D&D day job

[captainjapan]

I thought it would be too obvious to ask how many of this site's posters are the dungeon masters (rather than only players) of their home games and so I came up with a different question:

How many of us have ever made our living from computer software whether we majored in computer science or not? This includes security, networking, database, game development, and even computer graphics.

I suspect an outsized tech contingent is present on these boards and in the hobby, generally.

[Deleted]

I am a former software developer but no longer code for income.

[cadriel]

My current title is database administrator although it also involves a good bit of software development as well. I have a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and have worked in software since 2003.

[tetramorph]

I am not a computer professional, although I love learning about the history and development of computational technology.

I am a theologian with a background in the liberal arts and humanities.

My only experience nearing computer programming is that I did very well in my logic and formal logic training. Love that stuff.

Love math and I probably would have been pretty good at it but I feel like my teachers made it dry and inscrutable in my formative years. Love it now, but feel my deficit.

My other hobby is music.

Thanks for the question.

[muddy]

I teach philosophy at a small Midwest college. Teaching formal logic to engineers and programmers was one of the easiest parts of the job ever.

[tdenmark]

I teach art at a university, but I made my career as an artist and art director in video games. So I guess that counts as a computer professional? It is intensely more technical than drawing pretty pictures.

[Desparil]

According to the broad definition you gave, I put yes. I'm a statistician actually, but this is what my work looks like, so if you count computer graphics then I figure you'd count what I do as well.

[flightcommander]

I've been in tech for 30 years, although my university work was in comparative literature. I contain multitudes!

[tombowings]

In high school, I was an intern at a (now defunct) GPU development startup, where I learned Java. That was when I decided I had no interest in professional computing.

Instead, I teach English literature, academic writing, and western civ at an international school in Eastern Europe. I also run a small business (very small; 6 employees) that that teaches business English at local branches of international firms. In my free time, I write novels, primarily for my own enjoyment.

[Punkrabbitt]

I worked a long string of retail management jobs until I took a ten year detour into working with people who suffered from both developmental and psychological disorders. I now work as a medical biller.

[derv]

Jan 28, 2022 14:46:31 GMT -6 captainjapan said:

How many of us have ever made our living from computer software whether we majored in computer science or not? This includes security, networking, database, game development, and even computer graphics.

I suspect an outsized tech contingent is present on these boards and in the hobby, generally.

You didn't answer your own query.

I suspect it will be difficult to preclude elements of software experience no matter what your occupation. It has pervaded modern industry/occupational practices, including graphic arts, engineering, accounting, education, music, distribution, finance, to name a few.

[Deleted]

I never did work in IT, no, but I grew up with computers and figured out how to access inappropriate content on my school's protected server, which didn't help my grades or reputation much but I would do it all over again.

[Aralaen]

I am a museum educator semi-specializing in Arms and Armor education.

[rsdean]

I had a summer job as a Fortran programmer in 1981, but have not been a computer professsional at any time since then.

[jeffb]

I've had all sorts of jobs in my lifetime. But for the past 24 years I've been in Healthcare- Administration mainly, but also clinical work with Alzheimer's patients.

I was all about computers (and spent thousands on custom PCs) until I became a Father (23 years ago)- which changed my views on many things. I lost any serious interest in technology and I'd go so far to say I slowly became disgruntled by technology. I couldn't tell you specs of the laptop in front of my face right now or the phone I own.

[tombowings]

Jan 29, 2022 8:38:27 GMT -6 jeffb said:

I've had all sorts of jobs in my lifetime. But for the past 24 years I've been in Healthcare- Administration mainly, but also clinical work with Alzheimer's patients.

I was all about computers (and spent thousands on custom PCs) until I became a Father (23 years ago)- which changed my views on many things. I lost any serious interest in technology and I'd go so far to say I slowly became disgruntled by technology. I couldn't tell you specs of the laptop in front of my face right now or the phone I own.

I had a similar experience after my daughter was born.

[Finarvyn]

Teacher. Seems that a lot of us play RPGs.

