Who are you friends with at your job?

JKim3

I was thinking, and got a bit curious.

I'm friends with all the other people on the design team, but also have a bunch of programmer friends (I do have to interact with them alot). I'm also friends with a number of illustrators, modelers, animators, and audio guys, but these were done more actively, by going up to them and talking and crap like that.

Now, I'm just wondering what it's like for other people, if they're friends with alot of people across all the other departments. Mainly because I remember reading about Ion Storm and the anger between the artists and the level designers. And, there's that olde tale of programmers versus designers and artists.

PaK

I get along best with the level designer who accually makes levels with me (the rest just do their own thing without help from the art team) His name is Dan 'Hector' Pitts, and he's a very good LD. Ren, the other artist here is a great guy, and we get along well (he hates my music, and my headphones) but we don't hang out like Dan and I do. My boss Casey, he's great to hang with too.

At Ubisoft I made friends with Klienluka, Bmer, Nyk and Virgile...all very cool guys, too bad none of them were on the Splinter cell Chaos Theory team I would certainly have enjoyed myself more if I was around people who smiled LOL

I guess if you wanna go way back I made frien ds with my LD James Everett and Bodyrott (who ended up being my lead, a great guy to have around). My lead programmer, Dejan, he was a great guy too...very funny and he knew howto kick it. Who could forget youds, the high-strung sound guy He eventually followed me to Ubisoft.

I never made friends at Microsoft and only one at Blackbox. I worked these places for short contracts (several for MS) so I really didn't have enough time in the office to make friends.

-R

pogonip

Seems to me it would be very easy to make friends with guys in the game industry . I mean you automaticaly have stuff in common . I think that is high on my list of reasons to get into the game industry . Working with people I have stuff in common with would be a huge change

Daz

True in theory pogonip, but what you forget is that an awful lot of people in the game bizz spent their teenage years holed up in their bedrooms writing code, or doing Artwork. I'm not ragging on those folks at all, I'm just saying that in my career I've encountered an awful lot of people that are not exactly the most socially outgoing ( and that's putting it politely ). But anyway, my mates at work are from all disciplines. There's defiinitely zero antagonism between any disciplines in the studio. Apart from of course the very strong sense of 'us and them' when it comes to the workers and management.

oXYnary

Friends? Or aquantainces?

pogonip

That's interesting DAZ . I see your point though and it might explain why there are so few pro game artists at polycount . I mean there are a lot but not when you compare it to the total in the game industry . I would imagine that people here on polycount are some of the most socially out-going in there studio . I was going to start a thread about why certain studios are not represneted here at polycount and why ?? Like for instance Blizzard or hell even ID software or Capcom and Sega ?? I think polycount is a fantastic personable game community maybe a lot of people think it is only for mod fans ?? I dunno ??

Dravalen

To echo what Daz said, there are quite a few people at my school(Digipen) who I would rather not associate with due to their lack of personal hygiene alone. Then again maybe it's just a programmer thing *shrug*.

DH_

I get a long with just about everybody at ensemble, except the bird.

JonMurphy

Still friends with my old team at Rage Sheffield. Even though the studio shut down years ago, we still all speak on a private forum. Went to the lead programmer's wedding last year.

Didn't really get in with the guys at Criterion Derby, as I was the only artist, and lived too far away. 1 hour 45 minute communte doesn't lend itself to joining in with after work trips to the pub.

Infusion, the team was so small, the other artist is an an old housemate from Uni, upon who's floor I was staying when I started there. Very good mate.

Rick Stirling

Most folk. I don't relaly know the testers, as they are slightly hidden away around the corner. I don't know everyone by name yet, but I know who they are.

We do go to the pub quite a lot, so you get to meet everyone in a comfortable environment, talk shite and carry each other home. I'd also say there isn't really an "us vs. Them" either -the boss doesn't have an office and sits in with the rest of us, goes to pub, gets the beers in.

danr

considering we spend more time in each others company than we do with our own girlfriends/wives/families, if we didn't at least try to get on well, we'd be screwed.

someone new to the office might see it differently - we're constantly at each others throats and mercilessly ripping the piss out of each other. But it's all in the name of fun/not going insane. And even with the occasional stand-up row, it's all meaningless 20 minutes later when we're down the pub.

I think the smaller companies probably do better here ... unless you're SO small and so close together, you're just winding each other up totally the wrong way. 20 to 30-odd people creates a good balance. 7 doesn't.

Kevin Johnstone

I just hate everyone at my work, especially Malekyth because he just smells funny and wins too often at Dawn of War.

