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Job Posting at Maxis - Senior Game Designer (07/30/2020)

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Chicklet453681Chicklet453681 Posts: 2,431 Member
I don't know if this particular job posting has been shown before, but I was looking on Maxis' career website and I came cross this job posting. There's one sentence that really sticks out to me. What's your take on this?

Become an expert on the game and our community, drawing from our large, varied player base and our past games to make and defend intelligent design choices going forward.


Does that sound like they're saying, do what you want just be prepared for backlash from it?


Here's the entire job post

Senior Game Designer

At Maxis, we thrive on outrageous thinking.

It’s the fuel that inspires the best games in the world. We’re creators and great storytellers. Our mission is not just about amazing our peers – it’s about amazing our fans. Taking risks. Collaborating with each other. Daring to dream big. Together, we can improve the way millions play every day.

As a Designer on The Sims, you’ll report to the Design Development Director and work with a team of enthusiastic industry craftspeople from all walks of life. You will use your passion and knowledge to design and implement player-first experiences from end to end that surprise, delight, and invite millions of gamers around the world to Play with Life.

The Sims 4 has a very unique player base with 60% of our audience being women between the ages of 18-24. We are looking for someone with deep insights on how to create the best experience for our players.

Responsibilities
  • Design and own features from concept to completion.
  • Establish player experience goals for designs, implement and tune features to meet those goals.
  • Conceptualize and communicate an engaging gameplay experience and use your technical ability to bring your vision to life.
  • Provide feedback to other designers.
  • Improve designs based on play test feedback, game metrics, team input and community feedback.
  • Think creatively using the tools and time available to build unique and fun experiences for players.
  • Adopt and become proficient in new or proprietary development tools to implement and debug your work.
  • Think about the future when implementing content, resulting in smartly scripted scalable systems and good design patterns and practices.
  • Collaborate with all team disciplines, including artists, animators, modelers, engineers, quality assurance, and producers to get support from the team and guide a project from initial design to final production.
  • Advocate for the design vision and get the team excited to work on it.
  • Balance your design vision with input from your peers to find practical solutions that achieve the intended player experience.
  • Become an expert on the game and our community, drawing from our large, varied player base and our past games to make and defend intelligent design choices going forward.
  • Help establish best practices for the team and improve process and efficiency.
  • Mentor more junior members of the team.

Recommended Experience
  • 3+ years of game design experience on a video game development team.
  • Excellent creative skills with experience creating detailed design documentation and maintaining it throughout a project life cycle.
  • Design and implementation experience with game features that focus on open-ended player creativity.
  • Effective at working both autonomously and in groups of different profiles.
  • Knowledge of and enthusiasm for gaming: playing, deconstructing and creating.
  • Experience with games in The Sims PC franchise and other simulation games.

Desirable Skills

  • Shipped a AAA HD title.
  • Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent.
  • Comfortable with Visio, JIRA, online collaboration suites such as Confluence


https://ea.gr8people.com/jobs/161863/senior-game-designer

Post edited by Chicklet453681 on

Comments

  • ohmyohmyohmyohmy Posts: 614 Member
    uh.. it sounds like a job listing.
  • Chicklet453681Chicklet453681 Posts: 2,431 Member
    edited September 2020
    Yes, I realize it's a job listing, I was specifically talking about that one sentence I made bold at the beginning of my post.
  • ohmyohmyohmyohmy Posts: 614 Member
    Yes, I realize it's a job listing, I was specifically talking about that one statement I made bold at the beginning of my post.

    I know. I read the whole thing and it sounds like a typical job listing
  • FelicityFelicity Posts: 4,979 Member
    It's a weird comment which makes it sound like previously they either weren't making intelligent decisions or had no clue how to defend the decisions they made.

    What I find most interesting about the posting is the demographic they listed. Sims used to be unique in that it was 50/50 male/female. It looks like their narrowing of focus did cause a lot of people to leave the franchise, but they probably picked up enough to make up for it. It wouldn't surprise me if EA figured that if men, young men in particular, weren't playing Sims, they'd be playing other EA games whereas young women would not be.

