The Games Collective

[Michaël Samyn]

It seems that some people who hung out here for a while have started a new forum. That's nice. I liked discussing things with them but since they didn't seem too comfortable around here, I'm happy they took action and started their own forum.

I want the discussion on notgames to be focussed. And dedicated to ambitious design with procedural media. I think there is a lot at stake here. We're not just doing this for the fun of it. It's a calling. It's a mission. I think the people who left -if that is what they did- have a more "democratic" approach. I have nothing but complete respect for the "hobbyist" side of the indie spectrum, but I don't think that is what notgames is about. So I applaud their initiative as it helps us to remain focussed.

[Thomas]

What is the new forum about btw? And any idea what caused people to migrate?

I am not sure why hobbyist would not belong with not-games?

It's a calling. It's a mission.

While I sorta feel this way, I see creating stuff as focal point of my life. But I am sure that people who just want to try it out would like to discuss it? I just feel like it would be fun to have people here who think that games should be games and that anything else is a lost cause. That would bring some different viewpoints in here that might be interesting to hear. Or perhaps I should just post on gamasutra for that kinda feedback

[Michaël Samyn]

I started this place because I'm tired of the discussions pro or contra games. Because they lead to nowhere. It's always about how games are great and how I am stupid for not thinking so.

Instead, I want to move ahead and start talking about all the interesting things we can do when we let go of this insane limitation. There's a sense of urgency in this for me because I feel there's a lot of work to be done and videogames have wasted a lot of time already. So I'm probably sometimes unfairly impatient towards people who have different interests. I don't regret it, though. I'd rather have a small group of people who discuss things in a focussed manner than a kind of virtual bar filled with all sorts of chatter.

[God at play]

I can't speak for them officially, but I'm guessing part of the problem was that it seemed to be too much about what "you want."  I guess I don't see the problem with hobbyists being involved; it seems to work just fine for everything else in the world...

With that said, they could have just stayed.  I wish they did