I finally quit...

[GMarkou]

Yes, it's true. I cannot believe it yet. I'm a little bit stressed, but i feel that things are going to be just fine for me. No more 9-5 and stupid work. Now, i can understand all of you people that work fulltime indie. So far (30 minutes) it's just great... :)

Well, i will not continue wasting your time. I just need to share it with some people that will (maybe) understand me and will not say "What are you doing??? Games??? Are you crazy???"
See you all around here... :)

George

[the2bears]

...So far (30 minutes) it's just great... :)...

Heh... still on the honeymoon:)

Seriously though, congratulations on your choice. Me? I still work "for the man" but it's actually pretty good:)

Bill

[Reactor]

"Heh... still on the honeymoon"

LOL :)

Best of luck, I hope things go well for you!

[Dan MacDonald]

This is one of the few places your decision will be considered sane, no one at my job understood when I left :)

[Mark Fassett]

This is one of the few places your decision will be considered sane, no one at my job understood when I left :)

Sane? It's definitely not sane! Not unless you've got years worth of money in the bank. This is the place where people will understand, however.

[maksum]

You quit your job to make games? Are you crazy? :p

just kidding.

Hey, that's wonderful. I hope to be there someday. Let us all know what kind of projects you're working on.

Mike

[Greg Squire]

Yep, GMarkou you are really nuts! Hopefully I can go nuts like that someday too. :D

Is this an epidemic? I've seen several people post about quiting their job during this last couple of months. Is it contageous? Where can I catch it? :D

[Teq]

Will quit when I break even with games and bills lol :)

[Chris Evans]

Congrats!

And yes, you are crazy. :) But so was I earlier this year. I quit my day job (even with a wife and kid) and became a full-time Indie.

I haven't released my first game yet (in a few weeks), but things are looking up. Our game is getting a nice little buzz, especially in the Mac community, so I think we should have at least decent first party sales through our website. Also a few major online portals are interested in distributing our game, which should help give us multiple revenue streams. So things are looking up. Hopefully in a few months I can start breathing a little easier. :)

Quiting your day job and becoming your own boss can be liberating, but it can also be scary at times, especially if other people are depending on you. After the honeymoon phase starts to fade, it's really important that you stay motivated. Keeping your productivity up at consistent levels during mid-development is a big challenge. Everybody has their own techniques to stay motivated. I believe there's a thread in this forum that discusses various motivation techniques - read it! :)

Again, I wish you luck and keep us updated on your progress!

[Valen]

Great to hear that another brother has been liberated. :) Prepare for a few conflicting emotions -- excitement, fear, happiness. I just took the plunge myself, and found that the most difficult thing is to get into a stable routine. I guess too much freedom can be a bad thing too. :)

[NuriumGames]

Welcome, I left mine almost 2 years ago and everybody told me that I was crazy, or that it was fine to get one year or so to rest and then look for another work (I had no one depending on me and some savings). Nobody believed that I was serious after one year later. :eek:

But here I'm, near the release of my first game. :)

Keeping a daily routine for two years under no control is the hardest part, but when I think in my previous work (I was a consultant and my last project scheduled for two weeks was not finished after 6 months of work (me alone in the customer's office)) I start to code immediately :D

[Peter Wayne]

No more 9-5 and stupid work. Now, i can understand all of you people that work fulltime indie. So far (30 minutes) it's just great... :)

Congratulations GMarkou! You will just have to watch your cashflow a lot more now. Being a full time indie audio guy is really hard at times. Cashflow has always been my main consurn after I left my regular job. I'd rather be a little cash poor and happy, rather than unhappy in a regular paid job. I wouldn't change it for the world :).

Good Luck.

[GMarkou]

Thank you for your positive reply. So far only you and my gf are the ones who support this decision. My ex-boss said that i must seriously stop thinking about games and start thinking about my career. Anyway.
See you around.

George Markou
www.still_searching_for_a_domain_name.com :)

[Peter Wayne]

My ex-boss said that i must seriously stop thinking about games and start thinking about my career.
LOL... whack your boss across the ears and tell him games are your career. He will be the one playing your games when he gets home from work :).

[Coyote]

Okay - I am not ready to take that plunge myself, as I KNOW I couldn't support myself on an indie game development income yet. But the bit about what your former boss said cracks me up.

Think about your career? If you are a programmer or IT professional (or an artist), that is about the dumbest thing I've heard. Maybe if you are a business professional with an MBA trying to maneuver yourself into a CEO position someday, sure. But the volatility of the IT field right now is such that trying to "move up the corporate ladder" is ridiculous right now. And if you are an artist, doing games (even as an indie) *IS* one of the better career moves you can make.

Ah well.