Who takes the time to read GG community blogs?

#21 I love .plans. They're one of the main reasons this site and community is so great.

I'm very fond of Paul Dana's blogs. Anton Bursch also had some excellent .plan posts; his take on the experience of working at EB games was especially intriguing. I forwarded that to many of my friends, some of whom are EB employees, and they gained comfort in the fact that they could have an experience to relate to. Josh Ritter, Andy Schatz, and quite a few others whom I've forgotten all write great plans.

It's hard to name other specific ones. I read all of the employee blogs, and most of the community blogs.

A good tip for plans: anecdotes are always great, especially if they relate directly to the gaming industry. Everyone loves to hear about the trials and solutions to trials that you've encountered. Just make sure they relate. Paul Dana's blogs are a good example of this.

- Sam

#22 I read the plans everyday, its great reading and seeing what peolple in the community are up to.

#23 Read almost every .plan, used to read them all, but now I don't really have time :(

#24 I read pretty much all of them. I check them first daily then go through my unread posts.

#25 I go through all of them but only finish the ones that are interesting.

#26 It's hit and miss for me, although there are (as another poster stated previously) certain community members that command my full attention. Just about every GG staff blog... especially Ben Garney. =)

There are also a handful of projects around I here I tend to keep track of as well through the developer blogs. I've taken to reading the weekly highlights now to catch up on any interesting tidbits I may have missed. The recap rocks. =)

#27 I give each a pass, stick to reading the 'names' I know, but everyone gets a shot with me.

I usually pass on the "I'm gonna learn all the ropes, then make my awesome game" ones rather quickly. That phrase is usually in the first sentence which makes it easy.

When they start with techno data with real results, I sit up and take notice[reference to DEE, et al], even if it has no relevence to my projects.

Mine just state what I'm about to embark on[not idle dreams], those plans which have a real outline and attainable goal.

#28 I may not get to them every day, but I wind up reading just about every single one. Part of my job is to keep a finger on the pulse of the community for the rest of GG (along with Jeff T., Matt F., Ben G., etc) so that we can make sure the right guys on staff see certain key posts and .plans.

I also read every single thread and response, although my response abilty has dropped considerably as the post volume has increased so dramatically over the last several months.

Quote:I'm also not a big fan of posts that just detail out a person's to-do list or schedule. Why would anyone want to read that?

No insult intended Andy, but that made me giggle. That's the exact (original) definition of what a .plan file was "back in the old days"--a place for the public (your team, your school, etc) to be able to see what it was you were working on, and your current schedule. Funny how things evolve on the Internet!

#29 I read every one of them. Skimming for new ways to approach tasks and interesting code issues and bug/error issues.

Also the stage of the various projects are of interest. And most sites / projects are visited too.

-just to keep up with the community!

#30 They are part of the morning coffee nowadays - I enjoy reading about what everyone else is up to.

#31 Reading .plans is part of my morning routine, too. It's part of the day's news for me. Admittedly I read the 'all-stars' plans more in depth, as I've been following these guys 'evolution' for at least a year. And you KNOW that when a .plan appears from Melv, Jeff T, Ben G, or any GG employee, there's bound to be some juicy info in there. I feel it's one of the most important parts of the site, even without pictures.

#32 Yep - part of my regular routine. A few of them just get skimmed over - the ones I am most interested in are the ones that tell stories, or show what's going on in a game already in development (the trials and pitfalls they are facing), or ones from people who have shipped games and have some sage advice to offer. Or people who are clearly motivated and having a great time with what they are doing (like Terri Thom - did I spell her name right - and the "Krabbity World" stuff).

The ones I typically just skim are the ones that are just laundry lists of things to do on a project that hasn't gotten off the ground yet. I'm not too interested in seeing what people want to do --- I am enthralled by seeing what people ARE doing.

#33 Reading the blogs is part of my morning routine as is looking through the T2D forums

#34 I skim all, and fully read many. I'm addicted.

Quote:I'm not too interested in seeing what people want to do --- I am enthralled by seeing what people ARE doing.

Well Said.

#35

Quote:No insult intended Andy, but that made me giggle. That's the exact (original) definition of what a .plan file was "back in the old days"--a place for the public (your team, your school, etc) to be able to see what it was you were working on, and your current schedule. Funny how things evolve on the Internet!

Isn't evolution wonderful? :) Or maybe some unseen Internet overseer remotely shaped how we write our .plans into the pinnacle of readability that they are today ;)

#36 I sometimes read them all, or at least skim, but more often than not, I just open up the names I know were up to something really cool. .Plans for Josh Ritter, Andy Schatz, the GG employees, etc.

#37 I'll usually skim for the ones with the most comments... usually those are the ones with breakthroughs and screenshots (most interesting).

#38 FYI, posts made to .plans are one of the biggest ways that GG recognizes who needs to be elevated to Associate status, get contract work, or be presented with other opportunities. How you present yourself to the community, your level of communication, and seeing in-depth the type of projects you are working on is the only way we can know what you are capable of (until you come to IGC, of course).

-Jeff Tunnell, GG

#39 I read them all, and .plans too. I don't care who the author is, anyone can be doing something interesting. It doesn't take me long. I read all the days forum topics and blogs very quickly (I skim) and thoroughly enjoy it. I'm not a fan of blogs unrelated to Torque, though.

So far I only posted a .plan. There were no pics or vids, mainly because what I'm doing isn't exactly graphical. I don't think I'll ever blog. Plans sound more effective :/

#40 I've always been a lerker on all message boards over a poster. I read every word of every plan, some a few times over. I really need to start giving feedback (whether I have much or not), as it really does give the poster a sense of purpose to their writings. This in turn of course will inspire more writings.