tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post112419969633065994..comments2023-11-02T15:47:29.001+00:00Comments on particleblog: A Game By...Tadhghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14763670950211297013noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1138151958868961392006-01-25T01:19:00.000+00:002006-01-25T01:19:00.000+00:00Searching through blogs is a lot different than tr...Searching through blogs is a lot different than trying to find information via a search engine. I feel like I have almosted wasted an entire day and then I finally found your post...thanks, <A HREF="http://www.milliondollarhomebiz.com" REL="nofollow">legitimate work at home business</A>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1128212835967491702005-10-02T00:27:00.000+00:002005-10-02T00:27:00.000+00:00What a wonderful invention it is, this thing we ca...What a wonderful invention it is, this thing we call the Internet!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1125409395016383432005-08-30T13:43:00.000+00:002005-08-30T13:43:00.000+00:00Tadhg, you know what? You're probably right. Perha...Tadhg, you know what? You're probably right. Perhaps rejecting the term "Director" in favour of a unique name is as much a symptom of young-medium-insecurity as willfully adopting it is?<BR/><BR/>And Gillen - that's excellent news! I kiss your face etc! I hope that the people who deserve the credit get it, however. As we've established, it's tricky business pinning credit on just one name (as Warren Spector keeps saying).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1124915578416348552005-08-24T20:32:00.000+00:002005-08-24T20:32:00.000+00:00One of the best and most concise pieces on this to...One of the best and most concise pieces on this topic I have seen. Kudos Tadhg and I concur.<BR/><BR/>I believe Director is the appropriate term we should use. Bring on more Directors!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1124909615276384522005-08-24T18:53:00.000+00:002005-08-24T18:53:00.000+00:00"On the other hand, so what? If we spend all of ou..."On the other hand, so what? If we spend all of our lives worrying about what other people will think of us, we'll never do anything."<BR/><BR/>Absolutely. My point was that it will probably take more than just a few creatives changing their minds and fighting for something to make it happen. Journalists and people on the business side still need convincing.<BR/><BR/>And with that in mind, what Kieron wrote is very good news indeed. If only because people will now know who to blame next time they play something awful!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1124757028685461722005-08-23T00:30:00.000+00:002005-08-23T00:30:00.000+00:00Agree entirely.On a connected note, was pleased to...Agree entirely.<BR/><BR/>On a connected note, was pleased to hear today that (since I suggested the idea to them) Gamer are going to start adding "Project Lead" as a piece of information alongside "Publisher", "Price" and similar trinkets at the end of their reviews. I'm sure other people will follow.<BR/><BR/>Its a small part of what you're talking about, but anything which will help implant the idea in people's heads is a step forward. I think, anyway.<BR/><BR/>KGKieronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10571108616860771780noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1124717537702454142005-08-22T13:32:00.000+00:002005-08-22T13:32:00.000+00:00jp,"Obviously many of us are all for it. But if we...jp,<BR/><BR/>"Obviously many of us are all for it. But if we're already in key design / director type roles, and we want to fight for greater recognition etc, we may just come off as self-aggrandizing cunts who want a bigger share of the pie."<BR/><BR/>On the other hand, so what? If we spend all of our lives worrying about what other people will think of us, we'll never do anything.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1124717453211971832005-08-22T13:30:00.000+00:002005-08-22T13:30:00.000+00:00Aubrey,"The concern I have is that borrowing anoth...Aubrey,<BR/><BR/>"The concern I have is that borrowing another HollyWood term once again makes us HollyWood's bitch."<BR/><BR/>Not at all. 'Director' is not a film-original name. It comes from theatre. Part of the evolution of a new medium, is, as you say, growing pains, and this is where the nebulous catch-all name 'game designer' gets used and abused. The fact that it is, but your own admission, vague, is unhelpful. <BR/><BR/>Teams often have multiple game designers, for example. Which one is in charge? They have Lead Designers, but this is as often a man-management role as a creative lead role. They often have Leads that are equivalent in authority to every other department. There is a great deal of confusion as regards design and designers, but in general the trend for perceiving game design is moving toward documentation, paper design and that sort of thing. <BR/><BR/>(Never mind the confusion that level design, content design and etc bring to the party)<BR/><BR/>That's not a creative lead sort of role, and it commands no overall authority. For it do so also creates a sense of division in a team, as the animation department and the code department and the production department all get the hump over why one department is more important than another. <BR/><BR/>Hence, we make a distinction. You have one person in charge of all the departments who does not appear directly affiliated with any single one. A director, a stand-alone figure. You don't have multiple directors, they don't represent one interest more than another, and they are therefore able to make decisions. <BR/><BR/>An orchestra needs a conductor who appears both independent and in command. I'm saying that the same applies here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1124467491186424952005-08-19T16:04:00.000+00:002005-08-19T16:04:00.000+00:00I have to wonder how many other 19-year-olds like ...I have to wonder how many other 19-year-olds like myself that have been dreaming of taking a position much as you describe for most of their life happen upon posts like this.