Explaining interest to others

[coyotecraft]

Ugh. I hate meeting up with old friends and family and having them ask me "what have you been up to?"
With my older family members I don't even try. I'll say something like "graphic design" because that's something they can understand and it's partially true.
With my cousins I figure they've been exposed to some videogames. But I feel like a dunce trying to explain what a RPG is. Or Pixel Art. Its weird saying this stuff out loud too; I don't know how to articulate it. "Animating characters for, umm, a 2d game. Like when they're fighting. You know, poses and, umm, elemental stuff. Yeah, it's for PC. What's it about? Umm, that's kinda hard to explain. What software? uh..."
In hindsight I should have steered the conversation towards game dev communities. I really hate talking about myself. And there's no real tangible experiences I can relate. No funny stories. I guess I could say something like, "I have to be mindful of where the characters arms are. If they are bouncing with a hand over their crotch it might look wrong."

Does anyone else have experience talking about aspects of game design/development with other people? Outsiders. People who aren't in the know. Or maybe you're like me and avoid or shift the topic to something else as quickly as possible.

 

[ZenVirZan]

Oh, my hobby? I spend most of my time either playing games or programming.
What's programming? It's when you tell the computer to do what you want it to do, to make programs. So making games and stuff is what I like to do. You know, all the code and stuff you see 'hackers' doing. The technical jargon.

It's more embarrassing written than when it was in my head, but after that anyone that has touched a computer or watched TV usually gets the idea. I think it's a bit easier to explain my situation than yours, though.

I've never really given much thought in describing my games to anyone, I usually just sum it up really fast. I imagine I'd say something like "It's a game where you run around and fight monsters and stuff" or something else extremely simple, even if it is more about the storyline or complex mechanics. Anything to give them an idea, even if it isn't exactly correct, and usually that's good enough to either change the topic or elaborate if they show any interest.

 

[Xilef]

Depends on the context, my family know me as guy who is currently doing apps and 3D graphics engines, people in pubs know me as a game programmer, at university the staff see me as a graphics engine programmer, students see me as just an awesome programmer.

Depending on the family member/friend I will flip between games, apps and 3D technology, I don't try to cater for people's level of understanding, I will be upfront about what I do and if they don't understand they can either be curious and ask for details or they can not care at all and leave it at that.

In the future I'll be having to tell people I'm a VR research and development engineer, that will be a nightmare to explain. My first task for that job is to come up with a job title so the company can refer to me as that (I'm thinking Lord Captain of Worlds right now).

 

[95enthusiast]

I just neglect to hang around with people who wouldn't to understand what I mean by being an amateur game developer.

 

[Ellie]

Ugh, my Dad is always asking what you do in my game. I try and explain him and he's like "yeah, but what do you do?"

On top of people asking what a programmer actually does, even when you explain that they type out code to make the computer do stuff.

Then there's that whole Towie inspired education phobic group too, where it's not cool to know and they make no effort to learn.

 

[Byron]

One thing I ALWAYS get when I say "I make games" is "Oh, so, like, apps then?"
I hate it because the apps they're thinking of are Candy Crush, coin dozer, jewel matching kinds of games, and they're barely games.
I feel these apps aren't really games. They have minimum user interactivity and a high "reward" rate. I feel they're easy to make and easy to play so that they are very addicting, and the player feels the need to play the game more often and (god forbid) actually buy more "gems" or "coins" or whatever the fuck they do.
I know for sure that my mom has paid for more "lives" on candy crush.
I don't make fucking bull shitty apps designed to raid the wallets and purses of those who have low attention spans and high willingness to play the same repetitive game to get small "rewards" at a high rate.
I (try to) make games with in depth story and good characters with interesting gameplay elements so that the player feels engaged with the story and enjoys playing it!

 

[ZenVirZan]

One thing I ALWAYS get when I say "I make games" is "Oh, so, like, apps then?"
I hate it because the apps they're thinking of are Candy Crush, coin dozer, jewel matching kinds of games, and they're barely games.
I feel these apps aren't really games. They have minimum user interactivity and a high "reward" rate. I feel they're easy to make and easy to play so that they are very addicting, and the player feels the need to play the game more often and (god forbid) actually buy more "gems" or "coins" or whatever the fuck they do.
I know for sure that my mom has paid for more "lives" on candy crush.
I don't make fucking bull shitty apps designed to raid the wallets and purses of those who have low attention spans and high willingness to play the same repetitive game to get small "rewards" at a high rate.
I (try to) make games with in depth story and good characters with interesting gameplay elements so that the player feels engaged with the story and enjoys playing it!

 

[Ellie]

It's amazing how widespread candy crush and similar games are now. Everyone at work plays it. Everyone.

 

[Byron]

Yupp. Most people at my work play it. Actually, I say most people, but it's only the female members of my team... In fact I don't know any guys that play it....

 

[Glitchfinder]

I've delved into the science behind games like Candy Crush. Yes, the science. There is actual math, there are actual studies that companies have put into the best ways to use a microtransaction-based game to separate you from your money. The best way to avoid paying bits and pieces for a game like that is to avoid the game, because they carefully tie time into the game as an actual currency, with your money being directly convertible to less expenditure of time. Worse, they know exactly how to time the rewards and waits so that you will become increasingly likely to say "fuck it, one time won't hurt." At which point they've stepped through the door, broken your resolve, and made it all that more likely for you to do so again. And again, and again, until they've made their money's worth from you.