    Or not. But it's pretty obvious I'm not a part of their target audience at this point so I'm not fussed. Crusader Kings 3 is a really fun sandbox.
  • Chicklet453681Chicklet453681 Posts: 2,431 Member
    Yeah, that whole sentence to me was worded oddly, I've read many other job postings for Maxis and never saw that before
  • Nate_Whiplash1Nate_Whiplash1 Posts: 4,085 Member
    What I got from it is that the applicant must have thick skin, and be able to take criticism. That makes sense....it's impossible to please everyone, there are always going to be naysayers
  • Chicklet453681Chicklet453681 Posts: 2,431 Member
    What I got from it is that the applicant must have thick skin, and be able to take criticism. That makes sense....it's impossible to please everyone, there are always going to be naysayers

    Yeah, I got that same vibe. It was just weird to me to see it in a job description, normally I would think that would be something that was discussed during an interview, but I guess putting it out there first would eliminate those that get easily hurt or offended by negative comments about their design choices.
  • crocobauracrocobaura Posts: 7,342 Member
    I don't know if this particular job posting has been shown before, but I was looking on Maxis' career website and I came cross this job posting. There's one sentence that really sticks out to me. What's your take on this?

    Become an expert on the game and our community, drawing from our large, varied player base and our past games to make and defend intelligent design choices going forward.


    Does that sound like they're saying, do what you want regardless of what was previously done just be prepared for backlash from it?


    It simply means that their design choices will have to take into account the player base, the metrics (whatever those are), the surveys, the current game design, etc. Whatever the design choices they will need to be backed up by proper research and documentation.
  • Chicklet453681Chicklet453681 Posts: 2,431 Member
    Well hopefully once that position is filled we do actually start to see some "intelligent design choices going forward" lol
  • logionlogion Posts: 4,712 Member
    I wonder if they added that part about "defending intelligent design choices" because of the recent backlash from the community.

    Maybe they have even had people in their own organization questioning their design choices.
  • BuildingTheSimsBuildingTheSims Posts: 92 Member
    Felicity wrote: »
    It's a weird comment which makes it sound like previously they either weren't making intelligent decisions or had no clue how to defend the decisions they made.

    What I find most interesting about the posting is the demographic they listed. Sims used to be unique in that it was 50/50 male/female. It looks like their narrowing of focus did cause a lot of people to leave the franchise, but they probably picked up enough to make up for it. It wouldn't surprise me if EA figured that if men, young men in particular, weren't playing Sims, they'd be playing other EA games whereas young women would not be.

    Or not. But it's pretty obvious I'm not a part of their target audience at this point so I'm not fussed. Crusader Kings 3 is a really fun sandbox.

    No. And I don’t find it weird at all that the sims fan base is a majority of women. For one there’s nothing wrong with that and two, it’s not surprising that more women than men want to play with virtual games that don’t involve a lot of competition or “challenge”, that revolve around building a family. Sure you can “do whatever you want”, and not all simmers do family play, but outside of that there’s not a whole lot

  • luthienrisingluthienrising Posts: 37,617 Member
    I don't see the issue. The beef of the sentence implies a necessary familiarity with past games to support game decisions about what comes in the future of the game, and doing that well. Nothing here reads as unusual to me.
    EA CREATOR NETWORK MEMBER — Want to be notified of patches, new Broken Mods threads, and urgent Sims 4 news? Follow me at https://www.patreon.com/luthienrising.
  • Sk8rblazeSk8rblaze Posts: 7,570 Member
    I don't see the issue. The beef of the sentence implies a necessary familiarity with past games to support game decisions about what comes in the future of the game, and doing that well. Nothing here reads as unusual to me.

    I think OP shared this because of the "defense" portion of the job requirement. It's obviously a requirement of any job to stand with the company you work for (assuming they're operating morally and all of that). But here, it's laid out black and white.
    Become an expert on the game and our community, drawing from our large, varied player base and our past games to make and defend intelligent design choices going forward.

    That does seem to be atypical to what we've seen as far as The Sims/Maxis job listings, and raises speculation over why that portion would be necessary to include. Is there growing criticism (which is hard to believe, as The Sims 4 has been the most acquainted with it out of all of the other Sims games). Does this criticism additionally now extend internally?
  • ohmyohmyohmyohmy Posts: 614 Member
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    I don't see the issue. The beef of the sentence implies a necessary familiarity with past games to support game decisions about what comes in the future of the game, and doing that well. Nothing here reads as unusual to me.

