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Nachimir

"Dear Blizzard"

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Joey Comeau has been writing a series of letters called "Overqualified", and some of them are pretty funny:

To: Blizzard Entertainment

Re: Level Designer

Dear Blizzard,

I am writing to re-apply for a position with your company. I interviewed yesterday for a position as a level designer, and I know that things did not go well. I wasn't honest with your interviewer.

She asked me, "what's your worst quality?" and I had read online that I should say my worst quality was something positive. Perfectionism. Obsession with detail. Well, I'm not a perfectionist. She knew, and I knew.

If I had yesterday's interview to do over, I would have been honest. I would have said the first, truest thing that came to mind when my interviewer asked, "What would you say is your worst quality?"

I am super into rape games.

My girlfriend and I take turns being the rapist. We have a safe word, and we both really enjoy ourselves, but deep down I feel like this is wrong.

I don't know why this is relevant to the position of level designer for video games, but I long ago stopped trying to understand these psychological interviews. I have done interview after interview with these fake phony stupid answers that I read about online. Maybe being honest will help.

Joey Comeau

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On a vaguely related note, I once received a cover letter at NCsoft that started, "Dear Blizzard,"

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Dear The Wizard,

I don't know where I'm going with this dumb post.

Careful with your rape games!

Love,

James

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Why do people even ask, "What's your worst quality?" if everyone is going to answer, "Perfectionist." It's such a stock answer, but I hear it all the time. I've done it plenty of times for jobs that I don't give a shit about, and any career classes I've taken have encouraged the same things. Hell, there was even an intern at my job, and on his first day he had to let the guy overseeing him know that he was a perfectionist three times without even being prompted.

I wish we could just retire the, "What's your worst quality?" question. And anyone saying they are a perfectionist too.

Besides everyone's worst quality at game companies is using the internet instead of diligently working.

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I once said that my worst quality was that I am always late, and I got the job anyway.

Then in another interview I said "I hate that question, can I skip it?" and the interviewer said "yes" and I also still got the job.

Woo!

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I got a job once when the interviewer asked "what's your worst and best qualities" and my answer was my best quality is my language skill, and my worst quality is not interesting because it would be something like "caring for dogs" which I'm really bad at, if you'd like to know what my worst flaw is though, it's that I tend to forget hierarchy and that I sometimes lecture people.

True story (only it was in french)

I didn't get the job that time but came back two weeks later and got another one ^.^

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My worst quality is levitation. Although, I think my immortality quality is also quite bad. Both are zero, or approaching it.

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See now, if I was giving an interview I would ask that question just to weed out all the people who say something trite like perfectionist.

That's the problem though. You may be disqualified by less knowledgeable interviews if you said your worst quality was taking long lunches or something.

But apparently it can work for you to be honest if Rusalka is an example to go by.

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I've failed more job interviews than I've been successful at, so I wouldn't use me as an example...

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My idea of this would be:

You answer truely: you may not have win your interviewer's heart but you'll definitely don't loose any if you're not too true "my worst flaw is that i'm a sad bastard who sneaks into the girls toilets and farts in other people's face". So you could pick something that's a flaw but just by stating that you are aware of it, you just cancel it's bad effects "oh my worst flaw is that I am sometimes too friendly with people and don't really care for hierarchy but I'm working on it"

Or pick a neutral one that won't make you a looser "my worst flaw is that I can only concentrate on one thing, I'm not good at multitasking, but I'm good at what I do."

You answer a pre-made one: if the interviewer is aware of it you just go to hell where Dante Alligheri will rape your ass forever. And if he's not you might have a chance to get a point although you do come across as a person who has no real flaw, that is to say a liar when today, resumes are so full of lies that it would still be a bad idea...

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My worst quality is that I am incapable of lying on my CV.

Of course this means that I don't get many interviews.

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It's maybe frustrating that for me that "perfectionist" bullshit possibly is my worst quality as well as my best. Producers actually hate me because I end up going over on things all the damn time, due to polishing them to a degree that is higher than they think is necessary. I've been accused of "overdelivering" many times, at many jobs, and it remains just as insulting to me now as it did the first time I heard it.

I don't see the point of releasing something I'm not as pleased with/proud of as I can possibly be given realistic constraints, and I'm sure others feel that way as well, but I guess I'm more comfortable pushing and squeezing those constraints to the limit than other people, because it tends to annoy them.

That probably makes me sound like a big old douche, but I really enjoy doing good work, and its frustrating beyond belief when people effectively say "no, don't do good work," so I often just do it anyway and then get in trouble.

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you are not a douche, i encountered this many times or got angry at other departments for cutting corners and being happy with shite, instead of trying to output to the highest attainable quality.

some people are so mediocre it burns.

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My question Jake is "have you ever actually reached a point in the completion of any work that you felt was the best you could do ?"

