RMN SNEWS - ISSUE #24

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

  • kentona
  • 06/17/2015 09:53 PM
  • 24256 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:

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!

Posts

Pages: first 123 next last
unity
You're magical to me.
12540
Thanks for interviewing me, kentona! :DDDDDD
So are these infodump SNEWS something you guys want me to continue doing?
They make a great read. Keep up the rawesome work. Gotta make em' weekly or daily... iono... :P

Speaking of that harassing the newcomers thing, I remember one member who once complained about the reviews or something like that and he replied by saying "Idiotic paste" or something like that.

Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
Yeah, please keep doing these. They're really fun to read!

So next issue are you gonna interview an unpopular person? That'd be... something!
2015 is such a glorious year to be alive
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
author=kentona
Having a commercially available RPG of my own is a dream, but it doesn't feel feasible to me.


Maybe at the moment that's the reality, because you're doing the honourable duty of taking care of your kids. But when your kids get older, you'll probably feel less pressure to monitor them every single second of your life and maybe have the potential to pursue these gam mak passions. I only know from firsthand experience that as you grow up, you generally tend to become less dependent on your parents for basic stuff and more dependent on them for the abstract stuff like, "which college should I go to?" or "what do I want to do in life?" rather than, "how do I make breakfast cereal without spilling milk all over the table?".

author=kentona
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.


Lately there have been quite a few. McBacon Jam started with a topic by Zeig asking, "Would this be OK?" and then spiralled out from there. Cap's starting "Chain of Love", an RMN chain game where each person has a week to create their part.

author=kentona
I am still an asshole, though


Hah! Don't be so falsely humble.

As for my opinion for each of the points:
1. We are elitist? I don't think we are elitist. Experienced developers are, on the whole, kind to new entrants unless they display some degree of antagonism.
2. We hate noobs? I think we could improve here. I don't think we necessarily hate noobs, but the way we could respond to noobs asking stupid questions, indicates sometimes that we've forgotten perhaps we were there once.
3. We are highly critical? I think being highly critical is key to improvement. Being highly critical to the point of poisonous put-downs is not, however, and on the whole, I think we try to mitigate risk of damage when tension runs high.
4. We only support Rm2k3? I suggest that the equivalent right now would be "we only support VX Ace?" which is a contentious issue since there is the whole morality issue around whether developing in Tsukuru 2k3 is acceptable anymore.
5. We have low standards (yeah, and elitist at the same time :\)? Our standards are good.
6. We have a ton of shitty games that "clog" up RMN? This isn't necessarily a bad thing. But we do filter out submissions when it seems not much care has been put into them.
7. We have a giant boner for 8-bit graphic games? I don't think this matters too much.
8. We have a boner for Earthbound games? Only when they're made by Dookie or charblar or Magi, it seems. (Pizza's trying to get away from that Earthbound comparison. ;))
9. We are nothing but a factory churning out RMVX game clones? Meh. Who cares.
10. We don't promote good games? Feature/dev spots have been on point lately.
11. We don't do scripts? Scripts have been good.
13. Fuck resources! Could use improvement, however MOG resources and recent uploads are filling up this category slowly.
14. RMN is dying? :'( RMN has never been more alive than ever, at least in the time I've been here.
15. RMNers are pigheaded and unreceptive to (obviously superior) advice? Only on the very rare occasion.
16. We're all a bunch of dicks (why are we all such dicks?) Yeah we're pretty much all dicks.
17. The review system is broken? No.
18. We need to develop and retain young talent? If you think about who's been dominating the feature spotlights recently, it's been almost nothing but young talent.
19. We're contradicting (not hypocritical)? Sometimes, but eh, that's humanity.
20. we're all stuck in our ways? In some respects

author=Red_Nova
So next issue are you gonna interview an unpopular person? That'd be... something!


hahahahaha, so true though. Unity is like the poster child for RMN, maybe Deltree would be a cool interview. I was gonna interview him once but it slipped between my fingers due to my incompetence.
Ratty524
The 524 is for 524 Stone Crabs
12986
Loved this SNEWS!

By the way, that list of negative perceptions about our community was compiled in 2011? Surly it's not the same in 2015.

Also I'd be down for Unity becoming a staff member.
author=kentona
So are these infodump SNEWS something you guys want me to continue doing?


