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In need of a gaming design consultant

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morganglory
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Hi my name is Leslie and I work for a company that develops products and white label subscription boxes for creators and media companies. I joined as my company is looking to hire a game designer...someone who has developed clue based and puzzle based games. If anyone is looking for a consulting opportunity let me know...we are based in Denver, but open to remote. Thank you!

richdurham
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Additional information?

Is there anything you'd like to know from interested designers? And can you share more about what kind of consulting you're looking for?

Jay103
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Sounds like a full-time

Sounds like a full-time position..? I agree this needs a lot more detail :)

questccg
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Hmm... I'm confused?!

You say "you joined" because they were looking "to hire a game designer"... And now you are saying that there is a "consulting position"? I'm confused?? Could you shed some light on who you are and what is the company that you are referencing...?

richdurham
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some details

I know this:
The company is Curational (https://www.curational.com/). They are looking for a designer to work under contracted-hours with their team to design a game (as described in original post). The commitment would be roughly equivalent to slightly less than a full-time job for the length of the contract.

Jay103
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It's slightly weird that you

It's slightly weird that you provided more information than the OP did.

(Also, that webpage is surprisingly sparse)

questccg
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Personality/mood tests for monthly boxes

Jay103 wrote:
It's slightly weird that you provided more information than the OP did.

(Also, that webpage is surprisingly sparse)

You know what would be GREAT for this "company"??? I don't know if you've ever done those "personality tests" where they ask you a bunch of questions and at the end they say "which Super Heroe" you are, etc.

It's like those subscription boxes, if the subscribers took a monthly TEST that would determine the content of their box that month.

Doesn't have to be super long... Like under 2 to 3 minutes of questions. That's a lot when you're talking about multiple choice questions.

But would make the boxes even MORE "personalized" with parameters which are configurable...

(Another example is which House you belong to in the Harry Potter world)

Update: I imagine the HARD part about being this box company is finding sufficient content each and every month. Would make more sense to have all that content and divide it into several different "versions" which could be matched by the buyer using a personality test.

This would make the content of those subscription boxes even more unique because it would be pretty interesting if YOUR box was different from your friend's box simply based on a simple questionnaire that determined what would be the most appropriate content for you.

jonathanflike
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I think I get it

I think they are looking for a game designer that can consult them on making little games and puzzles they put into these boxes.

let-off studios
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This is why we can't have nice things, y'all.

I'm in awe of the epic derailment of this potentially-positive thread.

Jay103
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let-off studios wrote:I'm in

let-off studios wrote:
I'm in awe of the epic derailment of this potentially-positive thread.

It required the participation of the OP to move forward.

let-off studios
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Po-tay-to, Po-tahh-to

You say participation, I say patience. But whatever. The ship has sailed.

questccg
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I hear you ... but

let-off studios wrote:
You say participation, I say patience. But whatever. The ship has sailed.

If the poster of the OP would have said something like:

"Hi my name is Leslie and I work for Curational a firm based in Denver. We are looking to hire a Game Developer to help with designing puzzle based games for our products that we custom design for our customers.

I joined the company as a Director of Marketing and Brand Awareness and have been asked to help the grow our custom products that would be developed in-house..

The position is a contractual position for a period of X months but may be open to continued consulting, if we feel that the designer in question is a match with our own creative efforts."

Well then I would have said: "Lady — You are cool with me!"

let-off studios
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Nope.

I'm not convinced you heard me, at all.

Like I said: whatever. The ship has sailed and it's very likely they won't return.

Jay103
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let-off studios wrote:I'm not

let-off studios wrote:
I'm not convinced you heard me, at all.

Like I said: whatever. The ship has sailed and it's very likely they won't return.


I just don't think they were likely to return in the first place. New account, no posts other than this one. I don't think they're a scammer or anything, just someone throwing a broad net.

richdurham
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Let-off studios is making a

Let-off studios is making a good point, as is QuestCCG. I know more because I asked her, which I did because I know that in order to get a notification on a forum you either need to actively subscribe (new user wouldn't know that), or you get a PM. I did the latter.

