RMN Snews - Issue #24 :: rpgmaker.net

A newsletter - RM2k3, store, SoS, MOG, Backlog, perceptions, Unreal, Unity, unity

kentona
06/17/2015 09:53 PM
24474 views

..:: Issue #24 ::..

Summer is right around the corner... and here I am stuck inside writing a newsletter for a small niche community in the shady corner of the internets. C'est la vie.

In keeping with my RMN resolution to "Engage in conversations; embrace change; give feedback; treat people well; give credit; show interest; develop strengths; identify weaknesses; focus on new members; add more knowledge; keep members informed" I am increasing my engagement with the community. (I had way more posts last month than I had of late, so that's a start (but still far less than Lib-"Gabby"-erty)). Welcome to June's "State of the Onion" address, still without the gravitas!

I will just post a summary of the major-ish events that happened these past couple of months, provide some thoughts on RMN, give a little editorial (like I used to do on the SNEWS, for those of you old enough to remember the SNEWS), and give a glimpse into the goings-on behind the curtain of the SUPER SECRET SECRET NINJA HIDEOUT.

RM2k3
So holy shit RPG Maker 2003 was officially translated and is now sold on Steam. Anybody else's mind blown by this development? It was just one of those things that everyone talked about and speculated about but never thought would actually happen, kind of like a FFVII remake or something. Zeigfried_McBacon bought me a copy almost immediately, and I bought a couple of copies to give out as prizes. I have several in the RMN Steam game inventory at the moment. I converted over a couple of my projects and so far things seem to be working well.

Naturally, having a legit version of RM2k3 wasn't enough for some people. This decade-plus old engine should also have been patched do everything that RPG Maker VX Ace does and more! And allow us to completely and legally hack into it to change it even more, to boot! Nevermind that RPG Maker VX Ace already does everything that RPG Maker VX Ace does, RPG Maker 2003 should be able to do the same things, too. Because reasons.

If I ever get the gumption, I would convert or remake Hero's Realm and Hellion into commercial games, as I see those as the most commercial viable of my library. But I would need so much encouragement to even contemplate doing that. Plus, I don't think I could sucessfully wrangle and manage someone to make the massive amount of pixel art and assets and music resources needed to actually take my games to commercial. I haven't even done that on a hobbyist project yet - to jump right into a commercial project with that kind of work seems daunting. And if I was going to remake Hero's Realm for commercial, wouldn't it behoove me to do it in Ace, to take advantage of its features (and to avoid that mysterious game crashing memory stream bug that exists in the 2k3 version)? Having a commercially available RPG of my own is a dream, but it doesn't feel feasible to me.

Of course, I participated in the accompanying 2k3 event (I was practically obligated to, given my history with that engine), but even with my experience, a bevy of eventing and databasing at hand from past projects, and a ready-to-go story outline, I still haven't made serious headway. This event really drove home how delusional I am about my capacity to make games. As such, I put all of my active projects on hiatus indefinitely.

Out of the Woodwork
I have seen several old familiar faces resurface in our community. Hello WIP, Magi, mawk, Matuei, Otokonoko, Kazesui, Darken, Blindmind, trance2, Neok, Skie, TFT, and even geodude. The advent of 2k3's release I am sure played a part in some people coming back, even just to poke their heads in, but maybe it is just the irresistable nature of RMN drawing you back in. Time to get the band back together and do one last gig.

RMN Store
How easy is it to get onto Steam now with Degica acting as a sort-of gatekeeper for RM games? Is there still value in RMN forging on on its own with a storefront? There is also itch.io there, and Desura. Presumably, RMN's store would have a lower barrier of entry, and if we ran it on our own I could offer a more competative rate. But if the barrier is already reasonably low with existing services, then creating and managing an RMN storefront doesn't have much value. Thoughts on this?

2015 calendar/brainstorming

Befuddle Quest 7 is still slowly under development. If you started a puzzle but didn't make the submission deadline, whatever! Just send me a PM with the puzzle. There is still time. The more, the better. Realistic release date: mid-to-late July.

