Good Team Characteristics

I talk about what characteristics I like to see in my team, things that not only make the game better but make working with them on the game better.

[@PoliciesOfArt]

I’m naturally an introvert. Your points help give me a better perspective of how other people on a team feel about not contributing any opinions. Thank you!

[@Postal0311]

I've seen management assume that a quiet person was disagreeing with them or didn't care about success. Someone simplify telling them that they liked that idea, or that they disliked it but would do everything they could to ensure success was seen as a more supportive employee.

[@GeomancerHT]

I'm an introvert but I learned to loose the filter when it comes to opinions, companies some times need brutal honesty to get things done.

[@danielgamedev_]

I think that sometimes, a lack of proactiveness on a project can be coupled to the fact that someone isn't passionate. I've certainly felt that way - if I'm working on something I'm passionate about, proactiveness comes more naturally than if I'm working on something I don't care for.

[@BIackstrength]

Some management practices and work environment can discourage people from being proactive, even passionate ones (or people with other motivation like income, career, etc.). As always, like Tim said : it's a matter of finding the right balance between management and their team members, that satisfies both.

[@echoness_]

Thank you Uncle Tim. Being an autistic person it definitely took me extra layers of difficulty to try to be proactive without being misinterpreted. But definitely see your point of having issues mentioned as early as possible does everyone a great service in many aspects.

[@fabianmaryanowski2252]

Hi Tim, I really liked this video for several reasons: 1.) I work in banking, Compliance specifically. Many things you said in the vid are relevant to EVERY business and I recommended this vid to a couple of friends/colleagues. A team can and should be a mix of proactive people and people that can work on a certain task without thinking but do exactly what you tell them in a short amount of time (depends on the size of the team and other factors obv). Man people in all kinds of business lack proactiveness and that paired with a lack of communication or the skill of comunication leads to massive problems, especially if you work on something that needs a varity of different skillsets. 2.) I personally think this kind of video should be shown to people that start working. For me it would have prevented a lot of problems in my early career. Picking things up on the job is not everybodys strong suit, especially the social aspect which can be impacted by the culture in your company/team too. I am very simliar and I am very confrontational, must be interesting to work with people like me when you have a different approach to life ;) 3.) Many people underestimate the importance of trush in a relationship, in life and in work. Once this is broken it is really hard to get it back and it impacts everybodys performance. Had a couple of runins with team mates at the end of the year because they lack a basic understanding of our framework and the IT tools we use. I got really mad at some point, this is not healthy and should be adressed in the first meetings of a project which needs not only knowledge but the skill to think forward and communicate pot. problems. 4) Everything I said got more relevant during and after COVID, thats my takeaway from the last years. If you dont see each other because of remote work you need to take the extra effort so you and your team dont lose sight of the social aspects and communication. Anyway, great vid, thx!!

[@David-sz9jh]

Same here in a different industry. Inspiring. We have a strong mix of experiences & personalities in my team right now, with a lot of trust - fingers crossed, we sincerely hope that any new addition to the team will not jeopardize it.

[@JademusSreg]

Smart, Proactive, Passionate, Honest, and Communicative would make for good traits in an RPG, too.

[@jaspiejams]

rename Passionate to Impassioned and you've got the CHIPS system

[@JademusSreg]

@@jaspiejams Love it! 🖤

[@steinmov]

Those are all great points. The example you gave about someone being told "Don't tell Tim" by a superior of both you and the other person is a tricky one. There are people who would not be able to stand up to that superior and say "I have to tell Tim." That type of situation sounds like their is an issue between you and the superior. Many artists or programmers would not have the courage or fore sight to tell this superior that he needs to settle this with you and not put me in the middle. Passionate people are taken advantage of in many studios. I love what I do and can maintain my passion on a project. However, when corporate interests miss use this passion, the artists and programmers have to develop a thick skin. And that can lead to a factory line attitude.

[@CainOnGames]

You are exactly right that there was an issue between me and their superior. The superior KNEW that I would reject the task, so he ordered that person to do it and not say anything. That is an awful situation to be in, because I am going to find out, and now I am going to wonder what else is going in that I have no knowledge about. That led to me monitoring check-ins until the game shipped. I expected the person to tell the superior that he could not do the task and why. The superior could find someone else to do it, or talk to me first, because otherwise, complying with the request led to no good outcome. I have been in this position before, as the person being told to do something wrong, and I told the superior no. It's really a pay now or pay later situation, and I prefer paying now.

