In order to become a part of a European guild one would have to first advance from apprentice to journeyman and then attempt to become a master. This was done by producing a sum of money and a masterpiece before the guild members would allow them to join. If the applicant was rejected they would have to remain a journeyman for the rest of their life.
While we don't have many game development guilds that I know of I still think it is important to understand what it takes to be a master. In an earlier article I emphasized that to become good at what you do you need to practice. You'll notice that a person does not instantly get to apply for the master position, they must first become a journeyman through many years of practicing their craft and hard work. Only after achieving the rank of journeyman will someone be able to be a master craftsman.
Although this does not mean you have to be good at everything. Even among craftsmen there are areas of expertise which would be the same as in game development. We have artists, programmers, musicians, producers, etc... that all work on the same goal but have very different roles. So what does it take to become a master in your area? I think it boils down to the following things.
1. Know your tools
Probably the first thing you learn is how to use your tools. Once you become proficient at them you'll start to notice an increase in productivity and the end results are much improved. Most people will just scratch the surface of a tool but a true master knows how to bend it to their will. When tools are used to their fullest potential, artists can make breath taking scenes, programmers can debug even the hardest problems, and musicians can compose a symphony.
2. Have other masters critique your work
By letting others look at your finished product you will begin to understand what areas you need to improve on. Perhaps it is something simple that you just happened to overlook. Also, notice that I said other "masters" because they have already went through this process before and know what makes a great game. Unfortunately the games industry is still in its infancy stage and it may be hard to find masters in your area. At least try to find people you trust and know have good judgement when it comes to video games.
3. Make mistakes often
I mentioned this in my "Practice Makes Perfect" that one of the easiest ways to learn is to make mistakes. As long as you figure out how to do something right then making mistakes is perfectly normal. In fact, this is probably the best way to learn something new since you are going into uncharted waters and are more than likely to step in a few traps a long the way. Masters often know how to avoid the traps and the only way they know that is by having already fallen into them before.