question on growing a practicr for Game designers

Amehra, somebody is paying you to ask incomprehensible questions? You will probably get better answers if you rephrase your questions.

1. The question doesn't make sense. Who wants to do all these things to help game designers? And do you really mean game DESIGNERS, or do you mean game developers (all parties involved in making games)? Game designers and developers are usually responsible for gaining capabilities and skills on their own. Who is this client who's paying you to empower game designers and/or developers? I'm not saying that capabilities, skills, and empowerment are not desirable - but aside from educators, nobody is out to gift designers with capabilities, skills, and empowerment. Are you asking how to grow a development company? Not individual designers? (Is that what you mean by “a practice of game designers”?)

2. Designers and developers want to be treated with dignity and respect. Designers in particular want to be treated with an understanding of the special skills designers use (everybody who's not in the industry usually thinks designers are programmers - although I just talked with a non-game programmer who thought designers were artists). Designers want what everybody wants (in terms of “treatment”). Your question is, frankly, bizarre. If we understood better where your questions are coming from, you could get better answers.

Also - this topic did not belong in the Writing forum, so it has been moved to the Lounge.

Dear Tom, thanks so much for the detailed response and your time. Greatly appreciated. You are right my question was ambiguous. Let me take another shot.

I understand the difference between a game designer, programmer and an artist. I am a hardcore IT guy (veteran). The question I am trying to answer is - if somebody is growing or running a game company, how -

1. Does he get the right designers ? What skills should he look for and behavioral traits.
2. More importantly, how can he create a practice where he can organically grow these professionals ? What kind of trainings, awareness etc needs to be inculcated.

Video gaming is a creative industry. The above questions are primarily for Game designers and also extends to artists and programmers. Programmers, as I said I have some idea as I have grown multiple practices. How do I build creative teams in the gaming industry I am trying to answer.

Thanks again. Hope I was better this time.

for completeness - As an analogy(wrt IT), I can perhaps compare designers to Product mgt, solution architects and also business analysts to an extent in the IT parlance

1. Most of the time, game designers are grown. Inexperienced graduates of game design programs most likely still need a lot of experience working in professional teams. If you hire an experienced designer and a less-experienced individual with a formal education in game design, and if they work well together, the two of them will probably learn from one another.
2. The key to growing team skills is good management. Giving the team realistic achievable projects, reasonable budgets and schedules, and fostering a creative and cooperative spirit in a fun environment will usually result in a better team.

This is really a consulting assignment? You're not the one who's going to start up a company - you're telling a client what to look for in building a team for his company? Your client sounds like he or she has no experience making games, and that is going to be a problem. The main problem for a new company (besides building a good team) is having a well-thought-out monetization system and marketing/publishing plan.

Tom, I haven't got the assignment. I am prepping for a meeting for it. The assignment is relating to a company where they want to have a complete transformation and there transforming their workforce, their capabilities will figure ….

For the points I raised, I was hoping if in an organization, if I could administer -

1. Certain courses and certifications if they exist
2. Some consistent way so that they(people) know the state of art of the industry, competitors, standards( I dont know if they could be segregated by themes or mechanics or any way of classification)
3. Knowledge of any frameworks ?? for design and documentation
4. How much of details of programming and art does a designer need to know ?
5. Encourage to create IP, patents and conference papers, industry events
6. Coupled with autonomy, growth path, budget

Tom, allow me to exploit you more.

As you alluded to, if I can understand how to run a gaming comapny is my objective from an “Operations perspective”. Its a delivery centre in question and does not own monetization. It owns engineers, designers and artists and helps studios across the world.

Amehra, your questions are too many, too broad, and too all-encompassing. You can't become sufficiently educated about an entire industry by asking questions on an online forum. For a decade, I wrote articles for aspiring game designers at https://sloperama.com/advice/index.html​

Perhaps your best bet is to start by reading articles there. You can skim the list of titles, and cherrypick the articles that seem apropos to your needs. And I also recommend the industry news articles you can find at gamasutra.com and gamesindustry.biz.

Tom, will never be able to thank you enough. Your articles are exactly what I need.

Any more similar links would be great.

And I must say, you are an intellectual. My privelege that I connected with you.

Good luck with this endeavor, Amehra.