Game development illiterates are multiplying exponentially.

Some people just need to be pointed in the right direction,

while others need their hands held.

Moderators with big heads.... well, everybody is compensating for something.

This site is about the development of games. How one chooses to develop a game is irrelevant. What matters is that they make a game, not how proficient they are at a language, or how indepth their understanding and grasp of math or networking is. There is no need for constant correction and ridicule. What there is a need for is praise and commaraderie.

The preferences and opinions one has concerning any aspect of game development should not be something to be publicly classified as being correct or incorrect, good or bad. right or wrong... If it works, it will suffice. If someone is happy with their work, your negativity is nobody's business.

Why should everybody here strive to be writing professional quality code? What about making games for the fun of it? Is that not a valid pursuit? Who are you to judge? We are all human.

Some take pleasure in doing things simpler ways, be the bigger man and deal with it.. Some of us are tired of you sharing how wonderful you think you are by throwing your nay-saying two-cent opinion in to the mix. But, this site will be what it is destined to be. It can either foster the growth of the community, or it can disappoint and offend everyone away.

Nobody here is a god, even if they are professional game developers. Everybody here is just another human being, with their own perspectives and feelings. But some things are best left unsaid. I wish we were all here for the same thing, to help and to learn. That's what would make this site great.

For those that have been around, the IOTD was once truly an "image-of-the-day". People from all walks of life were doing different things all the time. Now it seems like hardly anybody is doing anything, and new images are few and far inbetween. Either newcomers aren't learning, or old timers aren't teaching. I'm definitely seeing a lot of activity on the beginners forum, that's for sure.

All I can think is that something somewhere along the line is discouraging people. I'm only here because I've been doing this for a long time, but if I just showed up here today, I don't think I'd stick around very long, and would probably abandon all hope of making a game after dealing with this scene.

People should share what they know, and what their experiences have been. But that won't happen with egos in our midst.

Ok. Yes.

If people are being egotistical jerks, it's of much more use to call them out on it at the time, rather than writing vague descriptions of it after the fact in another location, which does nothing. It's not like people ever act in egotistical ways on purpose; it's not a deliberate behaviour, so they won't know they've upset you.

There's also the possibility that you actually received some valid criticism (criticism is not a negative thing) and have misinterpreted it...

You've reiterated some common sentiments, but no plan of action. As Gandhi said, you must be the change you want to see in the board.

As for the IOTD, it's because it's inactive at the moment as it's been reworked. So, yeah, there hasn't been a new image in a while.

People should share what they know, and what their experiences have been.

There's a difference between sharing knowledge and learning, and therefor teaching. A blog or twitter is for sharing your knowledge/opinion, a forum is for discussion, to learn and teach.

Many people will learn without asking, by searching for certain topics. If everyone would post uncommented content, many people would adope it to actually learn, never knowing that it is not the best practise or even a bad practise. Therefor the critique of more experienced member (being themself not gods either and still learning a lot) helps not only the poster to improve or change his view, but others who want to learn from it too.

I've posted lot of comments in order to help someone out, just to be corrected by someone else. Yes, it stings at first, your ego got bruised, but eventually I learn a lot from it once you overcome your own ego.

If you have something specific that irks you, but you don't want to make a big deal about it on the forums, PMs are great. It's okay to contact someone if they're rubbing off on you the wrong way. People can (and should) have civil, mature discussions about any issues that one might see that the other might not.

I'm having a hard time seeing the issues you're talking about (I'm not saying they aren't there; I'm just not seeing them). If you can get specific (i.e. point out specific threads/posts), that might help. But then again, if you do it, make sure you do it kindly and respectfully (to those you might be criticizing).

This site is about the development of games. How one chooses to develop a game is irrelevant. What matters is that they make a game, not how proficient they are at a language, or how indepth their understanding and grasp of math or networking is. There is no need for constant correction and ridicule. What there is a need for is praise and commaraderie.

What you do in your own time, on your own computer is entirely your thing. But if you post it here, where a thread can reasonably expected to be one of the top results in Google. This forum is not just for the hobby developer's, it's also an important resource for professional programmers in the field of game development as well as many more people in game-adjacent fields.
If code anyone posts follows horrible practices or is plain wrong then they should and must be called out otherwise this place is not a resource worth anything. There are plenty of places on the web where you can get practically useless advice but unless you already know it's useless (in which case you would not have needed the resource) there is no way for you to know that because there are no commentators or at least no competent ones.
The same goes for facts: wrong, inaccurate or misleading facts must be confronted and corrected (with appropriate sources as needed).

