More Awesome Than You!

The Poll says it all. I'm hoping that I will still be able to edit it.

Anyways... if it ain't obvious, this thread will contain polls relevant to the Uni Careers Hack. The beta version is available for testing here (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=6773.0).

I started the Feedback and Suggestions thread in the Podium over here (http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=6756.0).

I already have 3 in mind myself, but I'm curious what other people think. I'll leave this thread running until Seasons actually comes out.

Ste

I would have thought this would be obvious. "Adventuring" is what you do when you lack the interest, or qualifications, for anything else. It typically ends when you get eaten by a grue after forgetting to bring enough lights. Gaming and Music are pretty much the antithesis of a college education, and you'd probably flunk out.

I just had to Google "Grue" as I didn't know what the hell it was!  :D

The ones that should require are kind of obvious and making them require going to uni would be much appreachiated, Ste.

Seasons will have an "adventurers" career? What is that? It is very weird, but the others are nice, although gamer is slightly unrealistic. How are they going to make 10 paying career levels for that?

Well... yeh. But with the advent of "gaming" schools and "game development" majors cropping up in many universities now, I figured that some people might want that. Also... music would also depend on how you interpret the career. If it's like rock/pop music, then you probably don't need a formal education. But if it's like classically trained musician, that's different story.

Besides... I like polls. ;D

Ste

Oh OK, that convinced me. Looks like I'm one with the masses this time. Baa-aa-aa

Those schools give you all of the training you need for a future career in the fast food industry. Admittedly, you would have been better qualified had you learned 5 different languages in which to say, "Would you like fries with that, sir?"

That's who you remind me of! Heinlein. TANSTAAFL

I guess "gamer" will depend on the definitions of the career. Is the first level for gamer C/C++ coder, going up from there through levels of what is essentially computer programming mastery? Then yes, indeed, it should be a degreed career (and more than three of the new careers should require degrees). Or are we talking GMing, in which case I will gut and completely rewrite the career to make it reflect something plausible. (Maybe gambler. Hmmmm...starting level, croupier...)

As far as artistic careers go, well, imho uni may or may not be a path to advancement. I studied ballet for many years, and--speaking solely from my own subjective experiences and observations--would suggest that a ballet career only be available to teens who maxed out "dancer" as a teen career. From there the levels would be (I'm using the levels of the Russian Imperial Ballet here, but they are pretty standardized):

6) prima ballerina (the title "prima ballerina assoluta" might be available as a very low possibility chance card. Only a handful of dancers have ever earned that accolade...but this is Sims, so meh?)
5) ballerina
4) premiere danseuse
3) soloist
2) coryphée (that's the rank of, for example, one of the cygnets in the little pas de quatre in "Swan Lake"--a featured performer, but not yet a soloist
1) corps de ballet

Further levels might be: instructor, choreographer, assistant artistic director, and artistic director.

I can see the same type of progression for classical music...a "well-rounded" uni degree might well detract from the intensive practice and training a performance career demands.

From the above list, only law, journalism, and education require that your connections demand paper proof of your worthiness to avoid charges of favoritism. Any 12-year-old can become a successful gamer, musician. Adventurer only requires that you have lots of free time and/or money.

Well, I wouldn't make "coder" the first level.  Maybe "play tester" or "gofer."  Put in "coder" at about 3rd level.

I do know someone who made a living for a while as a professional GM.  Just gotta know people willing to pay $20 or $30 a head for a day's playing...

Good DMs are few and far between. Back when I was still a D&D-playing geek (as opposed to a non-D&D playing geek now?) I'd have killed for a DM with some imagination.

Uh... I'm totally confused by these results. :-\ Are people NOT choosing 3 options? Because if there are 35 voters... shouldn't there be a total of 35 * 3 = 105 votes?!?!? ??? :P

I guess I have to edit the poll so maybe the instructions are clearer. Not that it matters. I guess if I ask a retarded question, I'm bound to get retarded people giving retarded answers. ::)

Ste

ETA: Hrm... I guess I can't edit the poll. But I was able to edit my polls in RL. Oh well. So much for that idea. :(

Well I can tell you that one of those retarded answers was mine as I was trying to do about four things at once when I voted and accidentally either failed to check or unchecked Journalism, I noticed a split second too late. Sorry.

