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I make games, and see stuff like that occasionally. The problem is that a game is not just a piece of software. It's a creative work that people pour years of

by 60654 10y ago

I make games, and see stuff like that occasionally. The problem is that a game is not just a piece of software. It's a creative work that people pour years of their life into. Both on the code side, but also on design, art, audio, writing, etc. Suggesting that games should be free is like suggesting that books or art should be free - and yet people wouldn't suggest that, right? We understand that art and creative work doesn't come for free, and that even artists have bills to pay. (As for high hardware requirements - that's not right either, there are plenty of great games that will play just fine on an i3 with an integrated video card. Most games are not AAA.)

erikpukinskis 10y ago
Do you really think the games industry is primarily creative work? It seems like mostly production to me... Just applying labor to making something that conforms to social expectations about how games work. From the outside, it seems a tiny fraction of people experience their work as a genuine outlet for expression of their dreams and ideas. Even in the "creative director" role it seems rare for someone to have real freedom to express and explore. Is your experience different?
- 60654 10y ago
  I can't tell whether you're trolling or not, so I'll assume that you aren't. It's the same as in other areas of human endeavor - the larger the business, the more constraining it's going to be. An executive at EA is closer to an executive McDonald's - your concern will be with market fit, scalable processes, reproducible results, etc. Not creativity. But if you're a designer / developer at a small studio (or a team inside a big company that somehow managed to secure independence - it does happen!) then you're more like the executive chef at a local gourmet restaurant - you can stretch your creative muscles and do interesting things. However, the price is that you will probably never become a household name and a global brand. And whether that price is fair is entirely up to you. PS. And if you want games that don't conform to societal expectations, you should really check out all of the avant garde / zinester games that are being made outside of the mainstream. There's a lot of boundary-stretching work being made if you look for it.

by 60654 10y ago

erikpukinskis 10y ago

Do you really think the games industry is primarily creative work? It seems like mostly production to me... Just applying labor to making something that conforms to social expectations about how games work. From the outside, it seems a tiny fraction of people experience their work as a genuine outlet for expression of their dreams and ideas. Even in the "creative director" role it seems rare for someone to have real freedom to express and explore. Is your experience different?

60654 10y ago
I can't tell whether you're trolling or not, so I'll assume that you aren't. It's the same as in other areas of human endeavor - the larger the business, the more constraining it's going to be. An executive at EA is closer to an executive McDonald's - your concern will be with market fit, scalable processes, reproducible results, etc. Not creativity. But if you're a designer / developer at a small studio (or a team inside a big company that somehow managed to secure independence - it does happen!) then you're more like the executive chef at a local gourmet restaurant - you can stretch your creative muscles and do interesting things. However, the price is that you will probably never become a household name and a global brand. And whether that price is fair is entirely up to you. PS. And if you want games that don't conform to societal expectations, you should really check out all of the avant garde / zinester games that are being made outside of the mainstream. There's a lot of boundary-stretching work being made if you look for it.