I sat down to write the “what the hell happened” post for my last gig three times this month.
The first time, I raised my hands to type and let them fall back into my lap. I had an MMORPG column due that same week, and in the intro, I said “My mentors over the years have taught me that you never draw to an inside straight, you never pee outside on a windy day, and you never write a post-mortem until the body is cold.”
Part of that is professional – you need distance to write up something that will be useful to other people. Part of that is personal – you have no perspective right after the disaster, and the things that inspire you to write when you’re still reeling may not be the things that really matter. Part of that is pure blind hope and optimism, two things that video game people always have in abundance. No one wants to write a post-mortem when there’s any chance of the project being revived or saved.
The second time I sat down to write a blog post, I typed out a bunch of paragraphs and realized they were totally unrelated. One of them was the beginning of a pretty good article on red flags and how to spot them. Another was just a rant on due diligence. Another looked related to due diligence, until I realized it was not about my last job but a job from years ago. I’m long since over it on a personal level, but the perpetrator of that disaster is still somehow acquiring venture capital and pissing it away while posting snotty little comments all over Facebook and LinkedIn about other people’s poor management. The fact that this slimeweasel is on his way to his Nth failure because he has the attention span of a fruit fly and the management acumen of a dog rooting through a litter box, when I know dozens of brilliant people with actual ideas and follow-through ability, and meanwhile VCs lap up his buzzword-laden powerpoints and never once do any research that might turn up an incredibly consistent pattern… well, it’s enraging, but it doesn’t have any place in a post-mortem of a game. Also, I’m getting old and these blood pressure spikes can’t be good for me.
The third time, I was finally ready. The words just starting coming. The problem was they didn’t stop, and I now have the rough draft of an ebook, not a blog post. Also, it’s less to do with Dominus than with everything I’ve learned in the last decade about how things go wrong.
Now I’m pondering what to do with it. On one hand, it’s good information. On the other hands, it’s all rather obvious truth. So, yeah, I’m still making up my mind.
I am still trying to come up with a short version for those of you who had faith in the game just because I did. I feel a huge responsibility to you, and I can’t thank you enough for coming along on the ride. I always want to know “what happened,” and telling you seems like the least I can do.
Funny, but a lot of what went wrong, I’m seeing echoed this week on a much larger scale. Maybe my book of obvious truth does need to be published!
What is obvious to some is hidden to others. An artist will immediately spot a rule of thirds violation in a design, a developer will ask things are off center.
You have a lot of personal experience in dealing with these obvious truths, and this will make for great story telling. The material will be much more interesting and entertaining to read as well as memorable.
There is also the benefit of future employment because after the book is published you will literally be the “girl who wrote the book on the subject.” Somewhere a conversation will happen that ends with, “well she did write a book on the subject, we should talk to her”.
Last, I would love to read this book!
Blog posts can be ebook sized if you like. Or if you sell the ebook, I’ll buy it…just get it out there somewhere! Going for perfection kills making a product.
I’m very interested to hear what you have to say about Dominus, and also what you will be working on going forward!
Talk to us!
I want to read this ebook plus post it!
I can’t think of any reason not to throw it up on Amazon, iBooks and Smashwords and everywhere for a few dollars.
Well, I can think of one reason… get a lawyer to read the book and make sure nothing you say is actionable by any named parties, if any parties are named.
I’ll chime in on the “I’d buy it” side.
I concur. Polish it up and post it as a ebook. I give my oath that I will buy it.
Y’all are sweet
I look forward to my eight sales.
Wow this post came close to /popcorn.
I for one would be one of the eight. Seriously though, I am finding this whole blogging business to be one big cycle. It just depends on which setting and rotation movement the rock tumbler is on for some age-old blog-o-meme to have its time to crash down on the masses.
Your words are like honey though. Honey rocks crashing down on dumbass sand.
In my experience obvious truths are anything but obvious except with hindsight. Writing and documenting them for others, so that they may be able to use your hindsight as their foresight would be of benefit; if for no other reason than to help them see warning signs of impending disaster and take personal avoiding action
Nine. Nine sales. Muhahahahahaha.
Ten sales!
