Are Gaming Companies Nice Places to Work?

I've read with interest the RPG industry related blog posts this week at Howling Tower and Hill Cantons.

They got me thinking, are Gaming companies nice places to work?

My only experiences in the games industry are limited to a couple of stints of work experience at Games Workshop's Design Studio in the late 1980s.  That was a time of immense change in the organisation, and employee morale was pretty low (one of my friends also ran one of their stores around that time and often recalls how dreadfully the retail staff were treated too).  I'll have to write up my experiences there sometime as I got to work in a lot of different departments there.

Incidentally, if anyone is looking for a job as a photographer, Games Workshop are recruiting:

White Dwarf Photographer Vacancy

The following text from the ad makes me think it's still not the nicest place to work:

"If the way you behave and the attitudes you display fit with Games Workshop's ideals, it is highly likely you will be successful, well rewarded and happy. However, it is only fair to say that people who don't fit with our culture, or who play at fitting, will be unhappy and consequently unsuccessful."

Right that's enough on Games Workshop for a while - I don't want to sound bitter.

BBC Online Warhammer News Feature

This article (found on the BBC website this morning) caught my eye. It concerns Games Workshop and Warhammer 40K. The comments make interesting reading. There's no denying that the Warhammer fans enjoy their games, but I can't help thinking that if they sat down with an experienced GM for a couple of hours they'd get bags more enjoyment playing an RPG.

Want to Reach Over 1,500 OSR Customers?

Over 1,500 copies of Oubliette Issue 7 have been downloaded, making Oubliette probably the widest read publication in the OSR.

Issue 8 of Oubliette is scheduled for release in May, and will once again be available as a free download for a limited period.  In addition the printed version of Issue 8 and a printed compilation of Issues 5-8 will be available as print-on-demand titles from Lulu.com.

If you would like to book an advertisement, here are the rates, deadlines and specifications:

RATES: Full Page $60.00,  Half Page $35.00,  Quarter Page $20.00,  Full Page Inside front cover (page 2 of the PDF) $70.00,  Full Page back cover (penultimate page in the PDF before the OGL) $70.00

DATES: Issue 8 Spring 2012, Book by 30th March, Copy by 15th April.

SPECS: 300dpi JPEG, TIFF,  in Black and White or Greyscale (all colour ads will be converted to greyscale for the printed editions).

SIZES: Full Page: 178mm wide x 265mm high, Half Page: 178mm wide x 130mm high. Quarter Page: 86mm wide x 130mm high.

PAYMENT: At time of booking by paypal


If you are interested in booking an advertisement please get in touch with me by email: oubliettemagazine@yahoo.co.uk

G'Ettin there, my son!

Pencillings for the cover of Oubliette 8 are now finished. Pete's gone for the Ettin .

When I do the covers for Oubliette, I constrain my drawing with one question: How will it look as a thumbnail when it comes to sale?

About twenty years ago, I used to cartoon for a multi-cultural magazine called Dost (means friend in Hindi). One of things that they liked about my cartoons was that they could blow them up or shrink them down, and they wouldn't lose detail. I honestly don't know how that works, it's one of the weirdo features of my style.

Anyway, it may be of interest to note that the figures on the covers have deliberate geometric symmetry, for example, Issues no5 and no2 are based on a cross shape, Issues no7 and no3 are based on right-angled triangles. These shapes appear to translate well when shrunk down in size.

Right, enough bumf. Back to work. Mouse Watch time. Ye olde D&D-ers may particularly enjoy what I have planned...

Oubliette Issue 7 Giveaway Results

The Oubliette Issue 7 giveaway is now over.  I'm delighted to report that we managed over 1,500 downloads.  A big thank you to eveyone who has taken the time to read Oubliette and helped us grow the magazine's circulation.

iPad-ding

The last couple of months I have been toying with buying an iPad2 -specifically for my artwork, but also because it's a beautiful piece of tech. I've visited youtube in order to watch other people use their iPads in an artistic capacity, and have found myself much impressed.

I've also begun looking at what stylus I might use and the Wacom Bamboo stylus with its perfect weighting and elegant looks has me in the thrall of its promotional draw.

In a recent Radio Times article, there were paintings by David Hockney entirely manufactured on his iPad, and even my technophobe mother has expressed a desire to have one herself. In an effort to achieve a balanced view, I have flirted with the cheaper android equivalents, to little effect. For pure luxury and effortless art production, the fates seem to be pointing me in the direction of an iPad.

With the internet ablaze with rumours concerning the immanent launchdates of the iPad3 (February 2012-possibly Steve Jobs' birthday, or March at the latest) and iPad4 (October 2012-this rumour is seriously dubious), I feel I would be foolish to indulge myself and simply buy an iPad2 without waiting to at least see what will replace it. Even so, I'm close to licking my computer screen and drooling on my keypad everytime I look at an iPad, which is hardly attractive and rather hazardous for my keyboard's electrics.

It would appear I am Eve, lusting for the latest Apple. Will I regret buying one in due course? I'm sure I'll moan about it when I do, either unhappily or with inappropriate lustiness.

LOTR Lego Coming Summer 2012

In December, Lego announced that they had secured a licence to produce LOTR themed sets.  The first sets, due this summer, will feature characters and locations from the LOTR trilogy.  Later in the year, we'll also get hobbit-themed sets to coincide with the release of The Hobbit movie.

Here are the provisional details of the first sets:
•9469 Gandalf Arrives – Minifigures: Gandalf, Frodo
•9470 Shelob Attacks – Minifigures: Samwise, Frodo, Gollum
•9471 Uruk-hai Army – Minifigures: x4 Uruk-hai with a siege crossbow, x1 Rohirrim Soldier, x1 Rider Of Rohan with his horse
•9472 Attack On Weathertop- Minifigures: Samwise, Frodo, Aragon, x2 Ring Wraiths
•9473 Mines Of Moria – Minifigures: Frogo, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir, x2 Goblins, x2 Skeletons, Cave Troll
•9474 The Battle Of Helms Deep – Minifigures: Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, Theoden, x5 Uruk-hai

I think these sets could be very popular with collectors and investors - and a few may even actually get played with as toys by children.

The other 2012 Lego releases which caught my interest were a Star Wars Lego game (Battle for Hoth), and four (possibly 5) further Heroica sets.  All of these look like Autumn/Winter products, but there's a chance they might be earlier.