Office Life

I remember when I first got out here.  I remember meeting Bill at the 7-11 and following him to his place.  I remember everything being so foreign and out of context.  I remember stepping out my car and Bill helping me unpack my car.  I had no idea what was in store for me, and at the time this was more scary than exciting.

I remember my first day at Bioware, sitting in the waiting room with the guys who would become my friends, Nathan, Dann and Dave.  I remember sitting in the waiting room taking turns playing PS3, and thinking this couldn’t possibly be an actual job!

Looking back and remembering when all this felt external to my life helps me appreciate the state of things now.  I’ve begun to build a life here, and I love it.  I have the best job in the history of jobs, I live in a new and exciting city, I’m making some really cool friends and having some good times with them.

Yesterday during my shift Zac (my boss) and a few other of the higher up guys came into the office and started writing out a plan for a bot to test the economy of Dragon Age.  As they wrote out their plan on the dry-erase board one of the guys said “So essentially, we’re building a super-term-tester?” to which I chimed in “Hey!  Don’t replace me!”  This led to them naming it Dale-Bot…

Last night after pulling some overtime, I sat on the floor in Nathan’s office with him and Melissa, and we chatted for a good hour.   After that we went down to the break room and beat Snow Brothers on the free arcades.

Things like this, when I stop to appreciate them, really make me realize I love the path I’m on.  I’ve never had something that I was

a)  Good at

B)  Loved doing

C)  Was lucrative

D)  Could take pride in the final product

E)  Had a clear path to even more of all the above

I know I’m fighting an uphill battle.  EA just lost 621 million dollars, closed a bunch of their lesser studios, laying off 1100 people in the process, and have put a hiring cap for the next year as far as permanent positions go.  My Dad warned me about this kind of stuff happening, but I’d always heard the video game industry was recession-proof.

Even so, for the first time in my life I can see a clear path for me.  I can’t picture myself doing anything else now.  I’ve found something I love doing, and am willing to do anything and everything I have to to make myself indispensable to the company.  I’ve been ambitious before, but it was only for the sake of being ambitious.  I knew I ought to be, given my age and what I wanted out of life, but for once I found something I’m truly passionate about.  I could care less if I was 20 or 50, if it paid $6 an hour or $60.  Fortunately all the pieces just fit.

And what a career.  Permanent positions start at 45k a year, Bioware offers RRSP matching, great benefits, pension, etc…  And the biggest factor, again, is that after years of hard work my team and I can have a product we can be proud of.  Dragon Age is gunna be another huge Bioware title, and MY NAME will be in the credits.  I will do everything I can think of to earn more responsibility and have more creative control.

And in the meantime, I’ll keep practicing my Pinball.