What is Indulgent Creativity

Indulgent creativity is best explained as it contrasts to practical creativity. Practical creativity is for solving problems that have a clear application to your life (in other words, the most practical creative thing I could do in my life right now would be to design some brilliant JavaScript framework methods that make my job easier).

So on the other end of the spectrum is indulgent creativity where I direct my thoughts to something that doesn't have a clear practical use in my life. For example, writing about game design, even though all of my game design projects have been on the shelf and will have to stay there until I can finish some of my other projects.

I figure a blog is as good a place as any to share these thoughts, so here I go. If people read it enough, I might even post regularly!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why We Like End-Game Better (and How to Make the Whole Game As Good).

 As I have been hunting for a new MMORPG (good ones are hard to find) and watching videos, I am once again hearing a sentiment that gets expressed in many ways. "Why can't it just be all end-game?" "Why won't you let players skip to end-game?" "The game doesn't really start until max level." Of course this sentiment isn't universal, but it is very common. The important question is why do so many players feel this way?  Considering the Obvious Answers The first answers that probably come to most people's minds with this question would be things like: It's more fun when you're more powerful. The content is more epic. There are more options available to make your character(s) what you want them to be. I mention these because I want my readers to understand that I've thought of them, but I want to focus on a factor that I believe is both more important and more subtle.  A Reversal of the Rewards System Players tend to play to th
Read more

Why Do We Talk About "Realistic" in Fantasy and Sci-Fi?

There's a conversation I've had a number of times in one form or another. It tends to go something like this: Person 1: It was mostly a good book, but it was unrealistic when the hero sailed safely down the river despite knowing nothing about boats. Person 2: Wait! You're reading a book full of dragons and wizards, and you think the unrealistic part was the sailing??? Person 1: <awkwardly> Well, um, it's hard to explain, but it just doesn't feel right... I have found this conversation frustrating because I tend to be person 1. I think I'm right, but I'm not quite able to articulate what I meant in order to counter Person 2's snappy 1-liner.  So now it's time to fix that. Fantasy vs. Nonsense If you were truly to write a story that abandoned reality, it would probably go something like this. "Bob teleported to the kitchen to destroy the universe again, now that it had started complaining. How else could the flower chickens grow?&q
Read more

Get Money from an Underserved Demographic

I'm hardly the first person to point out that many former hardcore gamers now have families and responsibilities that severely constrain their game time. However, I haven't found a lot of insight in any of the articles I've read about how to make games to better serve them. So now I'll talk about what's I believe has been missing from all of those. Why This is Such a Great Opportunity These gamers often have money. They deeply miss the epic experiences they used to have, and they're happy to pay if they can get it back. They are especially excited to share this experience with the people they love (some of whom are far below their skill level). However, being time-constrained, they're not going to be spending much time on forums or filling out surveys. It's a group that's significant but mostly silent. As such, I don't have data to back up what I say here, though it reflects the experience of myself and other gamers I know. Likewise, I hope it ha
Read more