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Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

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Re: Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

#11

Post by wikwocket »

Good grief kids have it hard today; to go get a high-paying job writing code all day long with 10% raises in the future, or to keep on playing video games for a living... we are really failing this generation!

Just teasing, OP, hope you don't mind. Trust me that these are some excellent problems you have. When I graduated, my choice was a 40k/yr job in my hometown, or a 60k/yr job 2 hours away, in a job market that had just tanked. I envy you, and congratulate you on your options!

As for advice, I would say you don't need an extensive portfolio of "personal coding projects" unless you want to be seen by a Google or Amazon right out of school. The market is in such demand for good software engineers right now that you can should be able to get a good job for decent pay with just your degree and a good coding interview. Go interview around for practice, make a killer impression at a place you like, and negotiate hard for the salary.

That said, if you want to develop some projects, look to your gaming/streaming for inspiration. Can you build a members site for your fans? Code your own streaming player? Build some LoL web tools (stats lookup, character comparisons, etc)? Mailing list manager for a LoL newsletter? It is easiest to find inspiration from your own pain points, and easiest to maintain interest in projects you use yourself.

Re: Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

#12

Post by rprospero »

patio11 wrote: post #3

I also play LoL, although I've given it up for Lent, and used to run the server's leading raid guild in WoW back in the day. So I hear where you're coming from. Congrats on your accomplishments. None of the following is meant to lessen them. When I was young and impressionable, it struck me as absolutely freaking magic that you could make whole hundreds of dollars appear out of the Internet without doing "real work"…

I see this sentiment quite often and it always surprises me. To put it into perspective, it took me seven months after graduation to find a position that pays $50k and I had to leave the USA to find it. Now, I'm not complaining - the project is pretty fascinating and I'm quite excited to be working overseas, but I'm also not the only person I've known who couldn't find work.

Re: Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

#13

Post by pchristensen »

rprospero wrote: post #12
patio11 wrote: post #3

I also play LoL, although I've given it up for Lent, and used to run the server's leading raid guild in WoW back in the day. So I hear where you're coming from. Congrats on your accomplishments. None of the following is meant to lessen them. When I was young and impressionable, it struck me as absolutely freaking magic that you could make whole hundreds of dollars appear out of the Internet without doing "real work"…

I see this sentiment quite often and it always surprises me. To put it into perspective, it took me seven months after graduation to find a position that pays $50k and I had to leave the USA to find it. Now, I'm not complaining - the project is pretty fascinating and I'm quite excited to be working overseas, but I'm also not the only person I've known who couldn't find work.

I've given some helpful critiques to people who had skills but had a hard time finding a job (see [1] for example). Email me if you'd like me to go over your work history, resume, skills, etc. My email is in my profile.

[1] http://pchristensen.com/blog/articles/what-your-resume-reall...

Re: Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

#14

Post by jackgolding »

Hi TNA,

If you treat gaming like a proper career, where you research and actually care about things like ad hits, branding etc. it will actually make the stuff you do in gaming actually leveragable when you apply for other positions, especially in startups.

If you want to talk about this stuff, my email is on my profile. I have a few ideas on how a person in your unique position can make the most out of it, for both yourself and the community.

Best of luck mate.

Re: Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

#15

Post by binaryatrocity »

My advice: Quit LoL, install Dota2, limit your gaming time per week. :D

Fanboyism aside, I find myself in a very similar situation. I've been playing DotA2 for years (and LoL before that, a littel DotA before that) and now run a Dota-community that has a fair amount of users.

Every day I need to decide between playing a handful of matches with my users or working on coding projects, and it's a hard decision to make.

What has been working most effectively for me is "code-weeks", I have at least a week a month where I limit myself to two (2) games a day, and make sure I'm spending some hours every day working on projects.

It's not perfect, but at least consciously trying to follow this pattern has pushed me to be more productive than I was in 2013, and quitting DotA cold-turkey is just not something I think I could stick with.

Re: Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

#16

Post by tiensi »

jackgolding wrote: post #14

Hi TNA, If you treat gaming like a proper career, where you research and actually care about things like ad hits, branding etc. it will actually make the stuff you do in gaming actually leveragable when you apply for other positions, especially in startups. If you want to talk about this stuff, my email is on my profile. I have a few ideas on how a person in your unique position can make the most out of it, for both…

Hi Jack,

I tried looking for your email but all I was able to find was your LinkedIn page.

Re: Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

#17

Post by jackgolding »

tiensi wrote: post #16
jackgolding wrote: post #14

Hi TNA, If you treat gaming like a proper career, where you research and actually care about things like ad hits, branding etc. it will actually make the stuff you do in gaming actually leveragable when you apply for other positions, especially in startups. If you want to talk about this stuff, my email is on my profile. I have a few ideas on how a person in your unique position can make the most out of it, for both…

Hi Jack, I tried looking for your email but all I was able to find was your LinkedIn page.

jackgolding@live.com.au

Re: Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

#18

Post by jon-wood »

noname123 wrote: post #4

Nah bro, don't quit man. Be who you are. There are literally so many programmers but only a few LoL elite players. You have to embrace what you love and not let society dictate what is "respectable" or not. I understand what you're saying, it's fine to give up LoL and try out the professional life. But don't forsake it, my guess you'll pretty soon see the absurdity of app development. Your clients are like the noobs…

Please tell me this is a parody. Please.

Re: Ask HN: Dilemma of a Gamer and Programmer

#19

Post by dsschnau »

I went through exactly this with World of Warcraft, and later StarCraft. I wanted to go pro playing SC but I realized it wasn't sustainable or as fulfilling as I had hoped. I ended up just giving them up, once I realized it wasn't really building towards anything in my life. It felt like a big loss, but looking back, I wish I hadn't played so damn much in the first place.

I wrote more about it here. https://danschnau.com/world-of-warcraft/

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