Can you be A Jack of all Trades but a Master of None?

[@greg3885]

I was a jack of all trades, then I became a manager and became a master of none.

[@MarkDarrah]

Not uncommon

[@samkyer3279]

The level of specialization you mentioned, where everything is so siloed that there are frequently tasks that don't really just have one easily addressed component, made life pretty rough for folks in Production Management at pretty much every feature animation studio I've worked at. One of the main reasons I started learning more about the processes was to be able to confidently say "no, this is actually a problem with the model/rig/whatever, let's fix it there" in order to finish actual work. Not for nothing, I've gone on to do actual technical work since those days and have some aspirations of maybe starting my own animation/games studio one day, if only for the option of creating pipelines that address that kind of nonsense from the beginning haha

[@MarkDarrah]

Good luck!

[@Schpeltiger]

Tim Cain also brought this up in one of his videos and he laments the "decline of the generalists." Generalists can not only fit in with most teams but it they can also be the person that bridges the different specialists together.

[@MarkDarrah]

Exactly

[@toogreytogame]

I'm a product owner who has been a generalist for most of my career: the PO, PM, SME, QA and enough coding knowledge to debug. However, recently moved to an org where I'm upsetting people because I'm stepping out of my lane to keep things moving. For smaller orgs, you also need to be careful that a generalist doesn't become a single point of dependency. I've experienced this a few times. Normally due to exec seeing it as an opportunity to cost save.

[@MarkDarrah]

Yes good point. Avoid single points of failure

[@malcolmcooke7131]

This is quite possibly apocryphal, but I was always told that the full phrase is actually "Jack of all trades, master of none, is oftentimes better than master of one."

[@MarkDarrah]

I believe that is true

[@Skeffles]

Very interesting topic. I struggle to see the need for generalists in bigger organisations but being able to pick up anything to get things over the line seems very important.

[@MarkDarrah]

If your organization is perfect, you don’t need them. But no organization is perfect

[@_Thaery]

tbh I kinda needed this.

[@MarkDarrah]

Glad to help

[@kiloalphahotel5354]

Thanks for the vid. Always great.

[@MarkDarrah]

Thanks for watching!

[@sammoore5392]

I find most often generalists that can operate at a mid or higher level in areas outside of their primary area tend to be at a very advanced level in several areas at least within their pillar (engineering, art, design, etc). I rarely see a true jack of all trades, master of none. More commonly it is jack of many trades, master of few, as it takes a lot of experience working with adjacent teams or on other teams throughout a career to build those skill sets to an add-value state.

[@MarkDarrah]

Yes true. Uncommon to be ok only at everything and get ahead. Chances are you either languish or BECOME great at something

[@MizanQistina]

We have A.I now. One person can be his/her own company nowadays, and in the future. There are many games made by one person, Bright Memory as example.

[@MarkDarrah]

We had solo dev way before AI

[@MizanQistina]

@@MarkDarrah Yes, but A.I will help, expect more solo game developer in the near future.

[@Omniryu]

I feel like being a generalist/jack of all trades, makes it easier to break into the industry. My first few years were spent as a 3D generalist and they were mostly small companies/on small teams.

[@MarkDarrah]

It means a lot more studios are possibilities. Smaller studios need a higher percentage of generalists

[@T1227trx]

I'm a generalist by necessity, been a full time solo gamedev for 9 years. Whenever I feel like I'm not good enough in some gamedev discipline, I go on Steam or the app stores and see there are successful games with worse graphics that I can make or worse writing than I can output. It's been getting harder because the competition has been getting better faster than I can improve, but I have very few options other than keep going and making the best games I can.

[@MarkDarrah]

Keep going! There is a ... unity that come from a single person

[@cockyrustler]

As someone with no gamedev experience, but played my share of game, I'm curious about something: Why did you guys not double down on unique things from Origins, like player backgrounds, grimdark tone, npc tactics? It seems, as crowded market as it is, you need something that makes you stand out, that you can show to the public: Look at this, we do it better than anyone else! For example Baldurs Gate III managed to get even huge mainstream success by having ( and succesfully marketing) features that most publishers would previously see as unappealing to wider audience. Similar goes for Souls series.

