WIKI WARS: READ THIS BEFORE YOU REVISE OR EDIT!
International Game Developers Association
Back to Credits Main Page PDF Version 8.5
[edit] Forums vs. Wiki
Thank you for taking the time to read this Beta (Draft 8-5) of the IGDA's on-going effort to formalize crediting procedures. This document represents years of friendly but sometimes heated debate and real in-depth analysis of the consequences of one decision versus another. It's possible that, by placing this controversial document on this wiki-board, changes will be made in a sort of back-and-forth, tug-of-war fashion.
Before revising the rulesets to your personal preference, please consider debating the topic first in one of the Wiki Debate Pages below or in the Public Forums. Please feel free to add your own Wiki Debate Page on any new topics not already listed. If you are not authorized to add a debate page directly into the wiki, please make your request to credits@igda.org. In the meantime, you can start debating in the Public Forums.
By debating the topic first, you just might benefit from alternative perspectives that can help you hone your ideas. The Committee reviewed seemingly endless perspectives on every single issue, and the sifting process was quite extensive and required some intense logic.
You would think it would be impossible to get the Committee to agree on such a comprehensive document, but on most issues we were able to form consensus after extraordinary analysis of different points of view and ultimately applying hard tests to each way of thinking, with particular emphasis on various consequences, realities, and the greatest possible reduction of harms and oversights.
Where 100% consensus was not reached, there was respect for the plurality of opinion. We strongly encourage you to seek your own plurality in the debate pages and forums so that only the strongest, most confident changes are made to the ruleset wiki.
[edit] Introduction
In the game industry, it is often said that “you’re only as good as your last game”. Unfortunately, many members of the industry have a hard time proving what their last game was due to the largely arbitrary crediting methods used by their employers.
Far from following a set of coherent, logical crediting standards, game credits are often inconsistent from game to game, even within the same company. Employees are often mislabeled, unlabeled, or left off, though they may have given years of their life to bring a game to market. In fact, a 2006 IGDA Game Writers Special Interest Group survey revealed that 35% of respondents (48 out of 134) either “don’t ever” or “only sometimes” receive official credit for their efforts.
The IGDA Credit Standards Committee is providing this set of guidelines to assist in the crediting process. The mission of the IGDA is to advance the careers of game developers and we believe that employers effectively and accurately assigning credits are crucial to that process.
[edit] About the International Game Developers Association (IGDA)
The International Game Developers Association is a non-profit professional society that is committed to advancing the careers and enhancing the lives of game developers by connecting members with their peers, promoting professional development, and advocating on issues that affect the developer community. For more information on the IGDA, please visit www.igda.org.
( Note: This guide is still in beta form: readers are encouraged to send all feedback to the IGDA Credits Committee. See Appendix IV below. )
