Real quick thing I wanted to field to the #gamedev community before I get back to work on my capstone.
I saw a sentiment from another dev, before they deleted it, that they were afraid to go any further with their game because they were afraid of potentially creating a community they didn't want to support.
I am just curious, have you heard of this before? It seems a bit silly to me to just give up just because of a "what-if" community that "might" encircle your game. #indiedev #solodev
@OmtayStudios I think that's a reasonable fear, but not a reasonable response. Building an enthusiastic community only to ultimately let them down feels terrible for everyone involved, and if they're supporting you monetarily that's going to be even worse.
On the other hand, just... make the thing and don't build the community yet? 🤷♀️
@teahands It seems like the dev was worried that, because their game would no doubt have some political elements to it, that they were worried they were going to attract individuals who embodied the things they were critiquing.
Which is where the disconnect for me is. I agree it's ok to be concerned about it, but to not complete your image/work, based entirely off a what if? That's what throws me for a loop.
It's definitely a new excuse to hear though, I never heard it prior.
I don't know if it's necessarily political. There are game designs that, by their structure, create hostile communities.
Look at battle arena games like League of Legends. The combination of the long rounds, the team nature of the game, and the ambiguous responsibility for victory means that community is toxic from the ground up. Losing hurts, and everyone blames each other.
If you realized you're making a game with that kind of baked-in toxicity... I'd rethink it.
