Hello Everyone,

I am a person who is going through a situation where I am not sure what position I should aim for within the Industry I am working to eventually join school-wise. To give my background:

I recently have been going to Southern New Hampshire University as they have offered online courses within Game Art & Development since the other schools within my location are too far out to try to go to. My goal was to become a Game Developer and for about 2 years I was set on this. As time went on, there was always a lingering question in the back of my head where I would question if this is the right career path for me. I would ignore it and continue to push forward until one specific course made me start to question how much the instructors are out to help you along with the advisors.

To make a long story short, I was in a script writing course and the instructor came off as though he was fine with what we would give him because it was about being creative, but was severely picky once you turned in your assignments which made it hard to know what to do with each assignment. I told my advisor, but he just went silent and wasn't much help like he was suppose to be. I started looking towards other schools, but stayed after some time went by. The kicker for me that made me leave the school was when I talked to someone in their Career Advising center to get a head start on what I have to have together before I graduated in 2 years (i.e. portfolio) and was basically told that to be able to get into Game Development I would need to take a Minor in I.T. because they are looking for people like that, would have to gain a social media presence and possibly look towards other things relating to art (if I remember specifically him saying doing work for Rolling Stones magazines for some years) to get the years of experience before being able to get into Game Development. Now I am sure these things will help me, but I did a quick search on Blizzard and nowhere is there any requirements that he listed. So basically, even for a school that prides itself on setting the student up with a career after you graduate, I may have to take an additional 5 years before I can land the job of my dreams, making the degree kind of a waste.

One night a few months ago when thinking about the conversation, I began to come to the conclusion that this career path is not the right fit for me. The last course that I took was one of the most exhausting courses ever, and considering that the instructor didn't tell me that I could take it a bit easier until halfway into the course, it really caused me to consider my time with this school altogether. In real life, I sketch and I enjoy doing this immensely; I am even now trying my hands at creating my own characters. I find that I really enjoy, not only sketching, but creating worlds and stories around these worlds. I took a creative writing course back during my first year at the university and I enjoyed it so much. I even noticed that when we got on subjects like that throughout the courses, I could tell I was much more focused on it in comparison to learning about how to create 3D models of characters and animating them.

I have noticed in the past that I can think of stories and worlds on the fly, and have even talked with friends and have thought of ideas along with reworks that I have in mind for certain series and how I would write it to "correct" what I felt was wrong with the series. The 3D Modeling and Animating part I found to be severely exhausting and where I struggled at the most along with the fact that many of the teachers in those courses were not helpful in guiding the student through the development process. Right now, I am working on some fanfictions that I would like to post on the internet for people to read to get my name out there and eventually start working on my own original stories. Not only this, I recently revealed some mental health issues to my family that I had been struggling with in secret for some years (severe anxiety, depression, etc.), and I have heard some stories, not sure how true, about how the development process can be, and now that I am really taking more of my own health into account (not to mention that I suffer from Crohn's) I'm not sure if the development side of Gaming is truly right for me.

I was going through training some years back for H&R Block and I cannot tell you how much stress I was under with this job. Considering that the course barely got you ready to do people's taxes and some of the stuff they hit you with is complicated and will start to stack on itself information-wise, along with the fact that after the course is over and the training begins that they want you to basically be working at this job 24/7 and, even though we were new to it, you were told you would be hit with a fine if you get someone's tax return wrong. I experienced stress bumps, a moment where I woke up in the middle of night for no reason and couldn't understand why I was dealing with these things until I left the job entirely. I say this because I recognize not all careers will be a walk in the park even with my issues, but I know that one won't be bothered with it as much if they are in a career that they enjoy.

With all that has been said, what career within Gaming sounds more like a fit for me? I keep thinking Storyboard, but I am not sure if I am limiting myself with this. I know I want to expand and be able to write comics, mangas, graphic novels and possibly collaborate with animators and movie producers to create animations and movies. I also am trying to figure out what I should do since I plan to go back to College. The pacing of the University was tiring and I have found that I have exhausted myself over the years, plus with some of the certificates that I found, I am not sure if a degree in Game Art & Development is necessary, but I will keep an open mind. Let me be clear in what I say: I feel Gaming is the right career for me, I'm just not sure Game Development is the right fit and am trying to see with my talents what would work best for me. As well, considering that there are certain certificates being offered at Colleges that can allow me to start somewhere in the industry, I feel that a Degree may not be necessary, but would like more concrete information before I start any certificated program. As well, I am new here, so if I made any mistakes in how I made this discussion thread, please do not hesitate to tell me so I can correct it.

