This thread isn't for Frank and Bobby who have already had their brush with being "in" the industry, flipped it the double bird, and hit eject when Loren Coleman stole a mansion in Tacoma from the Shadowrun freelancers and the angel Moronai came down with some golden plates that said he didn't do nuffin', so Randall Bills decided to let him stick around (that is the most hilarious and most succinct summary of the fifty bajillion page "The Shadowrun Situation" thread that brought me to the Den in the first place). Rather it's for everybody that's been waiting in the wings homebrewing stuff but never getting paid a dime.
As I mention probably often enough that it's annoyed one or two of you, I work for or own a game company. I won't say which one publicly and I ask you not to take the hour of internet detective work it would take to find out. I post on the Den with my "tact" filter off (see above) and so if it came out publicly that "Schwarzkopf" on the Den was [REAL NAME REDACTED], it would be super bad for me. I've said a lot of really mean things on here about people I intend to beg for money in the future.
ANYWAY, I work for or own a game company. We need to hire more freelancers, which we have no intention of treating like my signature quote indicates. The bad news is the games we make, while AWESOME--I would know, I'm totally impartial obviously--probably aren't the games that you have already heard of or care about. The good news is that we will pay you.
The open question is how much you would like to be paid? Not just in the specific hypothetical situation of working for my company, but in the general hypothetical situation of if you were to come work in the industry as a freelancer.
I've been on both sides of freelancing...
I want my company to pay more, and on better terms, than the Stalin-analogous assholes in my sig quote.