Your Job...

[weem]

I went back a few pages and didn't see a post about this already so I thought I would ask...

What do you do for a living? Obviously we enjoy map making, or at least maps in general, but for most of us, it is not our full time (or even part time) job, so I was curious what you all do for work!

As for myself, I am a full time web designer/developer.

You?

[Midgardsormr]

I work in the engineering department for a broadcast television station. I maintain the signal and run the programs and breaks. In effect, I sit in a comfy chair and watch TV all day, and I get paid for it!

I'm about to move to Denver and become a full-time art student, though, in preparation for a career in visual effects.

[Gamerprinter]

I pretty much answered this in my "Cleaning up an Old Map..." thread. I run my own graphic design studio in a small town.

The other thing that I do, though is "Gamer Printshop", sort of explains my name here. You may have noticed the Google Ad at the top of the page saying, "Sell Your Map Designs" - that's me.

I print large format full color maps and ship worldwide. I'm in the process of building a stable of cartographic works from members here and throughout the RPG industry. My goal is to have vast collections of maps created by those who will allow me to print and ship them, for a small license fee payment. Of course you can checkout my "signature" so you can get a better idea.

Since I'm my own boss, I constantly search for other activities - like now creating maps for various RPG publishers and anything else I can think of...

[kalmarjan]

Well, I wear a few hats.

I am a chef by trade, I have been cooking since the ripe age of 13.

I freelance on the side for a company called Digital Adventures creating module based rulesets and the occasional map here and there.

Unfortunately, I can really never post WIP of my maps because they fall under NDA's and stuff like that, and the final product is in an online VTT module, so it is hard to put the map out there.

I also juggle this stuff full time while taking care of the new addition to the family.

Sleep is for the weak.

Sandeman

[Badger]

I work at the wonderful company of 3 M ... you know.. the ones that make all the sticky tape and the cute little yellow office sticky pads...

Exciting huh?...

[Anna]

Lots of interesting stuff you all do

I’ve been in military aviation most of my adult life sitting in the pilot seat most of the time. But I’m teaching nowadays.

Mapmaking has been a hobby of mine since I started role playing 1981. It soon became a passion and an obsession to map Greyhawk.

My goal is to be so skilled that I can make enough money to pay for my digital toys. I’m far from there yet but working on it and enjoying every minute of it!

Anna

[Torq]

OK, I'll come clean, I'm a lawyer. Well, advocate, as we call ourselves here in South africa (barrister in the U.K.), which is really just a trial specialist. I do commercial litigation and specialise in intellectual property law, with a specific emphasis on copyright and computer software (beleieve it or not).

Other than that, full time dad with 2 kids, and very into karate. I will be representing my country at our style's world champs in Zurich in July.

Also a gamer, running an "Iron Heroes" game at the moment that has been going since last year. If you havn't played or seen this D20 variant I recommend it absolutely.

Mapping too, when I get the chance. I love this site and the opportunities it presents to better our skills. If you want a visual representation of this site you can have a look at some of my early WIPs and have a good laugh. I have really learned GIMP through this site. Without the help and advice of the good people here, my maps would still lokk like those old ones.

Torq

[HandsomeRob]

I'm a cartographer. I work for a custom cartography company doing maps mainly for textbooks, travel guides, and the occasional National Geographic project. It's a fun job; I get to be creative and do something I like while getting paid for it.

-Rob

[GlennZilla]

Well, I'll take my turn.

Started gaming with the D&D red box. Eventually I ran games in AD&D, 2nd Ed D&D, Gamma World, Marvel Superheroes, Palladium's Robotech, TMNT, PFRP, Heroes Unlimited, Beyond the Supernatural, Rifts, Vampire, Werewolf, Mage, Wraith, Aeon/Alternity, D&D 3/3.5, D20 Modern, and countless one off games with just about every game available.

There was an extended hiatus from RPG games to delve into my minatures habit, playing Napleonics, Ancients (8mm), Warhammer and Warhammer 40k.

I owned my own gaming store for a while, buying out a share of the store I frequented. Eventually we had to close due to the loss of regular customers and the lack of new ones. Curse you deep discount online retailers!

In 1996 I worked for AOL and eventually got into their "CAT" team that handled the reports of inappropriate behavior online. My penchant for salty language has never quite gone away after that. I married a co-worker in that department so she would understand my horrible sense of humor. I went to school part time and became a graphic designer for the Oklahoma Water Resources Board in 2004. Then I moved to a healthcare company for a substantial pay raise. They decided they didn’t want the overhead so they sent their work out and laid me off. Just over a year ago, I got the job I have now working as a software tester doing QA work on the state’s child welfare database.

My current gaming is D&D and D20 Modern mostly. We like to bend the rules for the setting rather than learn new rules for it.

[Robbie]

Wow, a lot of military or military related folks in here...me too.

I'm former Air Force...now I work as a systems engineer for Lockheed Martin contracted to the navy to maintain, run, and develop airplanes for Navy flight simulators...Our current biggest project is Dynamic Hypoxia Training, which is where we get pilots hypoxic while they fly their aircraft in the simulator as opposed to sitting in a low pressure chamber. Its much more realistic.