Need some feedback from the GS community on a new project. I'm a New Zealand based games designer working on a new system to replace health bars and statistics based damage which is intended for use in Virtual Reality but could scale down to conventional displays.
I can relate to your story. Growing up, I knew I was going to be a famous author one day. New Zealand's answer to Stephen King. I had supreme confidence in my creativity.
I went through high school without a contingency plan.
My story's different from yours. As a student, I only put any effort into projects that allowed for creative expression. This was sufficient to carry me through English, Japanese and Drama with passing grades, but not enough to give me entry into university.
There were contributing factors to this failure; underlying mental health issues and bad choices... I won't go into the specifics.
Anyway, my only real option was to apply for a course in creative writing at Polytech. This would have meant leaving my home and living in strange city - which I doubt I could have coped with - so in hindsight I'm glad they followed their regular policy of not accepting school-leavers.
After that, my writing ended up taking me into darker places.
I actually managed to get one of my short stories published in a magazine called "The Listener" in 1998. Things should have been looking up at this point, but the piece I submitted was actually the prologue to a story about suicide. That story had been a cathartic piece, in which I'd externalised my feeling in another character.
Coincidentally, the cover story was about a young woman who'd completed suicide. Let's just say I didn't take it very well - it was like putting an actual face to the character I'd written about. I ended up sending the editor of the magazine a harshly worded email on an unrelated subject, but I think I was subconsciously trying to distance myself from the story.
Days later I received the first and only paycheck I've ever got for my writing. At least I can say I'm a "published author".
(I didn't actually intend to write a reply this long).
TL; DR?
Looking back, would I change anything? I don't think so.
I lost my dad 3 years ago, and for a time as I mourned I lost my love of gaming; the only constant in my life. Now it's returned in a way I couldn't have anticipated, and I'm making my first tentative steps into game development and crowdfunding on Twitter.
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What I actually visited your profile to ask you, is how do you share links to Gamespot blogs on other sites? It's actually just clicked that I can send links to my main profile page, but when I try to link to specific blogs I get a .404 error.
It would be great if the site was more blogger-friendly IMO; I miss the Community Spotlight. It would also be great to have access to a repository of blogs to read.
If you've read this far, thanks for your time. I know you're a busy person. In future I'll stick to 140 characters or less XD
@Pawfalcon: I used to comment regularly until the general negativity got to me. I actually absorbed some of it and ended up posting a comment I regret, and got a ban. That's when I found out about Twitter. Twitter gives you the opportunity to block or mute people, so you can tailor your experience.
(Sub Mary, the following message is best read out in fake Australian accent)
g'day mate, I give you a 10 out of 10 for the work you did on today's show.
Thanks for the gift of dollar dollar bills, naturally the first thing I did was buy myself a box of beers and slap another shrimp on the barbie.
(Makes hiccuping sound) Well actually just joking; I'm just saying I find it a little bit hard to believe that this was good business practice for a dev to effectively Astroturf good reputation for themselves among the community know what I mean?
Sort of like the Volkswagen scandal when they found out that the engines went as clean as green as they were saying they are because employees tempered with them or because of the actions of some hacker according to the higher-ups in the company (yeah whatever Volkswagen I believe).
I'm just here to have some fun with my new toy, got myself a voice Mike for the computer and a copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Honestly I might never touch my keyboard again, I'm just having such a good time with the system.
Anyway are you Game Spot commenters you good sorts, and I know although you don't always see eye to eye on everything. Hurt me up on twitter some time if you want; worse that can happen is I don't like what you have to say I'll mute you.
Trying to promote an idea for a VR development start-up company on my twit, would really like some input.
Boom Headshot Studios "CEO"
AN_G3L_NZ is my twitter.
All the best and if this was to TLDR, why you even here – didn't you hear Mary say there is a patch up for the Witcher three? :-)
@dr_milton_e: I've had some journalistic experience. I used to write primarily from a consumer advocacy standpoint, for a newsletter; some of my articles went on to be published in newspapers. I addressed her in a comment framed as a statement from one journalist to another, and things kind of went down hill because I was writing in stream of consciousness, in a bad headspace.
Gonzo Journalism isn't always the prettiest of work to read I'm afraid. I got banned, and my worst case scenario is that it was actually Jess who read it, and had the say in the ban decision. So my "bridge" was to get her attention, and her reaction and the ban was the bridge being burned.
@dr_milton_e: Not so much a literal bridge (as in we met or knew each other) but an implied bridge I guess.
New Zealand has very close ties with Australia (where Jess is situated); there's what's referred to as the "Anzac Spirit" which has its roots in our cooperation during World War I in battles such as Gallipoli.
Our countries may not always agree 100%, but we at least can be good natured and poke fun at each other.
I just don't want to be the only kiwi dealing with a newsroom full of Australians, and already have set a bad example of how we as a nation can be expected to act. I don't know - very complex situation.
Maybe I'm just making something out of nothing. It's my personality type I guess. I try to treat people in the comments section as if they were in a face to face conversation with me and I slipped up with Jess. Hence I got a ban.
Just the "Ban bot boilerplate" message from GS referenced "Stalkertone and Excessive Fanboyishness" towards Jess (paraphrasing) in my conduct. Maybe that means I just did a bit too much research and overplayed the whole "Cult of Jess" thing.
I think I'll actually post that one to DD as a lead in to get it out of the way...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo_journalism basically sums up my writing style at the moment.
@hystavito: I hear you. I recently received a reply from @digitaldame inviting me to submit some of my writing samples, as I posted a comment expressing interest in any "casual work" that might be available here (Gamespot).
I should be thrilled, but I'm a bit concerned that my commenting history will be my undoing. Last time I addressed Jess in a comment, things didn't end up so good; it was flagged and taken down, and I got banned by the @Gamespot account.
TLDR; am wondering if my bridges have already been burned, by not having good social media skills in the past. I like to think of myself as "reformed" now though...
Average Gamer/Community member hoping to make an impression in the #IndieDev scene on Twitter. I'm specifically planning for the (perhaps) distant future when Virtual Reality is an actual "Normal thing"
Here is a link to my profile My first area of focus is redefining "Realistic Damage" for the VR Generation.
Keeping it brief, have watched the videos on your YouTube page. Was wondering if you had any pointers on how to use Twitter, as it seems like an important networking tool. It was all a bit bewildering seeing the 140 character post limit, and wondering how to start using it.
Anyway, another great show as always :) Wishing you all the best.
@Diluted_NZ: Would ask higher up the @GameSpot chain - I know you have a senior editor in Japan (last I read). Interesting perspective from the skyscraper he was staying in...
Diluted_NZ's comments