[@Anubis1101]

Yea I've been in that position, and I have to make a judgment call. In most cases I'll still tell them if it's something they need to know (like in Tim's case where it directly impacted their job), but I'll also let them know I was told not to tell. I hate office politics, so I try to find a way to turn it around. Usually though it just results in me getting excluded from the Cool Kids Club.

[@Linzeroz]

Tim, seeing your perspective gives me a lot of insights into how to behave in the work environment. Your KZbin channel has become one great source for inspiration and guidance toward some aspects of my professional life.

[@TheRadar758]

Tim, I love listening to you on these topics because they can apply to any workplace.

[@Anubis1101]

Initiative is a rare trait. Treasure coworkers who show it. I don't know about the games industry, but in retail it's often beaten out of you. See a problem in another department? Not your problem. Ask a manager about it? Excellent your workload is now bigger and you're expected to do it all in the same amount of time for the same pay. So people learn to just shut up and pretend they didn't see it. Even when you move up the chain a bit you see it, despite all their propaganda about being proactive. Lemme give a specific example: We can scan things out if they're damaged or outdated. We can also scan them out as 'merch credit' if it came in damaged. We're supposed to, anyway. Merch crediting bills the warehouse so the store doesn't get charged and lose profits for something that's not their fault. However, that means someone higher up is gonna notice, and they don't like it. If your store stands out for merch'ing too much stuff, corporate will call you up and tell you to stop, instead of actually investigating the issue. So, again, we almost never merch credit something, meaning the store loses hundreds or even thousands a month that they shouldn't. The bigger the company, the more pronounced this trend is, and it trickles down into every position. Keep your head down, do your own job and that's it. It's very rare for someone to keep their initiative and their job AND their health.

[@robertschwalb4469]

I disagree with what you were talking about when a someone above you and the person in charge scheduling things to go in the game told them not to tell you something. It seemed to me like you were holding them accountable. You even said if it had happened again that "you and I going to have issues". In that scenario, I would have told you that it seems like something you'd have to talk with "the person above both of us" (whoever that would be) about. From what it seems like to me, the person doing the scheduling was just doing what they were told. The issue I'm seeing here is that the person above you wanted to hide this from you, and they're the one that you would need to talk with.

[@veto_5762]

Tbh the supperior is the one you should hold responsible, but when a person on your team does stuff like that hard to keep trusting them the same way you did before Is hard to trust someone that did things against your behalf without telling you even when you know they were told not to, because now you know they could be told to do the same again in the future

[@robertschwalb4469]

@@veto_5762 "They could be told to do the same in future" is a problem with the person doing the telling. If two superiors of mine told me to do 2 contradictory things, I would probably do what this person did and follow what the most recent was especially if it was from the higher up superior. If this caused the same problem for me as it did here, I would tell them that it's something they need to sort out amongst themselves because I'm just the middle man here and it is not possible for me to obey both of them. I would also be fine with a response of "alright, but in the future still tell me even when if they say not to".

[@browserboy1984]

The huge issue is the person at the top. Another issue is the employee not telling him. Most things happen this way, where one person causes all other problems and more guilty parties. I totally understand the employee feeling cornered by two superiors telling them opposite things, and, understanding that, I can understand Tim losing trust for that person.

[@googlyeyedsenpai5870]

Yeah no I totally agree its one thing to lie to curry favor but it kind of feels like there was some feeling of ego driven betrayal while not really trying to understand the other person's positions. "Well I know he's in a tough position" but do you though? In my experience I've seen people fired for insubordination and while yes he could have remained loyal to you in the end what did that get him? Lost my job, it might harm future prospects, and we know you won't pay his bills when this happens. Idk if that would have happened or the entire context but idk kind of smacks of a little too much ego

[@mina7572]

​@@browserboy1984if tim went to the superior, thus proving himself any different tgan the guy he lost trust in, I coupd agree with you.

[@michaelbolland9212]

I'd love to know how tim dealt with the superiors who got his staff to bypass him

[@Anubis1101]

I believe he covered that in another video, but I can't remember which game it was. I wanna say it was Carbine/Wild Star

[@dennislarsen6052]

I'm an introvert, i have a great mind for the broad strokes, connections and theory, and im pretty creative.... And very naive... And i've worked as a leader for years, my ideal coworker is a honest practical detail person and when that has happened... Maan the joy of trusting someone with the stuff you are bad at, and knowing they love it, and then just aceing the stuff you love doing... Awesome!

[@skillaxxx]

The "not allowed to tell" can be a big dilemma. If your boss is putting you in such a situation, you usually can't win. I'm the type of guy that tells them off, just tell my respected colleague and/or will leave the toxic environment, but not everyone can 'afford' that. I understand it creates a trust issue with that person, but they are usually as much a victim of the situation as you are.

