32 ms·

Starcraft was released in 1998. The game development industry was still pretty new and nowhere near the size it is today. Also, modern project management strate

by xmprt 4y ago

Starcraft was released in 1998. The game development industry was still pretty new and nowhere near the size it is today. Also, modern project management strategies weren't really used much back then and even if they were, they probably wouldn't be found in a gamedev studio where headcount was really tight.

wizofaus 4y ago
Is there actually solid data modern project management strategies work better than the ones from 20 odd years ago? Best run project I think I ever worked on was from the late 90s.
- mixmastamyk 4y ago
  PM hasn't changed much besides trending towards smaller batches, the difference is more business folks are aware there are strategies at all.
  - wizofaus 4y ago
    That "smaller batches" change has been pretty extreme though. My current company is on the bandwagon of being able to release new features every day, even if we have to jump through hoops and severely compromise quality to make it happen. I appreciate being able to avoid the disadvantages of 6-12 month long release cycles, but surely there's some sweet spot between daily and yearly (which almost certainly varies depending on the product and company developing it).
    - mixmastamyk 4y ago
      After thirty years, trends tend to add up!
  - melling 4y ago
    Do you mean “release early, release often”? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often
    - wizofaus 4y ago
      Release early/often is fine as a philosophy but there need to be better guidelines around how early/often actually makes sense, rather than assuming just because company X releases product Y multiple times a day it must be something to aim for.
deepsun 4y ago
On the other hand, early software development resembled more established hardware development at the time, with much higher quality requirements. So I would expect otherwise. Maybe 1998 was the tipping point?
29athrowaway 4y ago
Modern project management is mostly predicated on fallacious dogmas and pseudoscience.

by xmprt 4y ago

wizofaus 4y ago

Is there actually solid data modern project management strategies work better than the ones from 20 odd years ago? Best run project I think I ever worked on was from the late 90s.

mixmastamyk 4y ago
PM hasn't changed much besides trending towards smaller batches, the difference is more business folks are aware there are strategies at all.
- wizofaus 4y ago
  That "smaller batches" change has been pretty extreme though. My current company is on the bandwagon of being able to release new features every day, even if we have to jump through hoops and severely compromise quality to make it happen. I appreciate being able to avoid the disadvantages of 6-12 month long release cycles, but surely there's some sweet spot between daily and yearly (which almost certainly varies depending on the product and company developing it).
  - mixmastamyk 4y ago
    After thirty years, trends tend to add up!
- melling 4y ago
  Do you mean “release early, release often”? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Release_early,_release_often
  - wizofaus 4y ago
    Release early/often is fine as a philosophy but there need to be better guidelines around how early/often actually makes sense, rather than assuming just because company X releases product Y multiple times a day it must be something to aim for.

deepsun 4y ago

On the other hand, early software development resembled more established hardware development at the time, with much higher quality requirements. So I would expect otherwise. Maybe 1998 was the tipping point?

29athrowaway 4y ago

Modern project management is mostly predicated on fallacious dogmas and pseudoscience.