Welp, I missed this past Saturday's Second Saturday Scores event. This is a terrible oversight on my part and won't happen again. If you aren't aware, I track makerscore month-to-month and recognize and reward top contributors. To trust this event, though, I need to be punctual and consistent and I am sorry I failed in that respect.

Summoner of Sounds is underway, celebrating the creation of videogame music. This is an ambitious year-long event with monthly challenges, all managed by Happy (the man at the head of the popular RMN Music Pack).

You should consider donating to the event, if nothing else then to support the creation of a second RMN Music Pack!

Liberty and Nessiah have been consistently releasing monthly podcasts, which is still awesome.

I mentioned last time that I was considering doing a MOG event (an event focusing on making custom resources). The format for this event was going to be: 1) make a no-art prototype, 2) request resources/fulfill resource requests, 3) final game compilation. The idea this time was to match resource-creators up with existing in-progress projects to create some custom works. However, Summoner of Sounds started, and then we held that impromtu 2k3 event, followed by the 8th birthday event, and now rumours tell me that Degica's IGMC 2015 event will start July 7th and run through to August 7th, and I am sure that will consume a lot of RMN member's time and resources. I may shelf MOG 2 for another time.

There was mild interest in a simple Unity game creation event, a simple map-making Unreal event, and a "school" on creating games in GameMaker. Nothing is moving on those fronts, but if a champion of those engines wishes to make something happen, I am here to help!

Just so that you are all aware, I have always encouraged people to start their own thing - be it events or community games or whatnot. Not many people take the initiative, but I am not one to shut it down. Unless it is something that is blatant about advertising (and not in the spirit of "community") then I am okay with it.

RMN v4.6 codenamed "Backlog"
This is underway, albeit (and this is a common theme with me) slowly. Currently working on some Review-related updates and fixes. (But not anything to do with rating games without a review - that is for later on in 4.6 lifecycle, if we even decide to go forward on it).

Are We Less Jerkish Than Before? ::..

The following is a rationalization as to why I should sit back on my laurels and not actively manage the community as much

Maybe it is simply a matter of perception, but RMN seems a friendlier place of late. The forums and gameprofile discussions and even reviews seem less acerbic, less antagonistic, more cooperative, and more engaged. But maybe this is just a testament to how detached I have grown from the community.

...I really ought to start grooming a true successor to RMN. Everyone that runs the place now is old and could pass away any minute.

Just look at you little kids, all working together and playing nice! I'm so proud of you!

So, those of you on the ground, participating in every contentious conversation and rancorous review: what are things really like at RMN? (if you are not comfortable discussing it publicly, please send me a PM). I would like to hear your perspective on the community at RMN.

Back in the day, I remember how rude I could be (and was!), and even so was still relatively friendly. But even looking back, I didn't think RMN was so bad, and especially not so bad as our reputation of being elitist and rude. But I was in the thick of things and would sling my own as often as I could. (I am still an asshole, though, but the difference between me then and now is that now I acknowledge I am an asshole). But maybe things have changed, and it really is nicer here, or maybe things here haven't changed (like, perhaps it was actually always was kinda friendly, or perhaps it is still snobbish and cruel).

Here is a list of perceptions I compiled back in 2011 and posted in the staff forum:

Nessiah and I had a nice discussion the other day about some of the perceptions and challenges RMN faces, especially in terms of participation, growth and retention.

While I don't have a true comprehensive list, or even facts or stats to back it up, here are some of the perceptions I've heard or seen:

1. We are elitist
2. We hate noobs
3. We are highly critical
4. We only support Rm2k3
5. We have low standards (yeah, and elitist at the same time :\)
6. We have a ton of shitty games that "clog" up RMN
7. We have a giant boner for 8-bit graphic games
8. We have a boner for Eartbound games
9. We are nothing but a factory churning out RMVX game clones
10. We don't promote good games
11. We don't do scripts
13. Fuck resources!
14. RMN is dying :'(
15. RMNers are pigheaded and unreceptive to (obviously superior) advice
16. We're all a bunch of dicks (why are we all such dicks?)
17. The review system is broken
18. We need to develop and retain young talent
19. We're contradicting (not hypocritical)
20. we're all stuck in our ways

also

12. There is no #12

referencing quotes like:
'Look, I am aware that this is one of those online troll communities where veterans get their rocks off by terrorizing newcomers'

Along with this informed response:

Show

This may sound.. Really bad coming from me now but hear me out.