I shared that tidbit I learned to help users at least identify the company and let people reach out for more info.

QuestCCG, I agree that the presentation could have been better up front to instil confidence that the company is serious and knows what they're doing. This is their first 'game' that they want to add to their line. They have over 230 different items they include in various boxes, depending on the client.

They are a Business-to-Business entity, meaning they partner with other brands, curate boxes with their input, and handle all the design and logistics. The partner brand handles all the marketing/promotions. All of that is on their website.

Leslie (OP) is looking for a game design that could be re-used month-to-month (ongoing story, for instance), centred around clue-finding or puzzle-solving. For instance, a decoder wheel like in most escape room tabletop games.

I agree with Let-off that this thread took more a turn to "how the OP should have approached us" and (paraphrased) "look how sketchy this site is" as opposed to seeking out more through PMs. The shipped has likely sailed, as Let-off said, or you could find out by PMing.

questccg
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The reason I even care...

Is because Leslie, as wonderful of a person as she is, left a very "dubious" work offer... That everyone was thinking: "Can you spare additional details..."

And the other problem, is that "We don't know Leslie"... Who she is, what is her role in all this... That with the lack of forthcoming information seems to suggest a somewhat "shady" operation.

Why not simply state: I work for Curational. And give us a URL/HTTP link?

It's not a position for me, but I'd be willing to bet that 9 out of 10 designers will agree that in this case the OP was missing RELEVANT information.

Secondly aside from answering Rich's PM... She never discussed her project any further... No responses to our "requests" for more information. Nothing about the duration of the project... etc.

I'm sure we all understood "what she was looking for". That at least was pretty clear. Just the circumstances seemed doubtful that anyone interested would apply ... because of the lack of information...

No worries, no harm to Leslie or Curational, maybe she'll come back and comment as to who she is and what they are offering (maybe — who knows). As for the "ship sailing"... I don't think there was anything negative in terms of responses mostly just curious members... Everyone seemed to be waiting for Leslie to return and provide more details.

let-off studios
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Self-Destructive Pattern

This is frustrating to see.

The same thing happened with the Fulfillrite rep here. The same thing happened with the Bicycle Playing Card Company here, when they posted their contest announcement. That Chinese company's game contest wasn't put together so well when they announced it some time ago, but it could have been salvaged with a little positive communication.

It's now highly unlikely any of those people will be back to continue posting any future announcements or developments because the initial knee-jerk reaction was suspicious, borderline-hostile, and defensive. There was potential of some significant progress both for the forum and its users had these relationships been nurtured instead of swatted down.

Ten minutes of Internet research would have prevented the dog-pile that ensued in this thread(as well as a little bit of patience for richdurham to exercise his due diligence). I just wish people in general had a little more patience (or emotional intelligence, or Internet savvy, whatever you want to call it), instead of automatically assuming that every potential business-like proposal on this forum is a fiendish scam ready to take advantage of everyone here. Just how welcome do you expect anyone to be in such a climate?

If all you want is an echo chamber, then keep it up. But there are others who expect more out of a forum with a name as broad, interesting, and inclusive as "Board Game Designers Forum".

questccg
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As for my aside concerning personality/mood tests

I figured that with all of the stuff they have as products to put into ONE (1) box for one person... Why not develop some simple personality tests that can dynamically decide what is going to be in someone's "box" this month...

This comment was a bit of a digression, but I do that often. I often get ideas following hearing about different "projects". Normally I don't share this information, because quite honestly ... I feel like I should be paid for sharing it...

But on BGDF, the rules are different. I feel open to sharing ideas with the group ... because that is what we do BEST and we do it all the time. So sharing a passing idea becomes sometimes an avenue to explore or it can be completely discarded. I'm not offended by someone ignoring the comment, nor do I expect anything should some of the ideas help develop their "game" (since we are mostly dealing with games on BGDF).

So if my comment seems a bit "of a tangeant"... Again offering free ideas that could be relevant and useful.

