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You're in a job interview with the Hearthstone game director. "What's your favorite game of all time and WHY?" If you say, "Oh I have a bunch of favorites," you will not get the job. If you say "Hearthstone" there will be rolling of eyes. What do you say?

You're in a job interview with the Hearthstone game director. "What's your favorite game of all time and WHY?" If you say, "Oh I have a bunch of favorites," you will not get the job. If you say "Hearthstone" there will be rolling of eyes. What do you say?

  • Matt London
    Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
    You're in a job interview with the Hearthstone game director. "What's your favorite game of all time and WHY?" If you say, "Oh I have a bunch of favorites," you will not get the job. If you say "Hearthstone" there will be rolling of eyes. What do you say?

    • Matt London
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      AND WHY

      • paulsworkintwit
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @themattlondon i genuinely said hearthstone at the time because when i interviewed it was my at the moment obsession lmao i also listed nights into dreams because heheh flying, and it was a game that grabbed me as a kid i'll be honest i did not put very much thought into this question...

        • Matt London
          Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @paulsworkintwit Spoiler: you can’t fail this question. It’s just to get to know your personality and taste. But it can be illuminating.

    • hsdecktech
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon I’d cheat the answer a bit like this: I’ve loved tons of games across all genres, but my favorite two genres are CCG and RPG. Before Hearthstone, my CCG of choice was mtg, and it was my favorite living game. My favorite RPG is Final Fantasy X, and it’s my favorite box game.

      • Matt London
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @hsdecktech Whyyyyy

        • hsdecktech
          Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @themattlondon I’ll type something up for you.

      • hsdecktech
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @themattlondon The why is long, but part of it has to be that both came to me in my formative years. They’re both masterpieces of the genre. (Then an explanation of how they are—I’ll DM you if you want to chat more about it).

    • WickedGood
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon Katamari Damacy. Everything about the game is pure joy: The soundtrack, the bright colors, the increasingly absurd objects that you collect, the little interludes with the King of All Cosmos.

      • Matt London
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @WickedGood Love this. And the king is great.

    • TinMan354
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon I was in this exact situation and said Hades. So many great things to say about that game. Great moment to moment combat, impactful choices during the run, and when you died it never felt that bad since you got interesting story progression. And so much more I can’t fit here

      • Matt London
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @TinMan354 You’re so lucky hades had come out. Ez

    • Cora
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon Pokemon. But also I told Ben Lee that I loved Titan Quest at one point, and he said he hated it. So there definitely was a wrong answer.

      • Matt London
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @SongbirdCora Classic. I said Final Fantasy 6 and he scrunched his face and said “why THAT one?”

        • Cora
          Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @themattlondon Ahhh Ben. Liked him a lot! Little scary though.

        • SilentNickHS
          Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @themattlondon @SongbirdCora Ehi, that’s my answer! I like it because of the intense story, the deep and diverse character design and for Kefka.

          • Matt London
            Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
            @SilentNickHS @SongbirdCora Yes. Plus there’s a musical number. The world is destroyed. Your party has a plushie, a yeti, and a ninja. And you are doggedly pursued by an octopus with the tenacity of a Dumas villain.

    • RegisKillbin
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon Today it's Driver. There was a mode where the police would go crazy trying to crash into you, and with the San Francisco map's hills, you could get cars to go flying everywhere, bugging out on roofs, etc. My dad and I played it endlessly, laughing like mad. Fondest gaming memory. https://t.co/Svh2D7m8CE

      • RegisKillbin
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @themattlondon I think to this day I still enjoy the spectacle, craziness, and finding wacky stuff to laugh about it more than anything else in games, Hearthstone included.

        • Matt London
          Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @RegisKillbin Shit you’re hired.

    • BrendenSewell
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon My answer was Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. The only game released since that has given me that same feeling of unfolding mystery in grounded exploration is Elden Ring, and albeit with much more jank in gameplay, Morrowind still beats it in creative narrative/world building.

      • Matt London
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @BrendenSewell That parallel is so true. Funny but I’d put Minecraft in that category too, where you can journey to that thing you see on the horizon, you can spend hours lost in a labyrinth underground, and you never know what’s going to kill you next.

    • MyntyPhresh
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon SSB Project M Smash in general is sick as hell when it comes to providing options to players across multiple levels of engagement, plus PM specifically shows the drive of a devoted community to create something beautiful out of their passion for the game

      • MyntyPhresh
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @themattlondon Plus the game has ivysaur

    • Linus Flink
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon Betrayal at Krondor. 3D, open(ish) world, episodic story telling, using existing ip in a natural way, mini games. It felt 10 years ahead of its time and showed me what rpgs could be. (Pirates, qwctf, privateer, ultima online also likely answers depending on the day).

