Game Development Reference
In-Depth Information
Obviously the designer will bring up the idea. This is the best outcome for
the game and the studio. The idea might fail, but the decision to bring it
up was a good one. And there's a chance that this idea could transform the
game into a hit.
Now look at the ledger in a studio full of blame spreading, fear, and
arrogation of authority:
Pro
Con
If the idea is successful, I might be
credited with its success (if someone
doesn't steal it and if people don't
forget where it came from).
I'll spend at least a
minute describing and
talking about the idea, and
it might go nowhere.
I might be misunderstood
or shot down before I can
express my idea. This would
be worse than staying
silent.
I may get torn apart if
there's a hole in my idea
I haven't thought of. This
won't feel good or be good
for my social position.
If my idea is good and
gets implemented, it
might get trampled by
a swoop-and-poop next
time someone with power
develops an interest in the
subject.
In this climate, the idea stays buried. And as this pattern repeats itself
thousands of times, the game fails to thrive because nobody is taking any
risks. A year or two later, everyone wonders why the game is so bland, so
unoriginal, so safe. Reviewers yawn at it, and it dies whimpering in the
marketplace.
Usually, nobody knows what happened because bad climate is a silent
killer. It doesn't cause development disasters. Rather, it causes good things
not
to occur. It makes people not bring up risky ideas and not hold neces-
sary debates. And even though nobody notices these things not happen-
ing, their nonoccurrence harms the game every day.