[@austinbevis4266]

I’ve always taken pride in my work and felt passionate about my work, but my career was miserable before I started being proactive. I was always too timid to ask for more work because I didn’t want my bosses to think I was rushing through my current workload incorrectly. After being proactive and seeking out work to do, I felt a lot more satisfied and valued. It’s something people need to sort of discover on their own.

[@gorgondork]

Your insight is always super cool to hear. I'm just making some personal projects at the moment, but even still, I think it's really inspirational to hear someone be able to speak with so much heart for their work. Thank you, and happy holidays!

[@GlassesAndCoffeeMugs]

Another I learned quickly: Don't stay quiet about concerns you have even if you know it will upset your manager or teammates, it's better to be on the record about something if it turns out to indeed be problematic later, then work on something you know could be problematic and get grilled by management when your concerns which you never expressed turned out to be accurate. Management won't care if you did as directed if the thing they requested wasn't workable to begin with, at best they'll be angry with you for not pointing it out, at worst they'll think you're inept because you didn't realize the issue either. And on the flip side: If your team comes to the realization your concerns were accurate, resist the urge to gloat, instead focus on the substance of why X didn't work and propose and clearly communicate a better alternative even if the alternative is "we need to scrap this".

[@N1ghtwish386]

I have one word about why some people becoming non-proactive in their jobs. In ALL companies I worked before, always when I noticed a problem, that will make negative consequences at the later development stage and said, what I've noticed, I ALWAYS heard that this is not the part of my job and nothing will be modified now, because it could need more time and the clients will not pay for that extra time. When I said that this can cause a bugs or when we will not solve this now, there could be need to rewrite more code after all then now, I've heard that we will worry about this later, and now I have to focus on my part of the code and leave all the rest. And guess what? In all such cases there was trouble and the boss yells at us that we need to fix it till tomorrow no matter what. And it always was not possible to fix it in such short time, so there was greater trouble and so on... Companies don't like proactive employees. This is what I've learned during almost 20 years of my experience in many companies as a programmer.

[@petesidtech4adventures415]

That's great list of traits, really, and it obviously makes a difference outside gamedev too. That reminds me of a problem I keep encountering in IT industry, and I assume it's prevalent in gamedev as well: people who are promoted to leadership positions are often very knowledgeable on technical level, but have very poor soft skills. They actively make situation on projects worse for everyone else, e.g. by not having patience for people who know less than they do (and public-shaming them for it), using very passive-aggressive language and making you guess what they want, etc. It's either they don't attend proper trainings for leaders, or these trainings are not doing much. How do would you deal with such people in your organisation?

[@rocketbird1]

I cannot express how much I agree with you. This is a travesty of the IT world, it ruins so many teams and projects...

[@Lotsofleaves]

1. Intelligence/solution minded 2. Proactivity 3. Passion>talent 4. Honesty 5. Over-communication

[@baviddeckham411]

Hey Tim, I just wanted to say thank you for all these great videos. I'm continuously inspired by your passion. For years now a .ico of your face has graced my desktop - as I can't ever seem to uninstall fallout from my machine - & I am so excited I now get a peek into the mind behind that shiny forehead :D Wish you all the best for the new year.

[@CainOnGames]

May my forehead forever be a beacon of inspiration to you!

[@Postal0311]

Thank you! I feel like you laid out the characteristics of what is generally needed to be successful in the workplace, aside from maybe a positive attitude. I think a person doesn't need a positive attitude to be easy to work with, but it certainly helps.

[@penigan85]

I feel like I am a good communicator in a team environment. I like garnering feedback and asking questions. What frustrates me to no end is when they think I ask too many questions. Well, how would you know about anything if you don't ask questions or get clarity on things? I appreciate feedback with substance in a team environment. If someone says they like or dislike an idea. Cool. I don't care. What I care about is WHY. When people can't tell me WHY, it frustrates me so much lol

[@Rhoaxx]

Hey Tim, I have been binging your videos while I do lab work and have found lots of inspiration for my own projects (thinking about making small toy games with quick iteration). I was wondering in an RPG, how do you decide what range of numbers to make parameters (damage values, HP, healing, etc)? I personally find damage numbers that are bounded at the low 1000s more engaging than those that balloon out far in excess of that (millions for later WoW expansions for example). Also as a designer, what kind of operations and/or formulas are used to make more interesting systems such as a special attacks or a critical? My current understanding tells me that math that is easily understandable by the player but still may produce a range of values (ex small but meaningful bonuses to dice rolls or adding dice rolls) is preferable to an unpredictable output due to complicated formulas, but the possibility of on the fly calculations in computer games allows for more flavors of outputs so I imagine there is a push and pull there. Thanks for brining such a wide range of knowledge and perspectives to us outside of games!