The preferences and opinions one has concerning any aspect of game development should not be something to be publicly classified as being correct or incorrect, good or bad. right or wrong... If it works, it will suffice. If someone is happy with their work, your negativity is nobody's business.

That's just plain horrible to read. If we are talking about design ideas, you may have a point (although I would consider sensible comments on the lines of "something pretty much exactly like that was tried in X and Y and it really did not work out well" to be a matter of courtesy before I dump a significant portion of my life into something which already has obvious examples to learn from first.
However, your choice of words suggest you mean this primarily in regard to programming, not designing. A lot of people, especially newbies, appear to be gravitating towards C or C++ (or at least something they believe to be C++) as their language of choice. In these languages you simply cannot go "it works, it will suffice". In C++ that just means "in this particular situation on this particular compiler, it appears to work". Tomorrow, when you add one more line of code it might stop working and instead blow up in your face. Or it appears to keep working for weeks and blows up then (those bugs are always great fun), perhaps even before an essential deadline.
You can get away with an attitude like that (within reasonable limits) in some languages, but as a general rule, no. Not at all.

Why should everybody here strive to be writing professional quality code? What about making games for the fun of it? Is that not a valid pursuit? Who are you to judge? We are all human.

First, in my opinion any non-trivial programming requires a certain amount of dedication. If you do not strive to become a better programmer while you are programming, you should not do it at all. I'm also starting to suspect that what you think is "professional quality code" might in fact be things like "learn your standard library" and "understand a few things about your tools".

Some take pleasure in doing things simpler ways, be the bigger man and deal with it.. Some of us are tired of you sharing how wonderful you think you are by throwing your nay-saying two-cent opinion in to the mix. But, this site will be what it is destined to be. It can either foster the growth of the community, or it can disappoint and offend everyone away.

Again, what you do in your own time on your own computer is your own thing. If you want to display something to the public without any reasonable feedback, maybe you want a blog instead. The essential point of a forum is discussion. If the only comments allowed are back patting, they have no point and they have no purpose at all.

Nobody here is a god, even if they are professional game developers. Everybody here is just another human being, with their own perspectives and feelings. But some things are best left unsaid. I wish we were all here for the same thing, to help and to learn. That's what would make this site great.

Bolding is mine. There is no learning without notification of errors, problems or better ways.

For those that have been around, the IOTD was once truly an "image-of-the-day". People from all walks of life were doing different things all the time. Now it seems like hardly anybody is doing anything, and new images are few and far inbetween. Either newcomers aren't learning, or old timers aren't teaching. I'm definitely seeing a lot of activity on the beginners forum, that's for sure.

There are quite a few things wrong with the site. Loss of functionality compared to the old forum. Features that were meant as a replacement/upgrade but are nowadays broken. The decision to suspend the IOTD but not notifying people properly about it or showing that somehow.
The management and technical implementation of the site indeed leaves very much to be desired. The competence and honest (even if sometimes brutal) criticism in threads and attention to factual correctness is the site's redeeming quality though. Take that away and I (and I would suspect many more) would see no point in coming here. Then it can be just like one of those many places on the web where people who believe they know what they are doing are talking and the result is on third plain wrong, one third inaccurate and one third correct (mostly by accident).

All I can think is that something somewhere along the line is discouraging people. I'm only here because I've been doing this for a long time, but if I just showed up here today, I don't think I'd stick around very long, and would probably abandon all hope of making a game after dealing with this scene.

I see a lot of good indie games being around. I bought several of them. In fact I'm nowadays spending much more money on old pearls on GoG or indie games than I'm spending on what is commonly called AAA games.

People should share what they know, and what their experiences have been. But that won't happen with egos in our midst.

Again, you seem to want people to teach and people to learn but with just back patting. There is no learning without pointing out that what you know so far is insufficient or wrong.

Moderators with big heads.... well, everybody is compensating for something.

