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The Gamer Disposition |
| January 31st, 2008 |
As Razer has grown it is now highly likely that we will look to hire a gamer in just about any role or position vs. a non-gamer with degrees and years
of experience. Yesterday at lunch the “new guy” in our San Diego office asked us, “why did you hire me; was it because I am a gamer?”
The answer was yes, yes and YES! In the recent issue of Harvard Review there is an article the explains why today’s multiplayer online gamers possess five key attributes the they bring to the work place.
1)They are bottom line oriented. Today’s online games have embedded systems of measurement or assessment. Gamers like to be evaluated, even compared with one another, through systems of points, rankings, titles and external measures. Their goal is not to be rewarded but to improve. Game worlds are meritocracies where assessment is symmetrical (leaders are assessed just as players are), and after-action reviews are meaningful only as ways of enhancing individual and group performance.
2)They understand the power of diversity. Diversity is essential in the world of the online game. One person can’t do it all; each player is by definition incomplete. The key to achievement is teamwork, and the strongest teams are a mix of diverse talents and abilities. The criterion for advancement is not “how good am I?” it’s “how much have I helped the team?” Entire categories of game characters (such as healers) have little or no advantage in individual play, but they are indispensable members of every team.
3)They thrive on change. Nothing is constant in a game; it changes in myriad ways, mainly through the actions of the participants themselves. As players, groups and guilds progress through game content, they literally transform the world they inhabit. Part of the gamers disposition is grounded in an expectation of flux. Gamers do not simply manage change; they create it, thrive on it and seek it out.
4)They see learning as fun. For most players the fun of the game lies in learning how to overcome obstacles. The game world provides all the tools to do this. For gamers, play amounts to assembling and combining tools and resources that current successes are resources for solving future problems.
5)They marinate on the “edge”. Finally, gamers often explore radical alternatives and innovative strategies for completing tasks, quests and challenges. Even when common solutions are known, the gamer disposition demands a better way, a more original response to the problem. Players often reconstruct their characters in outrageous ways simply to try something new. Part of the gamer’s disposition, then, is a desire to seek and explore the edges in order to discover some new insight or useful information that deepens one’s understanding of the game.
Together these five attributes make for employees who are flexible, resourceful, improvisational, eager for a quest, believers in meritocracy and foes of bureaucracy. Just the kind of talents and traits that Razer believes are essential to our growth and success.
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January 31st, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Degree vs Non-Degree. Most gamers would agree that education is over rated and having determinations/passion is all you need to make it. Education has forever value in our society. Having a degree doesn’t mean that you are smarter. But it does show that you can start something and finish it. Degree represents more than just a paper. It represent years of dedication, responsibility and hard-work. I don’t believe in spoon feeding people who don’t value their own future. Sitting in front of your computer all day playing video game is not productive and then complains that it’s not fair because they can’t get hire without a degree. Most college student I know are gamers and they handling full time classes and also has time for video games. They are able to priorities work before play. All of those attributions that you stated are found in a college graduate not some person in their basement.
January 31st, 2008 at 3:39 pm
From my own long personal experience I have worked with and known brilliant degreed and non-degreed people. I will never discount dedicated life experiences for a diploma. I don’t come in contact with the type of isolated gamer you describe and believe that to be a stereotype that non-gamers have created.
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:52 am
I think the above poster misses the point. I highly doubt that razor is looking to hire people who are not goal oriented or are serious game addicts who are not well rounded and wouldn’t even bother coming to work in the first place. I’ve always thought higher education is overrated. I myself as an art student often have found myself in the situation that I am either learning something I already know or some one is trying to show you something that is limiting. If you have drive, a creative imagination and an understanding of what to do then what more do you need? Its a shame more companies don’t take such an outlook, because with so much money and time being pumped into institutions its a shame.
I have to admit though the more and more gaming companies are saying things like this. I recently heard an interview with Sam Wise of Blizzard entertainment who simply walked into Blizzard with sketch books. He was hired on the spot and was doing nothing but working a ticket stand at a movie theater at the time.
Cheers to you Razor! way to live up to your slogan “fFor gamers, by gamers.”
February 27th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
I believe theses five attributes are also key. They are becoming very common amongst young gamers today. I am glad to hear that Razer has an eye for people like us!
John “Neo_182″ Cauvier