All Good for the Game

I have an incident in which I am expected to create a feature for a game. I asked for the design specification. In the end, the designer gave me this answer. "This discussion was made by XXX and YYY. And hence they decided this. However, if there are better solutions. Feel free to try. All good for the game."

It is very "noble" for the designer to give such answer. It gives programmer free play. WOW. It will means something else if the above discussion mentioned was not a good discussion, ending up with a solution that in theory is not going to work at all.

However let's look at it this way, the programmer will end up doing all the work and in the end during INDIVIDUAL evaluation, the designer gets all the credit. It is a sad fact for any company that evaluates based on the feature you are in charged and also based on the hours you stay in the company. It ends up that the capable programmers who can finish their work fast end up doing more work but reward is the same with others. Or they finish their work fast, get out of the company and end up having less reward because they do not stay in the company as long as others. Such company policy will kill any capable programmers' passion for the company.

What is wrong with this designer is that he tries to push responsibility. Such actions cause resentment and will the programmer really make a good feature out of it? Or is it because the designer is not capable to create the design and hence need other people to do it? I do not know but it also means that he has abused the programmer's passion for gaming.

We can always say "All good for the game". However the basis is that treatment to all is equal. Evaluation means the most to employees. When evaluation is not equal, any "noble" action like the above mentioned, will most likely cause negative reaction. The designer will seem to be leeching instead of doing his job.

I will not say that it's anyone's fault. Does the problem lie in the company then? Evaluation is done such that the designer thought he is doing the right thing. He is not educated enough to be a real designer to produce good designing specifications or documents. He is not educated enough to think of design. So it makes the programmer wanders what the designer is doing. Designing is his main job but why isn't he doing it?

We need to establish this basis in work that no matter how good any person feels about his job, and how well his relationship with other colleagues is. He needs to be satisfied with the rewards the company is giving him.

For those people who are in management, satisfy your employees first. Evaluation must be equal.

PS: Now I finally understand why job application for designers in gaming requires sample level design / documentation