Bio:
I entered the video game industry in 2004, after deciding to leave a career
in law enforcement. After all, when someone dies in a video game, you get a
rez. It was a big leap for me to follow my dream of becoming a game
designer, especially once I realized I'd have to start at the bottom. I went
from being a full time state employee to being an in-game CSR at Mythic for
Dark Age of Camelot at half my previous salary. I immediately fell in love
with the people I met in the industry, and knew that I had made the right
choice.
I transferred to EA's Pogo Online studio in Redwood Shores, CA in 2006 as QA
when my husband (also a game designer) got a job at Cryptic Studios. I
eventually migrated into The Sims Division, as QA Lead for The Sims Carnival
- a Flash tool which enabled players to create their own games and post them
to our site for sharing. In 2008, I got my first job as a game designer at
Trion World Networks creating quests and lore for Heroes of Telara. Early in
2009, I was laid off due to restructuring. I landed a job with Sparkplay
Media writing quests and creating items for Earth Eternal, a F2P
browser-based MMO. Last summer I suffered a debilitating back injury, and
spent some time recovering. I now work at ChangYou, as Assistant Producer
for our upcoming F2P MMO Blade Wars, which is soon to enter closed beta.
GGR's Snow White managed to catch the Assistant Producer at
She shares her own personal experiences in the gaming industry:
Q: What obstacles have you faced and overcome during your career?
A: The company I started at, Mythic Entertainment, was the company with the
highest female employee ratio out of all the companies I've worked at. I
think that this spoiled me forever. In all other divisions, I was at most
one of two or three in a department full of mostly males. Having come from a
law enforcement background, I was rather used to this. However, I feel it's
always difficult to be in the female minority on any team. I've had to work
harder, and be "louder" than my male counterparts in order to be noticed.
Q: What are some of the professional challenges that you have met in this
industry? Any of these gender specific?
A: I've had to work a little harder to prove myself as a gamer - because even
within the industry, many people falsely assume that ladies don't play
games.
Q: How did your family react to deciding on this as a career choice?
A: My husband was the one who talked me into changing careers. He encouraged me
to get into games as the chance to turn my love of writing into a
profession.
We have often worked in the same company together.
Q: How did you know you’d finally broken through or if you don’t feel like
you’ve ‘broken through’ yet, why not?
A: The first time I felt like I had "broken through" was when I first became a
game designer. It took me four years in the industry to finally reach my
goal. I don't believe I've made it yet however. There are very few women in
management positions in our industry, and we should all work to change that.
Q: What would your advice be to other aspiring females who wish to pursue
a career in games?
A: The games industry is a young one, and like some other tech industries,
prides itself on the "fun" environment they can offer employees. Most game
companies will offer free soda and snacks in the office and regularly
schedule events like a group happy hour or trips to see popular movies.
People whiz around the office on Razor scooters, and might spontaneously
burst into a Nerf gun battle. We are a huge group of nerds who likes to have
fun together.
One trait which seems rare among our group, is that of excellent
communication skills. If you can speak and write with eloquence, then foster
that! It will help you shine over your peers with equal tech skills.
Writers are told that in order to prepare for a career in writing, they
should read everything they can get their hands on. I feel the same way for
the games industry - play every game you can get your hands on. You will
likely find something you like about each game, even if you don't like the
genre. Remember those tidbits which made the game more "fun", made
organizing groups simpler, or really drew you into their tradeskill system.
Similarly, take note of those things which made you want to throw the
controller (or keyboard) across the room.
-Snow White
