This is also often a big deal for me (for others relating to me), and a huge disconnect when talking to other people.
On much of the internet (not here, but other places) I am pretty sure most people type slowly, barely read (and thus barely comprehend what is said), don’t give much thought (or any at all) to their comments, and are simply soapbox posting (even if they return to skim a reply, they won’t actually think about it or consider your words). It’s almost a troll, except they mean to genuinely participate (somehow expecting to do so with no effort on their part).
The average user assumes a lengthy post I make consumes my entire life; that I take it with the utmost seriousness; that I talk too much, think too deeply, or care an unhealthy amount.
In all actuality, I just type 150wpm, I care very little about it (although I do find it entertaining to conversate or argue), & my shallow thoughts appear deep to random users whose most intelligent comment consists of “I watched ExtraCredits once so I agree. Agree with what? I won’t mention what; LOLOLOL”, and I simply reply to people out of respect (If they take a few minutes to comment, I’ll take a few minutes to reply. Seems fair.)
Time & time again, I see people say things like “That is a big response [for a conversation I’m not participating in, despite my comment insinuating I am participating.]” Little do they know it takes me like 2 minutes to type it all out and maybe a few more minutes if I have to think about it first. Nearly always the response is a "I have no answers to anything you said, because I have no idea what you’re talking about and it hurts to think about anything more than “gamedev bro? it’s cool yea. I press MMO button now for 2 years” Even when people argue, they seem to ignore all my points and just soapbox on some off-topic portion. It’s very depressing sometimes (when I am more interested in the conversation & do care), but most of the time you just shrug it off because it’s typical internet stuff & who cares.
Even when talking to other developers (not on this site, but ones with actually released games; off-site. Small time indies with niche games mostly.) I am mostly disappointed at how shallow their thoughts are or why they made their mind up on a certain decision. A bit of a new conversation, but these forums are here so we can talk to one another right? (To prevent any derail, I’ll wrap my new topic / complaint / observation in the tag below).
I even recently asked a two-sentence question to the game developer of Curious Expedition. It was apparently such a big question, it fried his brain. He was not only unable to answer the simple question, but he insisted he wanted to but was somehow (unexplained) unable to answer. The only thing I could figure out was that he seemed to be repeatedly stating it was because of an off-topic negative review on steam that hurt his feelings (so much, it incapacitated him from answering a simple question). I persisted to ask my question and he finally said “I’d love to answer your question…” then proceeded to provide no answer whatsoever. As much as I hated to admit it, that meant he lied to my face for no reason. So strange. He made little sense in his posts and was a very unreasonable in response. So I ultimately ended very confused, assuming the worst of his cognitive ability given his strange/unreasonable behavior. In all actuality, I assume he simply did not have any answer to the question, and got really upset because I asked a question publicly that he couldn’t answer. So upset, he asked for me to be banned, celebrated when I was temporarily banned for “harassing him” (by asking the question a second time, which I wasn’t aware was inappropriate), and then constantly insulted me for no reason (I truly don’t know why, other than that irrelevant steam review hurting him so deeply). I ended up going from “I respect this guy. He probably knows a lot about game design because his game is unique.” to “Oh…he’s some kind of fortunate simpleton? But… I thought…well maybe if…no but… sigh…how depressing. Why couldn’t he be at least somewhat intelligent? tear of disappointment”
But at least we have wonderful people like Johnathon Blow & Edmund Mcmillen who have thoughts and conversations that extend beyond regurgitating what they hear on gamasutra. They give real thought & energy to their philosophies & designs. At least I can maintain respect for those two (and more; as intellectuals), after reading so much of what they have had to say.
However, wasn’t Johnathon Blow made fun of for talking too much on the internet too? I saw on The Indie Movie, he mentioned how others kindof mocked him for posting everywhere on the internet. He’d appear whenever he was mentioned, and give them the time of day in a reply. I tried to look this up, but couldn’t find anything on it or anything proving it. (My Google skills failed me). I was interested in this, if you have any links or know anything about it.
Part of why I love this community is because the people here aren’t shallow minded. They actually participate if you talk to them. As strange as that sounds, it is hard to find intelligent conversation in a lot of gamedev communities. /r/gamedev for example is a place pretty barren of any intelligence. (Then again, that’s reddit for you, hehe). That’s why I make Unity forums my home; I love you guys!