[@CainOnGames]

Good question. Expect a video soon on skill implementation including using different ranges you can use for the skill levels.

[@LTPottenger]

No problems, only solutions was always my motto. Could also work as a motto for a high tech street gang.

[@ozancobanoglu812]

Hi Tim, I really love your videos.

[@Jaqinta]

me too ( bende kardeşim :D )

[@ozancobanoglu812]

@@Jaqinta Türk birilerinin izlemesi mutluluk verici.

[@fitemilkhero]

The games industry seems so dramatic 🍿 lol. Im here for it tho 😂

[@concord5859]

Do you have any stories in which you recognised you might be the disruptive element that has to be handled by others in a team? If anyone else is curious regarding similar topics: My Biggest Lesson - kzbin.info/www/bejne/faKxlIGqra2IbKc Learning Lessons From Failure - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZmYe4CmasRopLM

[@CainOnGames]

True Stories With Me As The Villain kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaqzqpuOe6aVqpo

[@concord5859]

@@CainOnGames Thank you 🙏

[@megalodon369]

Tim, I love these, thank you. Mind sharing some wisdom on how to deal with higher-ups or stakeholders who don't know what they want or are always moving the goal post, even switching projects on you?

[@browserboy1984]

What has been said in my experience, and I am sure many others' experiences, is that many of these good traits will get you punished by bad coworkers and superiors. This is what leads to so many garbage work cultures and people mentally/emotionally checking out.

[@MythrilZenith]

In regards to the proactiveness point - do you have any suggestions on how someone can learn to be more proactive in an environment that shuts down ideas more than ok-ing them? I feel like with how overly cautious everyone is, I no longer want to suggest any fixes or solutions because I don't know all the underlying things that might break if the one seen problem is adjusted.

[@Postal0311]

Tim pointed out how being proactive can even just be pointing out issues to the higher-ups. Instead of just attempting a fix and potentially causing more issues, you could submit a proposal for that fix and let the superiors decide to proceed or not. That way, if there is an issue, they would not be blind sided by it, and you are protected because they approved the change.

[@OMentertainment]

man, I'm really curious what was so important to be put into a game that it needed to be snuck by you

[@kyoujinko]

I'm a developer in the legal industry so not gaming at all, but this really made me think about my current work prospects. and how I work. Can I ask Tim, the person who is reactive, have they ever improved that? Or is it just a character flaw?

[@DeathDeliveryGuy]

Superb video because I found it very insightful!

[@ItsTheRealJefe]

I think the term you are struggling to find is "Lies by Omission". It is not lying in the sense of not telling the truth, it is a lie by withholding information from a person on purpose. Someone putting something into the schedule and not telling you (because they were told to) is a Lie by Omission from two people: The scheduler, and the higher up that told them to omit you're knowledge on the subject.

[@arik_dev]

Hey Tim, I've been a silent observer for a few months (not communicative enough I know!), what's your view on simplicity vs complexity in game mechanics? Counterstrike has very simple inputs: purchase a weapon, move around, click on the other team. League of Legends has very complex inputs: choose one of over a hundred characters, with 4 abilities each, then buy a specific permutation of 6 items from a set of over 100 items which is optimal for your chosen character, across a time period of over 30 minutes where the capabilities of each character are in constant flux, all while 9 other players are doing the same thing. And yet... both are enjoyable to many. The golden rule in game dev is that the game must be fun. But what principles lie behind how complexity is crafted in order to enable that fun?

[@IrateUngulate]

Hey Tim, thank you for sharing this. Gotta say I'm ambivalent about your reaction towards people who've been told/ordered to do something behind your back by a superior. On the one hand, you're entirely justified in losing trust with them. On the other hand, the real source of the problem is the people who made them do it. You don't know the kind of pressure that may have been exerted on the ones who lost your trust, and my opinion is that you can't hold what people do under coercion against them at the same level as if they did it by themselves. Maybe I'm assuming coercion when there was none, in which case, disregard what I said. But being told by a superior to do something always carries the threat of "and if you don't, you'll lose your job", especially in the US.

[@alexanderwalter4504]

about beeing communicative, how many times has someone to put you and your ideas or suggestions down within the team, in order to be justified to not speak up anymore when there is something that you do not like or could improve?

