This week we were asked to discuss the subject of Conferences. There are three questions below that we were asked and I have outlined my answers underneath.
I remember when E3 went public and not just for journalists and influencers. I remember telling myself that I would go the following year and I did! It was one of the best experiences I've had. I got to meet some really cool people who I am friends with still to this day. I got to play games early and also attend presentations. I have also been to the UK Games Expo a couple of times over the years which always has me excited because it's mainly focused on game showcasing and there are more indie teams there.
Is there any part of the conference experience that you love or loathe?
Leaving & the huge queues.
Have you had any success with networking at conferences, or do you prefer to use them as an opportunity to learn?
Back during the time that I went, I wasn't making games, merely just playing them, however if I were to attend one now, It certainly would be used for networking.
What conferences have you attended? What conferences would you like to attend?
I would really like to attend the GDC conference at some point now that I am actively making games.
Further to the above we were also asked to complete the below.
Identify a community of practitioners that aligns with your interests and aspirations for the future.
I would say the Indie World Order would be one of the biggest communities that align with my interests and aspirations for the future.
Create an ethnography report, no more than 800 words long, that is based on ‘participation observation.’
The term ‘report’ is used here to align with the description above. However, we are not expecting a formal scientific report. Instead, this activity can be done in quite an informal manner and does not need to be too labour-intensive.
As suggested in the quote above, this report should include observations about:
The tone and language used by members of the community.
Activities and behaviours such as social gatherings and events.
The types and modes of interaction.
Patterns and rules of the community.
The report I am writing here focuses on the above community. The Indie World Order. I have specifically chosen these people as I feel they align with all of my goals and ambitions. The way I see it is there are multiple layers of indie game developers. You have what I would class as AAA indie studios who self publish, published indie developers by third parties and then self promoted indie developers who make games and have a small to medium following with little to no marketing.
It is the little guys that this particular community focuses on, but everyone is welcome regardless what level of indie developer you are. The community here really adopts and believes that the indie scene will one day be the go to for all of the games that are created and played. Their belief is that as we do not answer to a board of directors, that we have complete freedom in our works, we will be able to create more original and appealing content that isn't held back by certain restrictions.
I also really like their method of communication they use which is via their website and their discord server. The discord server has over 2000 active indie developers that all specialise in certain areas. Musicians, programmers, graphic design, story, character design, you name it and they are in there. Currently they are having their own convention which is called IWOCon, and what I think is particularly incredible about this is that it is all digital.
The digital IWOCon is installed via steam for free and you walk around a digital convention where you can then interact and play indie games and then support them and pre order/Wishlist their games if you enjoy them. It's a great way of interacting with your audience since we can't all gather due to Covid-19 at this present time. If you are interested in checking out the game here is the link. Again, this is just another level of respect that the community has for it's participants and its patrons, keeping them safe but also getting them to see what their favourite indie studios are working on. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1422300/IWOCon_2021/
The patterns and rules of the discord server do not differ from the website. Here are a few rules that community lives by. As you can see, nothing untoward or negligent and always respectful. I like how they cover off a lot of points from concerns of indie game developers. For example, making sure no one shares ripped game files (piracy) and that if people help be mindful of skill sets. There are some usual discord rules in here but a lot of them are unique to the world of game development and I really appreciate this.
1. No short links (unless staff) & no affiliate links.
2. No Discord links. Keep nicknames friendly/readable. Don't DM unsolicited/links.
3. It shouldn’t need to be said but be nice to people.
4. Don't be offensive-- no racism or any other form of hate. Leave politics/religion out.
5. Understand English is not everyone's 1st language.
6. Be respectful of differences, skill sets, & mindful of feelings.
7. Help without ripping each apart. Teach with kindness.
8. No NSFW or explicit content. Don't spam. Toxic behaviour not tolerated.
9. Try to stay PG13. Keep obscenities on lower end & never use them to attack.
10. No ripped games or key flips.
11. Don't spam the same message in multi places.
12. Don't tag abuse people, Eternal Blaze, or Mods. Only tag when needed.
13. Don't just take from the generosity of this community, look at other things too.
If we look at general chat for a moment, a section of the discord channel that should be reserved for anything we can see that the topics of game development and helping fellow developers still carries over to this section of the server. The tone also shows us that there is no hostility here or animosity towards others which is very encouraging to see. For me this is really important because I treat others how I expect to be treated and it's good to see this mentality expressed here also.
*I have scribbled over names and real picture icons to protect identities.
My final point of this report is centred around patterns of the community. The IWO have several events at specific times of the year such as physical meet ups, online tutoring help with developers who are starting out and game jams. The game jams attract a lot of people into the server and the community. Because of this that is why there are so many rules to follow, even if they are simple and can be summarised as just be a decent human being.
To that end, I would encourage anyone who is inspired to help, create and support a growing community of indie developers to join and pass on knowledge where you can or even learn a thing or two.
What are communities of practice? Communities of practice are groups of people who share a concern or a passion for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly. These could be a tribe learning to survive, a band of artists seeking new forms of expression, a group of engineers working on similar problems, a clique of pupils defining their identity in the school, a network of surgeons exploring novel techniques, a gathering of first-time managers helping each other cope.
Wenger-Trayner, E., 2021. Introduction to communities of practice | Wenger-Trayner. [online] Wenger-trayner.com. Available at: <https://wenger-trayner.com/introduction-to-communities-of-practice/> [Accessed 26 March 2021].
I have also been exploring communities via meetup.com but had no luck for game development specifics or engine specifics. The closest thing I could find is in Ipswich which is too far for me to travel.
Speaking of communities, I have been part of a great horror community that is part of the Dread Central Company. https://www.dreadcentral.com/
Dread XP is an indie publisher of all things horror, and because of my close ties within the indie developer scene I have been working on a game for their new collection Dread X: The Hunt. This was mainly due to my participation in the group and being covered by them once before for my indie horror game, What is that!
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