The Harsh Truth: No Virginia, I don't have to like your game.
Every so often, I like to poke my head into the world of video gaming. It is often a bizarre and, at times, hilarious experience. One of my current favourite reviewers and commentators out there is Jim Sterling, whose commentaries rarely fail to amuse. All too often he manages to hit the nail on the head, which has only served to earn him plenty of criticism and push back. Sometimes it is certainly deserved, but in the majority of cases he is pretty upfront guy who does apologize when mistakes (as they inevitably happen) are made.
So when a recent indie developer took issue with the comments Jim made about his in a recent series of videos, it came as no surprise to anybody. But the escalation of events transformed an originally petty dispute into a example of fantastic bizarre delusions and wild accusations of malice. To hear the culmination of affairs you can listen to the audio of a now famous interview here. Its quite the piece at nearly 2 hours long, and no I didn't listen to it completely - about 20 odd minutes was pretty much enough for me to see the crazy.
Now, this isn't going to turn into a great debate of that little incident, but more of something else that bothers me deeply. Something with which seems to plague many amateur would-be creators of games, arts, books, and other such things. Something with which, the angry gentleman from the 'interview' above obviously suffered from. It's a little something I have termed: "Creative Self-entitlement."
Basically, the argument goes like this: "I spent a lot of time creating this thing, and even if it isn't very good, I deserve your respect, admiration, and understanding for all the effort I put into this." We hear this one all the time. Whenever negative commentary, even respectfully so, comes out about somebody's work - the amateur uses this argument, screaming about how 'unfair' or 'biased' the criticism is - usually culminating in how the critic doesn't understand the effort and time and difficulty of creating something. Its funny of course, that professionals almost never even try to make this argument.
Before I go on, let me clarify something. This isn't about people not liking someones work, tastes all differ. Nor is this something about people being jerks and nasty about peoples work for idiotic reasons. This is all about people creating objectively bad and lazy work and then expecting it to sail through criticism free, and then when the inevitable does come they freak out.
The pattern of these freak outs is almost comical in sheer 'repetitiveness' of the accusations and claims. In the world of video games it almost always boils down to legal threats of copyright violations and censorship involving purging the 'bad' reviews. Some will even go so far as to claim the monetary damages from such reviews as a reason for a lawsuit, instead of looking at the failings of their product.
This brings me to my point: We don't have to like your game. Period, end of discussion.
We don't have to respect the time and effort you put into it. We don't have to understand that you have limited resources or time at your disposal. We don't even have to pity your poor economic state.
A bad product is a bad product, and at the end of the day that is all the consumer cares about. Its the creator's job to make it worth the consumers time and money. If its not, there are plenty of other people who, in spite of the same kinds of limitations, will release something of quality.
Now don't get me wrong, I know creating video games is damned hard. As a software developer myself, the amount of blood, sweat, and tears that goes into any programming project can be staggering. But effort is alone not enough. It requires knowledge, some talent, and a lot of patience. The learning experience of games programming is incredibly harsh - especially if you come to it knowing virtually nothing in the first place.
This brings me to a short little list of advice for the aspiring games programmer. It in fact applies to other creatives projects as well. Take for what its worth - if it helps, great. If not, that is okay too.
So when a recent indie developer took issue with the comments Jim made about his in a recent series of videos, it came as no surprise to anybody. But the escalation of events transformed an originally petty dispute into a example of fantastic bizarre delusions and wild accusations of malice. To hear the culmination of affairs you can listen to the audio of a now famous interview here. Its quite the piece at nearly 2 hours long, and no I didn't listen to it completely - about 20 odd minutes was pretty much enough for me to see the crazy.
Now, this isn't going to turn into a great debate of that little incident, but more of something else that bothers me deeply. Something with which seems to plague many amateur would-be creators of games, arts, books, and other such things. Something with which, the angry gentleman from the 'interview' above obviously suffered from. It's a little something I have termed: "Creative Self-entitlement."
Basically, the argument goes like this: "I spent a lot of time creating this thing, and even if it isn't very good, I deserve your respect, admiration, and understanding for all the effort I put into this." We hear this one all the time. Whenever negative commentary, even respectfully so, comes out about somebody's work - the amateur uses this argument, screaming about how 'unfair' or 'biased' the criticism is - usually culminating in how the critic doesn't understand the effort and time and difficulty of creating something. Its funny of course, that professionals almost never even try to make this argument.
Before I go on, let me clarify something. This isn't about people not liking someones work, tastes all differ. Nor is this something about people being jerks and nasty about peoples work for idiotic reasons. This is all about people creating objectively bad and lazy work and then expecting it to sail through criticism free, and then when the inevitable does come they freak out.