MMOs do seem to be having a rough time these days – even ones that, from an outsider’s point of view, seem to have a solid plan and a serious chance of getting off the ground.
I’m glad Kickstarter didn’t happen – I’m in the “Giving 10,000 people the right to feel as if they’re shareholders of a sort is a stupid idea and will turn the community into a nightmare” camp. I do hope that Dominus succeeds one day, though.
I hope that everyone that lost their jobs has managed to find something else quickly and without too much stress.
Honestly I recommend that you talk with a publisher about making it an e-book. Heaven knows you have the writing ability more so than many authors I’ve seen and it is a topic that doesn’t get covered nearly enough.
Sorry your startup died. Been there, did that and they didn’t even offer a t-shirt as a parting gift (too broke). Even if you only get 11 sales on it, there’s value in having the thoughts out there for others if only for posterity sake.
I wouldn’t recommend a publisher. Unless you are in dire need of paying someone 75% forever to get your book edited, formatted and a cover designed… If you are willing to pony up a little money up front, you can hire people to do that yourself and then when you self publish, keep 70% instead of 25%.
About the whole ebook thing… You might want to check out Shamus Young’s take on the ebook writing experience, as he just went through publishing his own enovel and he was pretty detailed on documenting what he went through on the whole process. His site is http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/
Count me in on the people that would be interested in buying your tale (as I did his) and as Jason says, a publisher will take a huge part of the profits.
My condolences on the companies demise. I played the performance beta and I thought the game had a lot of potential and was looking forward to it.
I often wonder why people in my career are paid as much as we are. The majority of my day-to-day “work” involves project coordination, talking on the phone, typing up emails, and writing letters. About 15% is actual “technical design” work, and most of that is more-or-less looking up the proper value in table printed in a nationally recognized standard. And yet, I still am fairly well compensated for a job that seems (to me) to be almost trivially simplistic.
My point is this: while _you_ might look at your reams of text (Now there’s a mixed metaphor if I ever wrote one!) and think “this is so obvious, no one could possibly imagine this would be informative.” But you would be wrong.
You might be surprised at how strong your name (as a brand) is, and how many people would stand up and listen. I mean, think about it. You were one of the first, if not *the* first CM that the playerbase actually liked and enjoyed interacting with. You deserve a tone of credit for launching an entire type of work. A book, even an eBook, that lays out the basics for your chosen career would not only be incredibly interesting to a ton of people, it might open more doors to new and interesting projects than you might imagine.
The cost of trying is small, and the potential benefits are large. Why not?
E-boooooook!
I’d cough up money for it… as long as it doesn’t go for more than, say…. two-fiddy.
boy, can I ruin a joke… it was supposed to be tree-fiddy.
I’m not a bandwagon sort of guy. So I’m probably not a good one to include in your potential market for your ebook. Maybe …
I’ve been stopping by the Dominus site regularly … perhaps a bit too regularly for proper mental hygiene; Google and I are regulars these days, and others’ visits have dwindled. I’ve been keeping a tight lid on any information experienced from closed beta until released from my obligations. With the sudden silence at the site, I’ve hoped for word to appear, one way or another, that would bring closure. Is Dominus truly dead? Or does perpetual hope still live in Dominus, albeit on a shelf with other long-forgotten projects tossed aside and fated to reside upon the dusty shelf of memory … “just in case”?
So … about you … I encourage you to write the memoir, but not necessarily to capitalize on the misfortune, or misdeeds, of others. I encourage you to write the memoir as a form of mental floss … to sharpen your observation skills, and to use introspection as a professional self-development tool. Stand back and objectively criticize what went wrong and what, if anything, you could have done to prevent it. The answer may be that there was nothing you could have done except recognize the situation for what it was. In your criticism, try to be constructive.
I admit that the voyeur in me would like to read insider knowledge about the destruction as it unfolded. I would rather read of practical lessons learned, in the generic sense, so that those lessons could be applied generically to better gauge our working environments. These types of situations do not necessarily occur exclusively to the game development industry; they’re formed as because of the human condition. The comic strip “Dilbert” isn’t good because it is about engineers; it is good because it transcends engineering. A comprehensive memoir on lessons learned, from your perspective, can transcend game development as well … if edited from that frame of mind.
