Video Game Testing

[Audity]

I have had my mind all over the place as far as careers go. From Information Technology to Health Administration to Financial Accounting. And now I am interested in being a Game Tester.

I have read from many online sites that it can net you up to 80-100+ dollars an hour. But according to that Wikipedia article, it says solely $8-$15, no questions asked, basically. What's the deal here?? I'm going to speak to an advisor in Digital Media at UCF on the 4th, but until then I was wondering if anyone here has any non-biased informative experiences with yourselves or friends/relatives. I also heard at another place that 10-20 dollars an hour can be made for someone without a college degree, and upwards of those previously-mentioned high rates can be earned with a degree.

[Ramaniscence]

EA Tiburon in Orlando gives something like $12.50 an hours, but the hours are iffy, and they make nothing but sports games there. So essentially you spend an 8-12 hour day playing Madden, or NASCAR, or Tiger Woods...non-stop.

Some people can do it, some people can't.

[zircon]

There was a book written on this topic recently illustrated by Gabe from Penny Arcade. I've seen it at a few different Gamestops; ask around about it. I flipped through and it seemed comprehensive, realistic, and helpful.

I do think it's an absolutely terrible idea for a career. Temp job? Maybe. But it's barely better at working at a Wendy's flipping burgers, and that's just... not really something you can expect to do for a career and make anything other than a poverty-level salary.

[Sil]

What would be interesting to find out is how it might lead to other careers in the game industry, be it music, programming, design, etc.

[The Damned]

If that's the case, you would be better off trying for those jobs rather than being a game tester. I'd be more likely to hire someone that applied for the artist or musician job that someone I hired to pound buttons all day. And even if I did see someone that looked like they might be good enough, I'd still tell them to apply like everyone else. It's only fair.

Here's a consideration: when you have a PC game, or even a console game, that crashes for no reason, does it bother you? I mean, do you get angry or frustrated, anything like that? Now, imagine that game crashes every ten minutes. And you go through your game, crashing and restarting, all day, for weeks at a time.

But wait! It's gets better! Now, add in the fact that every time something happens, you have to fill out paperwork! That's right, paperwork for a video game. No, you're not playing Office Manager 2008. Write down and describe what you were doing when the game crashed or froze or you fell out of the level and into that damn annoying endless space underneath the map... whatever. For each and every time it happens. All day. All week.

Other factors to consider are:

-They can fire you at any time, for any reason, and there is nothing you can do about it. It's not a secure line of work. They might not even tell you how long the job is for. Just come in each day until we say otherwise

-There is no promotion or advancement. It's a limited time job, at best. You will not become Head Game Tester or anything like that

-Most places will make you sign a NDA, so you can't tell your friends what awesome new game you were talking about. If they find out you did, kiss any chance of future testing jobs goodbye. No one wants a blabbermouth telling anyone about anything, unless it's part of an ad campaign, Oh, and don't even think about taking pictures or even a copy of the game home... I think one guy tried that, and they "escorted" him out of the building. In front of he rest of us. I never saw him again after that. I don't think they killed him, I mean. He just never appeared at any of the other jobs I got into

-They might supply some pizza. Or not. Bring your own lunches, and don't expect much in the way of awesome treatment. You're just some guy off the street, not a real employee. Oh, and lunch and breaks are short and limited. Don't think you can go out for Thai food and be back in time. Like I said, bring a lunch

-You will almost never meet anyone that actually works on the game in person. So if you think that being a game tester will let you meet your favorite composer/designer/artist/whomever... forget it. You're not going to meet Miyamoto. Instead, you will get to talk with some shlup in a t-shirt and he talks to someone else, who then talks to the game company.

-You might be lucky enough to actually test said game(s) in the actual company building... but don't bet on it. They might just set up a temp office somewhere, discretely and quietly. This is so that no one has an idea that they have a new game out at that point. Most companies like to keep things secret until they think it's ready to be unveiled.

-When it's all done and over, you will have made less than just working at a fast food place. Seriously. You will have made less than working at a fast food place. And it's over now. The fast food place would have not only taught you how to make a burger my way, right away, but it would have also taught you that work sucks, and every job after the burger joint will seem better in comparison

I'm basing this on not only my own, but also other peoples experiences in testing that I've met and talked to. It's not some awesome non-stop gaming party with hot chicks and free food and drinks all night and day. It's a job. You are not there to have fun, you are there to do what they tell you and only that. Do not expect to make money, a career, or a good time out game testing.

