My new day job is going well. I'm really enjoying being in the operations side of Financial Services. Six months in sales has taught me that I am not a sales guy. Call volume was slow for my first two weeks, so I've had some time to paper prototype a card game. Entrepreneurs always say you have to quit your day job, but there might be a case for not doing that under specific circumstances. The game is intended to be an HTML5 online CCG.
Online CCG's are surprisingly fun, although there's room for improvement. And I say that as a former M:tG pro tour hopeful. I've been playing Clash of the Dragons on Kongregate. The single player game seems like a bit of a grind, but if you want to draft you have to endure it or spend money. I think the intent is to have a big PVP focus, but like most MMO's, I'm just playing the single player campaign. There seems to be some needless complexity in terms of having a game world, player stats, and inventory. After playing four or five other Kongregate card games, Clash is the best of the bunch in my opinion.
Showing posts with label me. Show all posts
Showing posts with label me. Show all posts
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Status update
My experience of job hunting has been true to the old adage "Finding work is a full time job." My dream of game design does not seem to be turning into a career in game design. But you know what, that's not a terrible thing. Perhaps 'hobby game design' would be better for me. Or maybe even just 'gamer with inside knowledge'. Besides Financial Services pays way better and helping people with their financial troubles is really rewarding.
So if you know anyone looking for a Fund Accountant, Credit Analyst, Underwriter, of Customer Service Representative let me know. Actually I'll take just about anything entry level in financial services at this point. Probably not sales (unless it has salary plus commission). Got to update my worker bee resume on the Zorts page.
At some point I do want to have enough time to be able to blog more. Thank you all for hanging with me (all 30 of you). And my G+ followers (of which there seem to be many more).
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Diablo 3 Commodity App
What am I working on?
My last post was about the VERY few apps in iTunes specifically for the Diablo III Auction House. By the way, if I missed an important one, post a comment and link to it. I'll take a look at it and add it to the list. There seems to be a great many apps for the perfect build, dps, lore... But what about tracking all that Auction House Data?
My last post was about the VERY few apps in iTunes specifically for the Diablo III Auction House. By the way, if I missed an important one, post a comment and link to it. I'll take a look at it and add it to the list. There seems to be a great many apps for the perfect build, dps, lore... But what about tracking all that Auction House Data?
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Taking the blog Ad Free...
You may have noticed some of my last few posts have been 'filler'; not stellar resources. Well an unfortunate thing has happened recently. I have maxed out the time that I can spend searching for the 'dream job' in game design. I have had to spend time getting 'a job'. Fortunately a great career came along at just the right time. I have accepted a job with New York Life as a Financial Adviser.
Most of my professional experience has been in financial services. First as a Credit Analyst, and later working in the Transfer Agent at a mutual fund company (for those not in the know, a transfer agent is the department that processes buy and sell orders for brokers, dealers, and shareholders). Being a financial adviser would be a great opportunity to talk about money with people who need advice... And these days everyone seems really willing to talk about finance in ways they were not in the past. The recession has opened the culture to want to discuss personal finance.
Additionally I found a volunteer program at Action for Boston Community Development, where I would be taught how to file taxes and volunteer to help low to low middle income families file their tax returns. Both positions would add value to the other and are really great opportunities. So much great stuff to learn with much potential to be lucrative in the long run.
What does this mean for game design? Well for the next five years or so I really will not be able to focus on the industry that I am passionate about. I do intend to keep going to the conventions, the un-conventions (GameLoop), the community events, and keep making games... Just a lot slower then before. I still want to be a part of the community of game development. Networking with folks in the game design industry and just generally being helpful is fun in and of itself. I do not intend to stop doing that.
The Contracts signed by my new employer state that I shall focus on learning their trade. I should have no other job (it's going to be at least a 40 hour a week job, maybe more). None of my contracts say that I have to stop blogging. I feel that it's within the letter of the contract and the spirit of the contract to keep the blog open and keep writing, but to turn off adsense and to stop the affiliate program. In other words this blog is going ad free! You might also notice less frequent posts, and some changes in content. For example it might become more about game reviews. Or more about reports from the various events in the Boston Scene. I want to keep bringing information that helps developers, but talking about game design when you aren't actually experiencing it is not truthful.
