Producer about town Jamie Fristrom posted a great comment/reaction to my recent Escapist article, and put it up at his own blog as an “open letter” to me. Thanks!

Of course, being critical does open the door to resentment, etc. I realize that the more I say “production sucks”, the more producers are really not going to like me. Goodness, I’m guessing many already don’t ;) But, anyway…

I can rationalize by saying that in general, the overall level of production and project management in the game industry is not great. In so doing, I am not suggesting that it is the fault of any given producer, or that Jamie, for example, didn’t do the best job he possibly could. As I’ve noted many times, poor production process and bad quality of life are often symptoms of larger root issues outside the control of producers. As Jamie suggests, even the best of producers can get bogged down and mired in the challenges of creating something fun and/or dealing with the internal politics and business constraints of their studio/publisher.

In that vein, the levers for major change/improvement are often outside the purview of producers. Sure, producers can apply various best practices and make tweaks here and there. But, approving a move to train all staff on PSP/TSP and achieving CMM Level 3 is a major executive level decision - just as one example. In part, that was the point Steve McConnell was trying to make: We can all help make minor process improvements on a personal level, but the big decisions have to be made at the top.

Another point McConnell made was that “first principles” can only take us so far. In that light, the vast majority of producers and project managers in games don’t have a management degree, formal extended education or relevant work experience in people/project management. Some do, most don’t. Now, I’m not suggesting there is any textbook or class that will serve as that elusive silver bullet, but it is always nice to supplement hands-on in the trenches work experience with a more formal approach to learning. (Hmm, maybe the IGDA should create some kind of Game Producer Certification training program ;)

Anyway. As an experiment, I think we have to ask ourselves, What would ideal production be like? If we were able to toss out all the old/current ways of doing things, what would we do?

My sense, in talking with countless producers, is that they are working to evolve their current processes. Even if they’d like a revolution, it is seemingly too painful and risky for this war… I suppose my article was about exposing some of the the risks of not pushing for a revoluton.