http://www.gameres.com/304084.html
Text / Ernst ten Bosch
The author declares: Although I work at Blizzard Entertainment, this article only represents my own views and does not represent any form of Blizzard's policies, behaviors, etc.
Introduction
One of the questions I get asked a lot is: what does it take to be a game producer? The answer is simple: nothing. To be a producer, you really don't need anything. Anyone can be a game producer. Anyone who can read people or happen to be in a certain position can become a game producer. To become a game producer, you don't have to go through any formal training or have any relevant degree. Applying for a game producer position, you're basically not asked to demonstrate talent or knowledge that would help in a game making job. Of course, if you are familiar with established methodologies such as agile development or if you are an engineer by computer science background, that is of course a bonus; but these are definitely not necessary. Similarly, it helps if you are an organized person who is good at learning. However, these are abilities that most adults already possess to some degree, let alone that anyone can claim to possess one or both of these qualities; after all, there is no way to verify a "claim" of.
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But that's not to say that being a game producer is easy, or that the job of a game producer isn't challenging and difficult. The truth is, just like human personalities, there are many types of producers, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, strengths and weaknesses. For example, varying degrees of flexibility can be a blessing or a disaster for the execution of a game producer's work. Depending on the circumstances, the producer can choose to take responsibility or shirk responsibility at any time. If a project is a great success, the producer may be the most praised, or it may be unknown; if the project fails, the producer may be the most scolded and the most blameless. The key is to remember that the job of a game producer is not actually directly related to the production of the game itself. So if he didn't make games, how could he possibly screw up games?
There's a huge difference in the abilities and work styles of different game makers. Some producers are slick, like a car salesman; some are introverted and academic; some keep their mouths open and keep talking; some just go through the mail for any job they do. The purpose of this article is not to answer what it takes to be a game producer, but what makes a good game producer.
The content of this article is actually based on what I should do better and what I see in my peers and what I hope I can do one day. So it's mostly my personal experience, and some non-producers tell me what they want or don't want their producers to do.
For the purposes of this article, I'm envisioning an average, mid-level game producer (if the norm exists), not a very senior producer with a million dollar budget, nor a job Including what the rookie maker of pouring coffee and delivering donuts should do.
I also don't want this article to become a manual on how to do game production work. Different companies have different game production processes, and some companies don't even have game producers at all. Therefore, the content of this article is not suitable for everyone.
When I say my "herd," I mean the team of developers who think I'm their primary producer. When I say "team" I mean the entire development team, including the flock led by other producers. When I say product, I mean a video game that the team is focusing on making.
For convenience, I'll refer to the game producer as "he"; there are also many female producers among game producers, and most female producers perform as well or even better than male producers in this field.
What is a "good" producer
Let's start with the most basic concepts. In order to know what constitutes a "good" producer, one obviously has to understand what a producer does.
Many game makers I know don't explain exactly what they do or how they contribute to the development of the game itself. Do art producers paint? Don't paint. Do programmers manage groups of programmers? No matter. Can the producer decide what can or can't be put in the game? Generally not. Does the producer set and control the development budget? Again, generally not. So, what exactly does a producer do?
When I explain a producer's job to friends and family, I usually use a metaphor; I feel that the metaphor accurately describes the role of the producer, though not a detailed job description.
On the one hand, a producer is the equivalent of a shepherd. I'm not referring to pastors who preach from the Bible and serve as moral role models. I mean literally shepherds, the same kind of people who drive chickens and cattle. That's why I sometimes refer to my team as my "flock" (though I still don't know if my little buddies can appreciate the affection with which I call them "the flock.")
For shepherds The real value of man and sheep is not in the shepherd himself, but in his sheep. The sheep are the ones who provide the final product, so they should be well cared for and nurtured, with comfortable shelter and adequate food. Shepherds can eat old, moldy crusts, while sheep must eat fresh, high-quality pasture.
Furthermore, the sheep are not owned by the shepherd, so the shepherd is not ultimately responsible for the sheep. He can't decide the fate of the sheep, whether to shave, or milk to make cheese, or kill to make kebabs.
Finally, anyone can be a shepherd; as long as he can walk all day with a big stick. If the shepherd quits or dies, it's easy to find someone else to fill the void.
