The Pocket Mentor for Video Game Testing

Cover
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
	Who Am I?
	Who’s This Book For?
1 What Is QA
	1.1 The Stigmatisation of QA
	1.2 Can You Make a Career Out of QA?
	1.3 Hierarchy
	1.4 The Many Roles of QA
		1.4.1 QA Testers
		1.4.2 Compliance Tester
		1.4.3 Localisation Tester
		1.4.4 QA Tech Roles (Tools Tester, Engineer)
		1.4.5 Embedded QA Tester
		1.4.6 Senior QA Tester
		1.4.7 Lead QA
		1.4.8 QA Manager
		1.4.9 QA Director
2 Contracts, Different Types of QA Companies, and Wages
	2.1 Fixed-Term Contract
		2.1.1 Fixed-Term Contract Advice
	2.2 Permanent Position
	2.3 Internal (In-House) QA and External (Outsource) QA
		2.3.1 Internal QA
		2.3.2 External QA
	2.4 Wages in the Industry
3 Education and Mentoring
	3.1 Further Education
	3.2 Apprenticeships
	3.3 Higher Education
	3.4 Graduate Schemes and Internships
	3.5 ISTQB Qualifications
	3.6 Alternative Ways of Learning
		3.6.1 YouTube
		3.6.2 Code Coven
		3.6.3 Udemy
		3.6.4 Pluralsight
		3.6.5 LinkedIn Learning
	3.7 Mentorships and Schemes
		3.7.1 IGDA Global Mentorship Programme
		3.7.2 Xbox Mentoring
		3.7.3 Limit Break Mentorship
		3.7.4 BAME in Games
		3.7.5 Into Games
		3.7.6 Grads in Games
		3.7.7 Women in Games International (WIGI)
4 Community, Networking, and Events
	4.1 Usability Testing and Playtesting
	4.2 Community Bug Reports
	4.3 Game Jams
	4.4 Networking and Events
		4.4.1 EGX – London (UK)
		4.4.2 E3 – Los Angeles (USA)
		4.4.3 Gamescom – Cologne (Germany)
		4.4.4 Animex – Middlesbrough (UK)
		4.4.5 Yorkshire Games Festival – Bradford (UK)
		4.4.6 PAX Events (PAX East, PAX West, PAX AUS) – Seattle, Boston (USA), Melbourne (Australia)
		4.4.7 Nordic Game – Malmö (Sweden)
		4.4.8 WASD – London (UK)
		4.4.9 Develop:Brighton – Brighton (UK)
		4.4.10 Hamburg Games Conference – Hamburg (Germany)
		4.4.11 Games Job Fair – Helsinki (Finland), Online
	4.5 Local Meetups
	4.6 Online Communities
		4.6.1 Discord
		4.6.2 Twitter (Also Known as X)
	4.7 Networking Tips and Advice
5 Job Searching
	5.1 Useful Job Searching Websites
		5.1.1 Game Industry Websites
		5.1.2 Gamesjobsdirect.com
		5.1.3 Gamesjobs.live
		5.1.4 LinkedIn
		5.1.5 Workwithindies.com
		5.1.6 Remotegamejobs.com
		5.1.7 Hitmarker.net
		5.1.8 Gracklehq.com
	5.2 How to Find Game Companies
		5.2.1 Gamedevmap.com
		5.2.2 Gamesmap.uk
		5.2.3 Gamesjobs.live
	5.3 Talent Acquisition
	5.4 Recruitment Agencies
	5.5 Relocation Considerations
6 CVs (Resume) and Cover Letters
	6.1 CVs
	6.2 Cover Letter
	6.3 Rejection Advice
7 Interviewing for a QA Job
	7.1 Signing NDAs
	7.2 Presenting Yourself
	7.3 Virtual Interviews
	7.4 Research the Company
	7.5 Game Testing Skills Test
	7.6 Talking About Skills
	7.7 Ask Questions
	7.8 Where Do You See Yourself in 5 Years?
8 Working in QA: Everyday Tips and Skills
	8.1 Soft Skills
		8.1.1 Communication
		8.1.2 Interpersonal Skills
		8.1.3 Problem-Solving
		8.1.4 Time Management
	8.2 Everyday Tasks You Can Do
	8.3 Never Assume!
	8.4 Thinking Outside the Box
		8.4.1 Observation
		8.4.2 Question
		8.4.3 Hypothesis
		8.4.4 Experiment
		8.4.5 Analysis
		8.4.6 Conclusion
	8.5 General QA Advice
		8.5.1 Taking On Extra Responsibilities
		8.5.2 Repetition
		8.5.3 Sticky Notes, Emails, and Bookmarks
	8.6 Software
		8.6.1 Jira and Confluence
		8.6.2 Bugzilla
		8.6.3 Perforce: Helix Visual Client
		8.6.4 Hansoft
		8.6.5 TestRail
		8.6.6 Excel
		8.6.7 Software: General Advice
9 Bug Report Breakdown
	9.1 Summary
	9.2 Priority and Severity
	9.3 Components
	9.4 Affect Versions
	9.5 Build IDs
	9.6 Steps to Reproduce
	9.7 Description
	9.8 Workaround
	9.9 Expected Results and Actual Results
	9.10 Attempts, Occurrences, and Percentages
	9.11 Affect Players
	9.12 Assignee
	9.13 Team
	9.14 Attachments
10 Types of Testing
	10.1 Black Box and White Box Testing
	10.2 Playtest
	10.3 Performance Testing
	10.4 Load Testing
	10.5 Soak Testing
	10.6 Stress Testing
	10.7 Compatibility Testing
	10.8 Smoke Testing
	10.9 Sanity Testing
	10.10 Retesting
	10.11 Regression
	10.12 Ad-Hoc Testing (Free Testing)
	10.13 Component Testing
	10.14 Testing Environments
	10.15 Test Cases and Suites
		10.15.1 Test Cases
			10.15.1.1 Test Case ID
			10.15.1.2 Title
			10.15.1.3 Description
			10.15.1.4 Pre-Conditions
			10.15.1.5 Steps
			10.15.1.6 Expected Results
			10.15.1.7 Status
			10.15.1.8 Tester
			10.15.1.9 Bug Link
			10.15.1.10 Notes
			10.15.1.11 Time
		10.15.2 Test Suite
11 Looking After Yourself (Mental Health and Your Rights)
	11.1 Mental Health in the Games Industry
	11.2 Burnout
	11.3 Imposter Syndrome
	11.4 Gaming-Specific Mental Health Organisations
		11.4.1 TIGS
		11.4.2 Safe in Our World
		11.4.3 Check Point
	11.5 Unions and Workers’ Rights
12 Where to Go Next
	12.1 Software Testing
	12.2 Production
	12.3 Development
	12.4 Closing Remarks