[color="#1C2837"][size=2]Great! What does this involve? Can you use any of this experience in these new career paths? If not, have you considered a job in a game making company which better reflects your current skill set, or are you really hoping for a change of careers?

Pretty much the experience i currently have is running the online side of the game. This includes competitive play and "just for fun" play of a game.
Also the community online, big tournaments with big money involved as well as online leagues. I have worked with many sponsors, player contracts, staff and pretty much the whole Public Relations package. *and many more*
[/quote]

This sounds like a good transition to go into basic QA (quality assurance) positions in game development. Pro competitive gamers usually become very focused at learning the ins and outs of a game, doing very specific things to get their skills down to perfection, and possibly spotting exploits and glitches in the game.

That said, QA testers don't play the game for the enjoyment or to get real good at it. They usually do short, repetitive tasks under restricted conditions, to test gameplay mechanics and report bugs and other inconsistencies. Inevitably you get to know the game real well from testing it a lot, but you can also get tired and burned out from just looking at the game and never want to touch it again [/font]

It's the easiest position to get into, as you are usually in the "periphery" of the work that happens in the game company, and the requirements to get it are more expendable and easily replaceable. But in the meantime you should focus on a more involved area of interest to develop your skills and figure out for yourself what would be the best way you want to contribute to a company.

If you want to be a programmer, but don't like maths..... forget about it.

[quote name='RobTheBloke' timestamp='1315401853' post='4858607']
If you want to be a programmer, but don't like maths..... forget about it.

[quote name='Tom Sloper' timestamp='1315427464' post='4858795']
[quote name='XXChester' timestamp='1315425623' post='4858781']
[quote name='RobTheBloke' timestamp='1315401853' post='4858607']
If you want to be a programmer, but don't like maths..... forget about it.

Do gaming companies hire tester by tester or is there a company out there that offers the "testing" service once a product is completed?
[/quote]
You haven't read FAQ 5 yet, if you have to ask this. You should read FAQ 5, and find out a lot about the test/QA job.

[quote name='deepg' timestamp='1315433034' post='4858828'][quote name='Tom Sloper' timestamp='1315427464' post='4858795'][quote name='XXChester' timestamp='1315425623' post='4858781'][quote name='RobTheBloke' timestamp='1315401853' post='4858607']If you want to be a programmer, but don't like maths..... forget about it.

Do gaming companies hire tester by tester or is there a company out there that offers the "testing" service once a product is completed?[/quote]You haven't read FAQ 5 yet, if you have to ask this. You should read FAQ 5, and find out a lot about the test/QA job.[/quote]

Sorry for the late reply. Yes I live in Canada and have 5 years professional development experience but no not in the games industry. I have however been making games as a hobbyist for about 4 years now.

I was not trying to say Math is not important because it surely is. I have to do some complicated math in my day job even though it is not a game programming job. I was simply saying that the bold statement that if you don't like math than you cannot be a programmer was a crock, that is all.

I was not trying to say Math is not important because it surely is. I have to do some complicated math in my day job even though it is not a game programming job. I was simply saying that the bold statement that if you don't like math than you cannot be a programmer was a crock, that is all.