[tcaudilllg]

For the socionics RPG, we've got a three person partnership. (so far) Reuben McNew is managing the business end, while I'm doing the programing and concept design and my girlfriend is doing art under my direction. My intended field of expertise is psychology of management: I aim to understand how groups of people can organize each other based on their personality traits, which pretty much define what fields a person has potential to seriously compete in. The key is to recognize talent not where it is obvious, but where it lies hidden. The role of the obviously talented is in fact the coordination of the less clearly so talented, however our culture does not recognize this. Instead, you have a few "stars" getting recognized for their "god given" talent, while how many other people of similar talent, but less confidence in themselves, slave away at unrewarding jobs. There are so many Susan Boyles in the world that it is pathetic.

Your first hand experience does a great deal to advance my research towards this end. Thank you for sharing it with me.

[tcaudilllg]

Truth be told, the entire project organization is in fact larger than it seems. This because we rely on the Advanced Dungeons and Rabbits phpBB mod, which is being worked on by at least three other people and is GPL.

My girlfriend is having some reservations about doing the concept art. She has the talent required to get the proportions right (which is of course THE talent when it comes to free-hand visual rendition), but complex designs are not her thing. She prefers simple, Neopets-style stuff. She's putting the final touches on a golem as we speak, but she says it's difficult for her to imagine the details. I attribute this to her having a weak imagination function, which is common to all ENFJ types. However I believe she may also have a weak visual detail function... I'm going to have to research this.

She's done some great artwork: she can create muscles and even skeletons for her characters. But those aren't the same as little visual details. It seems to me that the more she's able to organize the character's details into a coherent system, the more she's able to work with them.[/i]

[Mattias Gustavsson]

Humans are complex beings. It's not as easy as fitting people to a four letter made-up "personality type", and think that you have them figured out :D Maybe you'd get better results if you dropped the whole "socionomics" thingy - seems like it migt be holding you back.
_________________
www.mattiasgustavsson.com - My blog
www.rivtind.com - My Fantasy world and isometric RPG engine
www.pixieuniversity.com - Software 2D Game Engine

[tcaudilllg]

Yeah you're right: Despite creating a theory which yields millions of potential outcomes, I still stick just to that one 16-result model.

New question for you guys: do you like the games business? Would you rather not deal with it and just get paid for your game, or do you love doing business with other people?

[RampantCoyote]

Trick question.

Most veteran game developers that I know love making games, but grow to hate the mainstream, big-publisher videogame industry. I'm no different. After a five-year hiatus, I got sucked back into it again for about three years, and recently left it again. Every company is different, though. Working at Wahoo (NinjaBee - the guys that did Cloning Clyde, Outpost Kaloki X, A Kingdom for Keflings. and Band of Bugs for the XBox 360 - and some of 'em for the PC as well), Saga, and some other titles was a lot different than working for Acclaim (anybody remember Acclaim) or for SingleTrac / GT Interactive / Atari.

When I became an indie, I dreaded the business side of things. It sounded like absolutely no fun. I wanted to make games, not make deals.

Once I forced myself to get into it, though, I think I developed a taste for it. So - I've found that I LOVE the indie games business. Sure, I still suck at it, and it definitely has its share of ups and downs. There are times when it infuriates me. But as a whole - it's a whole different industry (sometimes) from the mainstream games biz, and I have found I really enjoy doing business with other people. It makes me happy.

The other guys working on the indie side of things are entrepreneurs, small businessmen, movers and shakers - pretty much the polar opposite of your average middle-to-upper management folks in a big company. They are great people to work with, and I get a thrill out of doing it. I wish I was successful at it enough already to do it full time. Someday soon, I hope, but for now it's a great part-time job.
_________________
Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[Malignus]

I assume that we're talking about dealing with "business" in terms of marketing and selling our own games? So far I've largely avoided it. I haven't gone to any game jams or indie game design conventions; I haven't really done much to market myself to reviewing websites, either. I could imagine both of these activities being bearable once I've built up some contacts, but right now it seems like a hassle (albeit one which is probably necessary, and which I am probably foolish for avoiding).

[Mattias Gustavsson]

It's worth keeping in mind that marketing is not something you can start worrying about after the product is finished.

To improve chances of success, you need to START with marketing - even before you decide what product you will make.
_________________
www.mattiasgustavsson.com - My blog
www.rivtind.com - My Fantasy world and isometric RPG engine
www.pixieuniversity.com - Software 2D Game Engine