When Homebrewers Produce Crap

[Rhomaios]

That will be seen as child abuse in the future. Students are never wrong. They're just precision impaired. Who is to say what is right or wrong? If their answers are wrong, what else could be wrong; their skin color? It's a slippery slope!

 

Related book:

Punished by Rewards: The Trouble with Gold Stars, Incentive Plans, A's, Praise, and Other Bribes

 

Funnily enough, on the agenda for class is Harrison Bergeron and Brave New World. Yay for cognitive dissonance!

[+thegoldenband]

The reason I produce crap is because nobody will offer suggestions of how to make my game better. I don't want to produce crap, but I have to because apparently nobody likes my games.

 

atari2600land, man, you've gotten plenty of praise and constructive feedback through the years. When you hit a low point and announced that you'd be quitting the homebrew scene because "everything I make is total shit of course", a bunch of people chimed in to help you feel better, with some very thoughtful and kind posts.

 

Please don't claim that "nobody likes your games" or "nobody will offer suggestions"; saying that is like giving the middle finger to everyone who's supported you.

 

I haven't followed all your homebrew threads, but I did follow Fatso! I was one of several people who gave you extensive feedback, though you didn't implement any of my suggestions (which is your prerogative, of course).

 

To be honest it was a little disappointing that you burned out on the game so quickly, and seemed to want to be done with it rather than working your ass off until it was amazing. And I think you're capable of making an amazing Odyssey^2 game -- like I said in the thread, I think there's something about that machine that's a great match for your style -- but you didn't keep pushing Fatso! to reach that magic point of addictiveness and depth.

 

I haven't played the final version of Fatso!, though, so if you added major new gameplay elements between the late WIPs and the cart release, I'll gladly change my opinion.

[+Random Terrain]

atari2600land, man, you've gotten plenty of praise and constructive feedback through the years. When you hit a low point and announced that you'd be quitting the homebrew scene because "everything I make is total shit of course", a bunch of people chimed in to help you feel better, with some very thoughtful and kind posts.

Related post:

 

atariage.com/forums/topic/137065-let-me-explain-myself-here/?p=1654653

When I get around to finishing some of my batari Basic works in progress, it's possible that every one of them will suck. I'm not going to quit because of negative comments. So-called negative comments can be used to improve. If everyone blows you rainbow kisses no matter how terrible your games might be, it can be encouraging, but it's not very helpful. Remember Odysseus and the Sirens?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odysseus#The_Sirens

Circe had warned Odysseus of the dangers of the singing creatures who lured men to their death on the rocks around their island. She advised him to avoid them but said that, if he really felt that he must, he should have his men plug their ears with beeswax and tie him to the mast to keep him from escaping.

 

Odysseus had his men do so. As they passed the island, the three Sirens began to sing beautifully, promising him wisdom and knowledge of past and future. Enchanted by their song, he struggled and tried to break free, but two of his men bound him even more tightly until they passed beyond the island.

In a kind of backwards version of Odysseus and the Sirens, you can tie yourself to the mast and listen to the nastiest, most suicide inducing criticism and you'll get through it because you mentally tied yourself to the mast. Once you get past the scathing Sirens, you can untie yourself and use what you heard to improve in some way.

 

Quitting when you run into a little criticism might seem like the act of someone with low self-esteem, but what's really happening is that you think you're so good that you couldn't possibly learn something or get a little better than you already are. The untamed brain hates change. It would rather have you standing naked in the middle of the street crying your eyes out. Once you realize that your brain hates change and it will do anything to avoid it, you've not only thrown a rope around your brain, you've already started to tame it without even realizing it.

 

You are a glorious, shining sword and criticism is the whetstone. Do not run from the whetstone or you will become dull and useless. Stay sharp.

 

[+DZ-Jay]

This thread is about me, isn't it? The reason I produce crap is because nobody will offer suggestions of how to make my game better. I don't want to produce crap, but I have to because apparently nobody likes my games. I have too much time on my hands, and if I'm producing crap, then I guess my time will be better spent elsewhere...

Is that why you joined the Intellivision community recently, to spend your time better elsewhere? If so, then perhaps that's precisely what you needed.

 

As someone who has absolutely no idea of your background and baggage, or history in the home-brew scene, I will provide my impression of things based on what I've seen.

 

As you know, I followed the "GoSub for Intellivision" thread with much interest. You seemed like a nice chap, motivated, and talented. I and others provided what I believe to be a substantial amount of positive, critical, and constructive feedback on your game, providing guidance on the platform. You seemed very receptive to all criticism and disposed to follow the advice of myself and the rest, and even to implement significant changes in your game as suggested by others.

 

The end result was an unanimously praised game, that was lots of fun, with lots of replay-ability, enjoyed by everyone. It wasn't a perfect game, and it wasn't a masterpiece, but it was a very good game.

 

That sounds at odds with the new impression I get from reading yours and other's comments on this thread--that of some victimized, talentless programmer hack that doesn't try hard enough, wallows in self-pitty as he plods on in making crap games that nobody likes (apparently, himself included). Strange.

 

Perhaps it was the fact that you were starting anew and approached the Intellivision platform with a fresh attitude. Perhaps our community is so starved of new talent that we embraced and cuddled up anybody who glances our way, and consequently guaranteed a constructive and nurturing environment for your development. Perhaps its a combination of both.

 

In any case, I believe this offers a few lessons to all camps: First and foremost, as the main theme in this thread suggests--and many of us vociferously proclaim--constructive feedback works well, and is indeed important.

 

Second, wallowing in self-pitty, feeling victimize and persecuted, and making proclamations of quitting the scene, will not necessarily improve your lot; and it may very well make it worse. When confronted with such thoughts, maybe it is time to take a new approach, a new outlook, or a new platform and a new community.

 

Third, talentless hacks who constantly produce crap, and who are not just doing it to take advantage of collector's obsessions for financial gain (and you can always tell the difference), are probably just unmotivated or crestfallen, and may just need a little positive reinforcement. That is not to say that we need to stroke their ego--I refuse to be anybody's mommy--but they may just need some proper guidance, assistance, or motivation.

 

Which leads into lesson number four, that a constructive and nurturing environment, where people treat each other like peers--even new-comers--welcoming suggestions, improvements, guidance, and any sort of feedback; is indeed the best recipe for a successful community. It results in better games, more motivated programmers, and a nicer and more joyous place to be in.

 

The last lesson I want to point out is one that we've known intuitively all along, and seems to be a universal truth, even to those who have avoided admitting it: that the Intellivision is better than Atari. (sorry, couldn't resist! But it's true. )

 

-dZ.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

You almost got a "like" from me.