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Producer Vs. Consumer
Producer Vs. Consumer
| Name: | Jeremy Alessi |  |
|---|---|---|
| Date Posted: | Sep 19, 2006 | |
| Rating: |  2.0 out of 5 | |
| Public: | YES | |
| Comments: | YES | |
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| Profile Page: | View profile page for Jeremy Alessi |
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This is a pretty straight forward concept. If you want to get ahead in life you need to produce more than you consume. This is something I think about often as I head into development on a title (ok it's a constant struggle). If my mind is wandering toward consumption ... whether it be buying food, a movie ticket, someone else's game, or even something which doesn't involve a direct monetary transaction such as browsing the Internet and reading other people's blogs then I'm consuming and I'm not getting ahead.
Some consumption of course is necessary but by and large most of it is a waste of time which could be better spent producing. When you're producing you are adding to the world, making it more interesting. The cool part about producing is that it's easily as entertaining as consuming (if not more so) but it can also net you more in the end (although sometimes it's hard to realize this). The things you produce are timelessly attached to your name carrying value far into the future.
Usually, people place a lot of value on tangible/consumable items ... some people place a tremendous value on things and experiences. People love their cars, homes, rock 'n roll concert tickets etc... How is that value shown though? It's paid forward to the producer. At the end of the day the greatest producers also end up being capable of the greatest consumption.
Truthfully, for the world to work we all need to produce and consume. It's important to keep in mind though that in order to consume you must produce first. If you produce more than you consume then you get ahead of the game.
There is one area which can get a bit confusing. When you are a consumer you typically recieve instant gratification for your 'effort'. This is not true as a producer. You should always keep an end goal in mind for what you hope to achieve, however there's no instant gratification involved and sometimes what you are working on today can seem like it will surely be that which rewards you ... and yet (again) it doesn't. The trick is not to stop there. Simply don't stop until the end goal that you envisioned at the start has come to fruition. Once you do that you are a producer.
It's no easier to stay a producer than it is getting there the first time but if you want the ultimate reward that is exactly what you must do (constantly produce). Currently, there are other people who (of course) would be far better references for what it takes to stay there (Hello!, Jeff?) but give me 20 years or so and I'd love to take a shot at a follow up to this little production of mine ;P
Some consumption of course is necessary but by and large most of it is a waste of time which could be better spent producing. When you're producing you are adding to the world, making it more interesting. The cool part about producing is that it's easily as entertaining as consuming (if not more so) but it can also net you more in the end (although sometimes it's hard to realize this). The things you produce are timelessly attached to your name carrying value far into the future.
Usually, people place a lot of value on tangible/consumable items ... some people place a tremendous value on things and experiences. People love their cars, homes, rock 'n roll concert tickets etc... How is that value shown though? It's paid forward to the producer. At the end of the day the greatest producers also end up being capable of the greatest consumption.
Truthfully, for the world to work we all need to produce and consume. It's important to keep in mind though that in order to consume you must produce first. If you produce more than you consume then you get ahead of the game.
There is one area which can get a bit confusing. When you are a consumer you typically recieve instant gratification for your 'effort'. This is not true as a producer. You should always keep an end goal in mind for what you hope to achieve, however there's no instant gratification involved and sometimes what you are working on today can seem like it will surely be that which rewards you ... and yet (again) it doesn't. The trick is not to stop there. Simply don't stop until the end goal that you envisioned at the start has come to fruition. Once you do that you are a producer.
It's no easier to stay a producer than it is getting there the first time but if you want the ultimate reward that is exactly what you must do (constantly produce). Currently, there are other people who (of course) would be far better references for what it takes to stay there (Hello!, Jeff?) but give me 20 years or so and I'd love to take a shot at a follow up to this little production of mine ;P
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Submit your own resources!| Marcus (Sep 19, 2006 at 05:31 GMT) |
| Joshua Dallman (Sep 19, 2006 at 16:19 GMT) |
| Tom Eastman (Eastbeast314) (Sep 19, 2006 at 17:41 GMT) |
Definitely very interesting. Most could get by on less and add more to the world.
*goes back to work*
| Pat Wilson (Sep 19, 2006 at 18:03 GMT) Resource Rating: 4 |
You can't be a good writer without reading a lot (or so it's said, at least) so obviously the same thing applies. You will always consume more than you produce, however, with each contribution you produce and give back to the greater pool of influances, you are, exponentially, increasing the delta between your life as a producer, and as a consumer.
The person who has produced only one thing still has a contribution which is infinatly higher than the person who has produced nothing.
| Jeremy Alessi (Sep 19, 2006 at 20:06 GMT) |
Truly creative people will draw a tremendous amount of information and understanding from very little consumption and what they'll produce will be more innovative. It's not about quantity when you are producing. It's all about creating something that is worth more than the sum of its parts. You don't need many parts, you just need to fit them together elegantly. If you read interviews with many famous game designers they'll tell you that they play very few games because they don't want others to influence their decisions or creativity.
Perhaps this isn't true of everyone *but* typically I find that all I need to produce comes from within. I have a saying that I use often in defense of my night owl syndrome (people love to chastise me for staying awake all night). I say the still of the night causes a storm in the mind. For me, I become truly creative when there are no other influences, when I'm consuming nothing my mind creates new content for me to consume. This of course is production.
Edited on Sep 19, 2006 20:07 GMT
| Tom Bentz (Sep 25, 2006 at 03:21 GMT) |
Also glad to see Im not the only one who gets chastised for staying awake all night. I can relate with the still of the night saying. Thats when I get most of my work done.
| Adrian Tysoe (Sep 27, 2006 at 04:42 GMT) Resource Rating: 1 |
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relations_of_production
Edited on Sep 27, 2006 04:42 GMT
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