    I think OP shared this because of the "defense" portion of the job requirement. It's obviously a requirement of any job to stand with the company you work for (assuming they're operating morally and all of that). But here, it's laid out black and white.
    Become an expert on the game and our community, drawing from our large, varied player base and our past games to make and defend intelligent design choices going forward.

    That does seem to be atypical to what we've seen as far as The Sims/Maxis job listings, and raises speculation over why that portion would be necessary to include. Is there growing criticism (which is hard to believe, as The Sims 4 has been the most acquainted with it out of all of the other Sims games). Does this criticism additionally now extend internally?

    I don't understand why people are reading so hard into this. All the Sim games had criticism.

    It's a job listing.. they're listing out the qualities they want for the position. y'all are upset about this latest gamepack so you want to read into it and kick up a storm. ,-,
  • Chicklet453681Chicklet453681 Posts: 2,431 Member
    No actually, I could care less about the most recent pack that was released, this posting was listed well before JtB was released or even speculated on. This posting was from July.

    And, the reason, as I have said already, there's been many, many, many job postings shared on the forums recently and NONE of them had that particular sentence in it. I just thought it was odd and wanted to hear how others interpreted it.
  • JACKIEJOYJACKIEJOY Posts: 802 Member
    Maybe it is pointed towards defending yourself from irate shareholders. Because I really don't see much "defending" going on around here.
  • ohmyohmyohmyohmy Posts: 614 Member
    No actually, I could care less about the most recent pack that was released, this posting was listed well before JtB was released or even speculated on. This posting was from July.

    And, the reason, as I have said already, there's been many, many, many job postings shared on the forums recently and NONE of them had that particular sentence in it. I just thought it was odd and wanted to hear how others interpreted it.

    uh huh.. sure. I don't care what the others had and it doesn't matter, lol. it's job listing for a senior dev designer.. like of course they would expect someone who is required to have 3+ years of design experience to defend their own choices.




  • Chicklet453681Chicklet453681 Posts: 2,431 Member
    JACKIEJOY wrote: »
    Maybe it is pointed towards defending yourself from irate shareholders. Because I really don't see much "defending" going on around here.

    That's quite possible but I interpreted it more as in defending your design choices when there's backlash from the community. Because if there's one thing we can all agree on, the sims community is most certainly vocal.
  • BuildingTheSimsBuildingTheSims Posts: 92 Member
    To be honest the gurus do have to defend the game a lot. They defended journey to Baatu :p
  • GrynnGrynn Posts: 260 Member
    edited September 2020
    JACKIEJOY wrote: »
    Maybe it is pointed towards defending yourself from irate shareholders. Because I really don't see much "defending" going on around here.

    Yeah, I think that's likely it, the reason why it's listed for Senior Game Designer and not the others is because I guess that's the person who has to deal with the higher-ups more often and defend their choices from a production point of view.

    It's probably talking more about convincing other people how a particular choice fits the budget and is worth it financially.
  • ohmyohmyohmyohmy Posts: 614 Member
    To be honest the gurus do have to defend the game a lot. They defended journey to Baatu :p

    tbh I think it seems like that because they have more of a social media presence now. During the TS3 days they were barely active in the community. I only remember SimGuruMeatball and SimGuruGraham talking to people sometimes. but even then I remember them explaining choices. I think Graham or Meatball? had a modthesims account during the TS3 days, I remember them debating someone who didn't like the katy perry pack because they felt like it was too tween or whatever.
  • Sk8rblazeSk8rblaze Posts: 7,570 Member
    edited September 2020
    ohmyohmy wrote: »
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    I don't see the issue. The beef of the sentence implies a necessary familiarity with past games to support game decisions about what comes in the future of the game, and doing that well. Nothing here reads as unusual to me.

    I think OP shared this because of the "defense" portion of the job requirement. It's obviously a requirement of any job to stand with the company you work for (assuming they're operating morally and all of that). But here, it's laid out black and white.
    Become an expert on the game and our community, drawing from our large, varied player base and our past games to make and defend intelligent design choices going forward.

