Well, it's that time again. “New for 2022, GDC is going hybrid!”. There will supposedly be a live convention of some kind.
I notice there is no exhibitor list yet. Even though they are selling an “Expo only” pass for $149. Last year that got you access to a web site with links to all the vendors.
Anybody think it is worth going?
hmmm,
So last year was a little better, than the other online events, but it was still not that good.
I'm not sure if I'm going.
It might depend on what the covid restrictions are.
If we will need to be masked all the time, or what.
Going to a conference masked up is not that fun from what I imagine.
Getting a covid breakthrough infection is also not fun.
For what it's worth, our sales people went to Amazon Re:Invent, which was in person, and 20,000 geeks were all on the show floor, wearing masks all the time. And it was fine, for what it was.
And in the next hall over, the American Rodeo Association were setting up. They were not as good about masking.
I don't want to debate the effectiveness of masks or the seriousness of actually getting covid, there are a lot of perspectives on that, and people can get heated.
All I'm saying is trying to network in person, only seeing half the face, and maybe talking 6 feet apart will not be fun. Furthermore, SF has cracked down on forcing people to prove vaccine status to enter most buildings. While still masking. If GDC did something like having us all take a test, then allowing us to mingle without masks, I'd go. It's a big space. But it is indoors.
Networking is nice and all, but from my experience, if you don't have a product to show, or link people to check out online, it's a waste.
If your also recruiting for your studio, it can be cool, but most people here seem to be solo indie devs, spending the money on flights, food, hotel, is a trade off, it made more sense pre covid. and the direct value of face time and exhibition traffic to just get out there has gone up.
Everyone is gun shy, and it's not entirely GDC's fault that they need to do this.
What is in their control however, is to adjust the price proportional to the value they are giving, and the amount of hassles we would need to put up with. But knowing GDC, and knowing how big business and government thinks they won't do that, and just expect people to make more and more sacrifices all in the name of the grater good. For the same price point.
I wrote a story arc a while back, and one of the mantras was “For the good of the zone”, this was for a Command & conquer mod, And GDI was saying this over and over to justify the things they needed to do to preserve the environment, and protect it from Tiberium an alien crystal that damages everything. They were getting more and more fanatical with this line of thinking, which was to show the reversal of fortune they found themselves in, contrasted by Nod. which was originally meant to be the religious bad guys. This dynamic shift was meant to show the ultimate reversal of roles, as the western good guys got more and more fanatical, they were giving up what made them who they are.
If anyone is curious, here is the story:
https://www.moddb.com/mods/tiberium-secrets/forum/thread/gdi-lore-world-building-hidden-away
Right.
I'll bet the live convention gets cancelled again. The coronavirus stats are not looking good. Much worse than last summer, when the last (virtual) GDC was held.
Virtual GDC ought to be held in a virtual world, but there are none good enough for a big convention yet.
I think the chance of a live GDC taking place is minimal. Current trends with the new variants indicate that things are going to get a lot worse before they start getting better. Announcing a hybrid event reeks of desperation, so I think it's entirely possible that the virtual event will also be canceled.
a light breeze said:
Current trends with the new variants indicate that things are going to get a lot worse before they start getting better.
Yeah.
The last GDC, which was all virtual, was held in July 2021., The case rate back then looked better than now. They probably should have stayed with July.
The Moscone Center convention schedule has only one other conference scheduled in 2021 before GDC, and that's SPIE Photonics, which is not that big.
If you click on “Expo” on the GDC site, you don't get an exhibit floor map or a list of exhibitors. You get the signup page for becoming an exhibitor.
Well, I suppose we can watch the videos, like last year.
Well, GDC announced the exhibitors. No Epic. Unity, Intel and NVidia are listed.
Session list is up. Nothing I want to see. Nothing about Unreal Engine. One tech session about metaverse (Robox) plus some advocacy session. Oh well.
