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Equally however people who attempt large projects will accomplish at least a number of small successes along the way, each carrying value as a learning / growth

by jonesb6 11y ago

Equally however people who attempt large projects will accomplish at least a number of small successes along the way, each carrying value as a learning / growth opportunity. Many times those small accomplishments could never have been had with a small or even medium size project. People learn and engage differently. Some people will gain a lot from starting at a fundamental level and working their way up. Others will be much more stimulated at the macro level, and let's be honest the goal of learning is rarely to create a true product but for the sake of learning itself.

MaulingMonkey 11y ago
> Equally however people who attempt large projects will accomplish at least a number of small successes along the way That frequently hasn't borne out from what I've seen. People try to tackle MMOs without even understanding basic programming. They're so focused on trying to build their MMO that they can't be bothered to read a programming tutorial long enough to learn what loops are. They just become help vampires - accomplishing nothing truly on their own, frustrating both themselves and those around them. Small successes require small projects, sub-projects, or sub-sub-projects. You can carve some of them out of projects where you've bitten off more than you can chew, but MMOs tend to be an additional magnitude of order larger - and from what I've seen, that much more difficult to get even small successes off of. > Many times those small accomplishments could never have been had with a small or even medium size project. I'd question this. Care to share any examples? I can't think of any sub-projects which can't be spun off into project of their own. > People learn and engage differently. Some people will gain a lot from starting at a fundamental level and working their way up. Others will be much more stimulated at the macro level, Sure. Keep dreaming big. I'm not knocking it's effect on motivation. I am questioning how motivating the actual act of trying to tackle an MMO as your first game is, and how much you'll learn from it. Where are all the indie developers trying to jump straight to making MMOs with no smaller games in the middle? How many of them have gotten so far as making a chat server? Why can I count the number I'm aware of on one hand - outnumbered by the number of entire communities of indies, each bristling with untold numbers of games - both in the progress of being made, and outright completed? Where are all the indie MMO developers, if it's so motivating? > and let's be honest the goal of learning is rarely to create a true product but for the sake of learning itself. This is bordering on a truism - the goal of learning is to learn? Sure. But if that's your only goal - why make games? And is tackling an impossibly large project really the most effective way to accomplish that learning? Another extremely common goal of making games - I'd argue far more common than the goal of pure learning - is to have fun playing the game with the idea you had. Which project is going to let you actually scratch that itch - the never-complete MMO or the quick and dirty shmup? Which one can you share with your friends and have them play? Which looks better on your portfolio when applying to that game development studio that makes MMOs, giving you hands on experience with the real deal?

by jonesb6 11y ago

MaulingMonkey 11y ago

> Equally however people who attempt large projects will accomplish at least a number of small successes along the way That frequently hasn't borne out from what I've seen. People try to tackle MMOs without even understanding basic programming. They're so focused on trying to build their MMO that they can't be bothered to read a programming tutorial long enough to learn what loops are. They just become help vampires - accomplishing nothing truly on their own, frustrating both themselves and those around them. Small successes require small projects, sub-projects, or sub-sub-projects. You can carve some of them out of projects where you've bitten off more than you can chew, but MMOs tend to be an additional magnitude of order larger - and from what I've seen, that much more difficult to get even small successes off of. > Many times those small accomplishments could never have been had with a small or even medium size project. I'd question this. Care to share any examples? I can't think of any sub-projects which can't be spun off into project of their own. > People learn and engage differently. Some people will gain a lot from starting at a fundamental level and working their way up. Others will be much more stimulated at the macro level, Sure. Keep dreaming big. I'm not knocking it's effect on motivation. I am questioning how motivating the actual act of trying to tackle an MMO as your first game is, and how much you'll learn from it. Where are all the indie developers trying to jump straight to making MMOs with no smaller games in the middle? How many of them have gotten so far as making a chat server? Why can I count the number I'm aware of on one hand - outnumbered by the number of entire communities of indies, each bristling with untold numbers of games - both in the progress of being made, and outright completed? Where are all the indie MMO developers, if it's so motivating? > and let's be honest the goal of learning is rarely to create a true product but for the sake of learning itself. This is bordering on a truism - the goal of learning is to learn? Sure. But if that's your only goal - why make games? And is tackling an impossibly large project really the most effective way to accomplish that learning? Another extremely common goal of making games - I'd argue far more common than the goal of pure learning - is to have fun playing the game with the idea you had. Which project is going to let you actually scratch that itch - the never-complete MMO or the quick and dirty shmup? Which one can you share with your friends and have them play? Which looks better on your portfolio when applying to that game development studio that makes MMOs, giving you hands on experience with the real deal?