Yeah, it was a nice read, good job

I'm kinda new here and I don't see RMN filled with elitism (except for a few exceptions...), I see RMN like a place where you don't learn how to make games, you learn how to make better games

I really like the community (Seems like there's always someone who can help you), I love the events (Event pages makes everything more organized) and gamepages (much better than posting a game in a forum) and I want to contribute more to the site (I should start playing some games and help with feedback)
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
El Waka you're such a gem
Cap_H
DIGITAL IDENTITY CRISIS
6625
author=kentona
So are these infodump SNEWS something you guys want me to continue doing?

Yes, please.

author=kentona
7. We have a giant boner for 8-bit graphic games
8. We have a boner for Eartbound games


This is so much true now and ever. I there is nothing wrong about it.

And hey, I think Hellion got good portion of commercial potential. Make a smaller Kickstarter to raise some attention. Hire an cool pixel-art artist. There are less 'original' and interesting gams getting interest from Devolver Digital. It will sell as potatoes!
unity for our next RMN overlord. >:D I thought RMN was elitist myself, but that was back in 2010-2011, and I hung around rmvx.net instead before coming here to resume full activity in late 2012.

I agree with what everyone else said here, these articles are always a pleasure to read. Now Addit should just do more articles himself and I'm sorted. ^^
Happy
Devil's in the details
5367
author=kentona
So are these infodump SNEWS something you guys want me to continue doing?


Yes please!

Personally I feel like the Snews make the site feel more alive, or at least if I haven't had time to be that involved in the site activity, the Snews offer a nice recap.
unity
You're magical to me.
12540
Like Cash, I'd like to give my opinion on each of the points mentioned (and I'll put it under a hide-tag because I typed a lot XD) :

1. We are elitist
Eh, maybe a little bit? I don't think it's to a damning degree, though. It's certainly something to keep in mind, but I think we're okay for right now.

2. We hate noobs
I can see some making this claim, though the validity of it is up for interpretation. We get a lot of noobs wanting more than just advice, which is evident by the "Hey I have never done anything and don't know how, please form a team to make my game" threads that pop up with some regularity. Getting noobs who want to put in the time and effort to learn seems a bit rarer. We've just got to make sure we treat those noobs with the respect they deserve.

There's also the chain of events where a newbie posts their first game, having just learned the utmost basics of game-making. Then they get a review, that (either fairly or harshly) rates their game 1-2 stars. Then the newbie gets upset and never contributes again. I don't know how often this occurs, but I've seen it happen, though we do get wonderful exceptions where the newbie will decide to buckle-down and get to learning, and come back with an impressive improvement for their next project.

3. We are highly critical
I think this is a little true, especially in some areas. While this is overall a positive, I feel, as it drives all of us to improve, I can understand if it can cause frustration. Overall, I don't think being critical is bad, as long as you don't present that criticism in a way that discourages growth or chases away new people.

4. We only support Rm2k3
I think we've gotten pretty supportive of just about everybody's engines. From my limited point of view, at least.

5. We have low standards (yeah, and elitist at the same time :\)
Nope, unless you're just going by pure download statistics or something, and even then I think that's mostly untrue.

6. We have a ton of shitty games that "clog" up RMN
Who was it that said that 90% of fiction was crap, or something? I think in any community, you're going to have waves and waves of "shitty" content, as people need to get those bad games out to learn how to make good games, and if that's a byproduct of improvement, then I have no problem with it.

7. We have a giant boner for 8-bit graphic games
Because 8-bit graphics are awesome. Er, I don't see anything wrong with that, provided that we aren't poo-pooing games that DON'T go the 8-bit route. NEXT POINT!

8. We have a boner for Eartbound games
I hope this isn't a bad thing, as I've got a future project somewhat-inspired by Earthbound coming up. Adding to that, we have excellent Earthbound-like games in production already, including Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, Hanging On, and of course Eagleland.

I think we get a LOT more games taking inspiration from Final Fantasy and the like than games that take inspiration from Earthbound. And I freaking love Earthbound so I'd actually like to see a few more Earthboundish games (which is part of the reason I'm making one in the future XD)

9. We are nothing but a factory churning out RMVX game clones
"Clone Overdrive" is a staple of any indie community, from what I hear. Any huge, successful game is bound to inspire people to make countless clones. But some people learn from these experiences, and make their own unique games, or put enough of a spin on what they're cloning to make the new game fresh. Again, I think this is an okay byproduct for what we end up getting out of it.

10. We don't promote good games
This is a hard thing to comment on, because if there are a bunch of high-quality games that aren't being promoted that I haven't played, then I have no idea that they currently exist XD;;; But having said that, I agree with Cash that we've been pretty on-point in promoting promising projects. The front page is great for this and it's always fun to check in and see new games being promoted.