[@MarkDarrah]

1. Origins are a MASSIVE amount of work 2. Most RPGs in 2009 were some form of grim dark

[@BelieveIt1051]

Right. I was also going to mention that. Be a jack of all trades if you are proficient in an important area and are needed in that one position. Otherwise a problem the jack might run into is where the owner/manager will fire the jack and then just dump all those responsibilities on the masters of the various departments or projects and justify the decision as saving money firing the jack while those masters are already being paid enough to take on the extra work.

[@MarkDarrah]

There i value in the "master of none" generalist but it can be a really hard thing to do.

[@mariaraposabranca7062]

i'm a 2D artist who's also a writer, UI designer, game designer, and producer, so I'm definitely a generalist. I've been wrecking my brain trying to sell that to potential employers; this video may have helped with that.

[@MarkDarrah]

I hope so.

[@Brawph]

Thanks for making this! I'm still working as a solo dev and hoping to find more stable work with a "real" company! For a future video, do you have any tips or info about applying to jobs internationally? Like is it even worth applying to the US from Canada in most cases, or do you have to be incredibly experienced and in a highly sought after role (like tech artist)? Thanks again for the work you do with the channel!

[@MarkDarrah]

You just need enough education / experience to be able to get a visa. Usually 4 years

[@jakepeattie]

Apologies since I'm sure you've answered this somewhere, but now that Veilguard is out, will you return to the Memories and Lessons series for Andromeda, Anthem and Joplin?

[@MarkDarrah]

I’m not going to do Andromeda (I was only there for a few months) but the other 2 yes. Anthem is ongoing (currently it is very long)

[@el8901]

thanks give me hope also what you say on the da vailgard love the game you worked

[@MarkDarrah]

I'm happy where it landed. Far from perfect

[@djisma69]

There are many jack-of-all-trades devs and very successful though... like Stadew valley, Manor Lords etc. The problem with that is those devs making a game alone have to do everything, except maybe marketing which can be done by giving keys to streamers.

[@MarkDarrah]

Yes small studios is where they can shine.

[@djisma69]

​@@MarkDarrah makes sense, what about game franchises centered on the same protagonist, like Shepard or Geralt in The Witcher? Can you do a video about it, I would like a producer-wise opinion perspective from a big company. Been thinking about it lately and I noticed most big companies usually always have new characters even if they sell a lot.🤔

[@Rikard_A]

This saying is weird to me since I my self have knowledge in different areas like carmechanics and computer skills to just say a few. But this skill do not reduce a person level of skill it adds upon it making you a new way to create a solution.

[@MarkDarrah]

Agreed

[@kyozon8925]

Thank you for this video! From a jack of all trades ;)

[@MarkDarrah]

I hope it helps

[@YoRouable]

imo, companies love a jack of all trades...they just don't want to pay them. They want someone to do 5 people's worth of work across multiple departments, but only pay them for one job, and I don't see how that benefits the worker. 5 jobs for the paycheck of one? No thanks.

[@MarkDarrah]

Not in games in my experience. We have seen hyper specialization and discipline siloing

[@timmygilbert4102]

Wasn't that posted a month ago 😅?

[@MarkDarrah]

Checking... I don't THINK so. It was available to member early...

[@trololololol1111]

Stop making these radom videos and apologize for the absolute dog crap that is dragon age veilguard.

[@MarkDarrah]

Why are you watching my random videos?

[@trololololol1111]

@MarkDarrah to make you apologize for the abomination that is Dragon Age Veilguard. PS - Trolling aside, Sir kudos for answering each comment on your videos. I understand that it is painstakingly difficult but it really makes us feel part of a community.... unlike Dragon Age Veilguard.