Developers Want Fatter Paychecks

CodeBuster writes "The programmers, artists, and other creative professions that work in the games industry have taken a rather dim view on paying royalties to Hollywood voice-over actors, according to the article 'Coders Want Fatter Paychecks Too' written by Wired News. From the article: 'The video-game industry's geek workforce has something to say to Hollywood actors: Get in line for your share of the industry's profits.'"

Comments

What are they asking for, then?

[Makzu]

Are they asking for simply a larger paycheck? Or are they asking for a royalty-like system in which the extra checks they get depend on the game sales? The article was somewhat light on that point.

If it were the second one, I think it would be a great idea. If a game is fun and sells well, the coders get an extra bit of green to take home.

If it's the first one, well then that's OK too. I hope to break into the game industry once I'm done with college, and the more game programmers earn once I reach that point, the better (for me, anyway..)

They Deserve It!

[Cornflake917]

I took a game development class last semester. I learned that programming games is HARD work. Say you're just doing the AI part of the game. Not only do you have to make enemies act semi-intelligently, and naturally, but you have to do it using only so much CPU and memory. In fact, this is true for just about any aspect of the game. To do be able to do this you have know your programming language like the back of your hand, and be effecient as hell. Killing bugs was a total pain in the ass too. Especially when some of the other coder's on my team created some shitty-ass code.

That's another thing: people skills. If you can't work well in a team, then forget game development. You have to be in constant communication with the artists and other programmers if you want the game to come together at all.

I really enjoyed programming for games. But when we had to turn in our game...the game wasn't working the way I wanted it too, and I really stressed out. I got sick the next day...don't know if it's entirely due to the stress but I'm sure it had to do something with it.

After taking that class, I realized that alot of these developers are incredibly smart and creative. It's easy to judge games when you're just playing them. But after taking that cass, I learned to appreciate what these guys can do.

Re:They Deserve It!

[Seumas]

You're confusing DESERVE with DESIRE.

You don't deserve more money just because something is harder than something else. You also don't deserve money just because you think what you do has a greater moral or societal value.

Your job is part of the capitalist system and in that system you are not paid on a scale of ethics, morality, decency or difficulty. You are paid on a scale of supply and demand. Just like your company earns more money if they provide a better product that is in high demand - you are paid more if you're a great employee who provides a service that is high in demand.

Are people in the techindustry being somewhat screwed over in general and being treated more like burger flippers than skilled knowledge-based professionals? Certainly. But saying that we're underpaid for what we do as an industry is a lot different than saying "because I make videogames, instead of making mailservers or umbrellas - I deserve to be treated more like a movie star or rock star".

And the fact is that Britney Spears is more valuable than you or I. Every super-model you can name is more valuable than you or I. There is a greater demand for hot women in advertisements and on magazines than there is for guys who can use Maya or POVRay. Period.

Re:They Deserve It!

[ZephyrXero]

You need to go work retail for a couple years (maybe fast food too)...deal with corporate bosses, then maybe you'll have some insight into how the world should be rather than what your TV has programmed you to believe. Every thing you have said on the page is worthless and you are a complete asshole. Have fun in hell...

Startup Startup Startup

[blueZhift]

Sadly, as others have posted already, most coders can be easily replaced by local or, increasingly, overseas workers. The creative jobs are a bit more secure. But for the ultimate in security (and reward and risk!), start your own company! People in the games industry who really want a piece of the profits are best served by getting their buddies together and forming their own companies. This has been done before, and I think remains one of the best options for those wanting a bigger piece of the profits that come from their hard work. Granted, noncompete clauses and nda issues may need to be resolved, but an entrepreneural path is the surest way to sink or swim based on your own hard work.

Outside of starting a company, forming a union is the only other alternative. But even with massive overseas outsourcing and a general erosion of wages in the IT industry (at least at the coding level), unionization simply has not been embraced in the tech fields.

Re:So what?

[the_skywise]

I'm not being hard nosed against the actors here. I don't know why you're being so hard nosed against the programmers, the artists and the game designers.

Don't believe me?

Monkey Island had no voice actors.
Super Mario Brothers had no voice actors.
ICO had no voice actors.
Origin did voice work in house with the regular staff. When Wing Commander 4 was done with union work (because the union came in and shut production down until it became a union job) All the inhouse staff that did voicework received cease and desist notices that they were forbidden from doing future voice work until they joined the union.

But I suppose all those games were designed and built by off the shelf coders that do kewl and elite IMAP modules and artists who learned photoshop in their mom's basement.

I'm not denying voice actors fair compensation for game work.. BUT GET IN FRIGGIN' LINE!