I feel strangely compelled to apply for the web developer position. The problem is that I already have a job as a web developer, and I work LONG hours. Other than a couple of hours on the weekend, I don't think I would be of much help.

Man.... it kills me to pass up this opportunity.

I want to apply for the web developer position...problem is, I don't know cold fusion..I sure as hell could learn it though...I'm a php guy...

My email is sent, I can sure as heck learn cold fusion quickly and I would really love the opportunity. Give me a shot please.

If any1 is qualifeid for the type of job they are asking for, You should go find a real job that pays. Don't waste your talent on volunteer work as demanding as this when you can do the exact same thing elseware and get paid for it. I would only suggest taking up this position if your rich. (like you won the lottery or your a spoiled rich kid or got rich off some bussiness and retired way to early ) Otherwise, Go make some $

007craft, not everything is about money. As a matter of fact, I DO do this kind of work as a real job. But if I had more time in a day, I would seriously be applying for this job.

I'd rather volunteer to do something I enjoyed than get paid to do something I didn't enjoy. Of course, necessity wins out 99% of the time, so while I'm sure a lot of people would agree, it's not always possible.

Personally, I have to agree with the one person about the paying job issue. If you have that kind of experience in programming and it demands those kind of hours, you shouldn't be accepting a volunteer position. Now, I know it's a personal decision on the part of that person to lend PGC a hand, but there are more principles involved in this. It's not morally right. I can't really talk, but people doing these jobs for free is why there isn't much of a paying market for these positions in the first place. It's a rip off.

All I can really say is that if no one offered to fill volunteer roles for such demanding jobs that absolutely require quality production and many hours of hard work, there'd be a lot more paying jobs out there right now. That's the truth, too. As a writer, I know first hand the destructive power that volunteers possess. It's a lot like cheap foreign labor! Why pay for anything when you can get it dirt cheap from people who do not realize what their stuff is worth?....

Well, I said my 2-cents.

So, your BLAMING volunteers for being TOO HELPFUL are you? Do you just hate kind people or something? I can just imagine you stating that case to the Red Cross Appeal when they knock on your door. You know, you giving up a bit of money for them would be morally wrong of you.
Good luck to all that apply and does this mean we can expect some kind of Planet Gamecube Version 3? (4 if you include PN2000)

VideoGamerX, that sounds great in theory, but fact is you need to apply things justly to PGC. We're all volunteer, right up to the very top, and I don't think that's changing anytime soon. The people applying to PGC need to do so out of a love for the work, not of out of hope for compensation down the road and not because they might get into "insider events" once or twice a year.

PaleZer0 is already doing this for free, working on his own site. The only difference working for us would be is that he would be with a team of others who share the same passions. Members our staff get valuable experience, honing their skills and learning more about the business, which will make them more competitive in the marketplace. In Pale Zer0's case, if he got this job, he would gain knowledge and experience in Cold Fusion. If he simply languished and waited until he got a paying job, he could risk falling behind and losing his skill.

I know what you're saying, but I hope that my comments above will put things into perspective and help you and any applicants understand where PGC is coming from.

Oh, I do understand where you're coming from. I may sound a little bitter, but I know this isn't something bad that PGC is doing. It's just something I see all across the business world. You're not the first fan-operated site that uses volunteer help. I've heard those comments before about experience and learning. It's a common line, but in PGC's case I can understand the cost versus profit margin - in that costs are probably high and profit is probably nonexistent.

As for Rabicle's comments, the Red Cross is a heck of a lot different than what I've seen and dealt with over the years. It's pretty pathetic what the business world expects from people caught in the catch-22's. As a writer, you learn that it's not quality in writing that's valuable, it's reputation, and if you don't have reputation your hours of work are worth nothing and should be free to the world to use. That's due in part to the fact that there's a dozen million writers all willing to write for free while working at McDonalds and a Mr. Zips convenient store at the same time 70 hours a week to survive.

What I don't like are corporations and businesses who use volunteer work. That's where my experience stems from. I've seen a lot of good hard workers with valuable skills pour hours into nothing. They do it because they love what they do. That's good and bad. So what if they love what they do? Somewhere down the line is somebody who does exactly what they do, but can't earn a dime from it to support themselves or possibly a family. That's how it is for writers. What if this disease spreads into programming? What if game development groups suddenly find that they don't need to pay coders at all. There's so many self-taught programmers and people coming out of college with good programming skills and graphics talents. All of these people would love to make video games. They qualify for volunteer work. They can work a factory job while volunteering to build levels for Half Life 2. I'm sure there are thousands if not hundreds of thousands of 25 year old yupees who'd go for that.

Quite seriously, I think the bulk of them are that dumb, too. That's not kindness, that's ignorance.

Did you know, I've only heard of one poet who ever supported himself on his poems. I forget his name, but he did manage to live off the income from his poetry. He did it because of a piece of land with a house on it that he inherited. He managed to pay the taxes on it and live very cheaply. The fact is not that he was capable of doing it, but that he had to struggle to do it and lived in poverty in the process. I think that's pretty sad.

Ever heard of internships? They run the same line, but the kicker is that local businesses offer these internships for college students. They used to actually pay for the hard work, but more and more lately they do not offer pay at all. You just gain credit for the position. They usually expect 20 to 30 hours of work a week with consistent high quality from you. I laugh at the thought of that because these businesses are getting very high qualified workers with degrees in the particular field of work, and they're expected to go out and work for absolutely nothing. That's like Burger King asking MIT math and physics majors to come in and operate the grill 30 hours a week for nothing more than credit...

Bottom line is that volunteer work stinks. It's a curse and a plague upon any market that doesn't give charity to people in need.

In our case, I guess that's PGC's offering of free media and articles. And that concludes the rest of my 2 cents.