If you perceive a member is abusing/misusing their power as a moderator - then report it. However, a moderator is also a member and as such, any actions they take that aren't concerned with their actual moderator duties should not be seen as being part of that role. For example a member who is acting in their moderator role will step in to correct a misbehaviour, delete a thread if doubled up and other moderator related issues. A member (who happens to be a moderator) who is acting in their personal role to give advice/opinions/answer etc should not be somehow elevated to the idea that they are right simply because they are a mod.

The thing is...I don't really see a confusion between those roles. I have disagreed with some decisions made by mods and felt quite justified in speaking about it. Case in point: my recent challenge thread which got shanghaied. The point is - I made my case quite clearly, logically and more importantly wasn't vague about what it is that that I disagreed with. How am I supposed to interpret "Moderators with big heads" and agree/disagree with you, if I have no data provided to support this contention as being more than simply opinion.

Game development illiterates are multiplying exponentially.

Thank god they are. It means that the site is being successful at attracting more and more of the types of people who need and can benefit from the help these forums can provide. As you yourself observe, there is increased activity in "the Beginners" forum. From a technical viewpoint I would rather have the benefit of people teaching me how to tighten my code to be the least complex and most efficient that it could be. (I don't code by the way) My only argument would be those doing the correcting provide a small explanation as to what was inherently wrong/poor about the code I have written...i.e. learning.

What there is a need for is praise and commaraderie.

This I agree with strongly. But if you have been following recent and upcoming changes to the website you will note that a substantial amount of work has been going into redefining the site into something more than it is...i.e. of more benefit to the greater community. A large part of that has been the call to arms made by Michael for members to adopt leadership roles in the form of the crossbones group. Everyone has something valuable that they can teach someone, even if that something they are teaching is "This what you should never do as I tried it and failed". Doctorates are awarded for new research, but that research can also take the form of a negative proof i.e. feeding mice to small children does not cause them to crave cheese. Which I might point out, until proven remains theory!

-------------------

My personal challenge to you is....become more involved in the community. Speak up more, make your opinions heard but at the same time be prepared to defend them with reason as sometimes people disagree.

I think a lot of people misinterpret the vigorous correction of misinformation as somehow stamping out legitimate debate. However, that is what separates these boards from the many lesser boards out there. Debate is good and healthy for the forum culture but allowing misinformation to proliferate quietly erodes the integrity of these fine boards. I've been a lurker since this site's inception and a low-key poster for about a year and the culture and quality of these boards far surpasses anything else I've ever come across in my travels. There certainly is a much larger weighting towards experienced and "expert" users here than most other places but that is essential to cultivating an informed and practical knowledge base that isn't tainted with, well, bad advice and shoddy content. Having your mistakes corrected is a good thing, not just for the user but also the forum as a whole. Beginners by virtue cannot distinguish the wheat from the chaff so minimising the level of noise on the line is essential.

Music production forums are typically the antithesis to this site. Each forum has its own culture and the forum heavyweights generally have a lot of sway. However, in music production forums people who actually have industry experience and a reliable track record of commercial releases generally don't post because they get shouted down by inexperienced regulars because the advice goes against the forum's (misguided) cultural "do's and don'ts". What you end up with is the blind leading the blind with myths and half-truths becoming part of the forum's canon. Needless to say, if you want "painting the bike shed" advice then they're fine but if you want to scratch below the surface into more informed and deeper understandings of theory and techniques you just can't get it.

The amount of times I've digged through these boards looking for insightful advice and information and walked away triumphant is countless, if the culture was less vigorous about weeding out misinformation then it really would be the "beginning of the end". Praise and positive feedback is of course important but not if it's at the cost of knowledge. However, attempting a more solipsistic "everyone deserves praise because everyone's opinion is valid" by virtue of contributing alone or to spare hurt feelings isn't helpful to the recipient or the bigger picture.

The decision to suspend the IOTD but not notifying people properly about it or showing that somehow

I found that a bit of a shock as well, especially as the IOTD is probably the area of the site that's filled with the most praise and encouragement and camaraderie

BitMaster sumed up what I wanted to say.

I will just add that on every forum there are trolls, so don't be surprised if someone is offensive (especially in programming where errors can be easily seen).

But for the majority of threads I read, I think the community is great, helps a lot (even with harsh words) and there are even some real gems. :)