[@NathBeLive]

Hi Tim! What game designs, systems, or inspirations carried over from previous projects of yours into your next ones? Which ones really stuck out?

[@VengeanceMkII]

Well it is wonderful to know that i would have been an ideal co-worker with you haha. I share how you feel with dishonest people. I was very proactive as a teacher and worked hard with my team but i was severely disappointed to find that Admin had plotted behind my back for months. Honesty is a dealbreaker, I'm afraid. It really matters to know that what you are working and doing matters.

[@aNerdNamedJames]

As always, absolutely indispensable. Would it be possible to get a separate video zeroing in on as many examples as possible that could've gone in the sentence about "what a proactive person notices" from 3:57-4:08?

[@The_Patbey]

Honestly been bingewatching a lot of your videos lately, I really love them. Do you (or anyone else that sees this comment) know any other youtubers like yourself? (people that have experience in the game dev world and talk about it) Because I'm about to run out of videos to watch 😆

[@andrewg7482]

@ 12:00 Tim when you tell someone they are in trouble because they obeyed the orders of YOUR boss you are the bad guy in that situation. When something like that happens its NOT the fault of the lowest person on the totem pole i.e. your subordinate. When something like that happens its the fault of your boss. When you end up punishing your subordinate for the action of your boss (their boss's boss), I hate to tell you, but you Tim, in that situation, are the bad guy.

[@kamghostseer]

Wonderful insight as usual Tim. What would you have a junior employee do in the situation where they are told by a senior team member (that you would report to) to lie to you under threat of termination?

[@kafamalmyor5418]

Hi Everyone Its me Tim

[@XDefaultBoe]

No way 😱😱

[@kirglow4639]

Hey Tim! Thank you. I have a related question, as a developer lead, how can I encourage my dev teammates to be proactive and communicative?

[@nukaboy9055]

Hi, Tim, you awesome, thanks for all!

[@bbsonjohn]

10:34 the person who scheduled to put stuff in was supposed to stand his ground insisting to the higher up that he had to let Tim know. Teambuilding means sometimes you have to take the risk to take a principle stance against someone higher up.

[@CainOnGames]

I have stood up to people who put me in untenable situations. I expect others to do the same, but I have been frequently disappointed.

[@DamianReloaded]

Some say that the opposite of love is not hate but apathy.

[@human-ft3wk]

12:00 That's pretty harsh for that guy, although like most stories the devil is in the details and there's no way to have an accurate understanding of what happened. He was put in a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

[@jamesdillan1928]

Hi Tim, at one point in this video you mentioned that the industry recently dislikes or looks down on “passionate” people. Why is this so?

[@ButtorsGaming]

The first two here really had me say what does he mean and then they were explained masterfully. Such amazing context and provided examples.

[@devoiddude]

would you ever do a game tutorial series using unity or some other game engine?

[@nswayze2218]

Tim out of curiosity, what is your MBTI?

[@Arnechk]

I would really like to know how big game corporations a-la Rockstar develop their games logistically? Thousands of people, different teams, companies even conglomerating into a fleshed out product of seemingly uniform quality. How much extra QA teams have to be brought into the game (no pun intended) just to hold the strings together basically?

[@lrinfi]

Has Tim worked for any big corporations like Rockstar? As others note, he may have dodged a bullet with Valve. Interplay, Troika and, even, Obsidian were smaller and/or somewhat independent, at least to the extent that they could be independent, but weren't big corporations, per se. If he hasn't, I doubt he knows any more about their logistics than we do. The impression I get from Rockstar, though, is that it operates more like an incorporated motion picture studio like Paramount. The one game I've played of theirs even plays like a motion picture in large part with some...."interactive" elements...I personally think the game would have been better off without. I loved spending time in its "open world," but actually found myself indefinitely putting off talking to this or that NPC to progress its wonderful story, which is weird because I'm normally a very story-oriented person. I'm probably alone in this, but those two aspects seemed like two completely separate games to me.

[@teh1archon]

I couldn't find better answers than that 👍🏻

[@mina7572]

For the guy who was told not to tell you about the change, why didn't you go to the person who told him not to tell you? If you can't argue against that guy above you then how can you expect the other guy to?

[@dplfs]

On honesty - what should the person have done? If they're told by someone above them in the hierarchy not to tell you something, you expected them to refuse to do that? In another video you indicated you support hierarchies - I'm not clear what the person was supposed to do. Threaten to resign? Your point about "what if they told you to murder someone" is fair enough but I think most of us would realise the law would have our back if we refused to do that. Not really clear if the same applies about keeping things confidential.

