Hi, my name is Thom, but I am better known online under my nickname Fanotherpg. While writing the blog, I will try to be as I am in class, very genuine, self-critical and open.
When I was seven years old, I have announced to my parents that I will:
- study in the United Kingdom (at a time I only knew about Cambridge and Oxford, because of the dictionaries, so even London was a no go)
- to be a teacher (so I can share my passion with others) and to make games (because I liked playing them, but they were lacking). I have been laughed at.
Now in a new Millenium, I finally emerged on the top with a quite varied portfolio of skills:
- I have worked on 0-hour contracts as well as night shifts in great 3 of customer service (retail, leisure and hospitality) both private and chain while balancing my life at Uni (across Bachelors and Masters).
- over 100 made games and dozens of public talks/panels/lectures
- as a person who “represented” industry in press, TV and radio
- a founding father of Game Industry Conference – the biggest event of this type in Eastern Europe, and one of the biggest in Europe
- a person with industry network across all continents (except for Antarctica, I think)
- proud holder B.Sc (Hons) in Digital Games Design and MA (Hons) Digital Games: Theory & Design
- After five years of job hunting, I was finally given a chance to do my dream job and teach.
- In the first year, I was put in charge of 2.5 units, and my students (with 100% participation) awarded us with 4x 100% (opportunities, fairness, helpfulness, feedback) on USS
However, despite all that, I still feel like an imposter while standing upfront my students and teaching them about the only thing I feel confident about – games. One could say that I know how little I know, and how much more is there to be learnt. That I am aware of my weaknesses and limitations and how much pressure I am putting on myself to prove my worth. But can it be only it? Was this the only reason why I have been postponing posting those blogposts for so long?
Possibly to some degree words by Adrian Chmielarz, one of pioneers of Game Development in Poland who on top of being my childhood idol infamously said that “everybody who has even a tiny bit of talent, works in it (game dev). Those who do not have it, teach and lecture.” (Chmielarz, 2011)
And maybe, just maybe this PgCert course will allow me to overcome this syndrome. I hope that getting back to regular studying and reading will spark that wow factor of discovery and self-realisation.
References:
Chmielarz, A., 2011 in GameZilla.pl (now Komputer Świat). 2011. Czy warto „studiować gry”?. [ONLINE] Available at: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=pl&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.komputerswiat.pl%2Fgamezilla%2Fartykuly%2Fczy-warto-studiowac-gry%2F0rvpcte. [Accessed 3 April 2020].