I think I’ve just about had it up to HERE with independent contractors. Part of this project I’ve been working on has gone through no fewer than FOUR contractors, each of which presented great experience, each of which was a working professional, each of which had the PLAN clearly laid out for them, then they ditched us after spending a few weeks doing pretty much nothing. To be fair, there’s been some slippage from other areas of the project which has unjustly affected the contractors getting started like they should, but by the time contractor number four came up to bat, those elements had been taken care of.
So what’s the deal? I admit, there’s a bit of professional pride here, I’ve been a full-time freelancer (and paid reasonably well for it) for almost a decade in the videogame field. I paid my way through school managing freelance gigs and schoolwork at the same time. If you can’t take a gig, you don’t BID on the gig. If you can’t handle the gig, you bow out gracefully and early so you don’t shaft the client (and ruin any chance of future work from that source). Have I been doing this wrong? Is there some unwritten rule of contracting I’ve missed somewhere that says signing a contract is only valid as long as you’re not bored? Have I been a sucker, busting my a** on behalf of clients instead of signing things willy-nilly, then jumping ship when something cooler comes down the line?
Contractors have long had a dicey reputation in videogames, I know at least a couple of producers who’d rather have a root-canal than work with someone on a contract basis. I used to think it was just a matter of personal preference. Now I’m starting to see the light :P And it looks an awful lot like a train…