, etc.
- thom 6y ago
  Yup, and a few went to sportsbooks or gambling syndicates. I wouldn’t want to over analyse it but I do think there’s something to be said for having viscerally suffered at the hands of probability.

alexpotato 6y ago

Not necessarily related to card games but as a hiring manager I do take into account non work related hobbies. For example, I played on a nationally ranked college club sport team(paintball) and was also the club president and team captain at the same time. This was on top of getting a dual-BA/MBA. Running the club and team was essentially the same as running a small business or medium sized department in a larger firm with a budget of $50K (this was all volunteer) and a "staff" of 20+ people. The experience taught me that anyone who has done: - full time college - played, at a minimum, a club sport or was part of a debate team, competitive dance whatever - was also an officer in said organization had the wherewithal to "volunteer" three times for activities that required a large amount of commitment, discipline and organizational abilities. In other words, they chose to do more than the people who were just students. I am, of course, biased because this was my background. That being said, I have always found a strong correlation between people with the trifecta of college/extracurricular/officer and the skills necessary to do well in a work setting. YMMMV

caseysoftware 6y ago
Years ago, one of my DnD buddies listed me as a reference. Luckily, I knew the call was coming so I prepared. I spent the entire time talking about his ability to collaborate in a team, have an eye for detail, and solve problems creatively. He's 12+ years into that job with a few promotions so not all bad. ;)
- hkmurakami 6y ago
  Major respect to anyone who DMs a game

ausbah 6y ago

hard to call it a children's game when the playerbase is easily mostly people in their 20-30s

gambiting 6y ago

From the other point of view - as someone who frequently interviews people for technical positions in the video game industry - I definitely wouldn't take it as a negative thing and most likely would ask about it in the interview. After all, we're usually looking for passionate people, and if your passion is playing MtG at a competitive level(or maybe you just love the game), I definitely would like to hear about it.