That comment was not meant to "de-rail" anything. It's just something that came to mind when I thought more about "subscriptions" and "how to diversify their offering to customers".

Cheers!

let-off studios
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...

I'd like to suggest this thread be locked and that it's never mentioned again.

jonathanflike
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I'm not sure locking the thread is the best option

I wasn't here for the other vendors that were chased off, but I'll apologize for any negativity I brought to the thread. I could have just reported what I found on the website without my commentary and kept it to myself. Lesson learned, but I think banishing a great learning opportunity to the depths of the website allows for this kind of stuff to happen again because I guess it's a pattern. Sorry again.

Jay103
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let-off studios wrote:I'm in

let-off studios wrote:
I'm in awe of the epic derailment of this potentially-positive thread.

It really wasn't derailed. Several of us asked for more information. Several days passed with no answer from the OP (who signed up to make this post and apparently didn't check back on their own thread).

QuestCCG started giving some ideas for, well, I think what the OP was looking for, namely the sorts of box-content ideas a consultant would be expected to provide.

Then it derailed a bit after that, but again, it wasn't really on the rails without the OP posting more. I don't think anyone's flamed anyone.

questccg
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Wasn't even aware of a Fulfillrite fiasco!

let-off studios wrote:
I'm in awe of the epic derailment of this potentially-positive thread.

Well it seems like if there are other examples of "minor derailment", it's more of a community issue... Because quite honestly I wasn't aware of a Fulfillrite convo that derailed.

And regarding the Asian Contest, there was a lot of questionable content in that one such as advertising that Reiner Knizia was going to be a judge which was false and Dr. Lew pointing out errors in their submission policies. I didn't comment on that thread ... but I did follow it.

The Bicycle Cards convo was also a bit "questionable" too. That one I remember, we couldn't figure out who was "sponsoring" the affair. Was it the Bicycle company or some other off-shoot company (from what I remember).

But you are right, we should be more "positive" when dealing with "guests" to the website. It might help in terms of recognition. I apologize for asking for a better OP.

Maybe I could ask Rich to ADD something to his INTRO thread. Maybe like:

"If you are representing a company and are looking for designer help, feel free to ask away. However if you would want to hire a professional, please state the name of the company you represent, your role in the company and a brief description of the skill set you expect to acquire."

Maybe that could "standardize" outside requests and make them more accurate and less likely to be deemed as "suspicious"...

What do you think Rich???

McTeddy
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I'll be honest, when y'all go

I'll be honest, when y'all go crazy crucifying the legitimacy of "Dubious" posters it just makes it easier for me. :P

You guys need to understand that many people seeking a designer are not designers. Probably not even gamers. They don't know our customs, our expectations, or how our forums work.

Usually people with this request aren't entirely sure WHAT they need and that's exactly why they're looking for a professional.

- Sparse sites due to new incomplete brands
- Missing information because they didn't know to ask
- Sparse sites due to corporate requirements to keep it on the down-low.

They are a million logical reasons that things can seem out of the ordinary. If you reach out to them and ask you can learn more and decide whether the story is complete enough that you'd trust doing business with them. (If not, walk the **** away)

I was talking to one woman the other day that is a fairly successful online marketer. She was looking to branch out into new products, including board games. She was nearly driven out of this market by the forum response on BGG. She stopped responding because she felt like she stepped on a landmine.

Your responses are ALL to these situations are all on you. How you present yourself to potential clients is important.

Even if Rich puts up "Assistance for legitimate businesses" it's likely to be missed by a casual passer-by that is posting a request for hire on 5-10 forums in a day and we'll be in this exactly same situation.

The only common point across all cases will be you guys and how you choose to approach the situation.

let-off studios
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Great Caesar's Ghost

One enormous high-five to McTeddy today. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. :)

kpres
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I would like to chime in

and say that it's pretty cool to see an actual job opening in our industry :)

For me, board game design will always be a hobby or side gig. Anyone who does well in the position she's offering deserves a gold star and 10 victory points.

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