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IMGDC 2.0 Wrap-Up
By Cameron Sorden | March 30, 2008
The two-day IMGDC 2.0 conference just came to an end a few hours ago. It always amazes me just how draining these conferences are– I’m utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally, by the end of each day. Every time I’m at one I’m reminded how genuinely impressed I am with those of you who attend these kinds of things on a far more regular basis than I do (and I was even local for this one… I got to crash in my own bed).
The conference was really great. As Tami mentioned, one of the best things about IMGDC is how relatively small it is (compared to some of the huge shows where you’re instantly lost in the crowd). You can hang out at a table full of famous game developers and not feel out of place, no matter who you are. I highly recommend going next year if you didn’t make it out this year. That chance to interact on a personal basis with the speakers is worth it by itself, but I always find the panels to be interesting and educational as well.
Speaking of the panels and panelists, I took copious notes throughout the conference. Expect some coverage to come trickling out of Ten Ton Hammer throughout the week as I get that stuff transcribed and edited. I have a number of interesting articles in the pipeline, including a discussion with Richard Bartle on the merits of educational MMOGs, a chat with Brian Green about storytelling in games, and a shadowy preview of what Scott Hartsman may or may not be working on (maybe). What does that mean? You’ll just have to watch for it on Ten Ton Hammer.
The one thing I regret is that I didn’t have the foresight to take any pictures this weekend– my camera is awful, and it didn’t even occur to me to bring it. Fortunately, the people I interviewed have been photographed many times! Check out the random picture of Richard Bartle to the right, for example. Behold, the power of the internets! I’m not sure what he’s playing with in that picture or where he is, but if I learned anything this weekend it’s that people love random pictures of Bartle. Who knew?
It was also really great to see and hang with all the people who I’ve met through the blogosphere. I could list them all, but it would be a long list (and I’m too tired to go find all the right links). Suffice it to say that there was much discussion and joking, and we all had a really great time. When I sit back and think about it, I’m utterly amazed by the power of networking. Last year when I came to IMGDC, I didn’t know anyone. I had never met anyone there in person, and no one had any clue who I was. Well, Brian Green was kind enough to remember my name from posting on his blog, but just that.
It’s one short year later and I feel like I knew a fourth of the people at the conference, through blogging, networking, talking, and writing. Better still, I felt totally comfortable just going up and talking to people. That’s something I didn’t do at all the first year (other than stammering at Bartle a bit) because I was too nervous and shy. Take it from me– if you’re nervous about introducing yourself to people and striking up a conversation, the best way to get over that is just to start doing it. It’s uncomfortable at first, but it gets better. Most people are very cool about it and are happy to talk to you if they have time.
So, what was the best panel at the conference? Well, I don’t know what the best panel was, but the one I learned the most at and thought was the most interesting was Nick Fortugno’s presentation on so-called casual games and what MMO designers can learn from them. I thought I was pretty well educated on casual games in general, having worked so closely with them for a while at Boomzap and Casual Review, but I had no idea just how huge they are in terms of popularity. Also, I thought that the way Nick described the player experience and expectations in casual games and explained how it related to an online game experience of the kind that you or I would think of was fascinating. I need some more time to process the things he said, but there is definitely a blog post or five on design topics swimming around in my head from that presentation alone.
I’d love to go on and on and talk more about the panels, but this has already gone from a quick write-up into a full fledged post for Monday morning and I am just plain out of energy at this point. Look for the interviews on Ten Ton Hammer in the next week or two and expect plenty of design-related posts this week (although frankly, I’d like to exhaust the topics I came up with before the conference first to really give these new ideas time to gel).
Topics: imgdc |
March 31st, 2008 at 12:40 am
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