Rom's Rants

Free-Roaming Hostility From A QA/Developer Perspective.

Thursday, December 31, 2009

The End Of A Year Of Shifts

I don't think you'll be able to find many people who think this year has been a good year. I definitely don't think this was a good year as a whole, but I do think that several good things have happened this year. That said, this year was a culmination of a multi-year effort for me and to let you know what I'm talking about, I need to go back into history for a few minutes.

I started in quality assurance back in 1998 at Access Software, coming in at the end of Links LS 1999 Edition and coming into an extremely defective QA process. Even as defective as it was, it planted a seed in me that unleashed some latent talents. I quickly became a test lead and continued along that path at Microsoft after the acquisition. While the QA process at Microsoft was significantly improved, the environment had changed to the point where two things had happened: my connections to what I was testing became more ephemeral because of my position, and I started to feel disconnected from not only my department but my duties as well. It was affecting my performance and behavior in negative ways. Yvonne's illness gave me an excuse to start searching for a different job and I finally left Microsoft after working on Amped 2.

Now, even though QA was my passion, I've almost always coded. Coding had been a creative outlet for me, and I'd spend hundreds of dollars a month on books so I could learn new languages, new techniques, and new technologies. I had been writing games since I was five, and that coding experience helped me in QA because I could look at a feature, say to myself, "How would I develop this?" and test the code as if I wrote it. Because no two programmers will ever code a feature the same way, this dissonance helped me out significantly in my career. My coding experience also helped me land on my feet outside of Microsoft by working for my home town of Layton, Utah. I very nearly didn't get the job. After I was hired, my boss told me that he looked at me and saw someone who was burned out to the point of not caring anymore which was a very fair assessment. While the pay at Layton wasn't all that great, coding as a full-time job was reinvigorating. I got a much deeper understanding of data-driven coding, learned a lot about when you have to reinvent the wheel, and even though I look back on my code back then and laugh at how primitive it was, the experience taught me a lot about dealing with internal and external customers, requirements gathering, and more.

Now, before I had even started at Layton City, I had sent out tons of resumes as part of my effort to leave Microsoft. One of those resumes had been to Ritual Entertainment. I had been in discussions with them during my last year at Microsoft and finally had a chance to interview with them in March of 2004 and was told at that point that I was their choice. However, work they had been doing on the new Legacy of Kain title (a sequel to Defiance) had been canceled by Eidos and they had to suspend my hiring. They managed to get other projects and finally were able to make me an offer just before Thanksgiving in 2004 to be their new QA manager. My role was going to be to create their QA department and policies from scratch, and I eagerly accepted the role and moved to Dallas.

I had two motives when I accepted the job. The first was to introduce QA to Ritual without hitting any of the roadblocks that Microsoft hit retrofitting Access with their QA structure. The second was the belief that I had something to share with the industry and working for what I thought to be a premiere independent developer would give me a mouthpiece from which to speak.

Well, I failed at my first motive. I approached Ritual with kid gloves and while the approach was better received than the iron fist of law, it made it seem like I wasn't serious about getting QA in. As a result, I ended up having a total budget over my two year tenure of under $150,000...and that included salaries, config passes at external labs, hardware and more. Trying to be Mr. Nice Guy meant several necessary QA policies weren't going to be implemented until at least year four (if I made it that long).

I fared much better at succeeding on the second point. Interviews with the fansite and several gaming websites, dealing with the customer base directly, and access to several industry backchannels that were previously unavailable to me gave me a podium and I used it. I still have a lot of friendships from my efforts at the time.

Three things happened in my last year at Ritual. One of the three major projects we had (an expansion to a recently released game) was cancelled due to poor sales of the original title, another major project shipped but died in the marketplace, and Ritual had started to staff up for a third title that we were partnering with another local dev on that never materialized due to a license holder dicking everyone around. The end of that third piece coincided with my Sony post. Given that Ritual was shifting into survival mode, my layoff was understandable, but it still shook me to my core.

I fell back on my development experience and started work with a contracting firm, but even that experience had a ton of issues. They finally stopped when I accepted a full time position three years ago next month.

After the employment situation settled down, I found that I was still fairly shook up. A lot of my beliefs about myself and my abilities were tested at Ritual and found wanting. I needed to really take stock in who I was, what I believed and why, and that's what I've been doing over the last two and a half years...re-examining almost every aspect of who I am.

Some things I've discovered have been obvious. I'm finally "out of the closet" so to speak regarding my atheism. On the Dawkins scale, I'm right on the 6. A huge shoutout goes to Matt Dillahunty and crew down at the Atheist Community of Austin for helping me along that path.

I've found my core strength to be divining requirements from poor definitions. My skills in QA and development are directly tied to this piece of the puzzle.

