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That's not perfectionism, that's something else. Building out menu systems before you even have the core game loop locked down is basically like building out a

by badpun 4y ago

That's not perfectionism, that's something else. Building out menu systems before you even have the core game loop locked down is basically like building out a house before you know on which plot of land it should be built.

nonethewiser 4y ago
But how does that make it not perfectionism? Having the wrong priorities is in no way inconsistent with perfectionism. I also don’t think that analogy works because the things he mentioned mostly do need to be touched to develop the core game loop. The problem he has is that once he touches something he can’t leave it dirty. That’s the way in which it’s perfectionism.
- pengaru 4y ago
  > But how does that make it not perfectionism? Having the wrong priorities is in no way inconsistent with perfectionism. It's not perfectionism because you can't even succeed at making the perfect part without more of the whole defining what perfect even looks like. The requirements evolve/emerge as the whole does. It's just misguided premature effort, but there's a very strong force driving this mistake - it's easier and more fun to trim the sails than build the rest of the ship.
  - JohnFen 4y ago
    I agree with what you're saying, but can't resist this little niggle... > it's easier and more fun to trim the sails than build the rest of the ship. That depends on the personality of the dev. Some devs consider the main body of the ship to be the easier and more fun thing. (I suspect that how fun a task is is correlated with how easy it feels to do).
  - syntheweave 4y ago
    Perfectionism is inherently tied to incoherence of thought, because a thought that is perfect in design leads to a perfect resulting action, and "perfectionism" refers to someone that is not taking perfect actions. A perfectionist is often making reactive changes or additions to address specific criticisms, without demonstrating performance at developing or finishing the project as a whole. Digital technologies are flypaper for perfectionists because they enable a lack of commitment: everything is one undo or abstraction layer away.

by badpun 4y ago

nonethewiser 4y ago

But how does that make it not perfectionism? Having the wrong priorities is in no way inconsistent with perfectionism. I also don’t think that analogy works because the things he mentioned mostly do need to be touched to develop the core game loop. The problem he has is that once he touches something he can’t leave it dirty. That’s the way in which it’s perfectionism.

pengaru 4y ago
> But how does that make it not perfectionism? Having the wrong priorities is in no way inconsistent with perfectionism. It's not perfectionism because you can't even succeed at making the perfect part without more of the whole defining what perfect even looks like. The requirements evolve/emerge as the whole does. It's just misguided premature effort, but there's a very strong force driving this mistake - it's easier and more fun to trim the sails than build the rest of the ship.
- JohnFen 4y ago
  I agree with what you're saying, but can't resist this little niggle... > it's easier and more fun to trim the sails than build the rest of the ship. That depends on the personality of the dev. Some devs consider the main body of the ship to be the easier and more fun thing. (I suspect that how fun a task is is correlated with how easy it feels to do).
- syntheweave 4y ago
  Perfectionism is inherently tied to incoherence of thought, because a thought that is perfect in design leads to a perfect resulting action, and "perfectionism" refers to someone that is not taking perfect actions. A perfectionist is often making reactive changes or additions to address specific criticisms, without demonstrating performance at developing or finishing the project as a whole. Digital technologies are flypaper for perfectionists because they enable a lack of commitment: everything is one undo or abstraction layer away.