[@CainOnGames]

That person was put in a terrible position by someone above him. When that has happened to me, I refuse the assignment. I’ve told the manager “I can’t do that, here’s why, you need to find someone else”. If everyone did that, the manager would be forced to stop doing things like that. Instead, we live in a world of people following orders.

[@lrinfi]

@@CainOnGames "If everyone did that, the manager would be forced to stop doing things like that." -- Aye. There's the rub. It would take everyone doing that. One person, otoh, could never make the difference and quite likely would feel very much alone, thinking or knowing that absolutely no one would have his back, as it were, if he refused. More likely, they'd be blacklisted and/or fired for not "following orders", especially in a large organization in which most everyone are complete strangers to one another. It's easier to take principled stands in smaller organizations than larger ones that all too often make it clear that if you "step out of line," you will no longer be working for the company. I've worked with a small group of adults who asked me to do some questionable things on occasion, but understood when I refused. They thought it was funny that I refused, but didn't press the issue with me because they thought of and respected me as a person. I wasn't an employee number there. I was a member of the family. Alternatively, I've worked for corporations with "orientation" onboarding that literally consisted of the facilitator of said onboarding citing example after example of someone doing this or saying that and ending with "And guess what? That person doesn't work for us anymore" -- all too obviously attempting to instill fear in employees before they've even begun working. Once "on board" with that company, I found myself surrounded by adults who, when asked to testify to the truth literally said, "I don't want to get in trouble," as though they were five year olds who'd set off firecrackers in the school restroom and didn't want to take responsibility for it. A few frequently mentioned they were trying to "keep their heads down" in the forlorn hope of not being drawn into the bs. Those same folks would go out of their way to let you know if someone was scheming against you or trying to palm off their own mistakes on you or, even, actively trying to get you fired because you didn't put up with their bs. Perhaps needless to say, the turnover rate at that company was the fastest I've ever seen.

[@jedthefroggy]

I think a video on how the video game writers room works would be fascinating, not sure if you've already done one though

[@CainOnGames]

I can't do that, having not been a writer except on one game that is panned for its writing.

[@spatbateman]

Sometimes people need the position before they react with authority. They dont react with the authority because you havent given them the position.

[@chriscarter8377]

Ironically watching this while Im building a plan for people who wouldn't/wont fix things... I am curious though, in addition to Smarts and Honesty, what about humility? I'm finding myself not liking people who lack some humility. I'm sure to some extent knowing youre good at something and volunteering your knowledge and skills is one thing, but acting like the smartest person in the room and in a way, either directly or indirectly tearing someone else down in the process is something Ive seen a time or two.

[@pitchforker3304]

Yikes. Telling a subordinate to do something and not tell their manager about it is awful leadership.

[@tayyab_mahmood]

The one about the guy being told by his and your superior not to tell you, I figure that would be more something to take up with that superior, the guy under you explaining how he can't not tell you, and you telling that superior the same thing. Your superior's order to your guy supersedes your own, doesn't it?

[@DarkBloodbane]

If an employee were dishonest and not passionate, he/she should have been fired.

[@FreshPelmeni]

Last time I was this early, I didn't have a team yet.

[@scaratlas3347]

How do you deal with office politics with team members that try to talk badly about your back or lazy coworkers? How do you deal with that?

[@CainOnGames]

I am not good about that. I usually say nothing...hence Carbine.

[@scaratlas3347]

@@CainOnGames I think its because I'm young but hopefully this stuff gets easier. Thanks for replying. I am the type of to communicate but often times I have gotten in trouble for speaking my mind on solutions or ideas. I'm only a year on my team as junior but when it comes to team discussion I find myself being the only person to have an idea of where to solve the problem outside of the two supervisors on my team.

[@stuartmorley6894]

I obviously don't know the circumstances so can't judge the specifics. I've been told by bosses not to tell someone else something. In most cases if id gone and told the person then my job would be on the line. Its alright saying someone should always be honest but if you are going to get fired, demoted or otherwise having your job compromised then of course you are going to feel pressure. Most people need a pay check to pay for their house, their food, maybe people depend on them like children. It's lovely to have principles but if those principles are going to lead to your children living in a box they are basically worthless.

