I'll bore you with my character sheet, and believe me - you can skip this part.
[skip] My name is asaf, level 20 human, self-proclaimed-artist, live in isreal and, i guess you figured it out, I'm looking for a dark, cruel (with hordes of undead minions) future in the gaming industry, as a game developer\designer, as a writer.
When you gain your 18th level, you realize that you want to do something with yourself, and after 16 levels as a bard-gamer (2 levels as a baby paragon...) you feel the passion to create and you're looking for the best epic class for you - So i went for first year for Graphic Design and realized that it is not for me, and then i found the prestigious path of the Game designers... and i must add that for the last three years I'm working on projects for some games, gaming systems and the game's worlds, and the knowledge of this degree would help me to find ways to utilize my ideas and concept to create a whole, and of course, the key for the industry.
And then you begin your journey at google, "game design studies", after a while a found many institutions, read alot and filter many. In the end, after consultations by phone and online with some advisors, i found "the right place" just for the bardic-gamer class - Vancouver Film School.
And here is the catch... money - alot of it.
[/skip] And here are the questions...
- Is a 46,750 Canadian dollars' loan (more or less, for i would start with a thin budget) a rational thing to take for one year's study?
- What others did or do when they take these studies? do all have to take this risk or marry a rich, old, dying person?
- Does VFS's diploma worth this much? is it as prestigious as it's tuition? will it give me a decent key for the industry (I'm not looking for a "+4 golden magical key of gaming"... for now)?
And in the end, can anyone advise me of possible scholarships?
Thank you for your time,
May the force be with you
May the light of elune shine upon you
May darkness guide you
and so on - asaf m.k.
- Is a 46,750 Canadian dollars' loan (more or less, for i would start with a thin budget) a rational thing to take for one year's study?
Depnds on the individual as it is purely subjective. Personally, I think it is silly money for a Games Design degree.
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- What others did or do when they take these studies? do all have to take this risk or marry a rich, old, dying person?
No idea, ask the institutions or even better, find the students.
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- Does VFS's diploma worth this much? is it as prestigious as it's tuition? will it give me a decent key for the industry (I'm not looking for a "+4 golden magical key of gaming"... for now)?
- Is a 46,750 Canadian dollars' loan (more or less, for i would start with a thin budget) a rational thing to take for one year's study?
That's quite a lot, but probably not terribly far off for that kind of school. The unfortunate thing about these specialized schools is that they take advantage of the fact that they can charge high for tuition and get away with it. I'm not saying they don't have a right to do it, but as a student with tens of thousands in student loans accrued, I feel your pain. You'll want to get a definite quote for VFS' financial aid department before you go messing with loans, though.
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- What others did or do when they take these studies? do all have to take this risk or marry a rich, old, dying person?
Unless you just happen to have money to burn, you're going to have to take the 'risk' of student loans. I really, really (did I mention really?) wouldn't go into bank loans at your age. It's not worth the hassle and you're not going to get the same leniencies. (And honestly unless you've been building credit for the last four years, you're probably not going to have a chance) I don't know what kind of student loan programs are available to you in Canada or if you have an equivalent of the FAFSA, a federally sponsored loan and grant program, but start there. Start with scholarships and grants, then look to loans. And absolutely positively make sure your loans are deferrable until you get out of school. When you get out of school, pay more than the minimum each month to keep yourself out of trouble.
I end up getting some from FAFSA and some from Stafford loans. As an aside, I wouldn't have gotten the Stafford loans as a freshman without a cosigner, so if you have a parent or guardian or someone willing to put their neck on the line for you to use their credit rating, use them.
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- Does VFS's diploma worth this much? is it as prestigious as it's tuition? will it give me a decent key for the industry (I'm not looking for a "+4 golden magical key of gaming"... for now)?
I've only heard great things about VFS, but one thing really stands out: come prepared to work. Seriously. These schools are like having a 40hr/week job plus overtime where you're paying your employer.
Is it worth it? That's not something I can answer for you, nor can any VFS alumni. Because every story is individual, and you have to decide if it's worth it for you. The best thing you can do is educate yourself and know yourself.
The hard fact of this industry is that you don't need a degree to get in. That may change, but I can tell you this: If it comes down to hiring someone with a mod and/or game demo under their belt over someone with no experience but a four year degree, the former is always going to get hired.
A degree for you has to be worth the experience. Let me briefly share with you my story, and maybe you can better appreciate what I mean.
When I first found the college I'm at now I was at the end of my rope. I was just looking for an IT vocational degree when I had no interest in IT. Then I found the Game Art and Design degree at Westwood and it was the first thing to truly inspire me. The only thing I actually wanted to do, after two years of screwing around in general college.