My advice is only do it if you really, really want your foot in the door in the video game industry. Otherwise, it's not worth it at all. The best you can hope for is occasionally being one of the first people outside of the developer to play a game, and sometimes, you might get some free stuff. I got a t-shirt from their last game.

[Culturekoi]

Something about playing a bug-ridden, glitchy game for hours... and hours.... and hours... and hours on end (that you might or might not even like, I dunno if you can choose what games you're testing but I think not) and document everything wrong with it.... It just seems like that kind of job that would make you want to delete any accounts you may have on game-related forums, unplug all your consoles and delete any games from your computer, and pawn them all off to buy some pretty, pretty drapes to distract you from the fact that you aren't even making a living wage.

[Sil]

It's only fair.

You'd be a rare breed of management.

Cronyism isn't just reserved for politicians, you know.

[Audity]

Well, I've already got the concept down that a job is a job, which is why I was hoping there was some college degree that I could get which would make me able to snag a decent paying job while at the same time not being too grunt-worky.

I mean, if a job is a job, and I don't see practically any as being particularly enjoyable, then there's no really complaining about indecisiveness. It just seemed to me that video game testing could let me give feedback about the game, because I very much think I would be able to suggest really awesome features for games that I rarely see implemented. I guess if game testing is literally the garbage heap of the gaming field, then I should use college to gain position in some field that would accccttually let me achieve that desire to suggest features.

[ifirit]

That's what GAME PRODUCERS are for. Even if the testing company were to take your ideas seriously, they'd never reach the developers before the final product shipped out. It's a dead end road for providing ideas. Game producers are the ones to plan out the ideas which are shared with the directors and programmers to determine what is conceivible, feasible and entertaining. A good and efficient producer never has to write a piece of code. Their job involves people and resource management, but it also allows for creative outlets when games are in their conception stages.

If I were you, I'd look into a degree in Business Management, with a focus on Multimedia Communications or Commercial Media.

[TheLeviathan]

I was a tester at THQ 2 summers in a row a few years ago. It paid $9.50/hr, 40 hrs per week. Also lots of overtime when the game was winding down to the finish. At first it was alright, but playing the same level 24/7 let alone the same game 24/7 gets really old FAST. Don't get me wrong, it was a great summer job and much better than retail or fast food in my opinion, but I would definitely not make it my career.

A lot of places hire only temporary anyway (THQ average was about a year, and then some people became permanent while most quit or got laid off). I've never heard of any places paying $80-100/hr, but then again, what do I know. I just highly doubt it. So long story short, if you know you won't get bored out of your mind, and those hourly wages you mentioned are actually true, then you might as well try it out.

Also, as far as far as my testing was concerned, we gave no input whatsoever about ideas we had. We only wrote up bug reports for the developers to fix. It was pretty much the lowest level in the game development chain.

[Guy In Rubber Suit]

-There is no promotion or advancement. It's a limited time job, at best. You will not become Head Game Tester or anything like that

Not true. I test for THQ, not in Augora like TheLeviathan but in Phoenix. The branch out here is brand new, started up in January of this year and most of everyone, outside of the test leads were contract testers and several now became official THQ testers or test leads. Sure the vast majority of us are still contract but there are opportunities.

-Most places will make you sign a NDA, so you can't tell your friends what awesome new game you were talking about. If they find out you did, kiss any chance of future testing jobs goodbye. No one wants a blabbermouth telling anyone about anything, unless it's part of an ad campaign, Oh, and don't even think about taking pictures or even a copy of the game home... I think one guy tried that, and they "escorted" him out of the building. In front of he rest of us. I never saw him again after that. I don't think they killed him, I mean. He just never appeared at any of the other jobs I got into

That's true for any video game development related job. The companies are very protective of their secrets and IP and don't want them to be leaked. Sure it sucks you can't really talk about it but it can be fun to add to the mystery, makes people more interested in it.

-They might supply some pizza. Or not. Bring your own lunches, and don't expect much in the way of awesome treatment. You're just some guy off the street, not a real employee. Oh, and lunch and breaks are short and limited. Don't think you can go out for Thai food and be back in time. Like I said, bring a lunch

Neither does any other job. Depending on the location you can find plenty of restaurants around the area. For us at least the company sometimes provides food depending on the situation like a celebration or as a treat for working so much bloody overtime.

