Archive for the 'expectedresult' Category

Where’s the Career Path?

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

One of the major downsides to quality assurance is the lack of a career advancement path.
On a project nowadays, you may have forty to sixty temporary testers, after which maybe two or three are brought on as full-time testers.  In a department of forty to sixty full-time testers, you may have maybe five leads that [...]

Methods of Pest Control and Extermination: A Most Rousing and Revealing Study of Such Methods As Employed By Various and Diverse Cultures

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

My people have a saying: “Cate bordeie, atatea obiceie”; the rough translation of that would be that each household has its habits. I have witnessed the truth of that in my career as a game tester – truly each and every company I have worked for or with had its own approach to testing and [...]

Poison Testers

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

We’ve all had them…those fellow employees who just suck the life out of any team, department or company that they are associated with.
However, it can be difficult as a lead or manager to figure out whois the poison pill in a team because most of the time, employees will openly bitch about other employees only [...]

Lessons From Car Salesmen

Monday, May 26th, 2008

Back in 1940, Chevrolet released a management training video called “Hired.”  You can view the second half at the beginning of the “Manos: The Hands of Fate” episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000, or you can watch the entire video over that the Internet Archive.  If you are having problems getting your testers to perform, [...]

Soft Language

Sunday, May 18th, 2008

Cockroach.  Just the word makes your skin crawl.  It evokes an image of filth, of creepy crawlies creating a crunchy mobile carpet flowing along the floor evading the light.
Palmetto bug.  Sounds nice.  Gentle.  You wouldn’t think it is the same thing as a cockroach…but it is. A few years ago, some Florida residents got sick [...]

Grand Tester Credits Auto 4

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

This was a triumph: Grand Theft Auto 4 displays credits for the testing leads in the cinematic intro.

“A day-one patch is almost a necessity these days!”

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

It is fairly sad when Mark Rein feels that this is the case:
MR: Oh, sure. That’s not uncommon. We did that with Gears of War. A lot of guys do that. A day-one patch is almost a necessity these days!
The interview

Online Version of PC Zone Interview

Monday, December 17th, 2007

You can find an online version of the PC Zone article about game quality here.

iGameTestScammer

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007

If you’re looking for work in the game industry and come across a site called iGameTester.com (not linked so as to not associate my site with them), you’ll want to stay far away.
Your first hint should be that the site is filled with generic images of gamers, and ridiculous claims of getting $100 an hour [...]

Theoretical Horn Tootings of my own

Saturday, September 29th, 2007

Theoretically I’m in PC Zone Magazine #186.
If anyone reading this happens to live in the UK and can confirm/scan/mail me a copy (for which you will be generously compensated to the tune of 10 American Dollars above whatever it is that it costs to buy and ship).
I’m sure that if you read this magazine [...]