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#1 Work better with many in stress or #2 Work more alone in the calm. Woaw.

Sure, we can only give advices nobody can decide for you, and since we have probably no knowledge of the game industry, we can only guess what's best.

For your real life outside of work it doesn't matter, in todays world an app on your phone can match you anywhere and help you find "the one that want's you". After that she will answer your question and you'll just have to follow her. Life is short.

Out of the two options I personally would move out to the midwest. I found being in a relaxed atmosphere makes me more productive because I don't get burnt out from all of the stress surrounding me. You do need to be proactive to make sure you don't fall into a lull though.

 

I hope you find a place that feels like home!

Don't live in WI, it's ****ty there. I would suggest either MN or IL where you are about 15 mins or so from either cities (Chicago/Minneapolis). MN is a better nature atmosphere than IL. MN is one of the biggest bike (pedal bike) community so if you're into that there are paths everywhere and you could bike to most places. Minneapolis also has a lot of arts stuff.

 

The people are nice, but watch that Minnesota nice thing. You can get to know a lot of people but it might be harder to break into groups of friends and become really good friends with people as most people are born and raised here and have established friend groups.

 

Activision has a branch here as far as gaming goes but that's pretty much it. There are a few small game companies here.

 

Overall, I'd never live anywhere else personally,

Move to Australia.

 

The beers cold and the women are hot.

 

I wouldn't live anywhere else.

It's a tough decision and one only you can and have to make. Mind telling why you don't enjoy Seattle anymore? I thought the aim was to "move closer to Valve" or that didn't pay off?

It's a tough decision and one only you can and have to make. Mind telling why you don't enjoy Seattle anymore? I thought the aim was to "move closer to Valve" or that didn't pay off?

It doesn't really matter. I thought I was going to sell source code licenses up there which didn't turn out to be the business model. I meet with Valve a couple times a year, but that's what planes are for.

I don't really know anything about the locations you want to move to but I hope you will find a place that suits you. Big cities usually give more way more stress as there is noise all the time. Although smaller places can have less connectivity with the industry you're focusing on.

 

Fortunately you still have the freedom to locate wherever you want

I went to San Francisco to look for a programming/game dev job. Had my shoes stolen-you really need to be on top of all the scams there by the library. I found most of the people there tight lipped looking straight ahead. Visited Las Vegas for a chess tournament. It was better than SF but strangely similar in desperation as there isn't much greenery there. In Clearwater,FL (by Tampa) the housing is cheaper, There is the good and bad: No real mass transportation, plenty of food nearby,hurricanes come close but no big deal,drunk hobos with cardboard signs, way too many near dying elderly cranky people.

Sounds like a difficult choice because you are probably not tied to a particular area work-wise and such a big country with many cities/towns and options.

2 years is a long time, I hope you can find some place that you can be happy at sooner. While we're all voting to where you should go, I love the mountain states, I don't ever want to leave

If I had a choice to live somewhere in the US, I would not choose San Fransisco, too expensive for living, and $100k a year is still living poor there.

 

I would probably choose a university town. Somewhere like Spokane. I personally like trees, and there is little chance of drought up there.

 

California is overly priced IMO. San Diego is a nice city to visit IMO. But not to live.

Don't know about Illinois, it kinda corrupt here and the state is basically broke.

If you have the means, why not put your furniture in storage, then spend a few months in various cities. And, don't just limit yourself to the US.

Thanks for your patience. I really need to get a new routine down and get settled in.

You could always buy a shack in the mountains and become a hermit.

You could always buy a shack in the mountains and become a hermit.

 

 

Unabomber style.

I live in the UK in a quiet place called Wales. It's a nice and peaceful place although there is nothing for the game industry here. No game studios, film studios, nothing technology wise. London is the closest thing to me that would offer something like that. Living here though is real cheap and you can get some really nice places in the valleys but there is barely any sun (it pretty much always rains).

 

Personally the midwest option sounds great I don't know my geography really well and I've only been to Florida once. Go with the option to get a cheap house, it sounds like the daily chores of life would be pretty easy (groceries, no traffic, etc.)

 

Sounds like you can really focus on work but still get some time away from work when you need it, which is important.

Santa Barbara is the winner.

 

 

 

You sure you will get any work done.

 

That beach looks very nice.

Yeah look at that sand

Denver is where it's at, just don't tell anyone...