I've discovered that while QA is my passion and always will be, I'm not the proper advocate for it on a large scale. There are many levels where advocacy can be done and I am much better at being an advocate at a local scale. Besides, anything that takes my focus away from my project is a bad thing.

Likewise, I love game development with a passion, but it takes so much out of me that if I ever go back, I shouldn't stay for more than three years in any sort of individual contributor role. That's pretty much my tolerance level for the type of bullshit that the games industry piles on its workers.

I'm still extremely antipiracy, but I am extremely pro-fair-use. I believe that as long as you aren't giving someone else an exact copy of what you acquired legally, you should be able to do damn near whatever you want with it. Space-shift, time-shift, transcode, encode, format-shift, mashup, breakup, modify...it's your business. As long as you don't demand support for your changes, go ahead.

Finally, I believe I've found the final use for this blog. Over the last several years, I've been posting little code snippets about how to solve or workaround various problems. No bullshit, no fluff...just a description of the problem and the code to make it go away. Aside from the occasional personal post like this one, that is going to be the focus of this blog going forward.

Thanks for sticking with this blog for nearly six years. It will be interesting to see if this blog makes it to the decade mark.

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posted by Michael Russell at 12/31/2009 10:18:00 AM | 0 Comments Links to this post | View blog reactions

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Back to (Visual) Basics

One of the things I've been doing at work for the last twenty months is putting a constant stream of patches on an in-house member management system (MMS). The best way I can describe it is imagine living in a house made entirely out of paper towels. You spend a lot of time shoring up areas that have been stable in the past, you find tons of new leaks on a regular basis, and all in all it isn't an ideal situation.

That said, I have been able to make the best of things. I got a raise, promotion and an award from work for my work on the system to keep it afloat.

Fortunately we're getting ready to move over to a new MMS next year, however, and our new MMS is going to be 100% Visual Basic .NET, specifically Visual Basic 2008.

Now I've been working in C# for the last two years and making the shift from C# back to Visual Basic is causing a bit of a mental break, but in a good way. I find myself turning off most of the VB "helper" functionality and being more deliberate in my coding style. I'm finding that I'm making better code for the most part because of what I had to do in C#.

The sad thing is that there are still some issues with the new code as received. Just based on the security holes I found in my initial code review, I expect to be spending at least six to eight weeks sealing up some of these holes while we are doing our customization work, but I'd rather spend eight weeks doing it right than two years doing it piecemeal. Even so, I found eight SQL injection attacks in fifteen minutes...what the Hell?

After all, I like my job, but right now I have to be here. I'm pretty much the only one who knows the existing system inside and out and if I leave, the secession plan is pretty much to bring on a contractor, let him spend six weeks getting used to this system, and then proceed with what needs to be done.

My goal with this project is to get the system to the point where I don't have to be here. I want to be here because I want to be here.

It's a subtle difference, but extremely important to me.

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posted by Michael Russell at 9/10/2008 10:47:00 AM | 1 Comments Links to this post | View blog reactions

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

I Have Nothing To Say

Really. I've got nothing to say.

I'm out of industry anecdotes. Dental surgery isn't worth discussing.

My wife has commandeered the Xbox 360 so those of you who have been seeing several hundred hours of "Viva Piñata" on my Xbox Live account haven't been seeing me.

I can't think of advice for testers which is why I haven't written any more over at Game QA Blog.

I want to get to Vegas sometime before September 1 so that I can get to The Star Trek Experience one last time before it closes, but it isn't going to happen. The money that could have gone towards paying for my trip went towards my teeth instead.

Hell, I turn 34 this Saturday and all I can think to say is "meh."

I've got plenty of energy for work, but not so much for me. I've got 13 days of vacation time right now at work. I guess I'll try to take some time later this year to recharge my personal batteries.

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posted by Michael Russell at 8/13/2008 10:01:00 AM | 0 Comments Links to this post | View blog reactions

Saturday, December 15, 2007

The Rest of the Year

Yesterday was my last day of work for the year. Fortunately, this final day of work for the year didn't involve a surprise layoff. (See the four posts on December 4, 2006 for reference.)

This weekend, I'm trying to finally hit 300 games on VistaGameDoctor.com. I was hoping to hit that milestone earlier this week, but I spent a lot of time trying to troubleshoot some issues with "Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight" on Intel laptop chipsets with little success. When I get my next advertising check, I'll have to pick up a cheap Intel chipset laptop to include it in the process.

Monday is my thirteenth wedding anniversary, and that is a milestone that most people I knew thirteen years ago didn't think I'd make. There was actually a pool going around with people betting that we wouldn't make it three, let alone thirteen. I wonder if outlasting the pool means we win...

Tuesday morning, we're flying up to Utah and will be there until the 27th. We've got friends who are going to be watching the apartment in our absense. I'm going to have limited to no connectivity up in Utah, so there will be no updates to this blog or VistaGameDoctor.com during that time.