We do have a sort of inner/outer divide and I think that lends itself to a lot of the (mis)perceptions we encounter around here.

For instance; IRC is a good example. Almost all of us indulge in "watching the drama from above" in IRC and linking each-other posts and coming to whole ways of thinking about the community, its members, design choices, attitudes etc through our comparatively insular IRC interactions. The problem is there are "circle of rmn" (like circles of hell but more/less painful) and this is totally natural in internet communities as a whole so I'm not for a second saying I'm against these "circles" existing and want them abolished in the name of harmony but I am going to go out on a limb and suggest that the majority of these negative attitudes regarding rmn stem out of the levels of separation we have between member demographics (and this could go on to a lot of other related topics but for now I'll try and keep this about the negative perceptions people have about rmn):

Hypothetical model of rmn user demographics and how each caricatured "level" relates to RMN as an entity. (based partially on personal experience):

Level 1: Game-page Utilitarian (RMN as pure utility for your hobby) - Uses rmn's gamepage facility to host their game and show it off. May occasionally engage in game-related discussions on the forums. Probably a multi-community user (IE they have a thread identical to their game page on rrr/rmvx).

Level 2: Developing Developer (RMN as learning /improvement resource for your hobby) - Started off as a game-page utilitarian, maybe saw his game wasn't up to scratch perhaps (or any other reason) and decided to shift into "learning to get better" mode rather than game-making mode. Utilizes forums heavily for advice and theorizing on how to get better and make better games. Starts to speak out about how he/she feels about topics related to dame design and theory and uses own project as an example when illustrating their point. Likes the screenshot topic & looking down on people who haven't figured out what's cool yet. - this is where people either keep making their game and get better or end up as...

Level 3: Forum Lodger (RMN as a hobby in itself) Has a game on "production" status that hasn't had a new event placed in 3 months. Has lots of ideas for better games. Learns that through enough time and exposure you can learn everything you need to know about making games by sheer immersion in a community rather than actually making them. Abstraction takes over from getting anything done as they absorb ever-increasing standards from the community which they "know how to do" but don't bother doing because game making has now transmuted fully from active hobby to intellectual pursuit.. The actual "doing" part has become a mere chore. Expected quality standards for own output reach a point of no return. Now you know all of the community rhetoric and why your old projects sucked. But because it is now a chore to actually make anything to these newly acquired standards it's much easier to just talk, criticize and maybe make flashy vaporware, likes to criticize the tricks that level 2 is working on honing to make his game cooler.

Level 4: IRC Idler (RMN as community) - Is here for the community more than the games. From Level 1's perspective this seems maybe sort of absurd unless they're a veteran on online niche communities already. You come to RMN because you're about the games, your game, your "gonna be better than ff7!" project. If you end up "staying" it's probably for the community rather than because you're utilizing rmn as a service or information resource (levels 1 & 2). The mind-set gap between the people who enter the community and are about the games vs those who're "regulars" and will just hang out even when there's pretty much nothing happening is huge and I think it's a major contributor to "inter-level" misapprehensions. Once you're an IRC idler you are intimate with the drama and politics for better or worse. The up-side to this is this is exactly where we get our community spirit and events from. Now that we don't have to be "all about the games all the time" we can do other stuff (See: All the many projects Dudesoft has started that have had nothing to do with games - which would not be possible in the previous "levels".. If you catch my drift.) But this sort of thing probably leads to a feeling of alienation in newbies because a) they don't feel part of the "in-group" and b) they might not even want to be.. But feel like unless they are all "pally" with the regulars that they can't make use of the site and what it has to offer in an effective way. Also regulars have "backup" when drama goes against them whereas newcomers don't which leads to antipathy.