The second metaphor I use is that the producer is the parent. Again like shepherds, I'm referring to parents that are not romantic; it's not about beautiful mothers or great fathers. The parents I'm referring to are the more "hard-working" kind. Let me explain. As a parent, no matter what happens, no matter how tired, busy or angry you are, you have to nurture, care for and protect your children. You have to make hard, impatient decisions, and you figure out what you want... well, well, there's no word "yourself" in this Greek tragedy. You have no choice but to show love and devotion to your children unconditionally.
For the producer and his friends, this kind of relationship may not be real, nor can it be mutual, but for the sake of common goals, of course, the execution must be real. Or take your development team as your kids. Sometimes you bump into them and they pretend not to see you. Sometimes they laugh at you behind your back. Sometimes they will tell you that you are bored or uninspired. And what can you do? What do you have to do? You can and can only keep your mouth shut and continue to show your love to them, whether that affection is reciprocated by them or not. That's the tragedy of the producer/parent.
Game Maker's Principles
Now that we understand where producers are in the microcosm of game development, we can look at the goals of game producers. As I mentioned earlier, there are various types of game producers. One type of producer is a spreadsheet maniac; one who likes to make reports, charts, and summaries, and usually tries to avoid unnecessary human interaction. For him, his flock is a group of unfortunate but necessary people he has to deal with from time to time. Another type of producer looks like a high school student; this type of person seeks popularity and longs for the approval and attention of others. His flock is a bunch of friends to play with. Another type of producer is a task bot; his world is task management, resource allocation, and work schedules. His flocks are the workers on the factory's assembly line, churning out products at a more or less constant rate.
Let's take a look at what the average game producer is like. I'm not going to start with an established project management system like agile development, but start with the general principles of a game producer and see what his flock expects from him.
Flexibility and Adaptability
I mentioned "pipelining" earlier, but if there is one property that absolutely cannot be used to describe game development, it is pipelining. The gaming industry is still in its infancy, and things rarely go the way you would like them to, with every two steps forward you take one step back. This affects some disciplines more, and those disciplines have their own ways of coping. As a game producer, the vagaries of development are all you have to do: expect change; know that something is going to happen so you want to be as prepared as possible. Just as there is a saying: "Be prepared for danger in times of peace, and plan ahead." Producers must have such qualities.
Status Awareness and Reporting
I think the game producer should at least be aware of what's going on with the team and the product and make sure his flock or at least the lead is aware of this information. He should not only know what the current delay is, but also what the next delay is. Any programmer, designer, or artist should be able to hear the general direction of the team, the big things for the day, and the team's top goals from the production population. Of course, there are things that producers may not know about, usually because those things are related to other departments. However, the producers don't know the specifics of what should be, and the overall picture should still tell a thing or two. The ability of the producer to communicate is the key.
Deadline reps
A big part of a game producer's job is meeting deadlines. This is work related to dates, schedules, plans, starting points, major changes, etc. First, the producer must know what the important moments are, how much time is left, what must be done before the deadline, what is most likely to miss the deadline, and so on. The producer also needs to have a general idea of what the main difficulties his flock is facing in reaching the goal, at least to the point of being able to describe it to a third party and answer basic questions. He may not have to do the development work himself, but he's the representative of his flock.
Lubricant
Game producers are also bridge workers, mediators, and facilitators. A producer often encounters problems that he cannot solve by himself, and it is his job to find someone who can solve them. That might require him to meet, send emails, or even go out in person to find someone until he finds out.
The more he has experienced this kind of thing, the more he will find that he has accumulated a lot of network resources. Expanded further, these resources become a network of people for the entire flock. For the team, the producer is the bridge to communicate with the outside world; for the outside world, the producer is the window to the team.
Programmers shouldn't be required to know every member of the IT or QA department, but producers should. And vice versa, the members of the QA department don't have to know all the designers, programmers, or artists on the team, they just need to know one person—the producer on the team.