Seriously though, I get on with everyone really. I mostly consider everyone I work with part of my extended family and expect that I can relate to them on some level.
Naturally I'm closer to more of the artists because I sit beside them for longer, but theres no more to it than that really.

As surprising as it might sound to some people on this board, I am actually quite a people person, especially when it comes to work. I'm no cheerleader, but I do try to be supportive and interested in who people are both in and out of work and I think that interest makes the difference.

I spend more time with these people than I do with my wife and my kid, it's worth making the effort.

Well, other than with Malekyth of course

Rick Stirling

bumchums...I've heard the stories...

Mishra

at my school i'm friends with nobody, i've got some good acquaintances who i hang out with but mainly because theres nobody there i really am fond of. i get along with everybody though.

Kevin Johnstone

Rick: Yer nowt but a fookin harry hoofter m8
Bloody sporran checker ye...

Malekyth

Ror, you and moose -- vindictive bastards, both! -- have found a fairly good way of keeping me from winning at Dawn of War, with your pansy-ass emphasis on "teamplay" and "coordination" and "not treating a team game like a collection of 1v1 battles the way Malekyth wants you to so he can overwhelm you one-by-one with a tide of green alien killing machines". How can you live with yourselves with such a playstyle?!

I get along with everyone where I work. There are a couple I try not to get stuck in the same elevator with, but in general everyone's far out and groovy.

kleinluka

On my project I'm friends with some artists and a couple of programmers. My AD rules as well, he's the guy who "brought me over" so to say. /me pets Yves. I have some more friends (artists) on other projects at Ubi, one of them being the awesomely funny Sound Designer (PaK already mentioned who) Brian Youds. And a level designer on Far Cry (Nyk).

I agree its quite easy to make friends in this industry... the fact that you INITIALLY have at least one thing in common, the passion about gaming/game art, helps it a lot I think. PaK and I used to go out on photography trips when he was still living in Montreal and I'm going to check out a movie with an illustrator and the marketing game manager on my project next week. Gabe and Nyk made me drink Dragon's Blood on my birthday so I hate them now. (j/k i pet)

hawken

strange the differences of some offices. the place I last worked at was all about bitching behind peoples backs down the pub... first time I ever encountered such a dog eat dog place and glad I got out before my attitude really got stuck in that mind set.

all my friends are freelancers like me, because we have all the time in the world and can drink beer at our desks!

Nerd Groupie

Before I worked from home like I do now, I obviously worked with people. Over the two years, I saw many people come and go, and I grew to dislike many of them. Too many people piss me off. (one being the manager at our store, yeah, that was nice) Out of all the employees my company has had, I would say I am truly friends with one person. And that is basically because she and I don't hang out often, so we don't get sick of each other. Hopefully when I get my new job I will make more friends, because I'd really like it.

JKim3

That's awesome to know that the clash of the departments doesn't seem like a common thing. Cause really, I don't want to be hanging out with designers all the time. Pretentious pricks!!

Mojo2k

i get along with almost everyone because i am an awesomly nice guy. but if you mean friends as in we hang out and do stuff outside of work. then no one, i am a verry anti social person. even when i try not to be

Chunkey

I tend to find that I get on with pretty much everyone as an aquaintance at work, although I do stand guilty of being one of the socially inept, spent the entirety of his teenage years in his bedroom type of person that Daz speaks of.

These days, I'm usually one of the quieter people at work these days, although I did try too hard to be an extrovert, but it didn't do me any good, and I stood out of the crowd for the wrong reasons, now people think I'm a bit of loony (which is most probably true) which I want to shake off over the next few months.

After seeing this thread, I now want to try and get to know everyone, and get rid of my social crapness, and not be one of the annoying tits that people put up with rather than like which has been the case most of my life.

TechSmith

The guy I like best at work is Stan. Here's his site I get along pretty well woith everyone else, but there's no contact while away from work. I gave up on a social life when I started the single parent thing.

KMan

Apparently I have no friends. Nobody asks me to go out to lunch with them anymore. I am so lonely.

Daz

Ya know KMan, the whole lunch group etiquette thing is a fascinating animal to watch! I go a couple of days without my usual crew getting me for lunch, and I get all paranoid and think I've pissed them off or they're concocting grand plans to start cool cutting edge game studios without me!

It's pretty funny. And then I realise that I just wasn't around when they were looking, or they didn't get me because someone else was loitering that they didn't want to come, or whatever. The politics of it all is too funny. But I mean heck, it aint healthy to go to lunch with the same folks day in day out anyway. It's so cliquey at our place. Just an amusing little observation.