3 tips to self-improve as a game producer
One year ago, I was a fresh new rookie who just graduated from college and was ready for the journey of game development. It surprises me how long I have spent in SMU Guildhall and how much I have experienced after joining the C30 Cohort. During this journey, I learned many great lessons from my mistakes, frustrations, and experiences. So, in this week’s blog, I would like to share three tips to self-improve as a game producer. I hope this blog will give you valuable insights and eventually help you cross through some challenging moments in your life.
Break Down Stereotypes
The first tip is about stereotypes. Back in my college, I used to conclude something with zero thinking process. I would usually say, “That’s not going to happen… That’s impossible… I can’t do anything about it.” Although it could be true sometimes, I become addicted to spam stereotypes to avoid anything challenging or complex. And it indeed narrows my vision and blocks many opportunities. The turning point was in one of my production classes during the second semester. In the beginning, the professor talked about career development and asked the class to start building connections on LinkedIn. The assignment required us to have ten connections by next week and kept getting more as we moved forward. Then my stereotype started to knock my head. “Well, no one is going to accept my connections because I am just a graduate student with no professional experience at this point.”.
I still remember it was a Friday night. I was sitting in front of the desktop and staring at the LinkedIn page on my screen. Instead of adding Guildhall alumni, I opened the page of a AAA company and sent connections to nearly 60 employees because I wanted to approve this assignment was ridiculous and meaningless. However, not even after 24 hours, I received an acceptance from one of the directors from that AAA company. I felt shocked at that moment because I thought no one would be interested in a new graduate student, especially people from that high level. After that, I received more connections one by one, which was even more shocking. Without a doubt, I finished the assignment quickly. But, this case hints that all of these things would not happen if I never tried. It makes me recall times when I give up, refuse, or avoid something because my stereotype thinks it is impossible, which may need some miracles to happen. I can’t imagine how many opportunities have slipped away because of my ignorance. Gladly, this assignment waked me up that I shouldn’t jump to conclusions too early. It also tells me that a miracle can only happen when I give it a try.
Stop Complaining
The second tip is about complaining. Before coming to Guildhall, I was a competitive player in League of Legends. At that time, victory meant everything to me in a way that I couldn’t tolerate any defeats. When I lost, I would turn on my Toxicity switch and complain; Complaining about every factor that cost the game. Sooner, my friends started to play without me because of my “generous advice.” I felt sad for a while but didn’t think it was my fault at all. What changed my perspective was a game I played in the first semester. It was the time when we were closed to finish our first mini-game, developed on the Android platform. Our team planned a short custom game with the other team in the same classroom, a perfect four vs. four match-up. However, the game didn’t run as I expected. When I was about to explode, I recalled the consequence of blaming my friends; We couldn’t play together because I hurt their feelings and was stuck with the defeat. The fear of failure would eventually turn to uncontrolled wrath.
To avoid similar situations happen again, I thought if the loss was inevitable, was there anything I could make up? This subtle idea somehow made me focus on the game and bounce back from the disadvantage with my team. Although we didn’t win the game, I felt refreshed and realized things would bring different feelings when we approached them differently. In my case, when I stopped complaining and started to seek opportunities, all that I saw were hopes. Failure shifted from nightmares to feedback, which indicates the parts I can improve. Luckily, three players from that game later turned into my friends and teammates for the capstone project. I couldn’t imagine how we work if I relentlessly tossed my toxicity to them on that day. Until today, I still try to remind myself of this story when I feel frustrated or impulsive. The first step to making the best out of the worst is to stop complaining.
Elevate the mindset
The last tip I want to share is about mindset. I suppose we all had similar experiences where we were stuck into a “dead loop,” suffered by questioning ourselves with doubt, anger, anxiety, etc. It felt like a swirl that spun in our heads and drained our energy away. This situation happened a lot throughout my life, and it didn’t end well most of the time. What I find helpful in break this loop is through a unique observation. First, I pause my overthinking about the hot mess. Then I go through the whole situation in my mind again but in a third-person perspective this time, like the game Control. It allows me to see myself from a different perspective to avoid those intense feelings and observe the process. After that, I start to analyze the issue and potentially provide some valuable advice to “myself.” The key is to find out the origin of the problem and how to unwind ourselves from it. The more important takeaway is how to take care of the intense emotion without suppressing it. When we force to ignore those feelings, they usually hurt us more. A better way to solve this is to view them as objective feedback about our behaviors and approach this feedback from a long-term view.
Let me share a little story here. When you stand on the first floor of the building, someone on the street points to you and swears at you. It makes you feel angry without a doubt. When you stand on the 10th floor of the building, that person still stays there, points to you, and swears at you. But you can’t hear what he is talking about, and you even think he is trying to say hello. When you stand on the 100th floor, now you don’t care what he says because all you can see is the beautiful scene in front of you. The concept behind this story is that if we cannot elevate the way we think, all we see and hear are issues. The worse part is that the problems won’t disappear at a glance, which means it takes time to peace our minds. So, why not consider this experience as feedback that indicates something you can improve? Maybe it is about communication, self-control, temper, etc. The most crucial part is that you don’t stick with the issues anymore but focus on your self-growth.
Final takeaways
After coming to guildhall and learning as a game producer, I encountered multiple challenges: stereotypes, complaints, mentality, etc. Despite their forms, they all reflect how important the inner self is for a game producer or a leader. There are always issues waiting in front of us, no matter we hate it or not. But, the way we treat them will lead us to different destinations. It is a life lesson for a producer to learn how to face his challenges upfront and bounce back from failures.