-You will almost never meet anyone that actually works on the game in person. So if you think that being a game tester will let you meet your favorite composer/designer/artist/whomever... forget it. You're not going to meet Miyamoto. Instead, you will get to talk with some shlup in a t-shirt and he talks to someone else, who then talks to the game company.

True, though it depends on the location. Rainbow Studios is located directly below us and sometimes they visit to check up on the game that we're testing for them. And sometimes guys from companies from out of state fly in to check up as well. They're not video game celebrities but you can sort of mingle with them. I doubt they'd be too pleased if you're trying to grovel at their feet to get a job.

-You might be lucky enough to actually test said game(s) in the actual company building... but don't bet on it. They might just set up a temp office somewhere, discretely and quietly. This is so that no one has an idea that they have a new game out at that point. Most companies like to keep things secret until they think it's ready to be unveiled.

Again true, but that's because the game testing is usually sent off to the publisher who provides the testers. If a development company is big enough, they employ their own testers. I know that Volition has a testing group that's pretty big and I'm sure larger companies like BioWare also have their own.

-When it's all done and over, you will have made less than just working at a fast food place. Seriously. You will have made less than working at a fast food place. And it's over now. The fast food place would have not only taught you how to make a burger my way, right away, but it would have also taught you that work sucks, and every job after the burger joint will seem better in comparison

I don't know how much fast food employees get paid in your area but they're just above minimum wage. I get paid $9.50/hour and I'm guaranteed 40 hours a week plus over time if I so choose. It's not the greatest pay and it can be a bit to live off of especially if you're California or some other area with a high living standard. Besides I'd much rather work as a game tester than flip burgers because I can at least go to a game store and point out my name in the credits on a game that I tested.

I'm basing this on not only my own, but also other peoples experiences in testing that I've met and talked to. It's not some awesome non-stop gaming party with hot chicks and free food and drinks all night and day. It's a job. You are not there to have fun, you are there to do what they tell you and only that. Do not expect to make money, a career, or a good time out game testing.

Again true but you're very cynical about this. It can easily be a stepping stone into other things. Hell a guy just recently got hired on as a programmer for security networks and the guy who hired him was also a tester of many years. Many game designers and other developers started off as testers. It might not be as common as before but it happens.

My advice is only do it if you really, really want your foot in the door in the video game industry. Otherwise, it's not worth it at all. The best you can hope for is occasionally being one of the first people outside of the developer to play a game, and sometimes, you might get some free stuff. I got a t-shirt from their last game.

I've gotten free games to the ones I've tested. And gotten more free games from the car pool incentive program that we have going on. Again this might because THQ is taking this seriously but it sounds like you had a pretty shit experience. Working here I've gained insight to how developers operate and I even have access to design documents which is fantastic to look through and gives you an idea what goes into a game.

The hours can be long and it can be tedious. The games are extremely buggy but you're not there to play. You're there to test which is a different mindset than playing a game. At the same time, I've met plenty of wonderful people and I'm having a great time. Granted I don't want to do this forever but I definitely like this job and would gladly take this over a fast food job.

Oh and about input into games, there is some but don't expect much. Most developers are not receptive however some will ask for input especially if the game is still in the early stages that they can make some changes.

[The wingless]

Alright, step aside you fucking posers. Wingless is gonna make fucking proclamation.

Now, I don't exactly know what "game tester" entails, but I can tell that QA was basically *the* launching pad for careers into other departments for Midway. Less so for Pandemic from what I've seen, but there's so much room for upward and lateral advancement, it's criminal (and enviable, comapared to other departments like Artists who can only go to Senior, then Creative Director, then they're done).

QA isn't terrible. Yes, there's crunch involved but it beats the ever fucking shit out of doing anything else on a crunch. QA also affords you the ability to talk directly (or at the very least, indirectly) with the powers-that-be, which is the reason so many in QA advance elsewhere.

It's a solid idea. Do you have any leads on where you want to test?

[Arek the Absolute]

I always wanted to do testing for games, but I hear from people that have done testing that you need to live very close to the area that the testing is being done at.

Sucks for us in Sacramento

[Audity]

It's a solid idea. Do you have any leads on where you want to test?