    That does seem to be atypical to what we've seen as far as The Sims/Maxis job listings, and raises speculation over why that portion would be necessary to include. Is there growing criticism (which is hard to believe, as The Sims 4 has been the most acquainted with it out of all of the other Sims games). Does this criticism additionally now extend internally?

    I don't understand why people are reading so hard into this. All the Sim games had criticism.

    They did, even The Sims 2! Still absolutely nothing like The Sims 4 and its controversial packs though.
    It's a job listing.. they're listing out the qualities they want for the position. y'all are upset about this latest gamepack so you want to read into it and kick up a storm. ,-,

    That's complete conjecture, lol. As far as I'm concerned, Maxis made their own bed with this gamepack. And I'm not upset with Maxis in the slightest; I've come to expect mediocrity with The Sims 4 since 2014. I am having a huge amount of fun with The Sims 3 lately though, so that's cool. :)
  • ohmyohmyohmyohmy Posts: 614 Member
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    ohmyohmy wrote: »
    Sk8rblaze wrote: »
    I don't see the issue. The beef of the sentence implies a necessary familiarity with past games to support game decisions about what comes in the future of the game, and doing that well. Nothing here reads as unusual to me.

    I think OP shared this because of the "defense" portion of the job requirement. It's obviously a requirement of any job to stand with the company you work for (assuming they're operating morally and all of that). But here, it's laid out black and white.
    Become an expert on the game and our community, drawing from our large, varied player base and our past games to make and defend intelligent design choices going forward.

    That does seem to be atypical to what we've seen as far as The Sims/Maxis job listings, and raises speculation over why that portion would be necessary to include. Is there growing criticism (which is hard to believe, as The Sims 4 has been the most acquainted with it out of all of the other Sims games). Does this criticism additionally now extend internally?

    I don't understand why people are reading so hard into this. All the Sim games had criticism.

    They did, even The Sims 2! Still absolutely nothing like The Sims 4 and its controversial packs though.
    It's a job listing.. they're listing out the qualities they want for the position. y'all are upset about this latest gamepack so you want to read into it and kick up a storm. ,-,

    That's complete conjecture, lol. As far as I'm concerned, Maxis made their own bed with this gamepack. And I'm not upset with Maxis in the slightest; I've come to expect mediocrity with The Sims 4 since 2014. I am having a huge amount of fun with The Sims 3 lately though, so that's cool. :)

    umm no I see no difference between the criticism. and no it's not conjecture at all.. I can see this for what it is lol even if it's not about the gamepack. it's obvious folks wanna read into this because they're upset about whatever. which is fine but you might as well say that instead of pretending that a random sentence in a job listing is totally about something else.

    doing all this compare and contrast for nothing, lol.
  • RouensimsRouensims Posts: 4,858 Member
    I like reading their job posts. Thanks for sharing this. It sounds like the person needs to be a good communicator, both with coworkers and with the Sims community, as well as other stakeholders.
    Ooh Be Gah!! Whipna Choba-Dog? Whipna Choba-Dog!! :smiley:
  • FelicityFelicity Posts: 4,979 Member
    edited September 2020
    Felicity wrote: »
    It's a weird comment which makes it sound like previously they either weren't making intelligent decisions or had no clue how to defend the decisions they made.

    What I find most interesting about the posting is the demographic they listed. Sims used to be unique in that it was 50/50 male/female. It looks like their narrowing of focus did cause a lot of people to leave the franchise, but they probably picked up enough to make up for it. It wouldn't surprise me if EA figured that if men, young men in particular, weren't playing Sims, they'd be playing other EA games whereas young women would not be.

    Or not. But it's pretty obvious I'm not a part of their target audience at this point so I'm not fussed. Crusader Kings 3 is a really fun sandbox.

    No. And I don’t find it weird at all that the sims fan base is a majority of women. For one there’s nothing wrong with that and two, it’s not surprising that more women than men want to play with virtual games that don’t involve a lot of competition or “challenge”, that revolve around building a family. Sure you can “do whatever you want”, and not all simmers do family play, but outside of that there’s not a whole lot

    @BuildingTheSims I didn't say the demographic was weird. I said it was interesting and a change from what the demographic used to be. I had no judgement attached at all other than I understand that I am not their target audience any more and that their narrowing of focus is likely a business decision.
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