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Comment on The 'deprofessionalization of video games' was on full display at PAX East

madame_gaymes@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

People in between will be left out.

The way I interpreted this was, “the execs will be left out because they can’t do any of this themselves.” They don’t even have the ideas.

Also yea, Factorio is an impressive game. Even the modders are insane, and I don’t really run into bugs ever. Well… software bugs that is.

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Bldck@beehaw.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Coming from the software development side, I interpret this statement a little differently.

I used to work with a team:

1 engineering manager whose sole focus was management, developing talent and problem solving around the organization

1 very senior engineer who could do the work of 10 ordinary engineers

2-3 mid level engineers who could work somewhat independently, as long as they were provided guidance to start

1-2 junior engineers who could only handle the most basic tasks and needed hand holding through most projects

Rather than working full tilt, the senior engineer did a lot of work pair programming and helping the juniors develop into better engineers. He accomplished half of what he could, but the team was better for it.

Fifteen years later, no one hired juniors anymore. We hire 1-2 seniors, 2 mid levels and that’s it. Everyone is expected to focus on developing software. No one cares about training or education.

The problem with this is we aren’t backfilling the ranks. If we don’t train juniors, they never become mid levels. Without mid levels, we won’t identify the best to become seniors.

In a world where game development happens on the fringes (indie studios or solo developers), who’s going to hire a junior that can’t contribute meaningfully to the project?
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- madame_gaymes@programming.dev ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  I have also worked on many engineering teams, both as management and engineering. Still, the execs are the ones that get left behind. The juniors at least have knowledge and ability to continue honing their craft. If they’re passionate about it, they will push through and make it work.
  
  The execs just extract money, even in the scenarios you presented, and without any developers they can’t accomplish shit.
  
  Having said that, I get what you’re saying, but again that is something that exists without this idea of “deprofessionalization.” Juniors get the shit end of the stick in a lot of industries, even outside development and engineering. On the flipside, so do seniors when the execs aren’t willing to pay what they’re worth, so they hire green juniors instead.
  
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