My school (Orlando, FL, UCF) actually has a video game production college. Too bad it's fucking owned (pwned?) by EA, basically (the college touts EA-affiliation as some sort of positive trait). Makes me want to stear clear from that place. Instead of crappo EA, I'd much rather work for Nintendo o' tha USA. Yo. Fuck. ok anyway that's just my immediate idea.

It feels like half the people on the internet say game testing is a horrid job, and the other half says it pays really well. For now, from feedback here and elsewhere, it's not something much to consider anymore, and I should just talk to that advisor about the general Digital Media offerings that I could get myself into.

Game producer might be nice, actually. Telling people what to do is awesome, as everyone knows. It's just that I thought my ideas would sound so logical to people, that even if I was "merely a game tester", they would pull through to the very end. Then again, people are stupid.....i mean probably won't care since the person I'd be telling would probably be like "oh, ok dude, sounds great" and then think about dying 'cuz he hates his job. or something. to think pessimistically.

Guess I should bring this link out -> http://gametesterguide.net/?hop=atark

Basically where I got most of my positive outlook from. At least it's presented (somewhat) better than a lot of other retarded game tester guide preaching sites.

[DrumUltimA]

just make sure you tighten up the graphics before your super hot boss comes in with another game she needs designed

[CC Ricers]

Location is obviously important for a gaming job, but even more a bigger factor to consider the travel for a job like QA. What are your travel options? I missed out on a QA job opp because with my busy schedule I couldn't plan my way to an interview at their office 15 miles via train, followed by 6 more miles on a finicky bus route. But having worked with undocumented shitty bug-riddled webpage code for hours during some days, I think I could've handled it.

[Guy In Rubber Suit]

Guess I should bring this link out -> http://gametesterguide.net/?hop=atark

Basically where I got most of my positive outlook from. At least it's presented (somewhat) better than a lot of other retarded game tester guide preaching sites.

That link is pure bullshit. Never, ever, EVER trust a website or any place for that matter where you have a job and you have to pay for something. The company should pay for everything you need to get started.

I don't know much about game producer but good luck with that one.

[Fenrir]

My understanding is that game testing isn't all it's cracked up to be. You get a buggy game and have to write detailed reports about what doesn't work, why it doesn't, when it doesn't, how you made it not work, and if you're good at what you do, recommendations on how to fix it.

If you're looking for ways to start hating video games, testing is a surefire solution.

[Trenthian]

TL;DR

QA is where they put good and talented people, to store them for later use.

QA wears you down, while you wait for someone upstairs to either quit, or get fired.

If you have enough talent, sometimes they will outright replace someone if you manage to stand out properly.

Problem is, QA is a very, very difficult place to be after 6 months. You become jaded towards games, and you lose a lot of sleep due to the hours.

I have worked QA for 4 1/2 of my 6 years in the industry.

I moved from QA to production technician after applying several times.

PROMOTION IS NOT for everyone.

Of the people in QA, not everyone is talented in some other area outside of finding bugs. These people have less of a shot of being promoted save for anything but lead tester and futures in upper QA management.

Of those QA testers that do have that extra something, if they suck at bug writing, they get it the hardest. After a project wraps up, the company will usually only keep a handful of its best and brightest testers around.

People they keep are those who still after months of grueling work never complain, do not talk much, and sit down and do their job tirelessly.

The rest are let go or put on call through the temp agency they were hired through. Complicating the matter is that there are so limited the number of so called Permenant positions that they have to put even some of thier really great people on call.

During my four 1/2 years as a tester, I had been on call twice, one was between Job A and Job B (A long time ago before Job B bought Job A)

and the other was when I got to Job D, I was on call for a week before they called me back and I never went on call again.

So these golden testers who manage to cheat the odds and stay on active duty will be the ones considered for futures in QA's upper management.

Of these Golden testers, some of them are crafty enough to in a non invasive way get their name and or talent out there into the eyes of producers and developers.

A place like Job D is more of a publisher and as such, you are a lot less likely to get jobs involving direct development such as art, programming, sound or anything that goes into the game. You might make a suggestion in a bug (which they dont like you to do) on how to do something better in the game, and get a little attention that way from he actual develper, but I have never seen anyone actually get a job this way.

At a publisher, the jobs you will be shooting for are Associate producer (entry level outside of QA)

Marketing Assistant (Entry level)

Marketing art Brand associate (Entry level)

There are other jobs that are on the radar, from QA at a publisher.

Public relations positions have their entry level and anything associated with brand management is what you will find at a publisher.