Generalist
At the beginning of this article, I said that you don't have to be proficient at anything to be a producer. That's because he has too much to bear. The producer is a generalist, nothing escapes his sight and purview, and he takes on it whenever it's good for his flock, team, or end product. As I said before, while others can focus on tasks within their discipline, the producer should handle everything within his competence, whether it's working on spreadsheets, booking meeting rooms, writing meeting summaries, typing assignment reports Or make sure the conference room's video conferencing system is fixed.
diplomatic ambassador
The producer is a diplomatic ambassador, both to his flock, to the team and to the product. A true diplomatic ambassador needs to know the history, current situation, pride, shame, struggle, etc. of his country, and so does the producer. Being proficient in these matters will make it easier for him to make sound judgments and gain a favorable position in negotiations. Like ambassadors, producers go out to the outside world, gather information, and feed it back to the internal team. In this way, his flock can keep pace with the times and be at the forefront.
But above all, like a diplomatic ambassador, he must be unwavering in the good of his flock. Externally, the producer must be the team's advocate; internally, the producer must be his professional advocate. While the person doing the actual work has to worry about being able to complete tasks such as writing code, patching bugs, recording voices, translating texts, making levels, and drawing images, producers are warning lights for stability and consistency, throwing personal interest into On the one hand, put the best interests of the team first.
Lightning Rod
Another important and occasionally overlooked role of a producer is that of an insulator. Like the lightning rod above a high-rise building, the producer has to shield his flock from the unwanted interference and influence of external forces. Third parties will continue to poach talented game developers in your flock, whether that third party is an external team or another internal team. Artists might be called on to do posters for special marketing ads, not gear for new expansions; programmers might be called on to help fix bugs in a website's payment system instead of coding new features. And of course there is the ever-present threat of laziness of sheep leaving loopholes to someone else to fix instead of doing it themselves. If a producer can function effectively, his flock can be more focused on their core job, what they do best and love the most.
Specific Situations and What Good Game Producers Should Do
Now that we know the general job and role of game producers in game development, we can gain a deeper understanding of how good game producers handle the following special and common situations .
game-producer
Task allocation
The so-called "project management" is actually task allocation, which is something that all game producers I know often do. What is a task assignment? That's what the job title says: Assign a task. Whether it's via email, sticky notes, or whatever, the essence is the same: technically very simple and mundane. But even with a job so simple, cookie-cutter, and hard to screw up, there is only one way to do it well.
The producer can easily gather all the relevant people into the office or conference room, order them what tasks to do and how much time to complete them, etc. Then, if something is unclear about the quest, he can find the original commander; all game producers must constantly review the status of the quest and the update of the quest executor.
But this approach is flawed. In the context of game development, task assignment is not just a method of assigning work to programmers, artists, or designers, but a method of finding doubts for producers and all project stakeholders. Task integration should be a record of work: work done and work to be done, problems encountered and resolved, or events that led to new tasks. Recording the assignment of tasks in a timely manner can make everyone more clear about the work and accumulate experience for future work. Therefore, it is very important that task assignments also include records. Do the people who are not in charge of performing the work understand it? Do the start and due dates match the schedule? Are the tasks marked as "done" or missed deadlines and not updated? Will we be able to read task assignments and execution in the future? ?
Of course, applying this level of detail and diligence to the thousands of assignments on any project would definitely snowball the workload to the point where the game makers would have little time for anything else, but I think It still makes sense to do so. Producers should ask themselves: Do I understand the task? Can I expect the desired outcome? If someone asks me, can I describe it in non-technical terms? If the producer can honestly say yes to these questions, then It shows that he has done a good job in assigning tasks.
Make a schedule
There must be thousands of ways to create a schedule, depending on its goals. Are schedules made to let programmers, artists, and designers know how much time they have left to complete tasks? Is it to let marketers, PR, and community managers know when tasks can be completed? Or to show that it's time for the Christmas shopping season Is there a date we all have to finish? Probably all of these purposes. But either way, I've learned two simple, basic principles in my calendar-setting days over the past few years: 1. Don't let the tools dictate the format of the calendar. I only use Excel. 2. The schedule you make is not just for yourself, your customers are the recipients. If I wanted to make a personal calendar, I would add a lot of details, acronyms, notes, and personal comments to the table that might be too confusing for anyone else to read.
