Orientation
It's my first day day working for a video game company. I'm in a generic meeting room devoid of any personality, surrounded by fellow newbies wearing nametags and one instructor doing our on-boarding. All of us are dressed casually; there is no dress code beyond being dressed and taking a shower. Unfortunately, that second part seems to be optional because someone in this room smells like a whiff of cat pee. Our instructor, Trevor, is writing down some questions to the group on the whiteboard. Favorite Game? He starts to call on each of us to find out our individual answers. A girl named Tania says The Sims, the guy next to me named Mike Exner says Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
“Nick, what about you?” Trevor asks.
“Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time”, I say as he comes to me. I nod to Exner, approving of his taste. The answers continue until finally coming to the quiet reserved kid named Richard at the end of the table.
“Second Life” he says. I hadn't heard of this game before. I can tell Exner is trying not to burst out laughing now. Trevor writes the game down on the board. I stare at the words trying to figure out what would make him laugh at the notion.
“Now what do all of these games have in common?” Trevor asks.
The group looks puzzled because the amount of answers seems endless and yet somehow moot at the same time.
“They are all examples of play. Play requires rules in order to have fun playing the game. These rules, when not working correctly can become bugs. Bugs are not fun and they can ruin a game. It's your job to find bugs to keep games fun for all players.”
This. This is why I'm here. I've spent hours, days and weeks of my life playing video games. All my life I've been told that games are a waste of time but now I can finally make playint worthwhile. I've experienced bugs in games that have shipped to the general public. I've found bugs that have exploited a game and I've found bugs that have broken a game. I'm finally being paid to do something I'd want to do for fun anyway.
The reason I'm sitting in this chair is because I was able to identify 3 different types of bugs from a test conducted by the staffing agency I'm temping under. Though the test was a breeze, the person conducting the test was dressed like a kitty cat. Not because she was part of the furry community but because I just so happened to take the test on Halloween. Being a temporary employee means no benefits and our contract of employment runs out after 1 year. We'd have to take a few months off before being able to apply again. Tough circumstances, but I was willing to pay my dues in order to prove myself.
The class took a break after a few more ice breaker questions. I follow Exner outside to watch him smoke.
“Why did you almost bust out laughing in there?” I ask sincerely.
“Dude you've never heard of Second Life?!?! My cousin makes a living by making dicks for characters in that game”
“Dicks?”
“Yeah man, straight up dicks! Your characters don't have junk in that game but there's a whole community of ugc (User Generated Content) that makes dicks for avatars. I wonder if Richard has a peener for his character.” Exner scoffed
I chuckle and wonder about why Richard was so enamored with the game, dicks aside. What was Second Life giving him in terms of satisfaction that he couldn't achieve from a more main stream game like the Sims? Curiosity was going to get the best of me.
Exner stubs out his cigarette and we walk back inside.