Maruno: Reasonable mod or saboteur?

[Fotomac]

Exposé time! I, a disgruntled aspiring game designer, wish to report that Maruno may be abusing his position as moderator of Game Development by singling me out. Last night, he sent me the following visitor message when I asked for permission to create a directory for games being developed under my label, Atlantic Arts. His reply is as follows:

No. You can create one thread per game project, and that's it. You can't have additional threads that only serve to advertise your "work".

That alone would've been reasonable enough, but then he went on to rub in my face that I would likely not succeed as a game developer and that Atlantic Arts would likely crash and burn:

I'm surprised that you have a "fangame development group" and yet you're looking to hire people for every development position imaginable. Surely the people already in your group are capable of doing at least some of the work you want to do?

I'll forego advising you not to take on too many big tasks (i.e. projects) at once, because if one thing is clear, you don't listen. What Luka has been telling you is very good advice. You WILL crash and burn VERY quickly if you carry on the way you're going. Starting simple and working up is the path to success, and making progress by yourself before asking for other people to help out is good for all kinds of reasons (shows commitment, attracts higher calibre people, etc. etc.). We've seen people just like you many times in the past, and they have ALL failed without exception. No, you're not going to beat the odds, because the odds of your success are literally zero. But you won't listen. As Luka says, I'd give you two months before you give up and leave.

In short: he tried to preach realism but ended up rubbing in my face how much of a failure he thought I'd end up being. And as if that wasn't enough, I shortly afterwards tried to formally announce Pokémon Steel and Ice Versions via a thread in the Progressing Games subforum, of which he's in charge. I posted it about 20 hours or so ago and am waiting for him to approve it. His last forum activity? 9:01 AM today (about 7.5 hours ago). This got me thinking that he's trying to sabotage my efforts at developing games and in the process "prove" his point.

One last thing: is this the proper place to file my report?

 

[Luka S.J.]

Hahahahhaha, the whole world is out to get you.

To answer your question, Maruno is an awesome moderator. Mixing the right amount of responsibility, intellect, humour, and bluntness. If you can't take his remark, that's on you. But his work with the community has been stellar. And he has never stepped out of line, nor has he done so here.

"Sabotage" lolololololol

Also...way to go presenting "evidence" out of context.

 

[Fotomac]

Hahahahhaha, the whole world is out to get you.

To answer your question, Maruno is an awesome moderator. Mixing the right amount of responsibility, intellect, humour, and bluntness. If you can't take his remark, that's on you. But his work with the community has been stellar. And he has never stepped out of line, nor has he done so here.

"Sabotage" lolololololol

I see you've taken my accusation of jealousy as a compliment. Still, what kind of "awesome" moderator refuses to approve a separate thread for a separate game? Does he seem to think "You can create one thread per game project, and that's it" means "Only one ongoing game project per developer"?

 

[Chikara]

I think he was just trying to advise you not to take on too much because it's easy to get caught up in so many things that you lose track of it all, haha. Which is a fair thing to say, considering it's happened time and time again. He's kind of blunt in his wording, but nothing he said is unfair and without reference.

As far as I can see, you asked him if you could make a directory thread for your fangame development group, Atlantic Arts, and he told you no because it's essentially a promotion thread for your offsite group(which I believe wouldn't be allowed on PC anyway). Again, Maruno may be blunt in his wording, but I think what he told you is clear and reflects the rules of that section.

 

[Maruno]

Perhaps you hadn't read the rules which state that it could take up to a couple of days for a thread to be approved (or not). Patience is a virtue.

I won't defend what I said. If anyone's interested, they can read Fotomac's behaviour in his first game's thread and decide for themselves whether what I said in our brief VM conversation (quoted above) is appropriate. I happen to think that even moderators might have opinions from time to time, and should be allowed to express themselves as if they were members of this forum, but what would I know?

 

[Fotomac]

I think he was just trying to advise you not to take on too much because it's easy to get caught up in too much, haha. Which is a fair thing to say, considering it's happened time and time again. He's kind of blunt in his wording, but nothing he said is unfair and without reference.

As far as I can see, you asked him if you could make a directory thread for your fangame development group, Atlantic Arts, and he told you no because it's essentially a promotion thread for your offsite group(which I believe wouldn't be allowed on PC anyway). Again, Maruno may be blunt in his wording, but I think what he told you is clear and reflects the rules of that section.