The pattern of these freak outs is almost comical in sheer 'repetitiveness' of the accusations and claims. In the world of video games it almost always boils down to legal threats of copyright violations and censorship involving purging the 'bad' reviews. Some will even go so far as to claim the monetary damages from such reviews as a reason for a lawsuit, instead of looking at the failings of their product.
This brings me to my point: We don't have to like your game. Period, end of discussion.
We don't have to respect the time and effort you put into it. We don't have to understand that you have limited resources or time at your disposal. We don't even have to pity your poor economic state.
A bad product is a bad product, and at the end of the day that is all the consumer cares about. Its the creator's job to make it worth the consumers time and money. If its not, there are plenty of other people who, in spite of the same kinds of limitations, will release something of quality.
Now don't get me wrong, I know creating video games is damned hard. As a software developer myself, the amount of blood, sweat, and tears that goes into any programming project can be staggering. But effort is alone not enough. It requires knowledge, some talent, and a lot of patience. The learning experience of games programming is incredibly harsh - especially if you come to it knowing virtually nothing in the first place.
This brings me to a short little list of advice for the aspiring games programmer. It in fact applies to other creatives projects as well. Take for what its worth - if it helps, great. If not, that is okay too.
- You must love your work and be willing to do almost anything for it.
- Okay this is a little bit of an exaggeration. But you honestly must be committed to the project you are making and be willing to fight to get it done. No one else is going to value your work higher then you. The world is littered with failed projects where its creators were not willing to commit all the way.
- Another big question is: Is this just a hobby for you? Hobbies are fine, but make sure if you really want to make the switch to doing this professionally or semi-professionally you are up for the full commitment. If you like it as a hobby, let it be a hobby.
- Don't be afraid to use 'Valve Time'
- I know, I know, Time is money and all that - But here is the thing: Doing good work takes time. Releasing a terrible product, especially your first one, can be suicide. There are plenty of ways to keep interest up during the development process these days thanks to the internet. Its better to release a good product that took a little longer, then to release a buggy horrible mess sooner.
- In contrast, you must not get stuck on perfectionism. Its okay to release a game with a few minor bugs and glitches. As long as it can be played with the minimum of problems, you are okay, Its also virtually impossible to catch them all anyway, so even if you do kill yourself trying to extinguish every bug your find you are going to miss some. Its okay.
- Embrace criticism and encourage open dialogue with critics.
- Critics can be both your best friends and worst enemies. But people listen to many of them for a reason, and to ignore them outright is foolish at best. Most of them are genuinely not bad people, and will acknowledge a response from you. They may also bring up excellent points that you may not have considered at first. Feedback is invaluable.
- On the other hand, some people are just going to be negative and abusive no matter what. You will need a thick skin for this, and its hard as hell to do all the time. Learn which criticism is useful and which isn't - but always strive to keep your cool as much as possible. At the end of the day, nobody likes a jerk. Let them take that role.
- Personal Achievements are good for you, but not likely for anyone else.
- Its great that you got that ball to roll down the hill successfully after 8 hours. Unfortunately, nobody else is likely to be impressed by it. Programming is a beast, and even a minor victory can be a hard fought battle. Congratulate yourself, have some chocolate, then keep going. There is a lot to learn, and it never stops.
- Keep your expectations realistic.
- You are not going to be able to create out of the gate the best new 3D shooter. That can be a goal, or aspiration, but overextending yourself so completely is a recipe for disaster. Start with something a little more basic - if FPS's are your thing, try modding an existing one first. The growth towards mastery is what counts, and if you stick to it you will make it.
- Build relationships with others.
- Unless you are some sort of legendary renaissance person, your ability to do it all will be extremely limited. Building a good working group of people to help in your endeavors is incredibly important. There is nothing at all wrong with getting help.
- Likewise, good relationships can offer incredibly payback for everyone and open new opportunities.
- Accept failure when it happens.
- Yeah, you are going to fail. Probably a lot. Learning is a slew of failures, but make sure that when you do - you take time to see why. Failing to learn from mistakes means that you are likely to repeat them again down the road.
- Owning your own failures is important. Blaming others for your mistakes will just alienate people and harm you down the road. Likewise its important to not allow people to blame you unnecessarily. There is a difference between taking responsibility and being a punching bag.
This all might sound harsh - but it isn't. At the end of the day, its up to you to learn and grow. Not every project is going to be groundbreaking, and not everyone may like your early efforts. But if you really want something, and stick with it, you will improve and be able to create the work you truly want to do.
Don't give up hope, and keep trying. You never know what could happen.
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