Are you ever able to laugh at the absurdity of life? At yourself? At people you see who won't change no matter what? Etc. This seems like a good timing for that...
Gosh I have to rewrite it all since I dared touch the phone screen elsewhere while typing 🫠
Good day to you, so to speak👀
Saw your post right away but being sleep deprived for five days I was under the impression that I wouldn't be able to give any good insight.
The rested version of me now accessible 🤘 (I won't speak of personal/familial context):
There are points to consider about your content when making an educated choice
First off, is it dev related.
No? Then do you want to put it out there at all? If you do, you may use platforms such as dA, I know you to be well acquainted with it before. It may serve as a window pane for general purpose, or to the contrary, for sole focus stuff unrelated to development.
Yes? What purpose does it serve? For public attention and advertising, aim for well exposed platforms with opportunities, preferably varied, a bunch of social media seems to be a norm, while I would advice to specify in links one "main" platform/adress to join, either for business or troubleshooting purpose.
If the intent isn't for head-on advertising, maybe call to your current platforms (Substack, Patreon, which would also be an incentive for the subs already there and potential new comers when advertised)
All this being said about the basics, definitely plan out how you want to interact with the whole community aspect, begin right away by setting rules/boundaries as if the community was the biggest ever, only to set efficient and healthy ones. Once you manage to have a clear picture of this aspect, I believe you'll have a much easier time to >not< stress it out.
Then it will be about self discipline to stick by them so not to overly expose yourself, understand and allow yourself to focus on "your part of the deal", aka the project. And if progress seems slow or uninteresting for content purpose,
1. It's not a real problem for development. 2. Approach it differently, my personal appreciation here, whatever you may believe yourself, I see you more often than not doing some substential work at once (keep in mind we're not judging on a everyday basis either, let's say upon a whole month) and this CAN and SHOULD be managed to give you some leeway as well.
No need to bring out everything at once when sharing with your community, made a whole lot of UI last week? Zoom and cut some elements, tease it first(giving yet more time); future post, show a bit of it, icons or some specific part, not all of it if you made several tweaks.
3. Not visual, rather simple and plain, cold log updates are FINE, it's not about turning into a people pleaser, it's game dev and it realistically takes time, which is to be understood by the general consensus.
I may continue on many ways and tips to deal with community management and perception but I believe I went full freedom here and made it never ending lol 😖
I see things with too many details and am not good with keeping it short as I believe details make the difference, although they make things difficult to focus on sometimes 😅
Yes, you basically escaped the publicity on Fighunter, so naturally inviting publicity again must be a frightening thought. Ultimately, you can’t exactly pick what types of people will be drawn to your work, so it’s completely reasonable to feel afraid that it will be another nightmare.
Just my two cents, though, if it hopefully helps. 😅 Back in the Fighunter days, I had suspected that a lot of the criticisms and thanklessness of the fans was because the games you had made back then were free-to-play, so most fans had ridiculously unreasonable expectations. Artists in general also deal with this to varying levels. The fans may have been too poor to afford a paid game, but the same people were like that with essentially bootlegged anime and manga as well, displeasing the artists and authors even though they don’t blame the fans for enjoying the work for free when they genuinely can’t afford it. Like enjoy it, fine, but do you gotta spit in the faces of the artists who worked hard for your pleasure?
On top of that, recently I’ve seen first-hand how people with certain personalities will be trampled by people with other specific personalities just due to the tendencies in each. I know for a fact that the steamroller in this case doesn’t behave that way towards everyone, so my inclination is to believe that the other person appeared particularly trample-able. And perhaps many people have seen this in you as well.
The specific situation I’m speaking about was between my mom and her long-time boyfriend, just fyi, and it got to the point where I felt the need to step in even though I typically think it’s best to mind my business. I believe he doesn’t *intend* to be a big fat a-hole to my mom, but he is to the point where nothing *she* says or does changes anything. 😅 And in my opinion, at that point, I am just as well to interfere since I believe I can personally speak to both of their feelings and needs. The guy in question mainly just needs to recognize boundaries and respect, but he is basically designed to sometimes ignore the needs of someone who is soft-spoken and conflict-avoidant like my mom even if she tries her best to get him to back off… In my opinion, he’s ruining his own day by ruining hers and needs to learn that for both of their sakes.
He’s an a-hole at times to the rest of us as well, but generally speaking, I think we are by and large just better at getting him to listen and think twice about himself. By the time my mom is speaking up, things have escalated, and he becomes anxious and acts even worse. 🥲 But I like to think things are going pretty well now. I like to think we can all even out the odds for each other.