Yes, but that still doesn't address my complaint that he then refused to approve my next game-related thread (which was for a single pair of games, by the way, tentatively titled Pokémon Steel and Ice Versions). What was he thinking? Did he falsely assume it to be the wrongful Atlantic Arts directory thread?

UPDATE: Looks like Maruno's responded, so based on his opinion on what's happened so far I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and the matter some more time. If he approves my Steel and Ice Versions thread, then fine. If not, I'd like to know his reasons.

(Oh, and for the record, Maruno, I'll admit I did forget about that bit about thread approvals possibly taking a while at the time.)

 

[Chikara]

Yes, but that still doesn't address my complaint that he then refused to approve my next game-related thread (which was for a single pair of games, by the way, tentatively titled Pokémon Steel and Ice Versions). What was he thinking? Did he falsely assume it to be the wrongful Atlantic Arts directory thread?

UPDATE: Looks like Maruno's responded, so based on his opinion on what's happened so far I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and the matter some more time. If he approves my Steel and Ice Versions thread, then fine. If not, I'd like to know his reasons.

(Oh, and for the record, Maruno, I'll admit I did forget about that bit about thread approvals possibly taking a while at the time.)

Ah, the ever pesky misunderstanding.

 

[Fotomac]

Ah, the ever pesky misunderstanding.

I know, right? (Where's the sweatdrop smiley when you need it?)

 

[Fotomac]

In addition to what Maruno had said, if you do have an issue with staff, it'd be better off that you bring it up with a member of staff higher than he is, rather than making a public thread that everyone can read, especially if it comes back to bite you in the rear end as was in this case. That way it can be settled privately and there won't be more cause for drama.

Understood. Case closed, I guess.

ETA: I'll be waiting to see how the thread issue is ultimately resolved, of course.

 

[starlightartist]

This just seems like unnecessary drama to me. It might not be how it's intended but it does look like you're just trying to stir it up in the community. From what I can see, Maruno speaks in a very blunt and truthful manner. If you can't take harsh words that aren't really even criticism then you're almost certainly not cut out to be a game dev. Most game developers have to deal with much worse than that every day.

 

[Fotomac]

This just seems like unnecessary drama to me. It might not be how it's intended but it does look like you're just trying to stir it up in the community.

You're right on both counts; it's certainly not how it was intended. I just hate when an important task of mine gets delayed (in this case, an attempt to start with the basics), but I definitely could've handled it better.

From what I can see, Maruno speaks in a very blunt and truthful manner. If you can't take harsh words that aren't really even criticism then you're almost certainly not cut out to be a game dev. Most game developers have to deal with much worse than that every day.

Well, the sooner I can start any work on Steel and Ice, the better, and the sooner the thread's approved, the sooner I can start any work on Steel and Ice. To me, any delay is as bad as it gets in my current situation. I hope you at least understand that I hate delays as much as the next person, if not moreso.

 

[Luka S.J.]

Well, the sooner I can start any work on Steel and Ice, the better, and the sooner the thread's approved, the sooner I can start any work on Steel and Ice.

Why do you need to have a thread before you can start working on your game? Plenty of games have been made without having a thread first. Is it another one of your "I can't do any work on the game, so I'll recruit someone else to do my work for me, yet advertise as my own" type of thread?

 

[starlightartist]

You're right on both counts; it's certainly not how it was intended. I just hate when an important task of mine gets delayed (in this case, an attempt to start with the basics), but I definitely could've handled it better.

Yeah, it doesn't seem like you deliberately are trying to be vindictive, you're just frustrated; I get that.

Well, the sooner I can start any work on Steel and Ice, the better, and the sooner the thread's approved, the sooner I can start any work on Steel and Ice. To me, any delay is as bad as it gets in my current situation. I hope you at least understand that I hate delays as much as the next person, if not moreso.

I totally understand being frustrated with this sort of thing. I really want to get into game development myself, by starting small. In fact, I have a thread also pending in that same forum now. Patience is a very important thing though. Delays suck for pretty much everything, but you need to understand that AFAIK, Maruno is the only mod for that forum, and he's obviously pretty busy himself too. I don't think he has anything personal against you, you just took the way he speaks to heart, and it helped nobody.