We get back the evening of the 27th and I'm off until 9:00am on January 2, 2008.

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posted by Michael Russell at 12/15/2007 08:03:00 AM | 1 Comments Links to this post | View blog reactions

Friday, August 24, 2007

The Who Down In Gameville

All of this BioShock hubbub on the net brought out the Seuss in me. Apologies for the length, and for the meter being off in some sections.

The Who down in Gameville love to play
Video games all the night and all day.
They play them with meals,
They play them on wheels,
They play them online,
They play them all fine.

The gamers defend their systems with glee,
Some on PC, others on 360.
A straggling few have a PS3,
But their numbers are too small
To matter, you see.

The 360 gamers had plenty of games
But the means to control them were all the same.
No keyboard, no mouse would enter the fray;
With joystick, it was deemed, all games will play.

The PC gamers had games out the nose
And many could be played with a rubber hose.
Though hardware and drivers made compat pure shit
The gamers could play the game as they saw fit.

The 360 was capable of finishing the war
That Master Chief started this year less four;
But the PC gamers didn't really feel sore
Because they felt their computers could do so much more.

A few undesirables in either camp
Would pirate the games with their digital stamp,
But the PC suffered from warez much more often
That the 360 suffered in its small red-ringed coffin.

The makers of games saw the pirating void
The 360 protection automatically deployed.
It was too hard for most people to pirate and mod,
Unlike the PC where DRM's a fraud.

The makers of games kept selling to both
But the revenue figures weren't giving them hope
So they decided to turn PC games on their ear
And put in some roadblocks for casual pirates to fear.

They put in some code to check for the disk,
Figuring that would reduce their risk,
And for a while, the sales were in tune,
Until one day in the middle of June
When a fellow who went by the name of Woon
Etched into the code his Eldritch rune
And with that act of modification
The pirate people resumed their duplication.

The makers of games saw this,
And they were not pleased.
So they tried it again,
This time with product keys.
The crackers struck with the greatest of ease,
Bringing the simple code to its knees,
And copying again was as simple as a breeze.

While the battle to reduce bad copies commenced,
The good PC gamers were left on the fence.
While 360 gamers played games left and right,
Their PC shelf experienced a blight.
The PC got ports; even then, just a few.
Several had more bugs than a case of the flu,
So the PC gamers decided on just what to do.

"Our platform of choice is wounded right now
Because makers of games hold their too-sacred cow
Of keeping their games legit,
But unfortunately for us,
They're giving us shit.
The bugs, the crashes, the gamepad controls,
The 4:3 graphics, the sad online trolls.
We'll hold out for games that make us complete,
Only then will we go and suckle the teat."

A new game came out that would fit the bill,
And the PC excitement betrayed their thrill.
The screenshots filled their hearts with such glee
For it looked just as good as it did on 360.
The water effects were astoundingly good
And did you hear the sounds of bullets on wood?
The enemy AI was really a treat
And the game would take many hours to beat.
The PC gamers were also excited to see
It designed for 16:9 instead of 4:3.

Gamers of all kinds went out on day one
To pick up their copies and have them some fun,
But one of the PC'ers decided to see
What the game looked like in old 4:3,
And what he saw he decided to abhor:
People in 4:3 could see just a teensy bit more.

While the 360 gamers were exploring Rapture,
The PC gamers were starting to capture
The fury of others at what they perceived
As attempts to trick them, make them deceived!

The 360's plasmids were making them cautious
While the PC gamers claimed to be nauseous.
The 360's were hacking and splicing with glee
While the PC gamers were chanting "FOV!"

While the 360 gamers were after old Ryan,
A wee PC gamer, who we'll call Brian,
Discovered the PC version didn't want
Him installing his game wherever he'd want
And if he installed too many copies at a single time
He'd have to call for permission (albeit on the dev's dime).

The devs explained that you could install it twice
Compared to the 360's once, now wasn't that nice?
But the PC gamers grew incensed, they say.
"Can't install how we want? Then we won't pay."

The 360 gamers were saving the Sisters
While the PC gamers were making new blisters
Typing out hate mail to community relations
Typically reserved for some Third Reich nations.

The makers of games attempted to appease,
Saying "Five installs now, and soon FOV!"
But the PC gamers said, "Too little, too late,"
While 360 gamers learned Andrew Ryan's fate.

The 360 gamers took a rest and paused their games
Since the plot twist made them question their aims.
They went to the forums to discuss the game
But found that they had been covered in flame.
They looked at their copies, the same FOV,
The same behavior in 4:3.
Only one copy in use, just like on PC.
They saw the debate and thought it quite lame
And then they unpaused and continued their game.

As the 360 gamers completed their quest,
The PC gamers thought they were the best
For getting their way was what mattered now;
The game had become secondary to their sacred cow.

