As I said in my first post, I've been hanging around this site for quite a few years. It is only recently that I've started interacting with many of you. The overall result has been very good. Thanks to many of you I have become a much better coder since becoming a member. But unfortunately I see a tendency for many of you to purposely hurt other's feelings. For instance, today I went into the #gamedev chat room for my second time. I asked if anyone knows of any strategy or rpg games that allow you to control your own kingdom. I'm interested in researching this kind of game for development. While I was waiting for someone to reply I also asked if anyone knew of any place I could get a 3D model of a golf course. I'm also interested in making a golf simulation. The replies were very sarcastic. "That's a very specific game style", one said. And in reply to the golf course question I got, "3ds max...when you make it yourself." Then they began to make fun of my questions by asking their own questions about obscure models with base 13 numbers in a very specific file format. This hurt. I became frustrated and replied, "Damn! Why are so many game developers sarcastic instead of helpful / friendly?" I then left the chat room in protest.

This has not been the only instance of such badgering. Don't we have a great place here? Isn't GameDev the most awesome place for people to share ideas and help each other out? It seems to me that many of the people who develop games while exceeding in their art lack the simple skill of common courtesy. So please be kind to one another. Respect each other's ideas and please provide assistance when asked. And if you are unable to help then just swallow your pride and say so. I am quite talented and quite capable. But my feelings can still be hurt.

So what are my options? I could become just as cynical and sarcastic. But this is probably not the best choice for my personal goals in life. I want to succeed. I want to be happy. And most successful happy people I know, and I know a lot of them, are not this way. Perhaps GameDev just isn't the right place for people like me? Maybe we could create another game dev site called www.gamedevwithoutsarcasm.net [smile] where sarcasm and being hurtful aren't allowed. After all if you continue to water seeds with oil they probably won't turn into the best of plants. There are so many young developers being exposed to this attitude. And that is just sad! They are game development's future and should be watered with compassion and understanding. Not spite.

Neil

Postscript: I apologize to my normal readers. I generally intend this journal to be a public record of my processes. I assure you that such rants will not become a normal part of my journal. I just thought this matter needed to be addressed and also my existential investigators recommended it.