Comments on: There is No “Hollywood” in QA Testing: The Bad http://www.notesongamedev.net/resource/qabad/ Notes on Game Dev is a collaborative blog with primarily game art and design topics from professional game industry members, educators, and writers. Sun, 05 Jul 2009 02:33:12 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 By: Sir Smokes A Lot http://www.notesongamedev.net/resource/qabad/#comment-15957 Sir Smokes A Lot Wed, 03 Dec 2008 01:32:27 +0000 http://www.notesongamedev.net/?p=453#comment-15957 The upside? All the pot you can imagine... :P The upside?

All the pot you can imagine… :P

]]> By: Jerry Ku http://www.notesongamedev.net/resource/qabad/#comment-11808 Jerry Ku Mon, 17 Nov 2008 08:21:03 +0000 http://www.notesongamedev.net/?p=453#comment-11808 hey Joseph, hope you're doing well! Cool article. Found it on Bluesnews :) hey Joseph, hope you’re doing well! Cool article. Found it on Bluesnews :)

]]> By: C Syxx http://www.notesongamedev.net/resource/qabad/#comment-11760 C Syxx Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:29:39 +0000 http://www.notesongamedev.net/?p=453#comment-11760 I work in QA Testing and I know tons of people whom I work with that would agree with you whole heartedly due to their past experiences... BUT I am someone who was lucky to skip the "Publisher Farms" and go directly onto a QA Dev team (In-house QA for the developer). And from this standpoint I have disagree with your point of view because while there are many companies out there where this does occur, there are others who are trying to make a difference in the industry. The company I am currently contracted to pays well, listens to our ideas, puts our name in the game and goes beyond what could be expected to teach us the tools used by dev and how we can continue to grow. It is in their best interest sto do so. Anyways, there are going to be many people that get into games with bright eyes and get smacked with a dose of reality when working for a company that does do this... and there are many... but also, I hope others are able to see through the forest and find a good company where they can grow because there are many of those as well. If you work for one of these, get your experience and join a team in a different company... you have options as a QA Tester. I work in QA Testing and I know tons of people whom I work with that would agree with you whole heartedly due to their past experiences… BUT I am someone who was lucky to skip the “Publisher Farms” and go directly onto a QA Dev team (In-house QA for the developer).

And from this standpoint I have disagree with your point of view because while there are many companies out there where this does occur, there are others who are trying to make a difference in the industry.

The company I am currently contracted to pays well, listens to our ideas, puts our name in the game and goes beyond what could be expected to teach us the tools used by dev and how we can continue to grow. It is in their best interest sto do so.

Anyways, there are going to be many people that get into games with bright eyes and get smacked with a dose of reality when working for a company that does do this… and there are many… but also, I hope others are able to see through the forest and find a good company where they can grow because there are many of those as well.

If you work for one of these, get your experience and join a team in a different company… you have options as a QA Tester.

]]> By: Some guy http://www.notesongamedev.net/resource/qabad/#comment-11726 Some guy Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:11:31 +0000 http://www.notesongamedev.net/?p=453#comment-11726 Wow, you must worked in some really bad studios, or I worked in a really good one. The devs all loved us, we all had a work PC with DB access and every system we needed to work on, and we constantly talked with producers and higher ups, who were always interested in knowing how the project was really going. Pay was slightly under junior artist, but most everyone "graduates" into a developer or AP role after about a year if they really want to. A lot of the senior roles were actually ex-QA. Hours were hell, though. Have to be in before anyone else to check overnight builds and leave last to check the last one, plus the usual load when dealing with publishers and deadlines. Projects would last over half a year, but you could ask to be transferred to another project for a while as a "break". And yeah, having an entire dev team and the higher ups waiting on your feedback and depending on you to catch everything before the publisher or platform holder is pretty damn stressing. I worked in one of Europe's biggest and most successful studios; I guess I was lucky that they had the money and experience to know the value of good QA. Wow, you must worked in some really bad studios, or I worked in a really good one. The devs all loved us, we all had a work PC with DB access and every system we needed to work on, and we constantly talked with producers and higher ups, who were always interested in knowing how the project was really going.

Pay was slightly under junior artist, but most everyone “graduates” into a developer or AP role after about a year if they really want to. A lot of the senior roles were actually ex-QA.

Hours were hell, though. Have to be in before anyone else to check overnight builds and leave last to check the last one, plus the usual load when dealing with publishers and deadlines. Projects would last over half a year, but you could ask to be transferred to another project for a while as a “break”.

And yeah, having an entire dev team and the higher ups waiting on your feedback and depending on you to catch everything before the publisher or platform holder is pretty damn stressing.

I worked in one of Europe’s biggest and most successful studios; I guess I was lucky that they had the money and experience to know the value of good QA.

]]> By: Joseph Hatcher http://www.notesongamedev.net/resource/qabad/#comment-10675 Joseph Hatcher Fri, 14 Nov 2008 04:44:01 +0000 http://www.notesongamedev.net/?p=453#comment-10675 Dear Mouse, I'm glad your job situation has gotten better :) You make a valid point on the market research, as testers are an excellent battleground to test things out on. Just as long as they add to that "kleenex" or "throw-away" focus testers who aren't hardcore gamers, I think that you can get a better balance with your game and target market. If you ever want to talk shop, I'm not hard to find ;) Dear Mouse,

I’m glad your job situation has gotten better :)

You make a valid point on the market research, as testers are an excellent battleground to test things out on.

Just as long as they add to that “kleenex” or “throw-away” focus testers who aren’t hardcore gamers, I think that you can get a better balance with your game and target market.

If you ever want to talk shop, I’m not hard to find ;)

]]> By: Anonymouse http://www.notesongamedev.net/resource/qabad/#comment-10446 Anonymouse Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:21:31 +0000 http://www.notesongamedev.net/?p=453#comment-10446 I think you hit the nail on the head there. I have been in QA for years and only recently found a company where the QA team is well paid and actually respected. The thing that always used to annoy me was that games companies would spend loads of time and money on market research, when they had at their disposal a whole room full of hardcore gamers who between them, had played probably every game on every platform ever created. But what would a person whose entire career is dedicated to testing games know about creating a good game? I think you hit the nail on the head there. I have been in QA for years and only recently found a company where the QA team is well paid and actually respected.

The thing that always used to annoy me was that games companies would spend loads of time and money on market research, when they had at their disposal a whole room full of hardcore gamers who between them, had played probably every game on every platform ever created. But what would a person whose entire career is dedicated to testing games know about creating a good game?

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