I have a large list to play but I'm willing to play any new games as long as they are converted to Ps3 file.

My main reason for being messed right now is a lack of PS memory cards- I left those at my apartment by college, since I didn't know the urge would hit and I don't bring much home over break.

I wish I could play on my desktop as well, but memory card switching does not work I believe.

(Finding that out during the middle of a Dark Illusions replay first )

Lausen,

It's on my list. I'll get to it sometime.

Bo,

I agree about Episode 1. I remember walking out of the theater and saying to my dad "Best Star Wars movie!" I'm with you here. But the consensus among the fans is that it sucked, and the major reason for that is the hype. It was built up in so many fans' minds over such a long period of time, the fans were imagining something ... well, unimaginable, I guess. Their expectations were so far into the stratosphere that no matter what the movie turned out to be, there was no way it could possibly meet those expectations. That's what I was trying to describe. While that wasn't my experience with Episode 1, it is something that I understand. Hyping a game is very likely to have an adverse affect on me. It's already happened a few times. It didn't happen with your game because you didn't hype it and I didn't go into it with unrealistic expectations.



That is an excellent point, especially where RPG Maker 3 is concerned. As a PS2 game, it's very subpar. Like I said, those dopey special effects during battles! All those colored fireballs and other retarded effects that no self-respecting developer would put into a commercial title. I've been putting up with it and enjoying the combat for what it is because I don't have a choice if I want to play and make RM3 games.

About the egomania stuff... I think most of it was going on at that... umm... other site... that I no longer visit. But I have seen some of it here. When I see an egomaniac in practice, it ... really grates on me. It makes me dislike the person and not want to have anything to do with them. I can't stand egotists. It's like I stated above. They're so full of themselves, they don't really need anything from me. If I play the ego-meister's game and like it, I'm not gonna feel good about it because that just validates the guy's ego. If I don't like it, he'll probably just write me off. "Well, you're just one moron who doesn't like it. Everyone else loves it, so you're wrong." It's a lose-lose situation.

Now I realize that I probably came across as egotistical earlier. But I'm really not. I don't want to be Number One. There was a time when I did want to be the best, but I now realize that I was wrong to want that because it's not the best thing for me. I am happy when I know that I'm not the best. I could cite a few examples of creative endeavors that I feel very good about, and it's because I'm humble with them. I don't draw comparisons to works of others, and that may be the key to this whole ego problem. Drawing comparisons seems to be the mother of pride. When I am not doing that, I am very happy. I'm not trying to impress anyone except myself.

This doesn't so easily extend into RPG Maker territory. I think I did a lot of things for the wrong reasons. The moment I found out that I was working for an audience, that changed the game (figure of speach, not my game... hmm, that could be a double entendre. It did change my game). I wanted to impress an audience, so I did stuff that would impress me (attention to detail). I included a story because I was afraid that if there wasn't a story, no one would play far enough into it to see all the good stuff. As it turned out, hardly anyone saw the good stuff anyway.

I was proud of my work, and I was wrong to be proud. So the next project, I'm making it as if I'm the only one who will ever see it. Cutting out the BS, everything that doesn't belong in a game that I'd like to play. But beyond that... humility. The ability to look at what I've created and simply "see that it is good."

Anyway... yeah, lots of dwelling on pride and humility here. I'm still trying to figure all of this out. I could be wrong. I'll close this out by just saying that when we're working for an audience it's very easy for pride to come into play. I've seen much pride in the RPG Maker community.



I guess I don't know you vewy well. Never thought of you as very egotistical.

On second thought, if you're asking me to knock you down, you're not an egomaniac. Egoes don't want to be knocked down... unless they're so confident that they'll never be knocked down and they're issuing a challenge by begging for some smackdown that they don't believe will ever happen.

Okay, now I'm confused. Umm...

Actually, not really. I would play them because I wanna see just to what extent they pushed the Maker's limits. The fact that it's a game made by some average joe (or the female equivelant) doesn't really cross my mind.

If that is how you feel than that is how your feel and I assume many community members agree with you, but really that addresses the problem completely. People in the community don't play other people's games because they are more concerned with the games than they are with the people. These games can't really compete with professional games so there is no need to bother.

I just for some reason expect others to put as much effort into their games as I do mine.

If they did, there wouldn't be any games to play.

Nevertheless, some people are doing their best and that is worth something, to me at least. Again, if I want professional games, I'll look elsewhere, but if I want an interesting take on communication, relationship, and expression, than this community is it. It's like looking at someone's artwork, reading their poetry, or listening to their music. If they are my friend, I don't expect them to be at a professional standard before supporting them in their interests. I admit that completing a game takes a lot more effort than supporting their talents in other types of media, but simply trying their game (and giving them feedback if they want it) really doesn't.

I'm with Bo. I had typed up a similar response but decided not to post it. The gist of it is that I think they are putting as much effort into it. I've found that others put as much or more effort as I do. That effort goes into features that the author deems important; and that's not always the same as what is important to me. While I may notice something that to my eye or ear is a flaw, it may not be seen as a flaw by the author. On the same token, I have an eye for graphical detail and use of background music that I feel best fits my environments; but someone else may disagree and think that I totally suck. It's already happened multiple times on both fronts.