11. We don't do scripts
Don't we? I've gotten plenty of scripts from this site, as well as scripting help in general. We may not have a massive all-encompassing library, but I think we're doing okay.

13. Fuck resources!
My, my. Never on the first date. :P But seriously, we depend on users to provide those. Perhaps that next MOG project you mentioned would be perfect for this. When everything gets settled down after the next IGMC, of course.

14. RMN is dying :'(
I demand proof of this, 'cause I don't see it.

15. RMNers are pigheaded and unreceptive to (obviously superior) advice
Some of them are. Some of them aren't.

16. We're all a bunch of dicks (why are we all such dicks?)
On the internet, dicks thrive and dickish behavior is hard to stamp out. I think we do a good job against people that cross the line, though.

17. The review system is broken
How so? I mean, aside from the way that any review system that depends on individual reviewers with different tastes, methods, etc to determine scores. We have a great group of reviewers here and I think that, for the most part, they do a damn good job and I'm totally thankful for their efforts.

18. We need to develop and retain young talent
Maybe. But that goes back to not being too mean to newbies and scaring them off, I guess :P

19. We're contradicting (not hypocritical)
We're made of many different users with vastly different opinions.

20. we're all stuck in our ways
This may be true to some degree, but not enough to be a real problem, I think. Some of us are open to new ideas, some aren't.


author=Ratty524
Loved this SNEWS!

By the way, that list of negative perceptions about our community was compiled in 2011? Surly it's not the same in 2015.

Yeah, I'd be interested in an updated assessment in a future issue of SNEWS.

author=Ratty524
Also I'd be down for Unity becoming a staff member.

Thanks, Ratty! :D I'd probably be down for it, too, as long as my responsibilities weren't super-huge. I feel a bit selfish saying it, but I want to make sure I have plenty of time left to make games >.>;;

author=Happy
author=kentona
So are these infodump SNEWS something you guys want me to continue doing?
Yes please!

Personally I feel like the Snews make the site feel more alive, or at least if I haven't had time to be that involved in the site activity, the Snews offer a nice recap.

I want to also chime in with a loud YES here! It's really nice to see the recap and your perspective on matters, kentona! These are valuable and need to stay, if you can manage it :D
I came to this site in 2013 as well, and it's always seemed pretty positive. I find it way more critical than rmw, but people here are generally nice or at least neutral with their criticism, and rmw seems to have a mostly younger demographic and fewer/less informed critiques because of it. I don't see people who are straight-up dismissive or mean that often here.

This place is pretty great!
This site isn't just full of Whipper Snappers, there are some older gamers like myself here.
Don't give up on this Special K.
I think this place is pretty great also.
Great news!! And welcome, Unity, you seem awesome and I hope to see more of you in the future.
About the infodumps, yes please and thank you; they're very great!! I can't bother myself to read news often, so when I do I read them all the way through and highly appreciate some good content (which this seems to be pretty good on).
Now, about the elitist/noob-hating thing: for someone who's vaguely new, and has barely started trying to make games after being here for a long time, the community is very amazing. I might not see the worst yet; but I feel like this site has done a great job of making me feel welcome.
Pfft, RMN is great. I love this community. Maybe I've just been to some really awful forums, but when I started lurking around here I noticed everyone mostly seemed just - nice. There's a strong undercurrent of support and acceptance here.

I too would like more snews.
Well, I feel there is a great gap between personal support and harsh critique, jokes on other people and other stuff that can be pretty hard on people who are not used to how things work.


We are a site where you can be open about who you are, what you like, what you do, what problems you face and you will be accepted and supported.

Dare you go into a discussion with an outsider opinion, or even just trying to see what this is all about and you'll get wrecked.

Or so it seems.
I mean, if people have a hard time anyone is supportive and everyone here loves helping out.
As far as discussions go, however, at some point some characters just walk all over the place with little room to explain the reasoning behind it. Then it's just how it's done.
It appears that when things go wrong, people jump on the train rather than remaining civil themselves. And that is where things get ugly. People will always mistakes, some people will get upset or exhausted when faced with lots of criticism, but to react to that properly is important as well. Because ultimately people want to be nice and constructive people, and many more can be that if they get a little push and support into the right direction.

Also as far as design choices go, I appreciate and respect the indepth knowledge some people have. Like LockeZ, but he can come off as a dick while doing so. (you know how I mean it, pal)

I find it much easier to participate in off-topic-threads, in statuses and event stuff, rather than actual discussion here. And I myself am a huge fan of indepth discussion when there is the chance.
Critique can come off similarily, but it usually is kept short and to-the-point, so that's fair and good enough.

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