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Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

blog.lawnstarter.com

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Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#81

Post by fhd2 »

stickydink wrote: post #34
tfgg wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was a great comment recently about "social" game developers being like heroin dealers who don't use their own product and look down on their customers, and "traditional" game developers being like cannabis dealers who are happy to smoke it with the customer.

We don't look down on our customers at all. But certainly, those in-charge of design don't care where the line is. If the change is a net profit increase (almost exclusively, we go on insider's reports from other studios on how their changes worked out) we do it. As a developer I put up as much resistance as possible when it feels absolutely ridiculous - when design becomes more about tricking people into accidentall…

If your company is doing things you don't agree with morally, I believe it's your responsibility to do something about it. Sounds to me like you do to some degree, IMO that's something to be proud of.

> when design becomes more about tricking people into accidentally doing things they didn't want to do.

Is that share really worth frustrating users for? Can't you find some way of incentivising sharing better?

Sounds, from what little I know, like the company could do with some long-term thinking. Some ideas for selling that:

1. Would it make sense to increase player happiness? Word of mouth and upselling comes to mind.

2. I assume the company wants to grow - wouldn't it make sense to seek a positive perception at least in game developer circles to have a larger/better hiring pool?

3. I presume you're optimising for daily revenue and daily shares, but maybe there are other relevant metrics you should keep an eye on? Like the number of people who stopped playing (maybe "haven't played in a week"), daily negative ratings vs daily total ratings, perception (sentiment analysis?) etc. Even if you're not optimising for these things, it might stop changes that trade a small increase in revenue for a huge drop in another metric during A/B testing.

Feel free to drop me an email at fhd@ubercode.de if you'd like to chat more about this, I obviously find it fascinating :)

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#82

Post by lifeformed »

stickydink wrote: post #3

The author touches on being embarrassed. As a game developer making games that many players would call evil (IAPs, IAPs everywhere.), I tend to prefix my "what do you do?" with "Oh uh, it's not something I'd actually play, but it's called ...". Shame, really.

As a game developer, I make games that I want to play; I make them for myself. It's nice that sometimes other people want to play them too.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#83

Post by michaelochurch »

beachstartup wrote: post #64
michaelochurch wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A quote I once heard from a very bright hedge-fund guy: "My gardener drives a Mercedes SUV. There is no one I can't learn something from." That actually sounds crass and a bit stupid. Any idiot can buy an SUV on credit, and SUVs just show that one has shitty, suburban taste in vehicles. I agree with the sentiment of, "Don't assume someone's an idiot because he does physical labor". But it shouldn't take a fucking ugl…

> Any idiot can buy an SUV on credit i take the point that you hate cars, but this isn't actually true.

I don't hate cars. I hate when people buy unnecessarily large, unsafe, and environmentally irresponsible cars as a status symbol.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#85

Post by LandoCalrissian »

ryanSrich wrote: post #32
jfasi wrote: post #21

I consider this post part of a nascent trend to de-bullshit the startup and technology scene. For years the narrative has been "we in the tech industry are standard bearers leading society into a bright new tomorrow." The recent protests around the Google buses, as well as John Oliver's takedown [1] of the tech industry seem to be striking a chord with the public, and there's a lesson to be drawn: we tech folks are n…

"Join us and help change change the world" - _every valley startup ever_

"Help us make beautiful."

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#86

Post by beat »

kyro wrote: post #79

I experienced a similar change in mindset regarding the valley and the tech scene, catalyzed by recent trips out to SF that left me with a very uneasy feeling. The uneasiness, I think, came from realizing that the community I wanted to be a part of for so long consisted largely of the same young, inexperienced recent college grads with self-appointed expertise in a variety of abstract fields (marketing, social behavi…

That's how I was feeling about the recent article on the Bitcoin robbery at Silk Road 2. A lot of libertarian-minded tech nerds are all hot about "disrupting" frumpy old fiat currency with its baroque rules and distasteful whiff of authority. Now they're finding out that there's a reason for that frumpy old system and all its baroque rules.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#87

Post by hablahaha »

dubcanada wrote: post #84

The photo of Kate Upton on their "customer satisfaction" part of their main website really helps this.

I was slightly impressed after reading the blog post and then completely turned off by seeing that image. I almost thought they might have forgotten to take it off, but it seems pretty intentional. It's just so completely irrelevant to their message. It might be funny to men, but I can't imagine many women who would find that charming, so you're alienating the demographic that schedules services for their homes.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#88

Post by WalterSear »

kyro wrote: post #79

I experienced a similar change in mindset regarding the valley and the tech scene, catalyzed by recent trips out to SF that left me with a very uneasy feeling. The uneasiness, I think, came from realizing that the community I wanted to be a part of for so long consisted largely of the same young, inexperienced recent college grads with self-appointed expertise in a variety of abstract fields (marketing, social behavi…

IMHO you are simply hang out with the wrong people.

There's plenty of bullshit in SF - it's an unavoidable effect of something real going on. Fortunately, the plastic people are also pretty easy to avoid.

Re: Drop the ego and prove "I could make that so much better"

#89

Post by vdaniuk »

lmm wrote: post #67
vdaniuk wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The world is extremely shitty place and you dont see that only because, I assume, you are the part of the top earning cohort.

And how many tech startups serve any other cohort?

Most startups are b2c and serving mass markets. This is fairly obvious if you look at their target audience.
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