As for how this anecdote is hopefully helpful. 😅 In other words, even if you attracted similar fans, which may not happen considering how your style and focus has changed (though not that much when I think about it), if you approach it right from the offset, you may be able to have a much easier time of it. I suspect that there will be tumult temporarily from some of the same fans who still harbor bitter feelings probably coming back to see what’s up and maybe commenting, but if things are better, they will also calm down.
I personally feel like I kind of understand what needs to be done. I felt that way when I first got to Fighunter a little before it went to heck as well. I felt like I could see both sides fairly, although I was still biased myself to the point that I mostly was afraid to say anything. The problems were a little out of my depth by the time I got there.
Anyway… Just some thoughts for now. I’m not sure how to go into any details right now. But I would love to see you post games somewhere like Steam or GOG again and have a proper hub for the fans that doesn’t get out of hand again. Of course, you could avoid the fans more or less completely, but I assume you don’t want to. 😅
I was young and socially inept when I made and ran Fig Hunter, and I imagine that could also be said of most of the people who joined. I didn't know what I was doing, I had no life experience, and I'd been poorly socialised so I didn't even understand how to interact with people. I blame myself for how things turned out more than anyone else.
Though there is also the clash between different natures. I first understood the people who bothered me most to be 'choleric' types, then 'T types' once I found MBTI, but now I understand they're people towards one end of the Agreeableness spectrum (one of the Big Five traits which, unlike the other personality systems I used to be into, is actually scientifically validated and used by academics). Agreeableness is basically submissive vs dominant, and some people are by their natures just inclined to be aggressive towards others to get their way. The person you described is probably disagreeable. A lot of people are. And if it's just one person, that's bad enough, but you can adapt; you kind of have to. Really the hardest part back then was the sheer *volume* of such people I had to deal with. Imagine instead of just one "a-hole" guy, you had to deal with dozens or hundreds! It's exhausting. I'm very agreeable myself - that is, soft and submissive - and just don't have the temperament to deal with constant (or any) conflict.
I also worry though that any other community I might build up might just end up full of people much younger than me, maybe literally minors. I don't really want to be some 40-year-old man wrangling a bunch of children, for all kinds of reasons. But it's true that I can't exactly choose who likes what I put out into the world.
I've been wondering whether to ask somewhere what others creators are like with their audiences. Whether they interact or just stay distant, especially if they're older. I suppose most have friends, colleagues, a spouse, etc outside what they make who they can use to fulfil their social needs and share the burden, but I'm aware I don't have those, which makes it all more daunting.
I do wonder whether there'd be a difference in audience demographics if the games I was putting out weren't free, though.
I think the games you've worked on more recently wouldn't be as likely to attract minors. You would probably end up with some just because people still generally view kids as being the ones who actually have time to play games, but your work now seems to highlight more of the introspective aspects, which I would expect to scare off anyone who was only looking for a simple action/adventure RPG or something like that. Different genres tend to collect different fanbases.
But to be honest, although the age range of the fanbase in the past might have been an issue, I think the agreeableness/disagreeableness factor was much larger. Even kids have manners when they're agreeable. ^_^' Not to throw flack at anyone. I also expect disagreeable types (like myself) to grow a thicker skin since they want everyone else to. And they often appreciate some directness with kindness.
But from watching my mom with her boyfriend, it seems like essentially an impossible feat for them to reach a balance, so it seems to me that any of the rest of us have to bridge the gap here and there when necessary, and I'm usually the one who notices.
I would say disagreeable people don't necessarily intend to steamroll others, but it is certainly just kind of in their nature. And I actually do think it's related to thinking in MBTI, tbh, since I suspect most of us relatively disagreeable people also appreciate a correction more if it comes with an explanation of why we have to change or how it will benefit us by *making sense* and being practical. ^_^' At least I would say that tendency to steamroll is a downside that comes with an upside, just as with agreeableness. There's reason for both, but for balance, I think it's good to have lots of connections with people who have varying levels so they can... even out the odds, I guess. That type of thought has been on my mind more lately.
Hello Tobias, my name is also Tobias and I have commented on some of your other posts in the past
Just want to let you know, that I've been following your work since the first chapters of MARDEK and been a hugh fan. You have inspired me to create games myself
I have succeeded in releasing my first commercial game on Steam titled Maze Odyssey
I really need to work on my video game as well. I've been putting it off. It feels like we're both doing it the same way, trying to distract ourselves from our worries. The problem is that it never feels like the right time to go back to working. It becomes hard to get back into your natural rhythm.
Are you ever able to laugh at the absurdity of life? At yourself? At people you see who won't change no matter what? Etc. This seems like a good timing for that...
I try. It does all feel like some cosmic joke, sometimes.