Silly Syberspunk, you have the option to pick anywhere from up to three careers. You're only missing about 6 votes, as it is, and some might think that only law and education would be the most suitable for degrees.

Actually no, classical musicians generally train at university level - either at a conservatoire (like me - yes, I did train as a concert pianist) or in a music department of a University.  You are simply expected to put in the hours and hours of practice.  I was informed on my first day that 4 hours a day was a minimum, preferably six.  And on top of that, we had all our academic work to do as well, plus performances.

I can't see that journalists need a degree myself - I know plenty who are simply good (and/or) efficient writers.  There are college courses for journalism, of course, but not every journo has the qualifications.

Journalism is not about qualifications. It's about having the right grandfather (and in some cases, about having the right great-grandfather). Just like politics.  :P

That said, you won't get juiced in just because you know all the right people. You still have to compete with dozens of other blue bloods who also earned their positions by having the same grandfathers. So, to university you go, and the one who gets the furthest will probably get the best position.

Law and Education for the first two, obviously.

As others have mentioned, Gaming does require education, at least insofar as you need to know how to program.  A lot of programmers are self-taught, but many do have degrees in computer science - I'm not sure how many who go into gaming have degrees though.  There are many schools for journalism, but going into journalism doesn't require having an education in that field.  Music depends on the type of music - garage bands and singers don't generally require education, but classical musicians do.  Adventurers don't need any formal education whatsoever.

You still need an education though.  No publication worth its weight would hire someone who did not graduate from college and most require that you majored in either Journalism, English or a related field.  If we're talking blogs, then you probably don't need an education for that, but if it's going to be anything like the Journalism career in TS1, then you would definitely need a degree by the time you get to Level 5.

And it shows.  :P  Even Bill Gates went to college and his coding is crap.

From what I can tell, academic coding practices are the absolute worst, because their code is rarely intended to be maintained or put into service.

Here I am again, sharing my inflated two cents!

I reckon Law would need history more than biology, after all half of law is looking up precedents. And Adventurers could certainly use biology, so they'd know what it is that's about to eat them.

Generally History and Philosophy are considered to be a good background for a law degree. I wouldn't think Biology.

No, Biology would be really low on the list of majors for a law career.  I'd think Political Science would be the best major, with History and Psychology also being useful.  Of course, for a trial lawyer, you could argue that Drama would be the most useful. :-)

Music careers generally require degrees in music (for the game I would say Philosophy is closest for aesthetics or history for music appreciation).  Even many "rock stars" have degrees (for example, check out Berklee and its alumni list) unless they lucked out and/or knew the right people.  Classical musicians/ orchestra, recording musicians, and private teachers are the most prevalent occupations in my opinion.  My oldest daughter is a professional musician.  With that said, unlike education or law, it is possible to advance without the paper (outside of teaching).  Journalism is the same way; you can work your way up in the career ladder without a degree, but not easily.

You can have any major in college and go to law school; it makes no difference whatsoever.  English is a great choice because you will gain valuable skills in writing and speech.  Philosophy is also decent for a background in ethics.  However, as long as you get the required gpa and a good score on your LSAT, it makes no difference.  Law, medicine and public education are the three things (unless anyone can think of another) that you will always need a specialized degree for.

Gaming career is a tough one because although there are possibilities without a degree, the market is so glutted with computer/ programming degrees and certifications that it is tough to get a job without one.  The gaming industry hires from many segments and frequently seeks English and art majors as well as computer majors.  This is another career that I think has a silly progression when they could have chosen much better titles that make more sense - I mean "guild leader" and Noob," as job titles.  ::)

Adventurer, well are you talking archaeologist?  Then you would need a degree.  I don't know what they were thinking with this when there are so many common occupations that people would like to have added officially to game.  I see it as either archaeologist or CIA operative... either way, I can see how a degree *could* apply.  I just think it has a silly progression.

That's because the gaming career is not about working in the gaming industry, but instead about professional World of Warcrap playing, like gold-farming and account-selling. For obvious reasons, I don't think something like this should involve a degree.