communication

Why We Can’t Explain Video Games To Non Gamers

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A lot of us have, are, or want to work in gaming. Which is great, even if the industry is insanely confusing (enough for me to have ranted about it for quite some time). Gaming is a legitimate form of development and dare I say it, art. Also it really helps push technology, so I’m all for it.

Except as I expand my work in the geekosphere I encounter a lot of people who just don’t “get” gaming. Oh they’re as nerdy as the rest of us, as technical (if not moreso in some cases), but they don’t see why people would blow hours doing this and what they get of it. Wondering why some people don’t “get” gaming is something I’ve been thinking of.

I’ve been thinking about it because it affects how we develop, how we market, and how we communicate. If we are missing people that may enjoy our games, that is an issue. If value is not communicated, that is an issue. If sometimes we’re wasting time on a bad project we could avoid with the feedback of a “non-gamer” that is a big issue.

So why is it some people just don’t “get” games? After some analysis, I came to a few conclusions, some of which are surprising.  Well, to me.

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How To Communicate – With Measurement

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I'm big on measuring success – you've had to tolerate me going on about that before.  I'll repeat for those that have't gotten tired of me saying it; you need to measure, in numbers and dates and other data, your progress and results in your career, from job search to education credits, to dates of certification.  Measurement lets you see your success – or correct errors you find.

We're geeks.  We're usually good with numbers

I'm also finding out, more and more, that its a real necessity for everyone, to communicate their career progress with others.  Our friends and family want to know how we're doing so they know we're OK – or that they need to help us out.  We want to communicate the state of our career to others so they can help us out – or leave us alone.

If you want to show people how you're doing in your career, from a job search to getting an advanced degree, or what have you, you should be making sure the numbers you measure can also be communicated to the people who care about you.  Or the people who you want to annoy you less.

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Communicating Your Progeekery

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You're a progeek, profan, protaku – or want to be.  You're working hard your career, you're living your dreams.  You're a pinnacle of potential – and perhaps are even realizing it.

Except people don't get it.

You know the drill.  You meet people who figure that hobby of yours is useless.  You have to explain again and again that you do actually get paid for what you do.  You have people wondering why you "waste your time" on the things you love.  Yep, it's the usual "how how can that make you a living" routine we're all sick of.

So, let me ask this: Are you going out of the way to communicate with your critics?

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