Cause sure, you can always go back and again and repolish details and so, but sometimes when you zoom too much you end up fixing thing nobody sees but you, what about "le mieux est l'ennemi du bien" er I'd translate it as "better is good's worst enemy".

Cause I get that a lot too "don't overdo it" when I feel it's hardly complete and that's so fucking frustrating but the exit road is often "well, when the program crashes or when the client complains about the design they'll fucking see".

Often though, nobody gives a shit, and I'm totally depressed and want to kill myself... noooooow video games

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Jake, you're my hero!

I would love to have enough energy to keep pushing those constraints, but I usually end up giving over to the pressure. Then instead I take pride in delivering "on time"*, and I try to deliver the best quality I can given the constraints. I work on business applications, though, doing architecture and programming, so it's a bit different I guess.

But I really do enjoy working with people like you and wish more people were like that. At one time I was working in a team where a somewhat-perfectionist guy was the lead programmer/architect and had a lot of influence with the bosses -- it was great, we were really able to focus on details and do things right most of the time. But that period didn't last long for various reasons.

* I think "on time" is almost always somewhat arbitrary, though.

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I used to think I was a perfectionist; age has mellowed my opinion of myself and downgraded this to merely "dogmatic".

I'm too forth-right, perhaps too opinionated. But I also can't stand people passing off what's clearly shit - or a blatant hack - with no better justification that "it's the done thing". Which is actually code for, "you're making this harder than I was told it would be, and I'm not prepared to go that much further -- whether it's truly the 'right' thing to do or not."

That gets me unspeakably angry, to the point where I've had some truly vile exchanges with uncooperative or stubborn colleagues, over details they've decided to trivialise as they're not convenient to them. Why bother? Why even fucking bother creating something if you're not going to take an artisan's approach to it and produce something truly outstanding, given the enough opportunity and the support of your peers?

Makes my piss boil, so it does. And maybe I shouldn't have taken a job that combines both writing project specifications as well as overseeing and contributing heavily to the production of them. </rant>

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Jake and Spaff ftw! :tup:

I was actually pretty shocked when I saw how Spaff's department was treated for continuing to produce awesomeness. You would assume that was something to be revered right? But it wasn't. It's incredible how some people aren't even just accidentally mediocre, they aim to be mediocre.

Before I ever had a job I would not have believed that such an attitude existed.

"Let's just get it out the door people!" <-- I have heard this wayyy too many times considering that I haven't been in the industry long.

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Jake, something that I've always suffered with (particularly with regards to writing electronic music), with perfectionism - I'm nearly never happy with what I've done, perfection is never attainable. However, I often get to the point where I've refined it so much I've lost what made it good in the first place - ruined it by perfectionism if you like. How do you know when to stop? Is that based on experience?

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Is getting shit done well considered perfectionism? I pride myself on accomplishing what I set out to do as well as I can, but I've never considered myself a perfectionist. I'll stay up until 9 in the morning working on something if need be, but that just turns out to be how long it takes to get something done right. I've always considered my biggest problem to be that I can't work in installments. If I can't get something done in a solid blast of work (or at least a complete section of something. Say, a chapter of a very large paper.) I just don't get back to it. My energy needs to be focused entirely and for the complete length of time to finish something if I'm going to make anything worthwhile. I can't start, take a break, and get back to it later.

Still a student, so I don't know how screwed this will make me for the workplace. Fuck it though, I'm in academia. Isn't the whole point to have great ideas in short bursts of genius rather than a long string of adequate?

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I am by far not a perfectionist. I sometimes wish I were, but most of the time I'm happy with the road I take with things I create. I tend to put things on a scale of how good I want it to be and how much time I have to invest to get it to that level. Then I measure how much better I could make it by pouring in extra time and see if it's worth it. I usually end up with something that's pretty good and that I'm totally happy with. I could've gone for something better, but at some point I always feel that the extra time is too much for too small a gain, and I leave it be. It's time better spent on the next project. It's about getting the most out of the effort/gain calculation. Does that sound cold? I could be a robot.

That's a somewhat different way of approaching creative work, though. I've found it works in a different way than the 'perfectionist/slacker' concept and it makes a lot more sense to me.

[EDIT] I am a workaholic though, if I'm doing something that tickles me. I guess if it's work I have a passion for, there's no stopping me and I work day and night to get it done (read: get it done towards the level of quality I'm aiming for). Does that make me a perfectionist after all, according to the general idea of it?

Also, I'm already doubting my concept, because I notice upon reflection that I DO give it my best, my all, whenever I'm working on something I'm excited about. So maybe, I am spouting nonsense here. It's late.

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I'm right there with Rodi on the cost/gain ratio. I don't like people who cut corners but I don't like people who don't know when to stop either. It's all about assesing the situation and deciding what's appropriate. There's simply no point polishing something to the extent that it's perfect if it's going to cost a lot (time, money, whatever) but only a tiny proportion of people will notice the difference.

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