   Team Positions and Proper Compensation
  Hi guys,(I want to clarify that I am no expert on this and I am not attempting to lay down any laws. Rather, I intend to provide food for thought or helpful hints. Nothing more. Nothing anyone has been doing here is wrong by any means, but some things could always afford to be tightened up - so to speak.)I have noticed that a large portion of companies/individuals posting their jobs request a considerable proportion of work from a prospective applicant but offer pittance or no compensation for their contribution. Those posting these job offers then have to bump their post dozens of times and never receive any real interest.I do understand this, as I am currently searching for a pixel artist for a multiplayer indie game. That condition makes it difficult to find proper candidates. However, I feel that a fair amount of these job postings could follow some simple guidlines to increase productivity and sucess rates.Hints:1. Use proper English - spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Nothing turns me off more than this, and I am very guilty of it. Read and reread your post and correct these errors or you may find yourself bumping... bumping... and bumping some more. This is especially heinous with all of the spell-checking programs available today. (P.S. I am attempting this post entirely without a program that can spell check. Hopefully I am practicing what I preach.)2. Follow the guidlines! I notice that a large number of job postings do not read the posting guidlines or use the template properly. This makes your position appear less desirable as it suggest a lack of discipline and therefore a lack of power in controlling a team or successfully being a part of a team.3. Be friendly - be an open book! Too many job postings are incredibly vague on what they require, the point of the game they are making, and the desired conclusion to their products completion. The more an applicant knows, the more they can be interested in joining your team.4. Sell yourself and your company! If you make it seem as if your game is wandering aimlessly in the general direction of "completion", then you will likely cause prospective applicants to wander aimlessly away from your job offer. Make sure your game appears as if there is a concrete an legitimate chance of it surviving "flaky devotion" and incosistent or unreliable teamates.Compensation:This is the most chronic issue I have encountered in job postings that I feel deserves its own breakdown.-This assumes that positions are not salaried and instead are justified by profits and royalties.-Small flash games that one would find on Addicting Games etc, do not require paying the involved parties. This makes sense as the scope of the product is limited and no profit will be made.Small Game for IPHONE: (Low Price/Medium Price; Free programs could be likened to the small flash games previously mentioned.)Programmer: This position most likely will require the greatest contribution in this kind of game. Since marketing will likely be non-existent. Expect to offer 35-50 percent of the profits.Artist/Animator: This postion will require the next chunk of work for a game of this type. Expect to offer up to 30 percent of the profits.Composer: The music for these games can be simple and repetitive. Obviously, you will get what you pay for, but expect to pay up to roughly 15 percent of the profits at most.Small Game for Computer: (Low Price/Free to Play)Programmer: These guys will likely require some form of compensation. Despite whether or not you are recieving funds for the game, do not expect much response to an ad that involves making a fairly complex game - offering nothing but credit in return.Artist/Animator: Very few skilled artists and animators offer their talent in exchange for nothing. This is because of the nature of what they do. They enjoy it, but it is very time consuming and often tedious. If they have a full-time job on the side, it is impossible to expect them to carry the work load of an entire game for free.Composer: These games often have insignificant SFX and Composition. This or they are of low quality. If you are alright with lower quality work, you can find a free composer for games like this. If you want more, you will need to pay something, royalties or out-of-pocket. Remember, you - the designer - are getting the majority of "biz credit" for completing the game successfully. The composer gets very little for this credit. Therefore, they will need something else to justify this work (namely a little of your cash).Writer: The writer often fills one of the previous positions as well. If you acquire a freelance writer, pittance for profit is acceptable. They gain most by the credit they recieve for a project such as this.Medium Sized Game involving Multiplayer or Extended Campaign for Computer or Xbox Live: (Fair Price on Product)Programmer: These guys will be doing a significant amount of work, but not as much in comparison to their counterparts working on smaller games. (Allow me to use an analogy. The reason a single cell can only be so large is because of its surface area to volume ratio. Pretend that the programmer is the cell membrane, and everybody else makes up the volume of the cell, kept in place by the programmer who packs everything together in neat, final package. As the volume of the team within the cell grows to accomodate a larger game, the cell membrane grows as well. HOWEVER, it grows at a much smaller pace