OK I understand what your saying now. That whole comment "I've seen the destructive power of volunteers", I found amusing. So I thought I'ld make a joke out of it.
Still I dont see volunteer work as the plague you see it as, but that's where we differ. I see it as the road to a self orgonising moneyless society, something I would like. Money is the root of all evil.

Well, I'm really excited about the possibility. Bloodworth, do you have any sort of time frame on a decision?

VGX: Don't worry, all high-quality developers get taught very early that their abilities should be used to make money. However, the jobs don't pay good and unpaid overtime (in the area of 20 hour-days) is expected. Internships are a good way to get a connection to the industry and there's a chance the company will later employ the intern because they know what they get. At very least an internship makes a good addition to any portfolio, especially if it happens during crunch-time.

Think of it more as an internship rather than an actual job- people working at PGC are developing the skills that will get them even better jobs down the line. It would look mighty fine on your resume that you helped run one of the biggest videogame websites on the net.

Working for PGC would be soooooo much fun! I think it's worth the work just for that.

PaleZer0, I wish you luck, and I hope you become part of the staff!

i would LOVE to be part of the PGC staff, despite my total lack of skill in anything other than being a forum monkey, best of luck PaleZero

PaleZero, I truly wish you luck with this. I really envy you for having the ability to apply for this job. If I had more time in a day, I would be applying for this in a heartbeat, like I said. But somehow I doubt that half an hour a day, and a couple of hours on the weekend would be impressing anyone. I think it's better for all if I didn't apply. If you get the job, don't let it go to waste. Make us all proud.

But I am with everyone who said it's a good personal decision to apply. It looks FANTASTIC on a resume, and it gives you a great amount of experience when working on a professional website. It totally kills me that I am not applying for this job.

Interesting feedback from all angles. Let's face it: They staff here at PGC have no choice but to love what they do. I highly doubt they're doing this like work since they aren't gaining any finacial gain. They could be doing something else with their lives. Instead they give us news, reviews, previews, and so on for free while OTHER sites demand you fork over cash. Or if you want extras like footage or screenshots, some sites will ask to see your greenbacks.

As far success stories go, look at PGC's former main man Billy Berghammer. I'm sure he worked his ass off (along with the rest of the staff) to get the news to us Nintendo faithful. Look at him now, he's been picked by Game Informer and regardless whether you love them or hate them, they are giving him a paycheck for what he did for free.(Though he has to deal with a lot of issues in their forums, but hey, at least he's paid to lay the smackdown!)

Good luck to all applicants! Strangely it appears no one has pubicly gone for the Japanese Correspondent position...regardless, Gan Ba Te Ne!

someone needs to lay a path of firey vengance on those forums, i lasted all of two weeks before i was scared off by the sort of topics that include (in the gamecube section) 'I DONT LIKE THE GAMECUBE ITS JUST AN OPINUN IM NOT FLAMIN Y WAZ I BANED? I HAVE A RITE 2 SAY I DUNT LIKE GAMECUBE IM NOT FLAMING' in like size 7 font (html size 7) blergh.

Eh, I wouldn't call picking up Game Informer the best of jobs, Dj. I'd be willing to bet PGC gets more readers, if only for the fact that it's free to visit a website as oppose to paying to get a magazine. I guess you're right about him finally getting paid. For what he did, though, he should be a millionaire.

Heh, so true... ^_^

Good luck Pale...I know you would make a more-than-worthy staff member...

I dont get it.. If EVERYONE works on volunteer, Who gets the profits (no matter how little) for all the stuff like PGC t-shirt, e3 dvd, ect... sales?

ALso. If everyone works for free, Why is do the ammount of ads/advirtisments on PGC rival that of most porn sites?

I always thought that the huge ammount of ads was to help pay the salaries of the workers. But I guess I was wrong?

I could be wrong, but I always just assumed that any profits, if there were any, just went towards getting more content...IE, getting more games to review, getting people to conventions, etc. I could be wrong though, but thats just what I assumed. Their server costs are probably a whole lot more than most people think too.

And thanks for all the encouragment guys... Cross your fingers for me. =)

As far as I know PGC has no profits. If any money they make is to cover expenses then it's not profit. Ads and stuff are to pay for server costs.

I'd wonder if the ads even cover the cost of the site period.

well i know one of the staff purchased the machine its currently running on out of their own pocket, i think it was rick.. i could be wrong, but yes, server upkeep would be ultra combo breaker expensive, they all deserve to get paid , if i was some form of millionaire i would love to fund this site solely, but sadly i have all of $700 to my name.

*crosses various body parts for PaleZero*

Toooo much E-Bay PIAC.

Well you can sell that Megadrive you just got.......

hay guys cin i appley, my mom got mee got a gaemcube adn i got DBZ BEUDODKAI onnit and i can does the fussion sql moev on it wher trunks and gohaen become GOTENKXS i think and also i kno japanesse words liek KAMEHAMEMA adn uh HADOKEN and GET BONUS but i dont liv in japan yet i cant get a plain ticket until im 13 : (

Hey, from what I hear the competition is pretty slim. Keep crossing those fingers PaleZer0.

::still crossing:: =)

anything yet? :-/

Quote

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Originally posted by: Bloodworth
Hey, from what I hear the competition is pretty slim. Keep crossing those fingers PaleZer0.

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I've been reading up on cold fusion, and all of the latest xhtml/html standards so I can be good to go if you guys want me. My site currently sucks in some other browsers, but if you check out index2.php you can see the work I've been doing. Basically it looks identical only now it shoudl work beautifully on every browser. As for cold fusion...I'm actually pleasantly surprised...I feel quite confident I will be able to shift gears into that syntax relatively easily.