19 pages??

Really?

I'm thinking some people might benefit from a gender studies class.

I love/hate you all.   

that's the way you do it
money for nothing
and the chicks for free
 

Or just sell your soul to the devil (aka, popular media)

Re: Where are the indie game-loving non computer nerds?
is a better question

Computer nerd to Non-computer nerd Ratio: 100:0

(source: http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?action=stats)

Geeks, mate.  We're geeks.  Only some of us are nerds   

I think you can fulfill your life both socially/romantically AND artistically at the same time.

I never actually made a game, tho, so maybe it IS indeed a soul-sucking activity that automagically repels women.

No doubt one can balance all endeavors, but from what he was saying game-making seems to leave no time for tail-chasing.

Plus, didn't you know that all programmers are repulsive creatures that secrete cheeto-sweat and burn from direct sunlight?

On a personal note, I remember I used to "hook up" with girls when my life was just about partying and having fun... But then I got into actually making games and, well, that was akin to turning off the faucet to my getting lucky! 

A worthy trade-off if you ask me, mate.  Creative endeavors are exercises in personal development.  Much better to improve and express oneself than to go around chasing tail or be engaged in relationships without much substance to them.

You apparently aren't familiar with the concept of Invisible Dimensional Storage Pockets of Convenience, or IDSPC for short.

Pfft, everyone knows all RTS units are issued Bags of Holding.

wait a second. how? did they come to you? did you lure them to your house somehow?

My house is nothing more than an elaborate trap designed to lure unsuspecting passersby *Muahahah*

OMG a game about kittens baking... 

You shouldn't have said that.  I am now too tempted to take pictures of my kitten and make an indie "Cooking Mama"

you guys seriously need to go outside and get laid

Pfft, outside.

99% of sex I've had happened -inside-.  That's where it's at.

I stumbled onto this the other day.  I don't know much about the gameplay, but I've loved this era for RTSes since I played Age of Empires way back when.

I like the direction they're heading too.  Also turbo cool that they've open-sourced it and the art assets are CC-by-SA

computers can turn those cogs more efficiently than a DM could, right?

Theoretically, yes.  But what happens when the players want to take the story in an unscripted direction?  Most games are very limiting in this aspect, and understandably so.  They tell you the story the creators wanted to tell, if you want to tread off the beaten path, it's most likely an endless expanse of nothingness, or just an invisible wall stopping you from going in that direction/choosing that decision.

I guess I'm just really good at improvising a rich and deep world, but almost every week that we had a session, my players often took the story in a direction that I hadn't planned.  After the first two months or so, I decided to stop planning the path and only scripted down the 'nodes' that the party would encounter, the path to get to a 'node' (if they ever even decided to go in that direction) would be completely made up on the spot.

My script was more a collection of events that would fit in during certain situations rather than an actual script.

WAIT?  Are you serious?  Girl gamers get kicked off servers due to their gender!?

I mean... this is twice now mentioned in this thread.  I accept it as fact.  If that's the case... what the hell?  Why are we driving girls away!?  That's insane 

I was baffled when it first happened.  Their reasoning was that girls weren't good at FPSs and that it was supposed to be an "Elite" server.  Needless to say, I never played on that server again, nor played with any member of that clan afterwards.

Ridicule? Oh come on, you're no fun.

No I'm not, I'm super serial.

When I'm really into it, I just put my library on shuffle and let it flow.  When brainstorming though I'll often put up a lot of ambient/chillout.  Sometimes I'll queue up some Daft Punk, Justice, E.S. Posthumus, Amadou & Mariam, The Go! Team, etc. et.c

Of the percentage of people who play games, statistics show that females are steadily rising.  I think though, that there is still a barrier to entry for female gamers due to their reception by the community at large.  As has been showcased previously in this thread, most female gamers are reticent to revealing their gender because they know they'll get different treatment.

Also, in an online community, especially one like gaming where it's more about one's ability in the game much more than one's gender, sex really becomes a non-issue.  I have a massive bone to pick with the slags on the TF2 servers that kick or mock players just because they're revealed to be female.  I feel too many gaming communities still treat it as a boys-only secret man-cave no girls allowed super-secret club.

Also also, I don't see why the people who posted in this thread should be ridiculed either.  This is a legitimate sociological issue in the context of gaming communities.  It's not like anyone's here to pick up girls.

Furthermore, I think it's more of a commentary on the consumers of games rather than the producers.  On the whole, no matter what feelings we may have about what should or shouldn't happen with gaming, it's really the gaming mass that will determine what they want.

(Mainstream) Game developers, first and foremost, are a business.  They need to create product that sells so that their existence can continue.  If mindless sex and violence sell, well that's what they're gonna keep pumping out.

Indie game developers have the ability to use games as an artistic medium, making their statements without the restrictions placed on them by publishers worrying about where their dollar is taking them.

Unfortunately a small minority of girls exploit mens' tendancy (far smaller than in RL), lavishing in the center of attention.

and sometimes men.

The ideas are interesting, but the way that he dismisses the state of the industry only serves to hurt the idea, I think.

I don't see why his idea can't be integrated into a game that already tries to simulate this sort of interaction like Mass Effect or the Elder Scrolls series.  Sure, I can agree with him on some level that this obsession with visual and spatial representation makes the gaming landscape kinda stale, but why not use this to one's advantage?  Introduce this idea of dramatic fiction interaction along with some flash and show the audience the advantage of having deeper interaction.

People say first impressions are important and it runs very true in the game industry.  Most will see a game screenshot and make an opinion based solely on that.  Sad, but the trick would be to work around that.  Make use of that fact to bring something new to an audience that might not be expecting it.

I've never been more broke or more single until I started making games as a full-time thing

Ahh, the good life   :D

I've actually considered this, especially since I can sing... But I don't think I could learn how to play guitar for the life of me!

Good deal, mate.  But I wouldn't recommend getting into it for the girls    Just do what you enjoy, if girls like you for it then cool.  I'd like to say that I'm somewhat multi-faceted though not particularly good in any one area, each of my interests help me along in some way.  Of the girls I've met (not many) and the ones that like me (TURBO not many) like me because of the mediocre skills I have.  Mostly they like me because of who I am as a person and my thoughts and views of life.  That's the kinda girl I'd want to be with, not ones that like me because I can sing their panties off or serenade them some other way.

Or maybe I'm taking this thread too seriously   

:D

(I don't know what that's supposed to be, don't ask me)

My work definitely won't compare to some that I've seen in this thread, but... here are some things.























*Whew*  Sorry for the spam, it's a random collection of stuff from the past few years, as is evident in the change in style.