than the volume. Therefore, while the team has expanded to become 4x as massive, the programmer [cell wall] has expanded only roughly 2x as large as it was originally to support the growing team [volume].) Therefore, the programmers can expect less of a percentage from his/her work on this type of game (But the game makes more money so it is a win-win situation). Expect to offer roughly 20 percent of the profits to a hard working programmer.Designer: The designer has done some considerable work on a project of this type and finally warrants notice. They will also be in charge of the finances and unit cohesion. They will command roughly 20% of the profit to give leeway in negotiations.Artist/Animator: They will be doing possibly the largest portion of work on a game such as this. They should expect 25-40 percent of the profits based on skill and experience.Composer: Music in these games is often a significantly more quality job than the previously listed conditions. Expect to pay an absolute minimum of 10% to a composer. Writer: A writer in this type of game is most often also the designer. If you hire a free lance writer, a low proportion of the profits in the single digits of percent is fair. They gain most from the credit recieved working on this project.RPG or MMORPG:Programmer: As with the previous instance, programmers will be doing a significant amount of work. For such a large game as this, expect to pay up to 25-40 percent to a single programmer or a portion of that to multiple ones.Designer: The designer has likely done considerable work on this project and devoted a lot of time to it. Expect him to demand up to 30% of the profits.Artist/Animator: A lot of the work done in these games by an animator is redundant, thus lowering their overall impact on the game. They should expect 20-35 percent of the profits based on skill and experience.Composer: Music in these games is often high quality work, but also redundant. The composer will still demand roughly 10-25 percent of the profits.Writer: The lead writer of this type of game is also a designer in most cases. Additional writers can expect to justify, at most, 10 percent of the profits. Under 5 percent is fair in most cases. The majority of the reward for writing in this type of project is credit.**********Hope some of this helps in representing yourself to the world and acquiring quality help on your project. Please let me know if I am in error on any of the points I have made.Thanks,Tim[Edited by - Assyranok on November 20, 2010 12:04:43 AM]
  I understand where you're coming from and I agree with your hints; however, your compensation breakdowns are too full of generalities. You also aren't taking into account that, in most games (especially MMOs and larger projects), there are multiple people programming and developing assets.And what is wrong with teams seeking people to work for free if the workers are willing to do so (and aren't being deceived in any matter)?The major issue I see with the job requests here is that the companies and individuals don't attempt to sell themselves to prospective team members. I read a lot of the Help Wanted posts and all I see is a lack of directness and confidence. When they can't offer something (such as compensation or previous work), they play it defensively and try to appease the reader. My advice is to be direct and confident: "Compensation: This is an unpaid position. We provide benefits such as networking, references, <insert free/low-cost perks here>. You don't have to be rich, you don't have to have industry experience--just SELL yourself to the reader.   ;  You also aren't taking into account that, in most games (especially MMOs and larger projects), there are multiple people programming and developing assets.And what is wrong with teams seeking people to work for free if the workers are willing to do so (and aren't being deceived in any matter)?============================================================If you will notice, I do indeed take that into account. And I never said there was anything wrong with it at all. But some people seem to assume that searching for people in these positions with no compensation should be easier than it actually is. I post this just to help some understand that they shouldn't expect very many responses for what they might be looking for. Some people bump their post every few days because of this.Was hoping to supply some helpful hints, not lay down a law.Also, I like your comment. Mind if I add that to the list of general hints? (With credit of course.)   ;Quote:Original post by AssyranokIf you will notice, I do indeed take that into account. And I never said there was anything wrong with it at all. But some people seem to assume that searching for people in these positions with no compensation should be easier than it actually is. I post this just to help some understand that they shouldn't expect very many responses for what they might be looking for. Some people bump their post every few days because of this.Was hoping to supply some helpful hints, not lay down a law.Also, I like your comment. Mind if I add that to the list of general hints? (With credit of course.)I see, I must have misunderstood you. I saw it as you're trying to give 50% to a programmer but there could be multiple programmers. I didn't consider splitting 50% between those programmers.You can add my comment to the list of hints and wherever else you feel like posting. However, I would prefer not to be credited.   