[@brianviktor8212]

I happen to meet all the criteria. I am pro-active, but I do not ask for permission. If anything I recognize problems in my project that may emerge months after release, and seek to fix them beforehand. A lot of it doesn't have to be said (although I may talk about it multiple times), it's just a question of quality. I am also truthful... blunt. I e-mailed my boss, which was objective and professional, pointing out that his idea made the project much worse, and he hated me for it. 2 weeks after he told me to do it as he wanted, he asked me (indirectly) to do it as I suggested. However I do not tolerate fragile personalities and theatrics. And irrationality and bad ideologies.

[@bratttn]

Dream team

[@danwroy]

"Clever" and "intelligent" are synonyms. Cleverness is what IQ tests are measuring.

[@Alenthas]

I realize that sometimes I'm the guy that doesn't really say anything. I think it's because I don't believe in the project or that I don't think my input is going to be valued

[@isaiahschmit1996]

I dont know why you didnt politely ask those higher ups that wanted those two guys that lied to you, why theyve done so, because I feel that is the more pressing issue than the the two guys who are stuck with a task that they dont want to do.

[@squib308]

I thought about this video for a while last night trying to sleep, and when it comes to the situation with the guy who was told to lie you - look, there is nothing worse than being in the middle of some internal pissing match. You can't win. The person you should be taking issue with is whoever it is above him that told him to lie to you. It's not his fault that you and his boss are in some sort of fight and aren't working it out professionally, putting other people in the middle instead. If he was told to lie to you, you shouldn't make false equivalences up 'well if I told you to murder someone you wouldn't do it' to explain your anger at him. It's not the same, or even similar, at all - not to mention, you're clearly not his boss. Or you're not the higher up than you boss that told him to do it. Refusing to talk to him in the future, well, not petty, but it's misdirected, and you should make it clear to his higher ups that you can't work with him, because he lied to you about something, that his boss told him to do. Place the blame in the right spot. So then later he's going to be in trouble for not meeting and talking with you about things, because you just won't talk to him. Suppose he had told you up front he was told to lie to you, but instead told you the truth, and he got fired for it. Then you wouldn't be mad at him, but also wouldn't be paying his mortgage and bills, either. Clearly this game had serious internal troubles, because the next part of the story is AGAIN someone who was told to say - or not say - by someone above the both of you. You guys are colleagues and everything, but you don't have say, a blood bond, people are going to do what the head honcho tells them to do. They don't owe you MORE 'loyalty' or whatever you're thinking than is available to them. You could, upon learning the truth, that they were told (x), to offer them a branch, to say 'well that's messed up. Here's how we're going to deal with it moving forward...' - you place a high emphasis on problem solving, and creative solutions, be a part of that. If you can't or won't resolve your problems with the higher up management, then problem solve a way to keep the middlemen from getting in trouble by telling you the truth. You at least noted to the second guy 'I know you're in a bad position' but then 'if it happens again we're going to have problems'. Like, they already have problems, _your_ problems. They didn't just wake up and think "you know what, I'm gonna mess with Tim and say (x) or not tell him (y) for giggles", I'm sure they would have liked to have been straight forward with you the entire time. Trust is a two way street. Maybe if they'd have trusted you to take care of the higher-than-you-ups if they were honest with you, they'd have said up front 'I was told to....' and trust that you'd work it out for the both of you. In fact if there were 2 people told to tell you things, or not tell you things, there were probably more instances with other people that you didn't catch. But in the end, the guy that metaphorically signs the paychecks is almost always going to have more power than you, and you know this at heart. Food for thought.

[@CainOnGames]

I understand what you are saying, and I don’t blame the guy. What I said was I didn’t trust him anymore. And you are right, I wasn’t directly his boss, so there was nothing I could do…except avoid him. That was the only way to make sure the situation did not happen again. Also, I’ve been in his situation, being ordered by a superior to do something I thought was unethical. I said no. If there were consequences (there was), at least I knew I did the right thing. But by following that order that he knew was wrong, he was putting himself into an untenable situation. How do you think his other coworkers felt when they heard about this situation? They wondered if he’d ever lied to them. Suddenly there was a flurry of fact checking in the office. The person to blame in all this was our superior. That’s true. And I did speak to him. But there was nothing I could do to make sure it didn’t happen again. So I took what little steps I could to prevent it, and those steps involved the guy who lied to me. There is no correct solution here, no perfect way to handle this. Someone above both of us made a terrible decision that led to a bad situation. The best I could do was minimize the effects of future occurrences.

[@smiechu47]

First you claim a game might be well made but not make the player feel anything and you chalk it up to passion, but then you mention games that you loved working on but even so they got bad reviews or didn't sell well. So does passion lead to great games or not?