<BR/><BR/>Most of my friends have given up the dream of being the "rock star" behind whatever they work on, creative or business. So I wonder if I am unique to continue identifying with my own dream of answering the very-timely, as I'm a college student, calls to begin maturing an industry that I am one of the first generations to have been truly born into.<BR/><BR/>Be there two or two hundred (thousand) of us, all of the buzz is exciting--all of this dire circumstance about the risk vastly overtaking the chance for publishers to grant original ideas true opportunities is winning me into determining that, absolutely, I'll be one of the new-bloods helping to advance beyond this current point.<BR/><BR/>It's exhilerating, even, as unsure as it all might look.SJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13714208808695776997noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1124461535890323872005-08-19T14:25:00.000+00:002005-08-19T14:25:00.000+00:00By focusing attention on the game director rather ...By focusing attention on the game director rather than just on the franchise we would also be encouraging creativity.<BR/><BR/>The way publishers see it (quite reasonably, I think) is that to market a game, it's really useful to have an already popular brand to attach it to. It's just easier to sell something if it's already attached to something else people already like. Usually this takes the form of a franchise or license.<BR/><BR/>By making directors famous, they become brands that can be attached to their projects. Therefore you don't need to limit yourself to sequels and licenses, directors can create original content and it's their name that's going to help sell it.<BR/><BR/>This wouldn't completely solve the "sequel-itis" problem of the industry -- there are plenty of sequels and licenses in movies even though creators are well known -- but I think it would help by giving another avenue for marketing original concepts. Under this model, we could expect new directors to work on the inevitable sequels and license titles, but to have proven directors working on original material.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1124288863814679222005-08-17T14:27:00.000+00:002005-08-17T14:27:00.000+00:00Funny, I'd sort of already had the idea that "Lead...Funny, I'd sort of already had the idea that "Lead Designer" and the Japanese studio concept of "Director" are one and the same. But my definition of "design" is almost certainly more inclusive than most. As usual, it matters less what words we call it by, and more that it simply comes to pass.<BR/><BR/>Obviously many of us are all for it. But if we're already in key design / director type roles, and we want to fight for greater recognition etc, we may just come off as self-aggrandizing cunts who want a bigger share of the pie.<BR/><BR/>Basically, we need wealthy, famous and influential advocates :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6093379.post-1124274993843893922005-08-17T10:36:00.000+00:002005-08-17T10:36:00.000+00:00I (kind of) agree.When I had trouble explaining my...I (kind of) agree.<BR/><BR/>When I had trouble explaining my job in the past, a friend from the movie industry once had to do it for me. He said it was "the equivalent of a screenwriter with directorial control". Short and sweet, and made sense to practically anyone.<BR/><BR/>I can pretty much get behind that, because as you say, I'm not the passive kind of designer. Just this morning, I took an animator into a back alley to practice wall runs (I know, I know. It's hardly interactive storytelling. God knows that I, like you, would like to be doing games for grown ups [not that IS is just for grownups, or that grownups are just for IS]). <BR/><BR/>The concern I have is that borrowing another HollyWood term once again makes us HollyWood's bitch. It gives momentum to the idea the games are simply striving to be films, <I>but shittier</I>. As mentioned by Gillen in the first issue of the escapist, every emerging medium goes through growing pains of insecurity, and self doubt. I know you don't mean to (shit, you especially) but there's no need to mold ourselves in HollyWood's shape by slavishly adapting their terms to our own (that's not to say that there's not some good stuff we can borrow... but, you know what I'm saying. Distancing ourselves is the only way for the medium to find the medium's own feet. Cast off this crutch. Rar rar!).<BR/><BR/>The title of Game Designer <I>can</I> encompass both screen writer and directorial roles. <I>Can</I>. It doesn't necessarily have to. It could be a guy in the corner who just chats on irc all day, or posts inane comments on other people's weblogs. A Game Designer's job is <I>never</I> the same, because it's as much about personal methodology as it is the work load of any given studio. It's a fuzzy description at best.<BR/><BR/>As an analogy, I don't mind "Director" at all. But as a job title... well, I have one already: Game Designer. It might be fuzzy, but it's <I>ours</I>.<BR/><BR/>Aubrey.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com