Understanding what means "being an indie"

[Jack Norton]

This morning I woke up early (8 AM) as usual to work on my indie stuff. I met again my cousin who had a job in a public administration here in Italy.
He never worked before and he is 31. Every time he keep saying to me "when you'll have a REAL job... blablabla"
LOL!!
Apart for the fact that I ALREADY had a "real" job, 5 years before him ;) and that I quit up that job because I AM able to make indie games to survive, while he has to do boring job - the thing that make me fun is that he doesn't consider my indie work as a "job".
I laught at him and said "you're only envy because you have to do a regular job".

Well, time to post a WIP screenshot of my new soccer game I guess...
http://www.g-generation.com/download/gk01.jpg

[Sillysoft]

The reason that I went indie is precisely so I don't have to get up at 8am :cool:

[robleong]

I remember reading a magazine 20 years ago that stated that in the future, everyone will be working from home. Well, Jack, welcome to that future!

[PsychicParrot]

Maybe I'm missing something ... since I started writing games full time I work the longest hours I've ever worked! lol .. up around 8am finish anything between 6pm and 3am depending on the deadlines :eek:

Saying that, it's still the BEST job I've ever had :cool:

[Jack Norton]

I remember reading a magazine 20 years ago that stated that in the future, everyone will be working from home. Well, Jack, welcome to that future!
That day is still quite far, believe me... ;) the so-called "work from home" are very rare to find.
Also because (at least here in Italy) the bosses have the tendency to consider people who work at home = lazy people.
When I was webdesigner and asked to work home, usually the boss assigned me at least TWICE the work I'd normally do during the regular day at office.

Never understood why...? :)

[ggambett]

[...]since I started writing games full time I work the longest hours I've ever worked! [...] Saying that, it's still the BEST job I've ever had :cool:
I think that's the beauty of the idea!

Most people settle for a life where they spend 8 hours* in a job they don't particularly like (or even hate), in order to make money and enjoy the other 16 hours of the day. I'm doing all I can to enjoy 24 hours each day, even if 10 or 12 of these hours are "working"!

* plus lunch time, transportation,...

[EpicBoy]

Let's not start belittling people who work regular jobs and such. They have lives ... maybe not the one you envision, but they have them nonetheless. Perhaps working 12 hours a day isn't their idea of a good time. Maybe they'd rather go to work, do their assigned tasks, earn some money, come home and spend their evenings with their kids.

Calling it a "life" seems unnecessary.

[ggambett]

Let's not start belittling people who work regular jobs and such. They have lives ... [...] Calling it a "life" seems unnecessary.
Sorry, you're right. I edited that out.

In any case - you say "Perhaps working 12 hours a day isn't their idea of a good time". Well, working 8 hours a day isn't my idea of a good time, but what if you absolutely enjoy and love what you do in that 8 or 12 hours? It's a "good time", by definition, even if the result of these hours is dollars at the end of the month (and therefore "work")

What I was trying to say, in essence, is that the indie lifestyle as I see it is not "work 8 hours to be able to enjoy the other 16 hours" but "get paid to do that thing you love to do for the hours of the days you want to do it, on the days you feel like doing it" :)

[EpicBoy]

Oh, I totally understand your sentiment and I agree, it must be nice. :)

[Jack Norton]

Oh, I totally understand your sentiment and I agree, it must be nice
yes but you forgot a little detail... :D
while normal employers, usually, are sure to get paid for their work, indie devs, expecially at starting, have absolutely no guarantee to earn money.
I'd say that for how much time (and how hard) I work every day, I should earn at least 2500$/month.

Still VERY FAR from that... :rolleyes:

[formfarbeminze]

indie devs, expecially at starting, have absolutely no guarantee to earn money.

this is part of being an entrepreneur. you are taking risks. this is what a lot of those "regulars" are afraid off. it's a main difference between being employer (regular) or entrepreneur (indie).

you take a risk and hopefully you reach the goal of your adventure. then the risk will pay off. it is exciting (and hopefully rewarding) to live that way. but that is no reason to feel superior, that seems adolescent to me.

[EpicBoy]

For the record guys, it's "employee". An "employer" is the one who owns the business. Just so you know. :)