has working in games ruined your gaming

[brokeback]

has working in games related jobs ruined your appetite for games?
I have had lots of game related jobs and every time I've had one it suddenly destroys any passion I have to actually play them.

I still enjoy talking about them and thinking about them but thats probably just because I know a lot about them.

Anyone else feel this way?

I notice a lot of people who work in games still buy a lot of games but most of them don't play them. too much of a good thing maybe?

[anephric]

Eurocom killed a lot of my passion, but it was still a trillllion times better than any other job I've had (in terms of not dreading work every day)...

[Len]

Eight years in and I'm still playing avidly, so that'll be a no...

[brokeback]

maybe I'm just not into it as much anymore then. I was just wondering if other people felt the same. I think it's time I got out then.

[anephric]

You're just getting older, dood. Gaming love comes and goes (well, at least it does for me) because I'm a miserable old bastard.

[brokeback]

haha,

Yeah. that might be it. I am getting older. I felt myself get about 200 years old just today.

[johnjwaters]

ahh anpheric, you lovely. I was thinking of applying for a temp job as a tester at eurocom if any came up this summer, is it ok there? It'd bound to be permanent being as my career plan after uni is thus:

[anephric]

It's a bit shabby... I only did it for a few months. The outer office and lobby (at the Ashbourne Road building) are nice but round the back (where the grunt work goes on) it's all Portakabins and the like.

Coincidentally the company I work for now in Derby does a lot (or did a lot) of business with Zycomm in Ripley, which is the company of the father of the guy who set up Eurocom.

Eurocom only take on a few temp people (if any) as perm QA after a particular project has gone gold.

[MonkeyWrench]

Having worked on a few games I found I'm far less tollerent of average games and pick holes in their design (especially level design in FPS's as that was my thing). Saying that, nothing doused my love for games more than the two years I spent writing about them. Having to plow through mediocre games for the sake of a two page review isn't fun at all (though the 4 hour days were pretty cool ).

[Flabio]

Been a games coder 6 years now, and I still play and love games. I do tend to be more critical now, a lot less tolerant of average stuff. It's impossible to get this close and not have your opinion coloured in some way.

[Kotatsu Neko]

At work all I see are polygons and textures, games I rarely see. So no, working with games if anything just makes me want to actually play games more.

It's given me a more analytical eye, but that isn't always a bad thing. I can spend ages admiring the art of Half Life 2, Doom 3, Chaos Theory, or Resident Evil 4, getting pleasure out of stuff most people wouldn't even notice.

Of course, I am also therefore less forgiving of failure when I see dodgy work in a game!

[Wil]

Yep, I can honestly say working in games has pretty much kicked it out of me. A lot more so than 7 years in games mags where I would still get excited at new stuff.

Wil

[marcus]

The problem you get is that it no longer becomes a hobby, more a job, and therefore the enjoyment will only last so long. One of the reasons I stepped down here was that I foun myself anticipating, and talking about games far more enjoyable than actually playing them, combined with a lack of time and shifting priorities. Now Ive no pressure that running the site brings I can sit back and enjoy playing games again, when I want and feel like it.

[DjSatansfury]

Having hardly time and being stressed out to the hilt stopped me from playing games tbh.

The only games ive recently played is Nexus: The Jupiter Wars and World of Warcraft.

Console gaming for me has been pretty much dead the last few years, even though i still have all 3 of the current gen due to impulse buying. Still got a few games for them too, so when the time comes, ill have something to play on.

((Incidently when i do get time im going to give MGS3 and RE4 a good going over that ive got sat begging to be played))

[Sega Ages]

I found myself anticipating, and talking about games far more enjoyable than actually playing them

I know this feeling. I'm sure it's fairly common among older gamers. Still excited by the idea of new video games, and therefore discussing them in our social circles (and to kill time at work via message boards), but perhaps not having all the time after work to play through them anymore.