Evan's Job-Related Rules

• Bits Of Magic

  • Publishers will take advantage of you.

• Island Graphics

  • Responsibility without Authority causes Stress. Stress causes Ulcers.
  • The best designed or most expensive debugging hardware and software in the world is still only useful if you attach your brain to it. (Corollary: Your brain is the best debugger in the world — software and hardware can only add data to it.)

• Hero Software, Inc.

  • Get rid of the deadwood quickly. Otherwise it rots.
  • Management is essential once you have more than three people working on a project.
  • Get the game design in writing.
  • Good Intentions are no substitute for Planning. Or Producing.
  • The bug is on the line of code with the comment that says

    // kludge

  • Never go into business a second time with an irresponsible, untrustworthy, or incompetent person.
  • Never keep someone who's not pulling his weight around because "he's a nice guy".

• Electronic Arts, Inc.

  • Never get so attached to a job description that you'd leave the company if you got a new one.
  • It's a Job, not a Lifestyle or a Family.
  • Meetings are Productivity Sinks.

• The 3DO Company

  • Too many hours makes Evan a dull boy.

• The ImagiNation Network

  • If you pay someone lots of money for their advice, listen to it. Or don't pay them.
  • Conventional companies do not make unconventional products well. Games are unconventional products.

• Rocket Science Games, Inc.

  • Get it in writing.
  • Don't put people off. Don't let them put you off.
  • Never get into bed with a company run worse than you are.
  • Developers will take advantage of you.
  • Distributors will take advantage of you.
  • Your boss will take advantage of you. But if you get in his face, he may back down.
  • The company will go out of business sooner than you think.

• Adobe Systems, Inc.

  • Ignoring a small problem by pretending you have more important things to do just allows it to become a big problem.
  • When 1/3 of your people are "retired in place", worry.
  • When your best people are complaining about how projects are managed, worry.
  • When Engineers try to do Marketing's job, and Marketing tries to do Engineering's job, worry.

• NASA

  • Technical decisions should not be made for political reasons.

Copyright © 1996-2003, Evan Robinson. All Rights Reserved.