Gosh I have to rewrite it all since I dared touch the phone screen elsewhere while typing 🫠
Good day to you, so to speak👀
Saw your post right away but being sleep deprived for five days I was under the impression that I wouldn't be able to give any good insight.
The rested version of me now accessible 🤘 (I won't speak of personal/familial context):
There are points to consider about your content when making an educated choice
First off, is it dev related.
No? Then do you want to put it out there at all? If you do, you may use platforms such as dA, I know you to be well acquainted with it before. It may serve as a window pane for general purpose, or to the contrary, for sole focus stuff unrelated to development.
Yes? What purpose does it serve? For public attention and advertising, aim for well exposed platforms with opportunities, preferably varied, a bunch of social media seems to be a norm, while I would advice to specify in links one "main" platform/adress to join, either for business or troubleshooting purpose.
If the intent isn't for head-on advertising, maybe call to your current platforms (Substack, Patreon, which would also be an incentive for the subs already there and potential new comers when advertised)
All this being said about the basics, definitely plan out how you want to interact with the whole community aspect, begin right away by setting rules/boundaries as if the community was the biggest ever, only to set efficient and healthy ones. Once you manage to have a clear picture of this aspect, I believe you'll have a much easier time to >not< stress it out.
Then it will be about self discipline to stick by them so not to overly expose yourself, understand and allow yourself to focus on "your part of the deal", aka the project. And if progress seems slow or uninteresting for content purpose,
1. It's not a real problem for development. 2. Approach it differently, my personal appreciation here, whatever you may believe yourself, I see you more often than not doing some substential work at once (keep in mind we're not judging on a everyday basis either, let's say upon a whole month) and this CAN and SHOULD be managed to give you some leeway as well.
No need to bring out everything at once when sharing with your community, made a whole lot of UI last week? Zoom and cut some elements, tease it first(giving yet more time); future post, show a bit of it, icons or some specific part, not all of it if you made several tweaks.
3. Not visual, rather simple and plain, cold log updates are FINE, it's not about turning into a people pleaser, it's game dev and it realistically takes time, which is to be understood by the general consensus.
I may continue on many ways and tips to deal with community management and perception but I believe I went full freedom here and made it never ending lol 😖
I see things with too many details and am not good with keeping it short as I believe details make the difference, although they make things difficult to focus on sometimes 😅
Peace ✌️😄
Yes, you basically escaped the publicity on Fighunter, so naturally inviting publicity again must be a frightening thought. Ultimately, you can’t exactly pick what types of people will be drawn to your work, so it’s completely reasonable to feel afraid that it will be another nightmare.
Just my two cents, though, if it hopefully helps. 😅 Back in the Fighunter days, I had suspected that a lot of the criticisms and thanklessness of the fans was because the games you had made back then were free-to-play, so most fans had ridiculously unreasonable expectations. Artists in general also deal with this to varying levels. The fans may have been too poor to afford a paid game, but the same people were like that with essentially bootlegged anime and manga as well, displeasing the artists and authors even though they don’t blame the fans for enjoying the work for free when they genuinely can’t afford it. Like enjoy it, fine, but do you gotta spit in the faces of the artists who worked hard for your pleasure?
On top of that, recently I’ve seen first-hand how people with certain personalities will be trampled by people with other specific personalities just due to the tendencies in each. I know for a fact that the steamroller in this case doesn’t behave that way towards everyone, so my inclination is to believe that the other person appeared particularly trample-able. And perhaps many people have seen this in you as well.
The specific situation I’m speaking about was between my mom and her long-time boyfriend, just fyi, and it got to the point where I felt the need to step in even though I typically think it’s best to mind my business. I believe he doesn’t *intend* to be a big fat a-hole to my mom, but he is to the point where nothing *she* says or does changes anything. 😅 And in my opinion, at that point, I am just as well to interfere since I believe I can personally speak to both of their feelings and needs. The guy in question mainly just needs to recognize boundaries and respect, but he is basically designed to sometimes ignore the needs of someone who is soft-spoken and conflict-avoidant like my mom even if she tries her best to get him to back off… In my opinion, he’s ruining his own day by ruining hers and needs to learn that for both of their sakes.
He’s an a-hole at times to the rest of us as well, but generally speaking, I think we are by and large just better at getting him to listen and think twice about himself. By the time my mom is speaking up, things have escalated, and he becomes anxious and acts even worse. 🥲 But I like to think things are going pretty well now. I like to think we can all even out the odds for each other.
As for how this anecdote is hopefully helpful. 😅 In other words, even if you attracted similar fans, which may not happen considering how your style and focus has changed (though not that much when I think about it), if you approach it right from the offset, you may be able to have a much easier time of it. I suspect that there will be tumult temporarily from some of the same fans who still harbor bitter feelings probably coming back to see what’s up and maybe commenting, but if things are better, they will also calm down.
