Zac, you wrote:
> I'm taking IT and multimedia classes
> I've created some content with level editors and some of those interface based game creators
> I've also been researching schools that offer a degree
> and have been looking up websites with info on how to get into the industry (although most have not sugar coated it and dampened my spirits a little bit).
>Anyway, am I doing the right things?

Yes, sure.

>Am I doing the wrong things?

How could any of those things be wrong?

>Do I need to do more?

Of course you do! You didn't really expect us to say "no, that's enough, you can stop now," did you? Surely you already knew that you need to keep on doing that kind of thing.

I suppose mine is one of those sites that didn't sugar coat the info. Do you think it would be better if I sugar coated the info on my site?

Re the schools you're researching. You say you're researching schools that offer a degree. That's a lot better than schools that don't offer a degree, but just out of curiosity, what degree are you interested in?

I wrote a lot about how to choose the best degree for you. Articles 3, 14, 34, 40, and 44 are all important ones for your question. Sorry they're not sugar coated, but they are chock full of nutritional information.

As for more right things you could be doing, you might want to read my articles 12, 24, and 27.

Quote:Well I want a course and degree more suited toward narrative and actual game design(I want to take a more kojima aproach to games design)

I think what you just said summarizes what alot of aspiring game designers are thinking. Someone correct me if I am wrong, but it just feels like alot of people are basically thinking 'If I learn how to write a game design document, I'll be hired as the next superfamous gamedesigner in a famous team!!'
No. That's not how it works. You need to have a marketable skill besides an idea, even if you can actually turn that idea into a game design document. Noone's gonna hire you based on a game design document.
What is likely gonna happen is that to become a game designer you're going to have to work your way up from the beginning. Whether that'll be as some kind of intern, a tester, programmer or modeller is kind of irrelevant.
The closest thing you'll get to a game designer starting out is probably working as a [script]writing [intern]. But if you're interested in writing for games, you should probably focus just as much on actually writing stuff as designing games. Like, pursuing a degree in English or something, perhaps in addition to your gamedesign degree.

Quote:Original post by ZacTheImpailer
Btw, would it be viable to like join a small dev that creates small downloadable games (like the ones on PSN, Xbox live, Wii Ware) and not be tied down to a major publisher?

The sticky parts of that question are the word "viable" and the phrase "tied down." Of course one can work at a small development company doing small downloadable games. And of course it's feasible to work at a company that isn't owned by a big publisher.
But the realities of the industry, the foibles of publishers, are unavoidable if one is working in games.
Look, you can't have it both ways. If you work in games, these things are going to be factors. You simply can't go through life saying "I want this thing, but I don't want the consequences of this thing." All choices come with consequences. When you make the choice, you choose to get all the baggage that comes with it.
You can work to change the industry, but you can only do that from the inside.