In the end, PC gamers got what they wanted
But the game left their shelf space curiously haunted.
The uproar scared other devs away
As they asked, "Why didn't they just play
The game as designed? It's the game that they needed.
It wasn't these petty demands to be heeded.
The 360 gamers played all day long,
They shuddered when the Sister sang her eerie song.
They loved the game, it's easy to see;
They didn't whine, bitch and moan like those with PC's.
We pour our hearts into these games that we make,
But seeing the toll these arguments take
Really do encourage us to flee...
To hell with PC, we'll build for 360."

Now that you have read my sad tale,
Of PC gamers chasing their white whale,
Can you see why elitism made it to be
Just too much trouble to build for PC?
The PC market's feeling the cruch,
For Blizzard's "WoW" has been eating their lunch
And they're fairly certain about this small hunch
That pirated games delivered the sucker punch.

But pleasing PC gamers is no small feat
And elitism raises the bar they must meet
So the makers of games still love the PC....
As a tool to make games for the 360.

(Edit: Fixed typo. [Wrote this thing on a BlackBerry...])

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posted by Michael Russell at 8/24/2007 09:31:00 AM | 6 Comments Links to this post | View blog reactions

Thursday, November 30, 2006

December Agenda

Monday, I'm going to be posting part 2 of 6 of the SiN/USK series. The entire series will be posted prior to Christmas.

Sometime next week, I'm going to be posting part 4 of 5 of the Automating Games QA series. (Yes, I split part 4 in two.) Both parts will be posted prior to Christmas.

Beyond that, I intend to take a break from the blog for most of December. With XNA Game Studio Express Edition coming out December 11, my 12-year anniversary shortly after that, Christmas shortly after that, and a week off in there as well, my hope is to spend time reconnecting with my family, focusing on my work, and planning out the next year...well, as much as I can.

Oh, and the observant among you may have noticed some additional changes made to my blog today. The changes were made as an additional step towards integrating this blog into my primary site.

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posted by Michael Russell at 11/30/2006 04:46:00 PM | 2 Comments Links to this post | View blog reactions

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Level 60

My WoW character, Nekomenchi
Today, after 16 days, 14 hours and 9 minutes /played, I finally reached level 60 with my first character.

Most of today was spent in Felwood killing Toxic Horrors. I told my wife what I was killing, but she thought I said "Toxic Whores." I riffed with that for a bit, saying, "Nah, they're over in Auberdine. Better be careful when dealing with them, though, or you'll end up with a bad case of sylphilis."

Thanks for making a game worth paying almost $17 a month for after tax, Blizzard. Looking forward to The Burning Crusade.

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posted by Michael Russell at 11/25/2006 07:06:00 PM | 2 Comments Links to this post | View blog reactions

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Runner-Up

I just got an E-mail from CMP, the people who run the Game Developers Conference. Turns out I was first runner-up in their haiku competition. No prize for being a runner-up, but given that I wrote my 8-haiku entry in under 20 minutes, being first runner-up isn't bad.

They'll post the haiku on the GDC website shortly.

Update, 2:16p: Looks like the one haiku of mine they didn't post was the one that cost me first place. My original entries, with the omitted one bolded:
Annual absense
Has caused career turmoil
So I must attend

The keynote speeches
Lead to a renewed sense of
Purpose for our games

The featured classes
#define our purpose: Coding
Experiences

The panels bring out
The curmudgeon and the sheep
To battle it out

Casual Games Summit
Connects the hardcore with mom
To bring fun to all

IGF: Where next
Year's ripped-off gameplay is seen
Today in the flesh

GDC Awards:
We celebrate each other
But only one wins

So many classes...
So much information, but
Why ignore testing?

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posted by Michael Russell at 11/22/2006 01:34:00 PM | 0 Comments Links to this post | View blog reactions

Monday, November 20, 2006

Escape of the Bird

About fifteen minutes ago, I received a phone call from my wife. She was in hysterics. I couldn't understand a thing that she was saying. It took me five minutes to calm her down to the point where I could understand what she was saying. Her bird, Chris, escaped. He pried open the door to his cage and flew away.

Yvonne has a small cage that she puts her birds in so she can put them out on the balcony and they can enjoy the weather and interact with other birds. Last year, Elmo escaped and she was devastated. Last Christmas, I gave her the money to go get herself another bird, and she got Chris.

These two events have been really hard on Yvonne because she hasn't really been able to make any friends down here in Dallas. Elmo was the last physical link she had with Utah, and now with her out of work because of her fibromyalgia and really just being stuck in the house, she's going to be alone again.

I guess it's good that I'm going to be home for a 4-day weekend this weekend...I can help her cope with this loss.

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posted by Michael Russell at 11/20/2006 10:32:00 AM | 0 Comments Links to this post | View blog reactions

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