Also, Bo is right; taking something like RPG Maker seriously is like asking Vivaldi or Bach to compose a symphony for you. You don't know jack about how to compose a symphony, you hum the melody and harmony and stuff for him, he writes it, an orchestra performs it, and you take the credit for it. Get your professional stuff from the commercial products, but don't expect as much from some moron working out of a one-room apartment with a PS2 and a copy of an RPG Maker. Heck, I'll be the first to admit that I don't really know what I'm doing. I never did. All I've been doing all along is throwing stuff together that looks good to me (sounds good, plays good, etc).

Okay, allow me to rephrase that. I just for some reason expect others to put as much effort into their games as I do mine, minus the months at a time I seem to take off.

Seriously, though, how long it takes to get a game done has little relevance in the amount of effort put into the game. Look at my own Jester's Hunt. I created that in a timeframe of two months, but it's a lot better than most games created in that amount of time.


Also, I reiterate, I'm not looking for professional games out of RPG Maker. If I were, I wouldn't even be making my own. I think I'm good, sure, but I'm nowhere near as good as a professional team. I also understand that everybody's "best" varies. And when somebody tries their best to create a good game, you can usually tell. But occasionally I do (and have) come across a game that seems like the creator just went "meh, good enough" at the end and released it without the proper fine-tuning. Granted, this is a problem in the proffesional industry, too. Except, in the industry's case, they also have to deal with deadlines.

...Actually, upon rereading your post, Bo, I see I misunderstood your point. You're saying we should be playing each others' games because they are made by us average joes, no matter the apparent quality or effort. In which case, I agree, we should. My problem is that I have a good understanding of the potential each of our RPGMs have, and if I play a game that doesn't try to be anything special, I come out of it disappointed, no matter that the person who made it would have never made a game if it weren't for RPG Maker. Which I guess is why I actually enjoyed the Gobli sample game. The physical aspect of the quest might've been pretty redundant, but the story had heart. In contrast, fu-ma was just another Dragon Quest clone and RPGM3's game is so forgettable I can never remember the title.

And I just completely contradicted myself, there.

Actually, I admit Xix makes a point, too. Some people's "best" happens to be with certain aspects rather than the overall product. You'd think I would've realized that on my own. Just look at Jester's Hunt's uninspired maps. I do believe that I did a "meh, good enough" when I created the cloud level, even though I did my best with everything else... given the deadline for the contest that was running at the time.

Well, I certainly lost this debate, haven't I?

In short, yes my point is we in the community are sort of friends so if our friend makes a game why wouldn't we want to see it, both for us and for them, regardless of how professional the final quality.

But I didn't bring this up last time because this a secondary point. I don't even really care if they do say "good enough" in certain aspects. For example I've played games where the items don't have descriptions, and the thought was there I admit, "why wouldn't you put a description, your game doesn't look nearly as professional as it could be?" but to be honest, what do I really care. So there game could have been better, so what? They still had some kind of motivation to create a game and have others try it so why wouldn't that be enough to try it even if they didn't put in all the effort? If the game is bullspit like super ridiculous difficulty because they are too lazy to test play it, then yes, I agree, it is not worth my time, but if I hold it against them that they don't add a description to an item that I still know how to use, I consider it kind of snobbery to not play it for those kind of reasons. I have no idea where you or others draw the line so I am not addressing anyone specifically but I sincerely hope that people are more forgiving than that in this environment.

Seeing that mostly everyone has a reason not to play RM games is very discouraging.
Discouraging enough to make me wonder if it'll be worth it to finish my game. Maybe the finished product won't be a master piece (and I'm talking about any finished product) but if nobody plays it and says if it's good or bad, how are we to improve?

I was under the impression that most of us don't have a good reason.

Actually, I had meant to play somebody's game after my last post. But it seems I cannot find my videotapes to record gameplay with.

Well, good reasons or not, we are still not playing them.
I have played a few games and left feedback on the game vault or dev forum. (Still waiting for someone to do the same with mine And I seriously don't feel like finish developing it right now)
I'll try to play a few more this week.

I must say that's it's really cool to be able to see what other people have created in games that they've made.
Over the past few years, I've enjoyed checking out lots of people's RPG Maker 2 and 3 games.

I haven't done much of that lately, though, which I am trying to change a bit. I find that I have trouble focusing for long stretches of times playing RPG Maker 3 games, and while that's not an excuse, I do like the shorter kinds of games.

Life is busy sometimes, now that I'm married and have a new job, but I still enjoy RPG maker for some relaxation.

Anyway, actually right now, I'm going to pop in a game I'm playing through. This topic has inspired me!!

QFT

What does QFT mean?

Uban Dictionary is your friend.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=QFT

So he's either saying "quoted for truth" so Bo can't edit his post and change what he said (to wit, I've never seen Bo change a post), or he's saying "quit ****ing talking", the more likely definition in this instance, which means (to me) in words or less, "shut the **** up".

STFU

How wude!

HW

The way I used it, it was Quoted for Truth. Not so Bo can't change his post, but because I agree with what he said. After that whole imbroglio at the Pav, I just wanted to agree with Bo, as he seems to be the wisest member here from what I've seen of his posts in the past few years.

I stand corrected. My apologies.