Sorry for my Absence

How good do you think my writing is?

  • Excellant! You should of been hired as a Content Writer!

    Votes: 2 100.0%
  • I liked your writing, fun for occasional reading.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Not bad...could use some work...

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Your writing stinks!

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2
  • Poll closed .
For those who have enjoyed my stories in the RP thread section I thought I would explain why I haven't continued writing there. For those not interested, dont bother replying please, this is for those 1100+ who read my stories. I originally became interested in HJ because of the unique gaming environment it presented, it has everything in it I have looked for in an mmo. I have been a gamer for a long time and floated from mmo to mmo hoping to find the right one to stick with for more than only a couple years. Once I found out about this game being developed I began posting alot and then decided to express my excitement for the game through my stories in the RP section. It got read alot there and seemed to have alot of people interested in me continueing the story.

I was more than happy to keep going and then one day I heard Simutronic was looking to hire content writers so I applied for the position. I felt I had a good chance with the reviews my stories seemed to have gotten over the years and its not just here that I have written and I always did so for free of course because I loved the concept of the game(s). HJ is the only mmo though that I applied to work for. Here are a list of links to some of my stories;

HEROSHALL.COM

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http://briajedi.21.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=1137

To make a long story slightly shorter, after applying for Simutronics, I was turned down for the job. I was told my writing was not imaginative enough or unique enough for me to be hired by them. So basicly I questioned my writing ability ever since then and stopped writing here. It would of been a dream come true for me to have been hired by them after having to drop out of college due to not being able to afford it full-time.

Back then I was studying CG and animation, learning to make video games. I had hoped if I could a job writing for Simutronics that I could get my "foot in the door" so to speak and prove how much I wanted to be apart of the video game industry even though I dont have a degree. For those that enjoyed my stories, thank you. I wish that I could of continued writing for you all through Simutronics on a professional level, but this story didn't end "happily ever after". I dont hold a grudge against Simutronics or anyone, don't get me wrong. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and it is their company after all, I am just offering to my readers as to why I stopped writing. I hope the best for HJ and like the other games I have helped beta test, I hope to help with HJ as well.
 
Did they really say that when you got turned down, or did you think that was what they meant by it?I've had two friends get turned down..both wonderful writers! Heck, they're better at longer stories than I am. They said that all they were told was that they were turned down. They were both hit for a moment sort of like you were. So I'm going to tell you what I've tried telling them..

Reveiw and reapply. Read ever bit of the lore available you can find (a.k.a, read HH thoroughly) and just go for it again! You can do it. I see you have talent. It just didn't work that time. Try again!
 
I appreciate your words, thank you. I still have their email somewhere about my application, but yes that is how they referred to my writing. They also told me I was not able to reapply for at least 6 months and as far as I know they filled the writing positions currently. It wasn't my lack of lore knowledge that they focused on in the application though, they wanted completely unique and original examples. Which I think is what hurt my applying because I used what lore I knew of at the time about HJ in my applying. But on the other hand, I posted links to my other works from other mmo genres in the application so I thought I gave a good example that I am flexible in my writing style.

I still write on another site about a different mmo, it's just difficult to continue writing here after getting my hopes up before. Some may find that a weakness or that I must of never been turned down before for a job, which isn't true on either account. This just makes it a little harder when its something I have wanted to do my whole life(working in the video game industry). There is a difference in getting turned down for something like Simutronics and applying at some regular job at minimum wage.
 
Welcome to being a writer, mate; you'll spend a lot of time having people critique your work and not finding it up to par, that's part of the business.

I applied as well but it took MONTHS to get a reply, and then I only managed to get an email saying "contact this person for an interview". I did, or attempted to, three times, before I finally gave up. I've done less chasing around when I was getting paid for writing, I certainly won't chase around when I'm doing work for free. It's a common misconception in gaming which is rather frustrating; they'll pay graphic designers, they'll pay database administrators, they'll pay for all the code and networking and so forth. But when it comes to the writing, many a gaming company wants the work to be absolutely stellar, cutting, innovative, unique, and perfect...but it's all got to be for free. It's an unrealistic expectation, and in the end explains why most companies tend to write their own (rather less than brilliant) stories rather than hiring out. Apparently, writers just aren't worth much.

The biggest issue with being a writer having to admit where we have flubbed up our work, find a way to figure out where to improve and go from there. For example, look at this sentence:

Excellant! You should of been hired as a Content Writer!
Here's the critique. Spellcheck not used (excellent is not spelled with an "a"). "Should of" is incorrect grammar. It's "should have". Writers have to know the stuff not only for content, but also for presentation. That this is just a forum doesn't count...developers watch forums.


For my part, my interest in the game as a whole has waned and I'm enjoying myself in other avenues in RL and in gaming, so I haven't been about.

Chin up, mate, writing is a labour and a discipline. You'll get there eventually.
 
All the writing Simu is getting isn't for free. It's just a portion, just as there is a portion of the graphic work being done for free as well as a portion of the programming. It is more an internship than a job, and internships can be something that is very sought after, but only by certain sorts. It's not really a "Hey, I have some free time and like games" thing. It's a passion thing.
 
A "passion thing" is still, at bottom, working for free, labour of love or not. Therefore more realistic expectations would be good; if they want top calibre writing, then they either need to give someone a crack at it who may not be so brilliant and train them up, or they need to start offering cash. If it's purely volunteer, then I feel they should take what they get and be grateful for it rather than be so picky.

What killed my interest in the project was Simu apparently can't be bothered to communicate with people who do apply, let alone respond to emails after they contact ME for an interview. I shouldn't have to chase up the interviewer several times to try and get their contact details and organise a time - and if I do for some strange reason end up doing so, then I expect said interviewer to get back to me that week, not hear absolutely nothing for months. "But they're busy!" might be the reply; at which point they're probably either too busy to hire people, or so busy they probably should be paying more attention to getting people hired. Just because something is "free" (or a passion if you will) doesn't mean handling things unprofessionally.

At any rate, onward and upward. Working on another project right now so it's all good, but I would still encourage Simu to either step up its interviewing/application process to match what appear to be rather selective requirements, or perhaps to lower their demands.
 
It's interesting, I've never had any problems with Simu before, for years worth of dealing with them. They just now seem to have no ability to communicate reliably with GM applicants for some reason.

~Dune~
 
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