Time machine. It’s 6am Friday and I’m trying to figure out to wear. Today is important. Today is the last day I’ll be walking the halls of Electronic Arts LA as a game tester. My project is wrapped up and my contract is officially over. It was a good run. This is the last day I’ll clunk up to the valet in my big ugly truck and park next to a luxury car with the plate “EAGAMES.” And I’ll smile and they’ll wave as I scramble up the stairs past the store and the reception area and do the same to them in the front as I pass my card and enter the world of the testers.
I’ve worked here since September. It was the first job I’ve had since getting to LA. A job that I applied for a year prior and circumstances prevented me from moving to take the offer. Nearly a year to the day, actually. Perhaps it was destiny.
I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I have a good set up where I’m at so I was able to maintain a life while working a job I loved, but didn’t pay much. I will walk out of those doors today and know I will be alright afterward. Living in LA is not easy or cheap.
Video games are always constant in my life, and not just because it was my job. I grew up in Illinois. My first memories are of video games. Growing up I would play so much that my family would jokingly say “maybe you should work in video games when you grow up.” To them, they were half making fun of the idea. I mean how realistic would that be? Especially in the 80s.
Video games are something that’s seeped into most every aspect of me. It is as natural to me as brushing your teeth in the morning. It’s something I feel compelled to do on a regular basis. It’s something that was thereby naturally programmed into my kids lives when I later started a family.
What do you want for your birthday son?
I headed West after high school to the Promise Land. This is where all of those dreams would become realities. The entertainment world… ah how I became so happily sucked in.
I moved to San Diego. It is home in a way that Los Angeles never really can be, although I love both so.
To be honest, I didn’t know I would end up in the industry. I sort of just stumbled (happily) into it. I’d been playing a multitude of games, but it was Everquest 2 that would ultimately be the catalyst. I was highly involved in the game when I was approached to write about it. I started writing walk-thrus and guides for it for a site devoted to MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) called Stratics. My focus was primarily Everquest 2, as I was a hardcore, worldwide, top, raiding character at the time.
Also Known As: Cyren
I played a Wood Elf Troubadour (Bard) named Cyren. My home server was Mistmoore, but I moved to Grobb to join a raiding guild called Malice. This is all nerd lore though. I stopped playing after the first expansion and ended up focusing on my writing, photography and family.
I went on to cover a couple other MMOs for them, including one that never made it live, Gods and Heroes.
That was in 2005. Since then, all of my previous work history prior to EA has been video game or tech related.
I’ve worked for three game companies now. Each had their own rules, policies and system. When I lived in San Diego I worked at both SOE and SCEA. I was a tester on Untold Legends for the PS3 and Everquest 2, and a moderator for games like Killzone.
Game testing is a fun job, but it’s not as glamorous all the time as what it will sound in this edition. I like to close each door and leave a window open. Despite any negatives I’ve had, in the end, the job was a job. It’s not always going to be fun or they wouldn’t call it work. However, I won’t lie and say the perks weren’t awesome. Of everything I went through, even when work seemed to take such a toll on my social life, I wouldn’t take it back for a second.
Working for all of them were very casual and kickback. The environment was laid back and fun. There were few days when I dreaded going to work. You can call me an EA fangirl, but of the three, this has been my best experience thus far.
Most of the time, work really didn’t really feel like work. Even when our project kicked into overtime, I was happy to sit in a leather chair and a then play a broken video game all day.
such a rough job...
I will remember the people who worked there: the valets, the cooks, the security guards, the administrators, the suits, the guys in the mailroom who would always smile at the eccentric girl sending postcards to foreign countries once or twice a week — All of you made my days there amazing.
On breaks you could go to the company game room. In there you will find: massage chairs, a Spiderman pinball machine, the newer consoles, a few arcade machines with classic games, a tabletop game with retro games (I loved going there on a break and getting my fix of Burgertime or Galaga), a pool table, and a foosball table.
One major perk of working there was also use of the company library. There you could borrow video games, books, movies… anything you would want to learn more about the industry or entertain you for your days off work. As a broke game tester, this was highly desirable. It was like having a free Gamefly.
I will remember days of coming in to dodging a barrage of Nerf darts. If you wanted to get to another area. just get on a scooter. Days with group email lists asking you your “Top 5″ x. Of awesome things in the company craigslist. Of walking across the park next door for beer and pizza.
Spiderman pinball and my grab from the library
The people on my title were all very nice. There would be many conversations about games. We would joke around. You laugh a lot at this job. It’s something I think every gamer should do at least once if they can.
On the campus beyond the testing floor, there are many awesome people making your gaming experience possible. From marketing to producers to the VPs, in my personal contacts with them I can assure you, there’s some really great people in this company.
I was fortunate though. I can honestly say that I liked the game I worked on. Not everyone in gaming can. The projects currently in the bin for testing (of which I cannot reveal unfortunately) are not titles where I feel I would personally enjoy testing daily for 3 to 6 months.
Time to get dressed and say goodbye EA. Or well… see you later, perhaps next round I’ll get to wear another hat.
the future of your playing experience is in our hands.. boohoohaha
March 31st, 2009 at 5:46 pm
Ahhhh! A video game library! I believe that to be a gamer’s heaven!
April 1st, 2009 at 1:36 pm
Nice entry! I wanna do game testing somewhere…
April 1st, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Hey Scandalous, do you ever find yourself constantly breaking your software or is that just me? I end up finding show stopping a google gadget and twitter app. lol