[captainjapan]

derv said:

You didn't answer your own query.

fixed.
I'm a television engineer. I chose "other", because I came into it before everything went digital. Same with education. I majored in film production, but when I graduated we were still sending film to a chemical lab and making cuts with splicing blocks.

I don't code, but I thought it was interesting that the Minn/ St. Paul guys (Arneson, Wesley, Megarry, etc.) all went into computer game development in the eighties. Coleco employed Wesley, Jenelle Jaquays, and Dennis Sustare. Gary wouldn't have had any reason to enter the field, since print games kept him busy through the home computing revolution. Brian Blume's obituary says that he became a computer tech of some kind even though he was trained to do tool and die. I don't know about Rob Kuntz. Jon Peterson didn't start as a writer of books, but as a writer of code. I'll bet the list goes on.

I must say I'm delighted to see so many teachers in the ranks, here. I was only sure that Fin was one. Tim Kask also taught for a time.

[The Wanderer]

I was SQL Database programmer for 10 years. But that ended around 5 years ago.

Select
      Player_Name,
      Edition
From
      Dungeonsanddragons.db
Where
      Edition = 'OD&D'

[Zenopus]

I trained as a biologist, work in an adjacent field.

[geoffrey]

full-time librarian: 1992-2008
part-time real estate agent: 2008-present
part-time substitute teacher (mostly high school): 2012-present

I also spent many years as a part-time tutor (middle school and high school).

[talysman]

NO... but I used to be. Did tech support for a national internet provider for a couple years, followed by a nine-month stint doing tech support for Apple. Have forgotten most of that over the years.

[retrorob]

Nope. I have a master's degree in History. For some time I've tried to pursue the academic career, struggling to complete my PhD, but eventually I had to give up. After some years of copywriting, now I'm a clerk at a big medical company.

[tdenmark]

Jan 29, 2022 8:59:28 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Teacher. Seems that a lot of us play RPGs.

My first Dungeon Master was the middle-school science teacher. He was fantastic at running the game.

[skars]

Jan 29, 2022 15:10:19 GMT -6 tdenmark said:

Jan 29, 2022 8:59:28 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Teacher. Seems that a lot of us play RPGs.

My first Dungeon Master was the middle-school science teacher. He was fantastic at running the game.

It was a trip to see one of our history teachers at GamesCaucus when I was a teen.

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2022 12:02:36 GMT -6 retrorob said:

Nope. I have a master's degree in History. For some time I've tried to pursue the academic career, struggling to complete my PhD, but eventually I had to give up. After some years of copywriting, now I'm a clerk at a big medical company.

I too wanted to work the academe but never managed to. Instead, I recently purchased my PhD in Ancient History from Miskatonic University. It cost $5.99. Not just a joke, more an acknowledgement of past pain and terrifying furtive whisperings, shrill piping, and crazed drumming from beyond the void - I think I'll frame it!

[stevemitchell]

Retired; spent over 30 years as a proposal writer, editor, and manager in the aerospace and defense industries. My brilliant son handles all my IT needs.

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2022 15:10:19 GMT -6 tdenmark said:

Jan 29, 2022 8:59:28 GMT -6 Finarvyn said:

Teacher. Seems that a lot of us play RPGs.

My first Dungeon Master was the middle-school science teacher. He was fantastic at running the game.

Mine was a substitute teacher. School librarian often participated, too. 

[Deleted]

Not a computer professional. Not even really a computer amateur. Hard to imagine going back to the world before modern wordprocessing. But that's about the extent of my knowledge.

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2022 22:51:40 GMT -6 @dungeonmonkey said:

Not a computer professional. Not even really a computer amateur. Hard to imagine going back to the world before modern wordprocessing. But that's about the extent of my knowledge.

Indeed. Especially when many of our posts carry the tag "posted on mobile" every day on here. Did any of you guys imagine we'd be carrying around little Star Trek pocket computers every day of our adult lives at some point when you were growing up? I hoped and dreamed we would but actually seeing it manifest is wild.