For now this blog is going to change to better suit my current career. Who knows, five or seven years down the line I might make a really great Chief Financial Officer at a start up game company. So you all better get cracking making a kick ass company to entice me away from Financial Planning. ;) In the short term it also means that my day to day activity be involve advising small business about financial concerns. I would rather build my business helping this industry... because I love it, but also because quite frankly game designers need a lot of help when it comes to long term financial decisions.
I'm clearing out a couple blog posts that have been sitting around for a while. A piece on RTS eSports, then a book review on "Headfirst Java". After those two posts comes one that I'm really proud of. I had a chance to sit down with Dave and Ralph at The Tap Lab and talk with them about the wire frame version of their game TapCity. Paper Prototyping of games was on my mind a lot before my interviews with New York Life and I put together a great post on wire frames and paper prototypes.
Most of my professional experience has been in financial services. First as a Credit Analyst, and later working in the Transfer Agent at a mutual fund company (for those not in the know, a transfer agent is the department that processes buy and sell orders for brokers, dealers, and shareholders). Being a financial adviser would be a great opportunity to talk about money with people who need advice... And these days everyone seems really willing to talk about finance in ways they were not in the past. The recession has opened the culture to want to discuss personal finance.
Additionally I found a volunteer program at Action for Boston Community Development, where I would be taught how to file taxes and volunteer to help low to low middle income families file their tax returns. Both positions would add value to the other and are really great opportunities. So much great stuff to learn with much potential to be lucrative in the long run.
What does this mean for game design? Well for the next five years or so I really will not be able to focus on the industry that I am passionate about. I do intend to keep going to the conventions, the un-conventions (GameLoop), the community events, and keep making games... Just a lot slower then before. I still want to be a part of the community of game development. Networking with folks in the game design industry and just generally being helpful is fun in and of itself. I do not intend to stop doing that.
The Contracts signed by my new employer state that I shall focus on learning their trade. I should have no other job (it's going to be at least a 40 hour a week job, maybe more). None of my contracts say that I have to stop blogging. I feel that it's within the letter of the contract and the spirit of the contract to keep the blog open and keep writing, but to turn off adsense and to stop the affiliate program. In other words this blog is going ad free! You might also notice less frequent posts, and some changes in content. For example it might become more about game reviews. Or more about reports from the various events in the Boston Scene. I want to keep bringing information that helps developers, but talking about game design when you aren't actually experiencing it is not truthful.
For now this blog is going to change to better suit my current career. Who knows, five or seven years down the line I might make a really great Chief Financial Officer at a start up game company. So you all better get cracking making a kick ass company to entice me away from Financial Planning. ;) In the short term it also means that my day to day activity be involve advising small business about financial concerns. I would rather build my business helping this industry... because I love it, but also because quite frankly game designers need a lot of help when it comes to long term financial decisions.
I'm clearing out a couple blog posts that have been sitting around for a while. A piece on RTS eSports, then a book review on "Headfirst Java". After those two posts comes one that I'm really proud of. I had a chance to sit down with Dave and Ralph at The Tap Lab and talk with them about the wire frame version of their game TapCity. Paper Prototyping of games was on my mind a lot before my interviews with New York Life and I put together a great post on wire frames and paper prototypes.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Gaming Chops
Back during the time when parents were still afraid to let their kids sit at a table and exercise their imagination role playing games became very important to me. This would be Jr High, somewhere around 1992, playing Dungeons and Dragons. DM'ing a good game and the creativity it required was a real passion for me and I was considered the best DM of the group of friends that I played with. Through Jr High, High School, and college I was the go to guy for world building and storytelling in my little troupe of outcast gamers filling my and their worlds with nuanced detail and character.
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