Earlier quoted context omitted.
Imagine that abuse and entitlement scaled up by 10000, would you still want the money?
Yes. I can stuff my ears with wads of $100 bills to cancel the noise from peasants.
Or just hire someone to sort your mail.
Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
141–150 of 236 posts
Re: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
#142As a long term developer of entertainment software, I totally agree with his point of view about the impact one's software has upon the lives of the user. The general acceptance goes that the crazies and depressed will be triggered by something and its not your fault if something provocative you worked on triggers an incident. That's what the group think tells us, but in ones personal reality it's not that easy to sh…
That's what the group think tells us, but in ones personal reality it's not that easy to shrug off. The Internet not only has increased the range of hateful groupthink, it has made a large number of people believe that it is somehow noble and elevated. It almost seems like there's an anti-intelligentsia of forum manipulators who see the creation of new and pointless forms of prejudice as a kind of sport. I have the g…
Can you give some examples of "new and pointless forms of prejudice"?
Re: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
#143> the young programmer stood out for his speed, skills and fierce independent streak. "Dong didn't need a supervisor," Truong says. "He wasn't comfortable with it. So we said he did not have to report to anyone.
Years ago, when I heard of someone being spectacularly successful at something I "could have done" should I have chosen to I chalked it up to luck & circumstance. Two prominent examples come to mind: Facebook and Groupon.
Funny thing is, every time I actually looked into the story behind such phenomena (or met the individuals involved), I would find there's always more than meets the eye.
There's some obsession, some genius (often bordering on insanity), some talent or character trait or propensity behind what seems to be just "luck".
Safe to say, I no longer believe in luck. Of course, there's randomness, which sometimes favors you and other times acts against your interests. But what people call "luck" is what you make of this randomness.
I don't know Dong Nguyen. I've never met him or talked to him. I don't know what makes him tick, or tap or flap. I have little to say about why he pulled his app, except that it likely had nothing to do with money or fame or success.
I can say, however, that there's likely more than meets the eye.
Re: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
#144Earlier quoted context omitted.
To be fair, I run a news reader and you wouldn't believe some of the hate mail I receive. I just assumed he received much more of it and not enough of the positive mail. Also, when you're at the business end of a press blitz, you get overwhelmed and can make irrational decisions that you might come to regret.
It was the same for me when I was project lead for Gaim/Pidgin. I was lead for something like 6 years and I eventually got tired of the hate. Sure, there was plenty of praise, too. But the harassment eventually became annoying. It hit it's breaking point when someone folks managed to figure out my cell phone number and would call me at all sorts of hours (3am once!) to "tell me about their ideas." I changed my cell n…
Thanks for doing more than your share. Pidgin/Gaim were great. Pidgin still is.
Re: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
#145Unfortunately, by removing Flappy Bird from the App Store, he opened the door for shitty clones to reach the top of the charts. This arguably made the lives of users worse. He also passed up the opportunity to make millions of more dollars in merchandising.
At least it's given the world a new alternative to 'a to-do list' in demonstrating new technologies/languages/etc. There are ones for various different gaming frameworks: https://github.com/uralozden/flappy-bird https://github.com/ellisonleao/clumsy-bird The ZX-81: http://bobs-stuff.co.uk/quack.html and so on. To my shame, I made a version that you play by flapping your arms: http://experimenting.alastair.is/flappyar…
Oh cool, I made something similar at PennApps this year. I made a Chrome extension that let you play a bunch of flappy bird clones by flapping your arms on webcam.
Re: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's what the group think tells us, but in ones personal reality it's not that easy to shrug off. The Internet not only has increased the range of hateful groupthink, it has made a large number of people believe that it is somehow noble and elevated. It almost seems like there's an anti-intelligentsia of forum manipulators who see the creation of new and pointless forms of prejudice as a kind of sport. I have the g…
Can you give some examples of "new and pointless forms of prejudice"?
Guys who wear Fedoras = woman hating MRMs?
Re: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Turning it off has probably done more to earn him money than keeping it on. It also ends with him saying it's possibly he'd put the game back up. It's possible this is instead just a brilliant marketing ploy.
If it is a marketing ploy, it is far from brilliant. Brilliant would have been taking it down for a day then putting it back up. Not keeping it down for weeks while the excitement around the game fades.
He is doing a damn good job of staying afloat in the gossip news while he works on his next game launch.
Amazing that Hacker News, home of the "growth hacker", can't see this.
Re: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
#148Awesome article! And I kid you not!
Re: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
I believe he's talking about PewDiePie, who's actually Swedish.
I've never understood why people think this guy is interesting. He's just a socially awkward dude that makes loud, strange noises and acts like a child when he plays games. Meh.
Some people watch let's play because it is cheaper and easier than playing.
And they watch pewdiepie because he is the top search result.
Shrug.
Re: Flappy Bird Creator Dong Nguyen Speaks Out
#150I totally understand his point. Good luck to him.