But these are just basic suggestions, and I would recommend these two to anyone who needs to make any kind of schedule. For a game producer, it's all too easy: write down the delivery dates he hears from the department head, fill it out in a neat form or diagram, and send it to the relevant people, whether they can complain about the ambiguity of the schedule .
However, good game makers understand the schedule. He knew what important events meant, why they were on a certain date, and what would happen if they were missed. He also knows what factors can affect whether dates for important events can be reached; who is in charge of what, who is on vacation, who is on sick leave and which teams are understaffed, on track, or delayed.
Knowing these things, he can anticipate problems and obstacles, and then solve problems and overcome obstacles. If a game maker is asked why the deadline couldn't be earlier, he has to have a solid answer on hand, or at least find one. If a producer doesn't understand something as basic as his schedule, what else can he understand?
Meetings
I think it's fair to say that not too many people really like meetings, so very few people who are in charge of hosting or preparing meetings will be full of full of energy and enthusiasm.
Game producers, like any meeting organizer, should ensure that basic organizational and meeting standards are met, such as having an agenda, someone taking notes, closing on time without procrastination, having relevant people in place, and following up on post-meeting tasks. It sounds simple, but in practice it is impossible to always meet these requirements. At least for me.
Aside from best practices in any industry conference, there is one thing, if not unique, that is very common to game producers. Unlike most of the conferences I attended before I became a game producer, I now regularly attend conferences that discuss work that I personally don't look forward to. That means I don't necessarily understand everything, I just have to know what's being said. Maybe it's too technical or has something to do with management, but neither is the responsibility of the game producer. Or more often, because the meeting is about the work of a completely different team or department, I have no idea what the speakers are talking about!
In those cases, game producers should be doing something other than just attending the meeting. If he wants to contribute, he must not only know what others are saying, but also understand what others are saying. Taking notes, assigning tasks and hitting dates is so easy that the average producer can do it. But a really good producer makes sure he understands the material, how a certain conclusion was reached, and why a certain decision was made. So he added a new dimension to his work, not just being an executor, assigning tasks, sending emails, organizing meetings, he became a builder - an authoritative project owner and a real developer.
Communication
In the job description of a game producer, you will inevitably see the term "excellent communicator". I find it is often abused. Anyone can claim to have excellent communication skills, after all, there is no standard way to determine whether someone is good at communication or not.
This is not to say that communication skills are not important, but that if you want to be a game producer, you must not be afraid of life in front of strangers. Similarly, if you are afraid to speak in front of people or in meetings, you may have to change jobs. At the very least, you don't feel like communicating with people is a limiting factor or an obstacle you have to overcome. If yes, then communication is not your strong suit.
So when a producer is performing "communication", what key elements must he keep in mind?
1. Everyone is unique. Good producers know their team and know how to deal with team members. Some people like meetings, some people don't. Some people are used to working hard all day, communicating via email and chat apps. Some people like to say a few words to him when you pass by, others hate it when you do it. If the producer knows how to deal with the members, he can more effectively convey the message, ask questions or say no when necessary. Realizing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to communication is the first step in learning to communicate.
2. Let others find you at any time. The most important thing is that people can always find you. When someone wants to find a producer, he must find it, and it is also the producer's responsibility to let people find it. In this day and age, it shouldn't be hard to find people, via email, phone calls or even FaceBook, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Skype, etc. Ensuring that others can find you is not an easy task. The producer must ensure that others can find his contact information from the company's address book, internal website, etc. A good producer must ensure that his MSN is online whenever he is at his desk, except for rare occasions; his cell phone is on if he is not at the office; These should take up 90% of his work time, and putting contact details in the signature of emails and/or office whiteboard should take up the remaining 10%. This information is useful when others are not at their desks or in front of their computers.
3. Let others know about your work. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, many people, including other members of the development team, often have no idea what producers do. As a result, they don't know if and how producers contribute to game development. Therefore, it is very important for the game producer to make it clear to others what he is doing. To do this, he needs to show both what he can do and what he can do. This will result in a larger workload, but also a larger contribution. A game producer who can't help his team or his flock is a useless producer. Any producer can sit at his desk, send emails and assign tasks, and know what he wants him to do at his boss; but good producers know how to make him useful to the outside world. In meetings, he is ready, noticing, and making his point. He can ask questions that others might be ashamed to ask. He makes presentations, writes schedules, and shows that he knows the development process. He answers complex questions and adjusts the schedule as needed, showing that he knows how his flock is doing.