At a developer, things are MUCH different.

A lot of Developers routinely keep a team of about 7 - 10 testers per project that are looking for stuff in a smoke test sort of way. Their job is to find the biggest stuff right away, things that crash the game.

You wil be going into levels assigned by an associate producer, or even a lead tester, employed by the developer, or commuting from the publisher themself.

Once in these levels, you will smoke test them. This means you check to see that you can get into gameplay, exit rinse repeat with every level. In the beginning there are usually debug cheats here to help facilitate this. Later on you wil literally have to know the game inside and out and do run throughs as fas as you can. Sometimes the publisher handles run throughs later on and the developer side testers look for more advanced A priority bugs. Crashes, Stuck gameplay. Falling out of world bugs that prevent level completion.

To get into a developer as a tester is a LOT harder.

But once there, if you do your job and do it well, you have an AMAZING oportunity to show the people who make games what you have got, be it programming, producer skills, Art skills, website skills, level and gameplay design skills.

Talk with your immediate NON-publisher leader( such as the developer's associate producer and if possible skip him and make friends with an actual producer), and give him your portfolio. Remember to be polite and not too pushy. My original team at Job A all moved on to development. I was foolish and went to Job B instead of staying.

Whatever you do, SHOOT FOR LONGEVITY at the company you work at. The longer you are there, the more loyalty ou build. People like familiar faces, and are more likely to pay attention to someone who they remember as always being friendly.

I hope this has been insightful.

SALARIES IN GAME TESTING

ENTRY LEVEL

Development houses will pay less than Publishers.

in the 9 - 11 dollars an hour area with about 8 - 12 hours a day, sometimes more hours right off the start. As a project gets near completion get ready fo 6 back to back 14 hour days.

Developer Publishers will pay more than Developers

10 - 12 $ an hour. Same schedual as development QA.

PUBLISHERS the big guys- pay the best in QA.

10 -14 an hour.

Everything else is up to you and pays better.

Here is a development house job flow chart

This is not to be taken as a empirical source, but a guideline on where the different sides of the game industry lead.

QA Tester -> (Choose one: Production, Developement, Resources)

Production flow chart

Associate -> Producer -> Exec prod. (college req'd)

Development ( Art, Level Design, Gameplay designer, Programmer, Game Engineer, Writer)

Tester -> Sold Soul -> Level one of the catgory -> level 2 -> level 3 -> Senior

Resources (IT, HR, Admin, Web, PR)

These places are less flow charty, and more targeted. You find these jobs and go after them. There are less of these than any other job in the other two categories.

Publisher house flow charts.

QA tester level 1 -> (Choose one: QA, Production, Marketing, Admin.)

QA: There are multiple departments to Publisher house QA. General QA, Technical requirements group (TRG), Standardization and Foriegn language Testing (FLT) The non-general QA branches accept testers of all walks, be it tester level 1, 2 or captains based on interviews and tenure.

Flow cart

Tester level 1 -> Tester 2 (the so called permenant. this is where you might want to consider looking for ways onto other departmens if that is your goal) -> Captain (Not an official title, or rise in pay, but a lot of companies have captains that act as assistant lead testers, these are the guys being groomed for a lead tester position) -> Lead Tester -> QA test Manager -> QA Supervisor -> QA Floor Manager (college) -> QA Director (College)

Production flow chart:

Tester level 2 & up -> Associate producer - Producer -> So forth

I dont know much about marketing or the other parts of the developer, save for that it is lot easier to get those jobs if you are a tester at the company, because they WILL look at your resume before someone out there on the internet, or walk in. Unless a higher up is showing nepotism to a friend or outside source.

But there is an abridged trenthian guide to QA in development and publishing.

[Ramaniscence]

My school (Orlando, FL, UCF) actually has a video game production college. Too bad it's fucking owned (pwned?) by EA, basically (the college touts EA-affiliation as some sort of positive trait). Makes me want to stear clear from that place. Instead of crappo EA, I'd much rather work for Nintendo o' tha USA. Yo. Fuck. ok anyway that's just my immediate idea.

It feels like half the people on the internet say game testing is a horrid job, and the other half says it pays really well. For now, from feedback here and elsewhere, it's not something much to consider anymore, and I should just talk to that advisor about the general Digital Media offerings that I could get myself into.

