Boards›[ARCHIVED] Miscellaneous

Out of curiosity: what "level" of qualification should one be to apply at Riot?

SaltyToplaneGoat·11/15/2016, 12:56:20 AM·13 votes·1,069 views

No, I am actually not talking about my ranked level here, although I'm sure that's also interesting in this regard, but rather about education and experience.

I pretty much just finished my BA in Media Studies (inculding a 40 page thesis about the narrative structures in competitive online games). And now I am wondering if I should really add a Master's degree on to that and slave away for two more years, or if I should start working and finally make a living so I can leave this basement I currently dwell in and make a name for myself in this world.

And if there is one company I'd want to jump on, it's Riot. For various reasons actually, one of them being my massive playtime (since season 2) and personal investment in the game through fanfictions, helping to create fanart, and roleplaying, that made me think "well, you might as well join them", the other being the massive transmedial potential that Riot sits on. I think elaborating this would lead us offtopic for several pages, but this game's narrative side has a chance to grow really, really big. Maybe not in the relatively tight constraints of a Moba, but the potential is there. And the competition is not sleeping either... but back to topic:

So my first question would be: Is a BA enough? Or should I add a Master's on top of that? Or maybe even a doctorate? I mean, Lyte back then had a Ph.D. from what the rumors said, so maybe that's the entry level standard? (Although I really don't think it is, for that Ph.D.s are often quite over-specialized and by no means suitable as a common standard.)

But we all know that in the end degrees don't tell one exatly much about a person, that's why there is always the question for experience.

However, over here the field of gaming and game creation is not exactly a flourishing part of the industry. Germany is way behind the worldwide trend that is the digital age. I wish I was joking here, but only a year or two ago Angela Merkel called the Internet "a new-land" (aka "land new-to-everyone". More than two decades after the Internet started truly impacting our culture. Yes, it seriously is that bad.) This lack of innovation has led to a missing infrastructure, missing specialized educations, weird censorship issues as games are no officially protected as art, etc. etc. etc. - to make it short: if you want to get into the video games industry, be it as a designer, a writer, or even as an intern, you gonna have a very bad time.

That does not mean I got no experience whatsoever. I got experience with games, from an academical and a personal perspective. I got experience with working alone, I got experience with working in teams, and even got experience working with crazy and borderline insane teammates and still delivering on deadline. It was not exactly a pleasant one, but it sure was an experience that taught me that now I could probably even work with the craziest people around.

The only thing I do not have in this case: experience at a game company. But there I would ask the question: If I would now somehow find a tiny no-name Indie-Studio and waste half a year to a year there, would that really give me the experience I would need for working at Riot? Not really. Approaching this logically, the only company one would able to truly give me the experience that would help me at Riot Games would be Riot Games.

And that would be my second question: is this "several years experience" that is usually in job descriptions, even Riot's, truly mandatory? I mean, I can understand that a company doesn't want to employ a green-behind-the-ears highschool graduate, but that's not a description fitting on me. Or do my years at the University qualify me already? I'm curious to know...

Ah, I almost forgot that: about the area I'd be interested in: Writing and Concept Gameplay/Champ Design: the process of truly translating a character from a medial text into game, or evolving a character from said game in other forms of media, as well as the reaction and the influence of the feedback loop given by the audience on it. This does not necessarely have to do anything with LoL, I am also very curious about the R&D department, you know, the same section that gave idea to Mechs vs. Minions, although I think their next focus will be on digital games, to make Riot Games live up to its name even in the realm of the online world. When only talking about LoL, the teams I'd be aiming for would be NewChamp (is it still called that?), ChampUp, and Foundations. (Although the chances are probably higher that I become the Intern who fetches the coffee first before getting into these groups <_<' I can make some good coffee tho... does that count as a highly valuable talent?)

Also, as is probably known from my presence on the boards, I am a total lore nut and maybe the only reason I try to get in is so I can ask all the writers about their headcanons and characters. Maybe. Just a possibility.

And now I will sit back and wait for a friendly red to come flying by who could answer my questions, and maybe tell me a bit about the working conditions or something. Until then, I'll jump into another game or two.

Thanks for reading, ~ Kyoki

[slayer-jinx-catface]

(Please excuse the occasional shoddy choice of words or eventual grammar mistakes, it's long past midnight here after all.)

11 Comments

Tattersall11/15/2016, 2:27:36 AM4 votes

The way I see it, you have two plans: 1) Apply to Riot now. 2) Continue school and apply to Riot later. Correct me if I'm wrong.

So if those are actually your plans, then all I can say is this: Is there any reason not to do both? If you did plan one and failed, would there be anything stopping you from just moving on to plan two? So, with my extremely limited knowledge and experience, I suggest you give applying to Riot a go as soon as possible. And if you get rejected, so what?

Whatever path you choose, I wish you luck in this fanfiction that we call life! [slayer-jinx-wink]

Xonra11/15/2016, 4:50:40 AM2 votes

Though no one is going to like this response, a lot of it is based on who you know over what you know, but not by a lot. It is like 51-49.

No one at Riot is obviously going to admit this, but the amount of people that have even 1% less qualifications than another guy will get the job if another rioter vouches for them. It is a very inclusive company, but that isn't to that if you are super qualified you can't get in. The problem is, in 2016 it takes you being either a friend of x and y that work at Riot who can vouch for you, or have a lot of experience and somehow not already have a job with that level of experience.

Kingdom Corn11/15/2016, 2:06:52 AM1 votes

If you ever work for riot I want you to do something for me... Make adcs not op agian.

Apogalacteum11/15/2016, 5:07:07 AM1 votes

From what I've heard, entering your field working for Riot would be a long-shot. That being said, it wouldn't hurt to get your foot in the door by applying at this point. If that doesn't work out, it would be more realistic to get an entry-level job at a small gaming firm, do your best work even if you feel you aren't getting paid enough to do it, spend your spare time working on awesome community projects to fill your portfolio, and apply for Riot years down the line. If they still don't find you suitable for the job, consider taking the next step in your education. Just make sure those student loans don't get out of control.