Reality Panic

Do I win some kind of prize for having more than 600 “buddies” at LinkedIn? Ironically, just as my LinkedIn network is bursting at the seams, I start getting invites to join Facebook - which I’m trying to stay off of for as long as humanly possible…

Admittedly, I don’t do much to actively cultivate contacts/etc - I just kinda sit back and click yes whenever someone wants to link up. Though, having the IGDA’s “private group” does help, with over 1000 members linked into that. Mind you, I’m told there’s a similarly large IGDA group at Facebook - I just can’t see it since I’m not registered.

I’m curious to understand how much benefit those in the game industry get from these social networking sites. Is it mainly personal/fun, or is business getting done, jobs being acquired, etc?

Moral dilemma #1 is, Do I skip work to play more BioShock ;)

I picked up a copy of the extremely well-received BioShock on Tuesday. Sadly, I’ve not had much time to play and have only cleared the second section/level (ie, Medical Pavilion). (Quick aside: Wow, did that sneaky “dentist” splicer make me jump off the sofa!) Many are touting it as the top contender for game of the year and discussing how it elevates the art form of games.

Part of that praise comes from the serious social commentary weaved within the story, and also how the Little Sisters present a moral choice to the player. That’s all fine and good, but most gamers (?) probably look to any such choice as purely a game system to be optimized: harvest option = 160 Adams, which means I can upgrade more plasmids, etc; rescue option = 80 Adams, but I get a gift of 200 Adams from Tannenbaum for every three sisters I save, plus extra tonics (oh, and there’s a 100 gamerscore Achievement if I rescue them all) - and so on.

So, while I can certainly appreciate (and enjoy) the dilemma from a story point of view (and my understanding is that there are different ends depending on which path you choose), very quickly it moves to a games-systems-optimization equation, if even subconsciously.

Anyway, was just a random thought. Hmm, I’m sure some smarter folks have written on this topic. Maybe Raph covered it in Theory of Fun? Also, seems like Ken Levine is saying lots of interesting stuff over at Shacknews, but I haven’t had the chance to read it yet…

Last weekend, I attended the annual conference of the American Society of Association Executives in Chicago. Yes, think of it as a meta association ;)

I learned loads as it pertains to my role as the executive director of the IGDA. In fact, my brain was hurting from taking in so much new knowledge, info and insight. Think of the conference as the GDC for people running associations.

Though, unlike GDC, the line up to the bathroom is on the women’s side, and they actually invite a bunch of speakers from outside the profession to bring forward new knowledge and ideas.

Being one of the more tech savvy members, I was asked to be a part of the live-blogging team. You can catch my posts, along with tons more from the rest of the team via Acronym, the official conference blog.

While in Chicago, I took the opportunity to hook up with Carrie Fowler, the leader of the IGDA’s chapter in Chicago. And, she kindly invited along the members of the advisory board. We all stuffed our faces with enchiladas and other Mexican delights.

Alexander Seropian (Wideload Games) and Denny Thorley (Day 1 Studios).

I’ve known the Kingsley brothers for many years. Imagine, I remember visiting Rebellion while they were working on Aliens Versus Predator back in ‘99. We always bump into each other at various annual industry events (most recently at Develop in Brighton). Overall, they are great guys and fun to chat with about games and the industry, etc.

Jason Kingsley always struck me as particularly “cultured”. We’ve talked about English history, naval warfare, colonial exploration, and his triumphs in polo - among other fascinating topics.

Towards the end of a recent Gamasutra interview, Jason is asked about what he’s up to outside of games. His response:

I’ve given up polo. I joust now. I take my risks by galloping towards another man on a horse, while carrying a big stick and try hitting him hard around the chest and head. No, it’s relatively safe compared to some of the thing I’ve done. What I like about it is it gets me out and about, and away from the technology. Sometimes it’s nice being Jason with a horse who dresses as a knight, as opposed to someone who owns a games company.

I’m also interested in that period of history and spend time teaching kids about it. Recently I was down in Carew Castle for the 500th anniversary celebration. It was great getting the kids engaged in their own heritage. Some are cheeky little buggers, but with some of them, you can see their brains going, ‘Wow, I’ve met someone wearing armour’. I think games are important to people, in terms of entertaining them and making them happy. It’s a valuable thing for society but it’s nice to do educational stuff too.

Wow, jousting! And, teaching kids about medieval history. Cool.

Certainly, I’ve heard of other developers doing interesting things outside the context of work/games (eg, cancer fund raising marathon, Safari adventure to Keyna, mentoring inner city kids, etc). But, I don’t hear or read about that many examples.

Are we all just too modest/humble to discuss our outside-of-work hobbies and interests and achievements? Or, is everyone just too dang busy to have much in the way of hobbies and interests and achievements that aren’t game related?

(Tangential aside: In an odd way, on a meta level this also plays into my previous post on “celebrity”. Meaning, if developers were less absorbed with games, would they seem more “human” and interesting to the culture at large? Does it matter?)

Despite having zero artistic talent, I’ve gotten into the habit of using SketchBook Pro and a Wacom tablet for my conference lecturing (ie, instead of PowerPoint).

I have the tendency to use a lot of photos and discuss graphs and charts. Actually drawing the charts live seems to be more engaging than throwing a complex chart up on screen. I suppose it wouldn’t work for every kind of topic…

Anyway, I’ve done it this way a few times and have gotten very positive feedback. Below is a stitch of all of the “sketches” from the Future of Game Work lecture I did at Develop in Brighton.