I personally feel like I kind of understand what needs to be done. I felt that way when I first got to Fighunter a little before it went to heck as well. I felt like I could see both sides fairly, although I was still biased myself to the point that I mostly was afraid to say anything. The problems were a little out of my depth by the time I got there.
Anyway… Just some thoughts for now. I’m not sure how to go into any details right now. But I would love to see you post games somewhere like Steam or GOG again and have a proper hub for the fans that doesn’t get out of hand again. Of course, you could avoid the fans more or less completely, but I assume you don’t want to. 😅
I was young and socially inept when I made and ran Fig Hunter, and I imagine that could also be said of most of the people who joined. I didn't know what I was doing, I had no life experience, and I'd been poorly socialised so I didn't even understand how to interact with people. I blame myself for how things turned out more than anyone else.
Though there is also the clash between different natures. I first understood the people who bothered me most to be 'choleric' types, then 'T types' once I found MBTI, but now I understand they're people towards one end of the Agreeableness spectrum (one of the Big Five traits which, unlike the other personality systems I used to be into, is actually scientifically validated and used by academics). Agreeableness is basically submissive vs dominant, and some people are by their natures just inclined to be aggressive towards others to get their way. The person you described is probably disagreeable. A lot of people are. And if it's just one person, that's bad enough, but you can adapt; you kind of have to. Really the hardest part back then was the sheer *volume* of such people I had to deal with. Imagine instead of just one "a-hole" guy, you had to deal with dozens or hundreds! It's exhausting. I'm very agreeable myself - that is, soft and submissive - and just don't have the temperament to deal with constant (or any) conflict.
I also worry though that any other community I might build up might just end up full of people much younger than me, maybe literally minors. I don't really want to be some 40-year-old man wrangling a bunch of children, for all kinds of reasons. But it's true that I can't exactly choose who likes what I put out into the world.
I've been wondering whether to ask somewhere what others creators are like with their audiences. Whether they interact or just stay distant, especially if they're older. I suppose most have friends, colleagues, a spouse, etc outside what they make who they can use to fulfil their social needs and share the burden, but I'm aware I don't have those, which makes it all more daunting.
I do wonder whether there'd be a difference in audience demographics if the games I was putting out weren't free, though.
I think the games you've worked on more recently wouldn't be as likely to attract minors. You would probably end up with some just because people still generally view kids as being the ones who actually have time to play games, but your work now seems to highlight more of the introspective aspects, which I would expect to scare off anyone who was only looking for a simple action/adventure RPG or something like that. Different genres tend to collect different fanbases.
But to be honest, although the age range of the fanbase in the past might have been an issue, I think the agreeableness/disagreeableness factor was much larger. Even kids have manners when they're agreeable. ^_^' Not to throw flack at anyone. I also expect disagreeable types (like myself) to grow a thicker skin since they want everyone else to. And they often appreciate some directness with kindness.
But from watching my mom with her boyfriend, it seems like essentially an impossible feat for them to reach a balance, so it seems to me that any of the rest of us have to bridge the gap here and there when necessary, and I'm usually the one who notices.
I would say disagreeable people don't necessarily intend to steamroll others, but it is certainly just kind of in their nature. And I actually do think it's related to thinking in MBTI, tbh, since I suspect most of us relatively disagreeable people also appreciate a correction more if it comes with an explanation of why we have to change or how it will benefit us by *making sense* and being practical. ^_^' At least I would say that tendency to steamroll is a downside that comes with an upside, just as with agreeableness. There's reason for both, but for balance, I think it's good to have lots of connections with people who have varying levels so they can... even out the odds, I guess. That type of thought has been on my mind more lately.
Hello Tobias, my name is also Tobias and I have commented on some of your other posts in the past
Just want to let you know, that I've been following your work since the first chapters of MARDEK and been a hugh fan. You have inspired me to create games myself
I have succeeded in releasing my first commercial game on Steam titled Maze Odyssey
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3781150/Maze_Odyssey/
It is a retro maze game and the art style and music(which I also did by myself) are heavily influenced by your style.
A big thank you for inspiring me to create games myself. It is fun but hard to make a game and release it, especially marketing and making it visible.
If you find my game interesting, I will also be happy to share a Steam key, så you can play it! :)
Best regards
Tobias of SolarCrystalStudios
I really need to work on my video game as well. I've been putting it off. It feels like we're both doing it the same way, trying to distract ourselves from our worries. The problem is that it never feels like the right time to go back to working. It becomes hard to get back into your natural rhythm.
Rooting for you, wherever life takes you