These actions may seem contrived or hypocritical, but if a producer wants to have a say in decision-making, be treated as an equal and be seen as approachable, then everyone must see how hard he works, how hard he suffers As much as anyone else, even if he doesn't know how to animate 3D models, record audio or translate task texts.
4. Efficiency. Ultimately, good communication is about performing work efficiently. Producers play an important role here. If the producer can assign tasks well, it is easier for a programmer, artist or designer to work without explanation or modification. Further, if the tasks are well distributed, it is easier to estimate the execution, the time required, the problems that may be encountered and how to solve those problems. This way, managers or other producers can instantly understand the progress of the development. At the same time, designers, artists, programmers, and testers may learn something from the implementation, and they don't have to waste time doing repetitive work when they encounter a similar situation. By properly assigning and following up on tasks, a good producer communicates not just with the person assigned to the task, but with everyone who might be aware of the task.
This also applies to making a schedule. With a good schedule, developers can immediately know the progress of the target and major events. It's a waste of time if the developer has to go back and forth to figure out what the numbers mean, and as a result, he may feel bothered to look at the schedule again and forget the deadline.
Communication in a meeting is a more delicate art than task assignment or scheduling. Some teams may want the producer to have a meeting like this: come in, make sure the recorder is working, hand out the agenda, make sure someone takes the minutes and hand out the notes. But sometimes, the team will want the producer to be more conscientious: make sure that the speech is not disconnected, the meeting is not timed out, etc. We generally believe that meetings shouldn’t be too long, limited to jargon or reduced to small talk, and that the producer should act as a facilitator. No matter which meeting format the team prefers, the producer should know what works best for the attendees and make sure the attendees take action. A good producer is flexible, able to switch between different meeting formats, but also to force the meeting to proceed in the most efficient format if necessary.
What a producer shouldn't do
We've explored the role of a game producer in a game development team and how a good producer should achieve his goals. Now, I want to talk from the opposite perspective, what traps producers should avoid. What a good producer shouldn't do?
Don't be afraid to ask questions
Everyone assumes that the game producer has a deep technical background or can grasp all the mission details and loopholes. In fact, if he spends too much time on these things, he's probably wasting time, because at any time, there will always be someone who knows those things better than him and is in a better position to do them. Looking at the workload from a longer distance will give the producer a more comprehensive perspective and a broader perspective on things, which is the responsibility of the producer. Also, if a producer can understand a problem and can outline it in non-technical terms, he can more easily convey the information to others, such as other producers or related teams. To this end, the most critical step is to ask questions. If the producer finds out that he doesn't understand something, he must have it explained to him, even if it makes him appear stupid or incompetent, or cause trouble for others. Rather than wait until assignments and meetings are in progress to find out that it is completely unclear what the challenge is, take the time to ask questions and explain. It's always better to waste one person's time and risk being taken for a fool than to waste everyone's time. Game producers should learn to lower their stance and not be ashamed to ask questions when necessary.
Don't Create Unnecessary
Work The first step in ordering work properly is deciding whether a job is necessary or not. Anyone can have a number of "if we did it should be good" thoughts at any one time. While it is safe to have this idea for most people without executive power, for those with real power and means to make the idea come to fruition, especially those who may speak out and distribute ideas in meetings It is very dangerous for people who actually work. This is where producers should be cautious. Just because someone thinks doing something is good, doesn't mean it should be done, especially when that person isn't the person who does it. Producers must realize that decisions turn into work, too much work can lead to delays, and delays are the bane of producers. Programmers, artists, translators or designers, even seniors or supervisors, may not have the same overall view of the project as the producer and therefore may not be aware of the overall impact. So, producers have to be very good at looking at the big picture. Producers have to be very aware of whether meetings can be cancelled, bugs can be left open, tasks can be postponed or even not executed, and a work that must be done can add time and effort to the job.
