2 ms·

I would say (from experience) if you are a small game team working on a game you love, you just work a lot because you want to. It's when it changes from "beca

I would say (from experience) if you are a small game team working on a game you love, you just work a lot because you want to. It's when it changes from "because you want to" to "because you have to", it's when it gets to be no fun.

TillE 4y ago
If you're working on your own game, something where you share in the profits, that's certainly a different scenario. But even then you still shouldn't go crazy with overtime, you'll still end up with diminishing returns, burnout, and eventually poor quality work. It's just a bad idea outside of emergency scenarios (eg, a serious crash bug in production that you can't just revert).
- pugworthy 4y ago
  It's not even profits. Was on a mod team for a while until we bought by the company who's game we were modding. Hugely motivated to just make a free game that a lot of people liked. Pay just meant being able to invest more time in it.
Herbstluft 4y ago
> because you have to This is a blurred line in the industry. Rarely does your superior walk up to you and tell you that you have to stay long hours or else. Instead crunching in the games industry is much more passive aggressive. "Sure you can go home, but look at all the colleagues you are abandoning, I thought you were a team player, are we not a family? Do you not want this game to be the best it can be?" And millions of small variations of that, praising only ever those that do crunch, building an atmosphere of immense peer pressure. Your boss won't tell you to stay, he will actively build and nourish an environment in which you and your colleagues do that job for him. And that doesn't even include the whole topic of benefits, raises, and promotions. Ultimately it is the same as "you have to", but still. Many have a false image of the way crunch is forced upon a team.

2 ms·

I would say (from experience) if you are a small game team working on a game you love, you just work a lot because you want to. It's when it changes from "beca

by pugworthy 4y ago

TillE 4y ago
If you're working on your own game, something where you share in the profits, that's certainly a different scenario. But even then you still shouldn't go crazy with overtime, you'll still end up with diminishing returns, burnout, and eventually poor quality work. It's just a bad idea outside of emergency scenarios (eg, a serious crash bug in production that you can't just revert).
- pugworthy 4y ago
  It's not even profits. Was on a mod team for a while until we bought by the company who's game we were modding. Hugely motivated to just make a free game that a lot of people liked. Pay just meant being able to invest more time in it.
Herbstluft 4y ago
> because you have to This is a blurred line in the industry. Rarely does your superior walk up to you and tell you that you have to stay long hours or else. Instead crunching in the games industry is much more passive aggressive. "Sure you can go home, but look at all the colleagues you are abandoning, I thought you were a team player, are we not a family? Do you not want this game to be the best it can be?" And millions of small variations of that, praising only ever those that do crunch, building an atmosphere of immense peer pressure. Your boss won't tell you to stay, he will actively build and nourish an environment in which you and your colleagues do that job for him. And that doesn't even include the whole topic of benefits, raises, and promotions. Ultimately it is the same as "you have to", but still. Many have a false image of the way crunch is forced upon a team.