[@user-dv1em6vn3i]

Passion is one of the biggest loads of bullshit in the world. It's a funny pattern where 'good' games are apparently made through passion, but people never say 'bad' games are made with passion. The reality is that all games had passion into them, even the bad ones. I'm sick and tired of this shit rhetoric. I hope Tim fails even more on his next projects. A good lesson on ego.

[@milhouse8166]

Hi Tim, I'm a huge rpg buff and dying to get in the business. I'm self motivated, positive, and love finding solutions to problems. I'm looking for an unpaid internship to get some real work experience and contribute in any way I can. Is there somewhere I can apply or send my contact info? My main learning focus right now is game logic, server architecture, and I enjoy dabbling in graphic design; Im learning how to modify models, add material slots, weight paint etc. Once I've gained an acceptable level of expertise in those areas, my focus will be on learning Network security.

[@silentbug6980]

What are your thoughts on being passionate about something to the point of not having a balance in life? I find it strange how people look down upon someone who makes a project or work their unhealthy obsession?

[@rocketbird1]

Tim has a great video about crunch and thoughts about not having a life outside work. Something like "My lost decade". Search and enjoy

[@dsa3df3]

Bullying a person for following orders given by someone who outranks both you and them. Real nice.

[@WilkyWay30000]

Can’t believe you’re flipping me off in the video’s thumbnail. Totally disrespectful of you Tim

[@user-dv1em6vn3i]

I finally watched the full video, AND I REGRET IT. That last part was pretty mean-spirited, which is surprising for your channel. I'm npt sure what we can get out of that story other than you are being a bully.

[@beauly9696]

But what about good team *flaws*, and the perks you get from those? ;) "Robophobia: The rise of AI has scared you into a 10% productivity boost"

[@Bloodyshinta1]

I feel like based on this video Tim wouldn't do well in a Japanese game company lmao. Hiding your feelings and going with the group is like the pillar of their culture.

[@user-dv1em6vn3i]

I started losing interest when you use the "I like working with smart people part" as a way to imply your own intelligence. No one else will notice, but, I did. DISLIKED

[@Elrog3]

What? How does that logically follow?

[@lrinfi]

Tim has mentioned several times that, from school onrward (and even before), he's enjoyed being around people who are knowledgeable and skilled in their respective fields. That "implies" that he enjoys being around and learning from those he feels have mastered their professions...to my mind, at least. He didn't use the words knowledgeable and skilled, but "smart" and "clever". That's nonetheless how it translated on this end. For some reason, I'm reminded of a mentor who exclaimed in frustration one day, "Doesn't anyone speak English anymore?!" lol ... Honestly, sometimes I'm not sure we do.

[@user-dv1em6vn3i]

@@Elrog3 Simple. Look at all these videos with the talking head. If you imagine it that way, it almost seems like a Fallout character. Perfectly crafted for the ego of its eyes. A fine piece of art. Art. Something to look at. Ego. He is just another "influencer" looking to make a quick buck. But he's smart about it. You won't see a sponsor anywhere on his channel but that won't stop him from promoting his games under the guise of advice and self-improvement videos. It's all for the sake of human ego. But you will probably not listen to me. I find the follower effect on these types of platforms entertaining. We may yet see a study in the following years of the effects internet fame has on weak willed humans.

[@lrinfi]

@@user-dv1em6vn3i If Tim were just another "influencer", I certainly wouldn't be interested. The whole phenomenon of "social media influencers," in fact, makes my skin crawl. Tim, otoh, actually has cut his eyes at the camera and said, point blank, that these videos are intended for other game developers. He didn't say, "only" other game developers, but that eye cut pretty much said it all. Of course, if Tim's channel is solely intended for other game developers, KZbin is probably not the best venue for it. I'm happy it's here, though, because there's been some unexpected cross-pollination going on between developers and players of video games, at least among those who are listening. You're not going to find that much of anywhere else, especially various studios' web site's "customer service" sections. But you do you and project whatever motivations on Tim you like. It's certainly not a reflection on Tim.

[@Elrog3]

@@user-dv1em6vn3i As far as I'm aware, Tim makes no money on further sales of Fallout games. Tim does not own the IP. Currently Bethesda has the rights to Fallout. If he was trying to make money, it would be a no brainer for him to take sponsors and do courses and sell books and so on even if he did own the rights to Fallout. Someone talking with a camera pointed at their face isn't grounds for claiming they have an inflated ego. Where else do you want him to point the camera at? If he's like a fallout character, I wouldn't know. I've never played any games he's worked on and I don't currently have plans to. I found him because I like watching videos about game design. There's no "follower effect" here in my case at least.