The financial barrier was huge. But I pursued loans, and I got them. Over the course of nearly two years now I've kept up a 3.9 GPA, something I haven't done since... well, grade school, to be honest. I barely graduated high school thanks to lack of motivation and other things. It's shown me what I can do when I have the passion and drive to do it, and that's something I wouldn't have believed without seeing it. It's given me a well-rounded skillset that I can develop to make me more desirable to employers. It's showing that I can finish what I start and manage a busy life.
In terms of number-crunching, is it the best thing I've done to get into the industry? No. That would be joining a high-profile mod team last October. But if I hadn't enrolled in Westwood and learned what I mentioned above, I wouldn't have applied to said mod team. And if I did, it would have been just like everything else in my life: something I put hard work into for a while, then quit.
So it all comes down to you. Like I said, educate yourself. Find out everything you can about VFS. Pop over to the IGDA boards and make a post in the appropriate forum asking if there are any students currently attending VFS or alumni from there. Search for blogs written by those involved with VFS. Don't just go off of what admissions is telling you. Ultimately, they're trying to sell you a service. But most importantly, you need to know yourself and what you feel you need to get you what you want.
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And in the end, can anyone advise me of possible scholarships?
Sign up at Fastweb. I'm fairly certain they handle Canadian scholarships too. Also, apply for this scholarship; the deadline is coming up soon:
Also, I hate to say this, but... take advantage of your race and nationality. Look for scholarships specific to your situation. The more of a niche you carve into, the better chance you'll have of getting the money for school.
First of all, thank you both for your answers and time
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Originally Posted by yaustar
Depnds on the individual as it is purely subjective. Personally, I think it is silly money for a Games Design degree.
Why do you think it is a silly thing to "waste" money at a Game Design diploma?
Now for my farther thoughts
Going to Game Design studies would be a first step that i believe and think, with the knowledge i harvested in self observation and understanding, forums, QAs and other sites, will give me the opening to the industry (and please, correct me if i somehow deluded myself with optimism and self confidence);
There i will gain the opportunity to experience simulation for hard team work in the gaming industry, which will provide me authentic proportions, more of less, and confidence;
will gain the basic knowledge of fields i don't tend to research, such as programming and audio, that will help me as a wannabe Game Designer in my future path, to communicate with these fields correctly;
will enhance my writing skills with necessary abilities unique to the games storytelling agenda, such as interactive narrative and screenplay writing, and the other important skills, such as the design document writing and game journalism;
will gain the right connections with the right individuals and places;
And will gain the opportunity to prove my abilities with making a game, which would be most difficult for a wannabe writer and game designer as a lone wolf, for we mostly lack the technical abilities and perceptions, for in the end - it is not our job.
Then, after this one year of hard work, breathing and living designing and games (which is not that different from now days) and proving my skills, getting my first game demo and reputation, I can now present a decent resume.
And after i got myself into the industry, I'd find myself yearning for greater achievements and skills.
Therefore, my thoughts are to, after getting into the industry, continue my studies in my favored agendas, such as writing degree, play-writing, anthropology, philosophy and so on... and this way i can enhance my game designing abilities, climb at the ladder of the industry and one day, with the right skills, knowledge and talent - to lead my own ambitious projects.
And i accept and expect for hard work, for sleepless nights at the writing desk, for facing failures, mistakes and their implications, for coffee overdose; for lack of sexual life and for having a baby in my late years.
As I said, I'll gladly hear your opinions for my observations, and if somewhere i deluded myself, I hope you'd correct me. Are my future plans are filled with ego, optimism and blindness?
Again Thank you for your time and attention
Asaf M.K.
"greatness comes in two forms - illusion and divinity. i chose divinity."
So for us gaming degrees are very interesting, but if I look particularly at game design degrees, for the last 300 hires we've made at EA we've only hired three entry-level game designers. And those people haven't come from games design degrees, so that must flag up to the universities that there's a problem here if the biggest employer of graduates in the UK is not employing games design students.
I personally think that there is nothing in that list that you can't do in your own time over the same period that you need to spend over 40k on a University course.
Edit: Removed part of the advice as I was getting confused with someone else.
So for us gaming degrees are very interesting, but if I look particularly at game design degrees, for the last 300 hires we've made at EA we've only hired three entry-level game designers. And those people haven't come from games design degrees, so that must flag up to the universities that there's a problem here if the biggest employer of graduates in the UK is not employing games design students.
Then again, the head of the Game Design studies at VFS is Dave Warfield, a senior producer at EA, and EA is cooperating with VFS - why would they grant Game design scholarship if they don't believe in it? EA Game Design Scholarship Winner Announced [07.18.07]
Questions (aka - long intro, how original)
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