Game producer might be nice, actually. Telling people what to do is awesome, as everyone knows. It's just that I thought my ideas would sound so logical to people, that even if I was "merely a game tester", they would pull through to the very end. Then again, people are stupid.....i mean probably won't care since the person I'd be telling would probably be like "oh, ok dude, sounds great" and then think about dying 'cuz he hates his job. or something. to think pessimistically.

Guess I should bring this link out -> http://gametesterguide.net/?hop=atark

Basically where I got most of my positive outlook from. At least it's presented (somewhat) better than a lot of other retarded game tester guide preaching sites.

What's that place that made Geist for GameCube? They're here too...somewhere.

Edit: n-Space

[suzumebachi]

wow game testing sounds like a seriously shitty job. and to think all this time i thought that's what i wanted to do.

afk; dreams shattered, dropping out of school, contemplating suicide, etc

[Strike911]

I've heard horrible stories from my professor's experiences with people that got testing jobs. Video game testing is a tough job. Testers are the footstools of the game development process. By testing don't assume it's like taste testing to see if it's fun... it's all about the technical crap. But for all the hassle you go through, you can get your door into a real job at the studio. So it's kind of worth it. Sure you could go for an intern opportunity and avoid all the tester job altogether (which in my opinion is probably a better route for getting into the industry).

But those poor testers, for instance, if a game has issues with people running into a wall and falling through it, the tester will quite literally spend 8 hours trying to glitch the game and report back to the devs what they experienced. It's not quite the fun every one romanticizes it to be. It rarely matters about your subjective opinion on the title, or what good feature could be added. The developers want testers to make sure there game is relatively glitch free, so they have you test any glitches and bugs that are in the game all the damn day.

So yeah it is a sucky job generally.

But while it may not pay great and is pretty tedious, it's a really good way to get your foot in the door with a game developer. Assuming your learning something valuable outside of the development studio that they might need one day. One day you could use that experience to jump into the development scene or even get a little experience with how the game industry works.

but please, let these words stay with you...

Testers are the developers foot stools. I kid you not. Testers work really hard for often very low pay and are doing very tedious, boring work testing glitches and bugs. It is a job. Video games just aren't fun when you HAVE to do it, much less when you aren't playing the game the way it's intended to be played by the consumer. Developers already know their game will probably be entertaining and fun, so they don't need "levels of fun testers" they need "functionality testers" to make sure the damn game works in the first place.

EDIT: Also just wanted to say some jobs will clearly be better than others though. I would imagine fun, new studios that aren't gigantic corporate mongaloids would probably have a more lax and inviting, and maybe even fun atmosphere for testers, while others clearly would be like sweatshops where instead of sewing machines you have tvs and xbox360s. j/k j/k

[shikigami]

its not that its a sucky job, its that people make it out to be an awesome job and when they realize how much actual work is involved they go "man i thought i was going to play video games all day."

[The Pezman]

EDIT: Also just wanted to say some jobs will clearly be better than others though. I would imagine fun, new studios that aren't gigantic corporate mongaloids would probably have a more lax and inviting, and maybe even fun atmosphere for testers, while others clearly would be like sweatshops where instead of sewing machines you have tvs and xbox360s. j/k j/k

QFT.

QF10Char.

[chumble spuzz]

Hey, Audity

I am not/haven't been a tester, but I've worked at two developers over the past 2-ish years (first at Midway-Surreal, currently at Sucker Punch). It seems to me that testing is, as has been mentioned previously, the burger-flipping of the video game industry. We didn't have much of a QA department at Surreal, but we did have beer and pizza every friday evening, and when we did get a couple QA guys, they weren't denied any of either. I never took a tester out for lunch (for lack of the opportunity), but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to it. It's not the most glamorous position to hold, but I can easily see a tester getting a jr. designer position (or however the ladder works at wherever one is testing) if he rocks hard enough.

If you want to test games*, I'd say just find a place that makes the kind(s) of game(s) you like to play and see if you can get on there. If you like what you're working on, it's easier and more fun to be awesome at it, and thus easier to get a leg up to a design position, which, if I'm reading you correctly, seems like the job you want. QA is not a bad gig (or at least it doesn't seem like one to me), but when you compare it to all the other positions in the industry, yeah, it kinda is. In my experience, they're just the guys at the office who get paid the least.

*Make sure you want to, because, more than likely, when you come home from work the last thing you'll want to do is play a videogame.