@Tom Sloper

Thank you for responding. I've been trying to get more of a straightforward answer and yours is the only one I have gotten in the past few days of asking. Narrative Design sounds good. I originally thought Storyboarding, but could tell it wasn't exactly what I was looking for. If I may ask, are there any schools that I should take into consideration when looking towards a Degree in Narrative Design? And to ask further, what degree should I be pursuing for such a career? As well, I am working on a two fanfictions at the moment that I would eventually like to post on the internet for people to read and then eventually work on my own original works that I would like to publish. Could this be used in a way to help me along in my career path and get my name out there, or would it be ignored altogether due to the nature of the work?

@Tom Sloper

Thanks once again man. This is greatly appreciated and I will take this information with me as I go along toward my career path. Right now, I am not enrolled in school as I withdrew from the university a week ago, but I plan to return to school in the Fall. I just wanted to gather all the information that I can before I decide on what I should do because I was very unclear on my path entirely. The specialized degree I brought up because I know there are specific degrees that certain companies would want depending on the career being pursued, but some of the ones I looked up a few hours ago didn't necessarily specify what degree. The only one I saw said the degree requirement is a B.A. in a creative or communication-focused field, but other than that, nothing much. Considering that much of what I am aiming towards is Creative Writing, then I will focus on that.

Hi @blackacezero777

Just wanted to post a few [EDIT - well, a lot of] thoughts after reading your story.

First off, a degree will really help your employment prospects. A lot of people have a great time at uni, it's an important part of growing up. I went a year too early and wasn't ready and had a horrible time until I took a break. It's not for everyone so I'd never say it's essential - but it's definitely recommended and a massive boost to your CV.

Study something you're passionate about, not just something you feel you should do. You've gotta work hard for it AND self-motivate - you've got to either be made of steel OR love your subject matter for that.

You'll get good teachers and bad ones - that's just life. You'll get good and bad managers, too. Sometimes you have to just grit your teeth and get through it. Don't let a bad teacher kill your passion, and try not to blame the teacher if things aren't going well. You have to learn to rise above.

Don't put too much pressure on yourself to decide everything now. You're young and have so much time to pivot your career. Many successful people walk several paths before finding the right one. Sometimes the path is only right for a time, then it's time to move on. Any degree will give you lots of options so don't over-specialise too early.

With that in mind, I'd consider degrees in Literature, Creative Writing or even Game Design rather than Narrative Design specifically. Like Tom says, employers usually aren't choosy. Any arts degree is probably fine for a writing/design role, any science degree is probably fine for a coding role - so long as you have the basic skills and enough portfolio to back you up.

In fact, if you're interested in writing, the more diverse your background and skillset, the better!

Don't ever be shy about sharing creative fiction online - it's an amazing way to develop your skills and learn to handle criticism. Don't wait until your story is perfect - just post it and see what people think. You should be realistic about how many views you can expect to get, though. There are more people posting than reading. It might take a while to find a community that works for you, but I think it's worth the time.

I don't want to be negative but I should post a word of warning on narrative design - jobs are hard to find and vary in scope. It's often inseperable from a game design job. Sometimes it also means script writing, but sometimes not. It might mean directing voice-over and building a writing team. It's a really diverse set of roles.

You should also be sure you enjoy it because narrative design isn't easy. Very different to writing fan fiction or world-building (which is where a lot of people start). I'd recommend practising by creating interactive stories with Twine, or Ren'Py, or Ink. They might later make a better portfolio than a bunch of prose. You need to practice and demonstrate thinking interactively, handling logic and understanding player agency. These are difficult things!

But for now, just pick a degree in something you're passionate about and enjoy it. Make friends, learn about yourself. Be creative in your spare time if you can but don't forget to live life in the meantime.