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	<title>Gaming Mercenaries</title>
	<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com</link>
	<description>A Nexus for Game Development Consultants, Contractors, Freelancers, and Other Soldiers For Hire</description>
	<pubDate>Sat, 20 Jan 2007 00:22:22 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>Grunts vs. Commandos: What Kind of Mercenary Are You?</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=17</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=17#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:55:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brian Hook</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Business</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=17</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Here at Gaming Mercenaries we toss out terms like &#8220;freelancer&#8221;, &#8220;contractor&#8221;, and &#8220;consultant&#8221; all as different ways of saying &#8220;temporary help&#8221;.  When put like that, being a &#8220;consultant&#8221; isn&#8217;t nearly as glamorous as it sounds.  What truly set apart &#8220;temporary help&#8221; from elite consultants are talent and positioning.
On the battlefield of game development, [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=17</wfw:commentRSS>
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		<title>Health Insurance and the Independent Contractor</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=33</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=33#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 23 Dec 2006 23:21:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brian Hook</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Business</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=33</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This post applies pretty much to all independent contractors in America, not just those in the game industry.  Those of you in countries with socialized medicine can skip this article, or read it and be amused while sadly shaking your head.
I would submit that if you asked most independent workers to identify their biggest [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=33</wfw:commentRSS>
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		<title>Interloper or Savior?  The Art of Stepping into an Existing Situation</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=32</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=32#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 20 Dec 2006 14:02:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brian Hook</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Business</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=32</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A common situation contractors face is the &#8220;Oh shit, we really need help right now on this project&#8221; firefighting scenario.  These occur for many reasons &#8212; shifted milestones, employee departures, new feature requirements, or &#8212; and this is the trickiest &#8212; management realizing/assuming/believing that their current staff can&#8217;t get the job done.  Management [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=32</wfw:commentRSS>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Why Hire a Freelancer?</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=30</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=30#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Nov 2006 23:03:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brian Hook</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Business</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=30</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[While this Web site is dedicated to the trials and tribulations of being a freelance game developer, I&#8217;d also like it proves to be a valuable resource for clients and those that are interested in hiring contractors but aren&#8217;t sure how to go about it or whether it makes sense for them.
Contractors are, to a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=30</wfw:commentRSS>
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		<item>
		<title>Should/How Do I Get Started Contracting?</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=31</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=31#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 30 Oct 2006 19:09:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brian Hook</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Business</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=31</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[One of the most common questions I&#8217;m asked from potential contractors is &#8220;How do I get started?&#8221;  When looking at the jump from the relative security and predictablity of a full time position to the unknown stress of a contractor, the first step is very often the hardest.
The two big variables for anyone starting [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=31</wfw:commentRSS>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Earning a wage vs. building wealth: the freelancer&#8217;s dilemma</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=20</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=20#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 26 Oct 2006 12:41:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brian Hook</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Business</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=20</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Freelancers, as a group, are paid to &#8220;do stuff&#8221;.  Sometimes we&#8217;re paid by the hour, other times we&#8217;re paid by the project, but we&#8217;re almost always paid once and then forgotten about.  This is what we do, this is how we operate, and this what we like&#8230;right?
The problem with this model is that [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=20</wfw:commentRSS>
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		<item>
		<title>Introduction: Hardy LeBel</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=29</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=29#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 06 Sep 2006 20:54:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Hardy LeBel</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Gaming Mercenaries</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=29</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I&#8217;ve been in games for over 11 years. Everything I&#8217;ve worked on has shipped and nothing I&#8217;ve done has sucked (for the record: I didn&#8217;t do Oni on PS2).
I&#8217;ve worked at every level of the industry, from freelance writer and illustrator up through all the levels of responsibility as a production designer (individual contributor, team [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=29</wfw:commentRSS>
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		<item>
		<title>Let&#8217;s Do This: About Ed Kuehnel</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=28</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=28#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 24 Aug 2006 21:30:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Ed Kuehnel</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Gaming Mercenaries</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=28</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Okay! Hey! Alright! First post. Not sure where it&#8217;s going to show up but I&#8217;m going to introduce myself just the same. The basics: spent five years as a full time game designer/writer at High Voltage Software. I&#8217;ve freelanced for Telltale Games on a couple of CSI titles, freelanced for a Swedish studio on a [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=28</wfw:commentRSS>
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		<title>Introduction: Rhianna Pratchett, Independent Games Writer</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=27</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=27#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 20 Aug 2006 22:59:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Rhianna Pratchett</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Gaming Mercenaries</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=27</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In my dark and distant past I was once a games reviewer. It was all so easy then. It always is, being on the outside, looking in. Criticism is easy, putting your money (or in my case your potential income) where your mouth is, is a much bumpier ride.
Stories are almost always the last consideration [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=27</wfw:commentRSS>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tools That Make Remote Development Possible</title>
		<link>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=26</link>
		<comments>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=26#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Aug 2006 21:27:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Brian Hook</dc:creator>
		
		<category>Business</category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://gamingmercenaries.com/?p=26</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is based on a blog at my Web site, Hooka Tooka.
One of the big bugaboos for remote developers of all persuasions is the notion that they are difficult to manage, hard to integrate with existing processes and tools, and, to be blunt, less accountable than office workers. Traditional companies are used to the model [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRSS>http://gamingmercenaries.com/?feed=rss2&amp;p=26</wfw:commentRSS>
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