Level 5/6: "Lifers": Us/Staff. I think were very separated from the mindset of the newcomer. Evidenced by the fact we're a whole other level removed in talking about this very thing. But everyone has been in an insider/outsider staff/member situation at some point so I'm sure that if we take some time to put ourselves in others shoes a little more often it may help with those misconceptions.

Long way to illustrate my point but maybe of some value?

I think it all amounts to a "haha we know this and you don't" sort of attitude really. and on the other side it's a "well if you're gonna be like that then I don't want to know anything you have to tell me, even the beneficial stuff".

Also lastly. To take a huge perceptual step backward for a moment (and to play devil's advocate in regard to people's naivete when it comes to online communities) Remember people take up RM as a hobby, an elective pursuit. So when they try to join a community, maybe expecting other like-minded beginners or hobbyists who don't take it so seriously.. and then find themselves subject to a bunch of arbitrary customs and attitudes and worst of all - Getting attacked for transgressions they couldn't have possibly known were transgressions (whether that be of taste, community groupthink, quality standards, or "don't post one-line blog posts" - "reviews should be x way") by other non-staff members of the userbase then it doesn't make this place seem too attractive. Hell, I know rules are important but you were a newcomer and you saw the "costs" of not knowing the for-the-most-part-unwritten-rules and the also some of the unattractive yet necessary staff movements to try and control and improve matters when they do get bad (which I suppose could come across as treating people like kids -to somebody not familiar with intra-site politics) is not a very enticing proposition when in reality, for many people RM is probably very much "take if or leave it" rather than something you'd subject yourself to all sorts of internet drama for.

So.. Yeah. Maybe that came across as very pessimistic. But I think it makes a decent point.

This is something I wrestle with frequently, but since I am socially inept, I struggle with it. People more insightful and inciteful than me should discuss it, so that I may learn.

In the past SNEWS I would have a spotlight on a cool (or uncool) member of RMN that I picked to "interview" with some lowkey questions. This week it is a spotlight on a cool member. Please welcome the aspiring administrator unity! (not to be confused with the engine Unity).

unity

You're magical to me.
..:: Games :: Reviews ::..

I got it all filled out! Lemme know if you need any more information or anything ^_^

RMN HISTORY:
I joined back in the later part of 2013, when my best friend Sooz showed me the site. I was immediately impressed with the friendly atmosphere and how easy and fun it was to talk with everyone about games. I fell in love with the place pretty quickly ^_^

Since then I've gone from trying to make just one game to juggling several, doing a few contests, and trying to be a cheerleader for other people's great projects. I really love being here; you all are the best! :D

PERSONAL BLURB:
Hello! I'm unity! I've been making RPGs on and off for about 15 years... longer if you count some Q-Basic games I made as a kid (which I don't count, because they were basically "choose-your-own adventures" with an HP Stat XD )

I'm still very much learning on what makes games fun, and how to experiment with them to produce neat new results, as well as developing as a storyteller in my own games.

I'm very much a fan of great and fun characters, and I'll play just about any game where the main cast sounds interesting ^_^ I like romance of any gender configuration, but two ladies is my personal favorite XD (It shows up in my work all the damn time >.>;;)

SPARE TIME:
GAM MAK! That's seriously most of my free time, these days. I also enjoy reading manga, playing with our guinea pigs (they are super cute!), playing old SNES RPGs, doodling, and spending too much time on RMN.

FAVORITE FOOD:
I'm totally a sucker for good Italian food. Right now I'd say my favorite is the Chicken Cannelloni dish at a local hole-in-the-wall Italian place nearby :D

FAVORITE SAYING:
"Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." -Lao Tzu

PET PEEVE:
People who want RMN to provide them with a big team to make a super game WHEN THEY HAVEN'T EVEN MADE A SINGLE GAME ON THEIR OWN YET XD :P

LITTLE KNOWN FACT:
I am actually extremely, painfully shy in real life. It's embarrassing. >.<;;

Thanks Cherry for all of your hard work in releasing RM2k3 officially!

Thanks Archeia_Nessiah for all of your hard work in releasing RM2k3 officially!

RMN SNEWS - ISSUE #24

A newsletter - RM2k3, store, SoS, MOG, Backlog, perceptions, Unreal, Unity, unity

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