Re: My Response

[Peter Harkins]

(pardon lack of quoting, I can't directly reply without a Google
Account)

I think, Brian, that what you're getting at is goals. Adam's manifesto
has a lot of interesting ideas, but it's impossible to evaluate them
without an understanding of what they're supposed to achieve.

Adam, was your manifesto a reaction to IGDA's lack of action on QoL
issues? Are you planning a studio? Are they guidelines for improving
game workplaces? Is it a rant of your pet peeves? Are you now, or have
you ever been, a member of the Communist Party?

In all seriousness, I didn't write much of a comment on the post because
I didn't (and don't) know what the point of the manifesto is. I'm
interested because it posited some bold ideas (some of which I disagree
strongly with) and they're always welcome and I'm curious to hear them
built out and hashed over. So, howdy folks.

--
Peter Harkins - http://push.cx - http://NearbyGamers.com

[Adam Martin]

On 9 Mar 2009, at 22:24, Peter Harkins <p...@push.cx> wrote:
>
> Adam, was your manifesto a reaction to IGDA's lack of action on QoL

Partly; I already had the ideas, the intent, and the conviction, but
IGDA's big bag of FAIL provoked me to publicly nail my colours to the
mast. Even though I knew it had lots of holes, I was fed up leaving
the conversation in the hands of such poor caretakers :)

>
> issues? Are you planning a studio?

Yes. Two years ago I got to plan and start building an internal
publisher studio, which set me off looking into many things in more
detail that I'd not fully exploredmyself before.

i left to start my own studio. We've been talking to VCs and Angels
for six months and are getting close to attempting a funding round
(takes a lot of time to do it intelligently and be prepared enough but
not too much ;))

Meanwhile we're actively working on product and may even self-launch a
simple game or two and see
what happens.

'we' being just two people; not enough even with very cheap games ;)

> Are they guidelines for improving
> game workplaces? Is it a rant of

For *me* ... No, it's "this is a standard" - guidelines is too weak a
word, because really I'm trying to use concrete examples to nail down
an ideal that you either belive in or don't.

HOWEVER in practical terms it could lead to some really useful
guidelines, which is part of why I wanted to share it - you might be
able to extract some value without adopting the whole philosophy.

Personally, I've tried doing small bits at a time and found it was
like trying to drain the ocean one bucket at a
time; one big sea-change can achieve more of the results with less
effort.

> In all seriousness, I didn't write much of a comment on the post
> because
> I didn't (and don't) know what the point of the manifesto is. I'm
> interested because it posited some bold ideas (some of which I
> disagree
> strongly with) and they're always welcome and I'm curious to hear them
> built out and hashed over. So, howdy folks.

That's great, I look forward to some
interestingly divergent viewpoints :). And thanks for diving in!

Adam