Bornplayer.com

To be more precise, I will open myself a company. This is a thing I have in mind – we have in mind – from a long time. It started in Romania, when we were dreaming about making a video game and making a company that is going to be fun and productive in the same time.

The idea developed itself somehow, as we moved from home, through Bucharest, to Europe, because one of the problems about working in Europe is that people usually don’t like hiring. The companies want as few as possible obligations. The laws in most of the countries are so protective with the employees that will make the companies very careful about who they are hiring. So getting and established solid contract is very difficult, even more in this industry where you are not sure if you are going to exist tomorrow.

Laura was always more efficient than me in doing this. On the other hand together with the  chance of going beside Laura in our adventures, I always had this problem about getting a place to work. And getting a solid contract… that seems to me impossible to be honest. I don’t think I ever had a cozy working arrangement with someone. So from a certain point of view, I worked until now always thinking about what I am going to do next. Which is exactly the thing that made me decide to open a company. That and also the easiness of the process here in Sweden. Yeah, some will mourn about the taxes, but I don’t really care, since I am trying to get a tranquil life, not to become rich and powerful. I don’t want to risk becoming what I despise.

For me, the advantages of opening up a company, as a sole trader right now (the SRL type, not PFA) is that you get to choose your work, your clients and your working hours. You depend on the clients, not the employer, which gives you a more equal position. You are also allowed to think business, which means that any additional service has to be payed. You define your own limits, more or less, and you get all the benefits and the satisfaction of a think well done.

So there you go:

I love the name. Laura came with Playwork part, I came with Interactive. The logo is not final or official, it is just some screenshot from a free logo generator. 

If you want to know what I am going to do, that is no secret. I will do some consultancy on software project management and production and, of course, game design, video games market assessments etc. I can help hiring and evaluating people’s skills, since I know just the right channels. All those pesty things you need to make a new game or even software, I can just make them happen for you, quite fast. And when if I will ever fail having the best solution, who knows who may help…

Beside that, I will also offer a lot of small services to keep me running – fast simple web design using existing frameworks; photography of course, especially product  photography, not weddings; I will install hardware and and solve software issues that some may have; I will install basic networks; and if someone will ever need my editing and writing abilities, I will do that too. Anything to keep me floating.

The website for the company is in construction and it will be www.pwinteractive.se.

The vision… well the vision is to make enough money to sustain an indie project, the indie project we are thinking about since… forever! We have so many ideas…

Friday was my last day at Simbin, due to the fact that my second 3 months contract expired. It has been and interesting ride in a period which I think is very important for Simbin as a company. As you can read in this press release, there has been a change of ownership, politics, philosophy and a lot of restructuring and focus adjustments. I can’t say I was very happy about everything, but, well, change is rarely easily accepted. But, as long as it is for the best, people will probably learn to appreciate it.

The coolest part is that I met some really nice people and I made some really good friends. My swedish did not improved much due to the international environment, but my understanding of the Swedish social life and social structure has definitely evolved. As a result, I feel more and more Swedish by the day which fills my heart with joy, since I really want to be able to live up to the level of these Scandinavian societies. For that I have much to do and much to learn still.

In the same press release you have probably read that Henrik Roos, the ex CEO and one of the three founders of Simbin, has also moved on pretty much in the same day. Henrik was in my opinion, due to his passion for racing and the energy he has invested in that company, the heart and soul of Simbin. This does not mean that Simbin is breathless now. It only means that it had a change of heart .

I am really proud not only by the fact that I like to think that I made a friend from this man, but also because he chose me to help him in his future plans, which look really cool, not from a gamer perspective, but from a professional and self-engaging point of view. We may be doing something that is really awesome in the future, something that may change the way we are  thinking about cars and driving. I mean, it is about changing the world… And THAT’s really cool. Even if it doesn’t work, I will still remain proud of the things I’ve started doing because it is simply noble. There is no other way to put it.

So yes, I am really happy about working with Henrik Roos and helping him to achieve his vision. I have a lot to learn and a lot of unknown to explore. So, I am off to my new workplace. See you!

… a twitter channel that has the Peter Moulyneux name, but nobody is sure who is the owner in fact, I remembered some of the games ideas I had in the past when I was still thinking that the game industry is the best place to be. Of course, I am still occasionally thinking about designing some new games ideas of my own, since it is one of the things I like to do the most, but it is best not to think about it, because I have better things to do right now.

I always had this tendency of sharing all the ideas I had or have. Sharing is awesome, because you have this enlightening feeling that you are contributing to the good of the world. It is the same habit like with my photos. Why keep them for myself, when I can actually make a better day for someone, even if it is only for my mother.

Still, giving the state of the world, it seems that sharing it is not always the best advice, especially because you may get to the point where you, or your family, depend on it. As a result, I am starting to have this strange proprietary feeling, the fear of having my ideea copied, which I am not very proud of. Because all these ides will get stuck in some notbooks and get lost in the end. While the good ideas can emerge from anywhere, the most successful ideas are those that explode and in the open, like Linux or Minecraft (even if it is not free), for everyone’s benefit. To accomplish something really successful, I, you, really have to think beyond money and self-preservation. We have to think about those benefits that a good game idea will have upon other people.

So…fuck it! Get a job to pay the bills and than share everything you can, if you think it is for the good of the world. Start with your friends, girlfriend, wife, friends of friends than go facebook, twitter and blog about. Me, for example, I cannot develop my ideas right now because I got stuck in the real world and I cannot risk and because… I am not a programmer, but maybe someone else can. And it doesn’t really matter if you have kids or not, or if you work as a street cleaner or a spaceship engineer. It matters that you are sharing all those ideas you have, even if some crap. Someone else can get inspired by them.

And lets be serious, the risk that an evil company will come an steal your idea is non-existent. Big evil companies will never risk investing in something they are not sure it will work. So, nothing to worry there.

I the next posts, ideas!