>>46004042
Professional army painter
Professional model maker
DM for-hire
Game designer
Redshirt
M:TG Judge
Hobby shop proprietor
Hobby shop employee

>>46004074

>DM for-hire

Surely no one pays for a DM? I mean, wtf?

>Professional army painter

Not sure if there would be enough comissions to live off that? I mean, surely its not that common to have your army painted for you?

>Professional model maker

Auto-cad drone working for GW, so basically the same kind of cubicle whore as now, or an actual sculptor working for some tiny sweatshop in Spain that sells three miniatures a month and die of starvation?

>Game designer

Not actually an impossible idea, but the market is saturated with competition and something as niche as rpg:s isn't exactly the golden goose of moneymaking, no?

>M:TG judge

Wat? No.

>Hobby shop proprietor

With the pace hobby shops are going out of business? Rather not.

>>46004142
>Surely no one pays for a DM? I mean, wtf?
There's probably a demand somewhere.

>I mean, surely it's not that common
Never underestimate human laziness and the power of disposable income.

>Auto-cad drone... actual sculptor
yes

>Not an... no?
Pretty much, just gotta be good.

>Wat? No.
It pays good money for relatively little cost, so I've heard. Excellent side job.

>Rather not.
Just gotta capitalize on the voids and niches left over, anon.

>>46004169

Gotta start thinking about game desinging more seriously, but otherwise yeah I could see some of your suggestions being ok as side jobs or whatnot but for a full-time I live off this shit not somuch.

>>46004142
>Auto-cad drone working for GW
You'd be surprised what the day to day is like doing any kind of creative 3d/cad work even as part of a cubicle drone company, you don't sit in a dark corner while someone slips sketches under your door. Before my current job I spent 11 months working for a company that designed indoor fire-sprinkler systems, as part of a team rendering technical illustrations for the people that would maintain them. It was like Office Space in real life but the Vis office was staffed by folks that liked being able to use the skills they trained in and far from short on people with interesting personalities and interests. Two of the folks I met there are the reason I picked up X-Wing. Before then I was doing level-1 IT support for an accounting office, the other guys I worked with were similarly colorful and it was a super easy, cushy job, but I need to do work otherwise my mind starts going.

Whatever set of skills you have, find a place where you can apply them even if it's a step to the side and go from there. Even dream jobs aren't sunshine and rainbows all the time so if you keep passing things over for "the one" it's not going to happen.

>>46004074
All shit as actual jobs.

The only gaming related job that makes sense is to find a niche for a gaming related product and start a business.

Being self employed is not for everyone though.

>>46004238

I know what its like to work in an office. I've been working an office job for six years.
I'm not so much talking about work environment and the people you work with, it's highly likely in any /tg/ related job you're going to be working with alot of unlikeable sperglords, but the work itself, which would be much more enjoyable. Also the possibility of working alone would be a bonus...

>>46004142
>Surely no one pays for a DM? I mean, wtf?

You underestimate what professionals with deep pockets and a miniscule amount of personal time will pay for.

The hardest part is scheduling really, you (as the pro GM) must be ready to iron out the kinks in the schedules of a group of highly paid professional nerds. The first time at least. If you provide a good enough session, they will make time going forward.

After that, you need to make sure you know what each player wants, and then deliver on that. You run whatever system the party wants, whatever setting they want, and with whatever themes they damn well want. The goal is to keep the players happy, paying, and returning.

Now, billing should be entirely dependent on what the party can pay. If you have a group of construction workers, don't expect to break the bank. If you have a group of lawyers, Sky's the limit. That said, be open to some negotiation, but aim for a reasonable rate first. You can probably charge $20 an hour and not come off as a douchebag, as long as you explain that GMing an original campaign takes lots of prep time and so on and so forth.

>>46004142
Son you need to lay off the question marks.

>>46004277
>sole-proprietor
>shit job

Only if you don't know how to run a successful store.

Snacks, soda, and Magic cards will go a long way to raking in cash if you choose to pick a /tg/ store instead of the far more lucrative liquor store.

>>46005013

But I like asking questions.

>>46005030

Well that depends on the market... Most small niche businesses don't thrive in this economy.

>>46004042
>>46004142
Anon studying in Game Design here. Live in France, but I suppose it ought to be the same in 'Merica.
While you don't necessarily need to have studied in order to become a GD as productions are more valued than studies, there is a LOT you will only learn in a dedicated school.
Now for the stingy part: how much does it cost? Now, one year in my school is "just" worth 8000 euros.
And what is the Entry level pay you get at the very start of your career? 1600/1800 euros.

