PPP3 - Advice from Blizzard Lead Systems Designer

I was looking around for advice and commentary on ways to get into the game design industry and see what other people working within the industry have said about what they want from artists and what is expected.

I came accross an old thread from the forums of Blizzard which is apparently a very famous read on the internet as 'Ghostcrawler' - the Lead Systems Designer of Blizzard (at the time, he now works at Riot Games), replied to a father asking about what he should tell his 8 year old son who wants to grow up to become a game designer. (Link)

I thought there was some really great honest advice in this post as Ghostcrawler says some key stuff that stick out to me as valuable commentary.

*  If you can’t get a job as a game designer, you can try to get a job in a game company and hope to move sideways into game design. We have several designers who worked in quality assurance and customer service. You just have to get your foot in the door. 

* We like to see completed games because it shows you can finish something. One of the dark secrets of game design is that good ideas are cheap. Nobody gets hired because they had a great idea for a class ability or a raid encounter let alone a great idea for a game. They get hired because they can take those ideas to the next level, foresee problems, come up with solutions, and otherwise put in all of the hard implementation work long after the shininess has worn off of the original idea.

* Try and keep up with industry news. Understand the upcoming platforms and the hot new genres and technology everyone is talking about. This is much easier in the internet age than it was a dozen years ago. It’s not always feasible, but attending game conventions can help. Companies often use those events for recruiting and you can ask a lot of questions and get a lot of information once you’re talking to someone face-to-face. 

* The fun part is playing a lot of games. Don’t just play them though – devour them. Understand why they’re fun. Think about what you’d change if you designed the game. One question we frequently ask in interviews is: what is the worst part of your favorite game and how would you fix it?


I particularly like the point of interviewing, be prepared for a question such as "What would you change about our game?"  Think about ways to improve and resolve issues or re-design things that you aren't 100% happy with. I really like the vulnerability in this comment as Blizzard actively ask applicants, "Hey, pick something in our games that you don't like and tell us what you'd do to make it better?", it picks the brain of the applicant of how they'd approach an issue and tests them if they're informed about the game.