      • CoffeeSandwhich
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @LinusFlink @themattlondon i slept over at a friends house one time and he had this weird game i’d never heard of, “Return to Krondor”. i was totally drawn in. he wanted to have lightsaber fights and stuff but i just wanted to sit at the computer all night

        • Linus Flink
          Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @CoffeeSandwhich @themattlondon I never played return! And I’m not sure why. There was a follow up to betrayal called betrayal in antara I played and didn’t get into, think that was why.

    • leetokeen
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon Why does having multiple favourite games disqualify you from working on Hearthstone?

      • Matt London
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @leetokeen It won’t. Come on.

    • onalark
      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
      @themattlondon If the interviewer does not frame the question appropriately, then it’s on them if the answer veers off course. Set them up for success. Here’s a start: “Without naming Hearthstone and being as specific as possible, give me an example of a game you enjoy playing and why.”

      • valentine_irl
        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
        @onalark @themattlondon To follow up, I'd generally ask "as an interviewer, what am I trying to get out of this question?" Do I just want to know they play games? I could just ask "what's a game you enjoyed recently?"

        • TitoSantanaHS
          Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @valentine_irl @onalark @themattlondon You understand this is just a little fun right? In what context did you think he’s be posting a serious interview question on Twitter ?

          • onalark
            Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
            @TitoSantanaHS @valentine_irl @themattlondon The context is I worked at Blizzard for 11+ years and was asked this multiple times during game team interviews, as well as witnessed game teams use this question during interviews and saw it weaponized against women and POC.

            • TitoSantanaHS
              Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
              @onalark @valentine_irl @themattlondon I doubt that there is any of that in this lighthearted post. I am empathic to your point of view, and I am not surprised given how shitty ABK is. I can also see that this is not that.

              • valentine_irl
                Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
                @TitoSantanaHS @onalark @themattlondon I am empathetic to your desire to brush this off, but questions of how bias presents itself are vitally important to improving the culture of not only Blizzard, but gamedev in general. I worked at Blizzard for 5 years and can tell you that its only through awareness that we grow.

                • Matt London
                  Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
                  @valentine_irl @TitoSantanaHS @onalark For what it’s worth I think your interrogation here is vital to the industry’s health. It’s good to be consistent and call it out. We work very hard not to have biases, and the benefits of having a wider variety of tastes on the team are immediately apparent.

        • valentine_irl
          Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
          @onalark @themattlondon I was asked something similar to the OP question at every interview I had during my tenure at Blizzard, and its literally impossible for me to pick a single favorite game, generally I got by talking about 3-5 different games I like, and my answer was always different.

          • valentine_irl
            Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
            @onalark @themattlondon Its also a bit weird to assume that none of your interviewee's favorite game will be the one they are applying for. Like, Hearthstone should be a valid favorite game, and if you dont want that, as Steph said, make sure you state that you dont.

            • DevSpacePrez
              Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
              @valentine_irl @onalark @themattlondon He's being flippant. Remember, this is twitter, where you only have so many characters. I work here and I was never asked this. I think you're missing the context. Its a lighthearted post.

              • onalark
                Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
                @DevSpacePrez @valentine_irl @themattlondon I worked there and was asked it several times in multiple interviews, in exactly this way. I would hope Blizzard would take the suggestions being offered to heart, and improve the interview process. The question as it is currently framed is biased and a trap.

                • onalark
                  Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
                  @DevSpacePrez @valentine_irl @themattlondon I mean, in retrospect it's entirely possible I was asked it solely because I was a woman. Which makes it that much worse. But I really hope that wasn't the case. But no, I remember sitting in on a WoW AP panel and this was the question that was asked of everyone. Every time.

                  • valentine_irl
                    Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
                    @onalark @DevSpacePrez @themattlondon In my experience, while its asked of everyone, it disproportionately affected women negatively. Women were generally graded much more steeply on their answer to this question, especially if they listed a mobile game as their favorite game. The bias is usually unconscious.

                    • HamletEJ
                      Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
                      @valentine_irl @onalark @DevSpacePrez @themattlondon On designer panels I was on, I don’t remember this being asked in this way. We often did “what’s a game you’ve played a lot a recently”, where I think it’s clearer that the goal is to find any game we can productively discuss and hear you analyze.

                      • HamletEJ
                        Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
                        @valentine_irl @onalark @DevSpacePrez @themattlondon Either way, I think it’s better to ask in way that implies that, and doesn’t make the person feel like the question has a right or wrong answer (which it shouldn’t).

                        • Matt London
                          Posted 2 years, 9 months ago (Source)
                          @HamletEJ @valentine_irl @onalark @DevSpacePrez For me it’s about hearing the candidate speak passionately about something. The game choice itself isn’t relevant. I was just being dramatic in the original post. Why I think it’s good Valentine is shining a light on it.
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