So if I was you and I wanted to become a GD, I'd rather do it on the side or find friends who can give you a stable job. But otherwise, yeah you're screwed.

>>46004042
internet begging via youtube videos, seems to work for the miniwargaming guys. Don't understand how it works though.

If you can write or even if you can't you could become a tie in author. That seems predicated on networking though.

A life of crime recasting shit. not recommended

There seems to be shit tons of commission painters.

Pretty much any tg job can be done on the side with a 9-5.

>>46005668
Not to be a ignorant but yeah I will be. Surely game design doesn't require a degree? Just come up with mechanics, finetune see if theyre fun. PLAYTEST, balance. Voila!


Kinda random but IIRC Xcom2 was was prototyped on the table top.

>>46005846
Game designers need to know how to WRITE. Specifically how to articulate their ideas. Also how to deal with the mundane aspects - how to arrange copy so that it can be formatted, etc.

>>46005769

Writing would be nice, but I'm looking for full time jobs rather than side jobs. Surely not everyone in /tg/ related businesses do it on the side?

>>46004074
>>46004142


I do know one guy who works casual, but most of his money and time is painting commissions

The best way to ruin your hobbies is to turn them into a job.

>>46006086
Nearly everything tg related is done by people for free. To get paid you have to git gud and I suspect know people. The only tg related job I have ever heard was cruisy(no talent required) and decent paid was wizards magic the gathering in the 90's. (I read that on tg so its probably not even true)

Rick priest started in the mail room at GW.

Everyone around you is a scab and will suck so much shit just to get a sniff at an interesting job. Plus networking, none of these cool jobs ever seem to get advertised, you need to be known and have done shit on your own ie experience ie portfolio ie body of work.

Like if I was you and wanted to escape my job I would build towards another job while keeping the one I already had.

Plus you have all these family money types who act like they did it on their own. So it seems like you can live on it but you actually can't cause the guy lives rent free etc.

But I am depressing maybe an optimist can weigh in.

>>46006073
fair enough

Just work IT, the people are usually nerdy and the job tends to be fairly laid back. Sure you get your crises now and again but in my office of 12 techs serving about 3500 employees we still dick around a lot. Plus once you get to a higher tier position like networking or admin you get to mostly work on long projects. Plus it pays well, there's usually openings, and its not going to be replaced by computers ever.

>>46006529
Not OP, but what sort of qualifications do you need to get into IT? I have a basic grasp of computers, but I don't know what else could prepare me to apply for jobs. I'm getting ready to graduate with a liberal arts degree and I don't really want to starve to death.

>>46004042

Free lance writing is probably the only bet.

Maybe some youtube bullshit, but you'll have to dump so many hours into it before you see a return you'd be better off with some other kind of career training.

Dude its a niche hobby whose time has passed. Pen and paper, wargaming, all of it. The internet age has come. And frankly even in the heyday its not like people were making millions off of it. GW is such an anomaly as far as gaming companies go.

>>46004042
You want to know soul crushing?

Being an office drone isn't soul crushing.

Being unable to make rent is soul crushing. Having to decide between going to the doctor, fixing your car, or eating dinner today is soul crushing. Having to function every day as a human being, despite the constant financial stress that studies have shown decreases your mental ability by as much as going the previous night without sleeping, is soul crushing. Having to ask friends or family or strangers for money because you have literally nothing in your bank account is soul crushing.

/tg/ hobbies are niche as fuck. If you can find a decent job in the hobby, good for you, but don't throw a job that pays the bills away just to dive into an industry that isn't hiring.

>>46009617
It kinda depends, I lucked in from a Game Design degree and from the first half-IT half-Customer service job I got I was able to leverage the experience into a real position. A lot of smaller companies still don't know what they're doing and will hire anyone.

On the other hand if you want do it the right way get your A++ cert and start looking for entry level jobs. Its a bit market-dependent since some places (California) have more IT people than they can shake a stick at while the Northeast US has more openings than people. Public schools are good if you don't have a record cause they tend to be smaller departments and they can't pay as well as corporate so they settle for newbies. IT firms probably aren't bad either but I've never worked for one. Two of my college buddies came up through call center tech support but those are getting rarer in the US.

Basically its about getting a knowledge base and finding the first job, after that just don't be shit and you'll learn as you go. After a couple years experience outweighs formal training.

>>46009968

OP here, I know man. I never said I make any decent money out of my office drone job. I can barely scrape by with my salary... I've gone many days without food to pay for other things. Don't make assumptions so easily.