Long Lost Matazonians, Where-O-Where have they gone? Options

[SPEAKERfortheLOS...]

I'm not really sure where this belongs so I decided it fell under the Daft heading...

Do you remember those interesting individuals that used to frequent the forums? People like Quoth(The Raven) and Jimi Jimi? What about WeeJ? Or Silver Star Angel of Da Towers? Who here remembers those past-forumites? Who here still remembers the Matabar or the many Harems? I wonder who still talks to their Flying Cats? Who still recognizes the power of being spangled? Who has run from scuttlers and hid in the wardrobe?

If you still remember those times, post here in rememberance of them.

[Tarantio]

Oh, nothing really major, just a mix of illness and lack of funding made me not finish third year first time round, but I'm going back in September to finish the job, so its all good .

Sucks about EA, Mata, we've been well warned by folk on the inside that they're a pretty bad employer to work for with regards to things like hours and layoffs, but experience on a triple-A title like burnout can't be anything but good for the CV, surely? As far as I know most employers look for that sort of thing in the games industry. Good luck finding something else you enjoy though.

[Mata]

Sucks about EA, Mata, we've been well warned by folk on the inside that they're a pretty bad employer to work for with regards to things like hours and layoffs, but experience on a triple-A title like burnout can't be anything but good for the CV, surely?

Yes and no. I've got a lot of qualifications and I've got only one year's experience. This means that I'm considered above to graduate level positions (or I justifiably want too much money compared to a just-graduated student) but I don't have enough 'industry' experience to get mid-level positions because one year means nothing. Two years, yes, three, definitely, but one year isn't enough.

Of course, seven years making games on the internet with an international client list, being a self-taught programmer, graphics artist, and having had around 17 million people play my games in 2006 all means nothing because it wasn't putting boxes on shelves. Hm.

Mostly EA wasn't too bad as an employer, not nearly as bad as their reputation. There were plus sides, but I wouldn't say that we were actively encouraged to have a healthy work/life balance (quite the opposite at times) but I think that's a lot more to do with the bit of the studio and the state of the title I was working on, rather than the overall company.