Don't make people hate working with you
Strictly speaking, it is not critical for game developers to work closely with game producers, no matter what the profession is. A character artist or server programmer can start the day with a to-do list, and it doesn't matter whether his tasks are assigned by a producer or a supervisor. If he has to work overtime or stay overnight, his immediate supervisor will let him know. If he has an issue with salary, promotion or time off, he can talk to his manager. He doesn't need to deal with game producers.
That's why, game makers must be useful and approachable. If he can make sure that others don't ignore him, he's taking the first step on the road to being "useful." I firmly believe that good producers can significantly increase the productivity of a development team, but that can only be achieved if people understand the value of a game producer and actively want to achieve that.
Don't procrastinate
Delaying deadlines can be for a variety of reasons, such as too many additional variables or too strong correlations. This should be expected and prepared. Beyond power outages, sick days, dead pets, and earthquakes, even the most seasoned game developers can misjudge how much time and labor a task will take. This is acceptable. What is unacceptable is the delays of the producers themselves. If the plan cannot be made because the meeting has not yet been held, it is the producer's dereliction of duty. If the programmer is waiting for a reply from the web designer, the producer must make sure to know about it. If a player encounters a serious bug, the producer must find someone responsible for fixing the bug. In fact, it's easy for a producer to sidestep these questions because all he's usually doing is sending an email or making a phone call. But precisely because it sounds simple, failure at these things is all the more intolerable.
Don't forget to follow up
Sending an email and then assuming the other person has received it, read it, and thought about it is an easy thing for someone to do (note: especially in this age of instant messaging, Facebook, and "comments" all the time). In this "forget it later" culture, accountability and follow-up are largely ignored. But in the day-to-day job of a game producer, that's not good. For the most part, emails, phone calls, and meetings all have reasons, and those reasons need solutions. When programmers have to go back to code, artists have to go back to modeling, and designers have to go back to designing levels, producers don't have a chance to breathe or get distracted for too long. Following up with emails, summarizing at meetings, or asking developers is part of the reason producers exist. To fail at these things is to give up the core responsibility of the production work.
Conclusion
It's hard to tell if a game producer is doing his job well. As I said at the beginning, if the product is successful, the producer may get a good reputation and he can say, "Yeah, I'm the producer, and the success is due to me." Similarly, if the product fails, the producer It's easy to get rid of all the blame, and he can say, "I'm not a designer, I'm not a programmer, I'm not an artist, how can I screw up a game?" If his team is good, game producers can escape the fate of being looked down upon.
But the truth is, the stubborn craftsman blames his tools, and for a game developer, his flock is his toolbox. The producer should always own the output of his flock. He may not be the cause of the failure, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have to take any responsibility for the failure.
At the beginning of this article, I mentioned that art producers don't paint, and that's true. However, good art producers know what it takes to draw. He knows how much time his team takes to meet deadlines, what difficulties, and what work for. He understands the life cycle of a product. Similarly, I also mentioned that programmers do not manage teams of programmers. But a good producer knows how to communicate with his programmers. He knows how programmers like to work; who likes to sit in a dark corner and write code silently, be extra careful with whom to assign tasks, who to invite to every meeting. Also, the producers usually don't decide what to add to the game, but they know what suggestions work, what workarounds are appropriate, and what features are absurd. Producers usually have a broader perspective than a single developer, and are better able to think about the big picture. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, while most producers have little influence over the budget of the entire team, they must always keep the budget in mind. No company in this world would be willing to throw money at random, but the other side is also true: No company will stifle employee productivity because of potential costs, especially in an industry dominated by creativity. That's why good game makers always keep efficiency, deadlines, and the assurance that problems will be resolved as quickly as possible.
In conclusion, a good game producer works according to who he is working with, the product being developed, and the urgency of the deadline. To do this, he must be flexible; always adaptable and predictable; and when the expected happens, when everyone is in a panic, the producer must remain calm and rational.
At the same time, he must be energetic and have a strong sense of responsibility. He has to do what he promises, he has to follow up on his assigned tasks, he has to urge procrastinators and remind everyone. He may not enjoy certain jobs and may not receive much recognition, but that's part of the job, and good game producers have to put their ego aside in the best interest of all. In the sanctuary of game development talent, it's the only way producers can claim their worth.
via: game state