An example, if you don’ t mind me venturing off topic (there is a point, btw):
Apparently Kathy Lee Gifford made a horrible gaff when interviewing Martin Short, when she glibly asked him about his wife and their relationship. Martin’s wife passed away a year and a half ago of ovarian cancer; he didn’t correct her or embarrass her by making a fuss over it, and instead nonchalantly carried the conversation forward in neutral manner. After commercial break, she came back on air and apologized for her gaff. Martin had already left. Here is the relevant bit about this example. In Kathy’s apology, she gushed on and on with compound phrases – and linked them all with the word “but”. I won’t take the time to go back and find whichever Sanya rambling it was that discussed this very topic … that is, do not join a compound sentence with the word “but” if you want credibility. “I’m so sorry for saying that, but … ” Was she really sorry? The word “but” negated the first part of her compound sentence. And she continued trying to apologize or justify (to whom?) her actions, all with the word “but” linking compound sentences.
Write the memoir as an educational opportunity for the rest of us. Thanks.
I was going to be all eloquent and shit and encourage you to post it but then that bastard first poster had to do a *much better job* and now it’s kind of a waste eh. Oh well, what can I do but /eight.
Oh crap, I just joined a compound sentence with a but.
Ditchinit said it far more eloquently than I ever could have hoped to, and I hope that you do publish it in some way/shape/form. I will read it, because I want to KNOW. I took it personally when the shop closed. I know that I had nothing invested but my personal time and yet I felt like I had just had my ice cream cone taken away.
Publish it. Raw, revised, what ever, I want to know, and so do the rest of the people that care.
Been reading your stuff for a long time. You rock! Get that book out there and I will buy a hard copy, an ecopy and several gift copies. My daughter-in-law is in marketing and I have forwarded several of your columns to her. Your thoughts on your industry are certainly useful in others.
I do not work in the “industry”. I am a 64 yr old grandma who loves games. Ideas and information about how it all works also intriques me.
Thanks for your insights, thoughts, rants and general all-round writings. Keep up the excellent work.
PS: I have to believe there are more like me who lurk here. If we could shine a light on all of us; I am sure there are many more readers than eight!!!
Your thoughts are a shining light in a world full of spin and BS.
If you cant tell people their being a stupid a## because they might be offended how will they ever learn.
I am sure you could write an excellent factual book without identifing anyone. Because the ones you would describe are either too pinheaded to realize it’s about them or so egotistical they will blow it off as the ramblings of a disgruntled peon.
You have always been a straight shooter. You ideas and opinions are solid advice for any company.
A book? Kickstart that. Seriously.
$100 – I’ll use your name in place of the real name of some stupid shmuck that would sue my pants off for using theirs.
I lol’ed.
Sanya please post or publish your thoughts i love reading them and would read/buy it in a heart beat.
i would like to know what really happened to dominus as i had such big hopes for the game and out of nowhere my hopes shattered.
I think an ebook is a great idea! You have such sharp, wry wit, and you’ve been consistently wonderful at getting it across in text – I see no reason why you couldn’t write a “Kitchen Confidential” for the gaming industry and the fans of its products. Humor + hobby of choice/career = built-in audience. Plus, you know better than most how quickly word-of-mouth can spread via online communities..(at least that’s what I heard online).
TWELVE!!
Seriously, as several have said far more eloquently—publish. Ebook, here, whatever. The world needs more Sanya Weathers. Especially more Sanya without the constraints of a corporate vest.
Are we up to 11 now? I’d buy the book as well. Been reading your stuff since the rant heard around the world was posted.
The topic is interesting, but your style makes me smile and that’s worth my money.
Sorry things didn’t work out.
The “paragraph about red flags” actually sounded like it could anchor an interesting article of its own. Regardless, I eagerly await the final draft(s) of your latest introspection.
Oh, and MEGR: totally right about the lurker population.
Gah I missed this, could you advertise your ramblings on your twitter pretty please
On a more serious note, I too would be interested by your take on what happened for Dominus. You talk about obvious truths, but sometimes hey it takes someone else to direct you to them. We’ve all been there I believe.