Alas, the day has come to an end, and I am exhaustedly (is that a made up adverb?) crashing into bed after a day well spent.
Today was the first day of Indie MMO Game Dev Conference 2.0, graciously organized by Jonathon Stevens of Last Straw Games. It was a really really good day. I must say, there is something really special about these small conferences. I had commented earlier that I met more people in one day here then I did at all of AGDC. People are enthusiastic, friendly and welcoming – so it is very easy to network. The panels/presentations were spaced out with a half-hour break in between each one, which was nice so that there was time to network between each session and there was no rush to race to the next presentation. Very well done.
The first session I attended was actually my own. Scott Hartsman, Ron Meiners, and I led a roundtable discussion about community issues – which seemed to go really well. This was actually the first time I have ever spoke at a conference, and although nervous – I didn’t make any gigantic mistakes. We discussed things like whether or not to have official forums, how to handle when a fansite goes awry *cough*, how to deal with ’serial beta testers’, and other sorts of concerns that often come up when growing a community. I hope everyone found the opinions as engaging and interesting as I did!
Second session was Richard Bartle’s roundtable – “Government Interference, How Much Can You Take?”. This was by far one of the most interesting sessions I have been to. Richard does a stellar job of bringing up controversial issues and making you think about them in new ways. We talked about everything from the government limiting the amount of hours you can play in a day, to mandatory political advertisements being placed in games, to ownership of virtual property. I enjoyed thinking about some things I’d never thought of, especially issues like public service announcements for terrorist attacks and national disasters being broadcasted in games. Really good roundtable.
The third was Brian Green’s speech, “Learning From Other Media”. This was another interesting learning experience; speaking of the various forms of media that a game designer can get ideas from. Some examples were art, architecture, board games, books, and movies. It was a good talk, and even though he finished early there was plenty of decent questions and discussion after his talk was finished.
Following the day’s sessions, I went to dinner with some folks at Brit’s Pub. Some of the attendees were Brent, Cameron, Michael, Craig, and Jim among others. These casual dinners are always the highlight of my conference trips, mostly because of the great conversation to be had. These guys are so intelligent when it comes to the MMO industry, it’s just fascinating to discuss the current state of MMO games, players, and the future direction gaming is heading. I’ll always take any opportunity to spend time with guys like Cameron, Michael, and Brent…because they have such brilliant viewpoints and opinions. It’s great seeing people who are so passionate about gaming as a hobby and a career. That’s my kind of fun – straight up geek talk for as long as possible.
Cameron of Random-Battle
Brent Lassi of VirginWorlds
After a brief stop at the afterparty (in which I did embarrassingly dance the electric slide on the vacant dance floor)I decided to head on home and get a decent night’s sleep in preparation for another good day tomorrow. =)
Tami Baribeau is the Associate Producer for Metaplace, Inc, currently working on Island Life. She is also the Lead Editor of feminist gaming blog The Border House, and the National Facebook Games Examiner for Examiner.com. She can be reached on Twitter or by email.
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I really appreciate that you didn’t mention that that picture of me was taken for fun while I was acting silly. Thanks, Cupster.
For the record, I do not pop my collar and make goofy hand gestures at people as a habit.
(Where’s the one where I look like some kind of drugged up 80’s pop-star swilling a beer?)
Please Cameron. I can guarantee there is another picture of you out there and you look the same. Every time I looked at you, you looked like that. Don’t buy his claims at all.
Sigh… some day I’ll learn my lesson about acting goofy near cameras. Some day…
Where were you on day two? Richard and Psychochild were brawling far less than advertised. :p