pspeed

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Posts: 5578







AdministratorHero MemberPosts: 5578 Kind of for developers only... (Patreon info) « on: September 03, 2015, 11:42:09 PM »



Given the state of my life, I've had little or no free time lately and it really wears against the things I actually do choose to spend time on. I have many projects that I juggle and some days it's hard to get motivated to even look at them. One constant in my life is that I routinely help others on the jMonkeyEngine forums but I find even that often wears at my soul from day-to-day. Mostly this manifests as a total lack of patience for anyone accidentally or intentionally or ignorantly wasting my time in avoidable ways. At any rate, the negativity this generates only exacerbates the issue.



I've found that I'm always much more patience and much more generous with when helping with the things I've created directly. For one, not as many 'stupid questions' have been asked yet but for another, I view those folks more directly as my "customers" and it's not like I've provided them a pile of documentation or anything.



I started to find that every little 'thumbs up' I get on those forum posts tends to buy a little more patience for the next guy so I've been trying to figure out ways I can generate more positive energy than gets sucked away. Certainly, roasting everyone who gets it wrong wasn't going to do it.



As an experiment, I've created a Patreon account for those folks who use my open source tools and feel like contributing back in some positive way. Every cent is like a vote of confidence that I should keep doing what I do for the community. Too often I find that I have users that have been using my libraries without issue and just trucking along... unfortunately, that also makes them invisible to me. The hope is that seeing a few pledges here and there helps a bit with my sunny disposition.



If you are a Mythruna player and have read this far out of some sense of curiosity then hopefully this doesn't feel like a money grab. My Mythruna donators have already gone above and beyond with support and generosity and I really can't ask for more (except for maybe from future-new players when updates start again). That's a different kettle of fish as the idea was always to be on the path to 'self sustaining'. This is just about my open source developer tools.



I realized somewhat grudgingly that if things didn't change for the tool situation that I was on a path to burn-out and the tools on a path to self-destruction (presuming life doesn't choose to let up anytime soon on the distractions). I derive a lot of tangible Mythruna-related benefits to having these tools out there in users' hands.



If you are a software developer that hasn't seen my open source tools yet you can see here:



If you are a software developer that is using my tools successfully then you might consider throwing a little support my way:

http://patreon.com/pspeed42



Thanks for reading. As I recall, a few software developers still follow along here or may stumble here in the course of exploring my tools. As such, I felt I would be remiss not to mention my new patreon account.Given the state of my life, I've had little or no free time lately and it really wears against the things I actually do choose to spend time on. I have many projects that I juggle and some days it's hard to get motivated to even look at them. One constant in my life is that I routinely help others on the jMonkeyEngine forums but I find even that often wears at my soul from day-to-day. Mostly this manifests as a total lack of patience for anyone accidentally or intentionally or ignorantly wasting my time in avoidable ways. At any rate, the negativity this generates only exacerbates the issue.I've found that I'm always much more patience and much more generous with when helping with the things I've created directly. For one, not as many 'stupid questions' have been asked yet but for another, I view those folks more directly as my "customers" and it's not like I've provided them a pile of documentation or anything.I started to find that every little 'thumbs up' I get on those forum posts tends to buy a little more patience for the next guy so I've been trying to figure out ways I can generate more positive energy than gets sucked away. Certainly, roasting everyone who gets it wrong wasn't going to do it.As an experiment, I've created a Patreon account for those folks who use my open source tools and feel like contributing back in some positive way. Every cent is like a vote of confidence that I should keep doing what I do for the community. Too often I find that I have users that have been using my libraries without issue and just trucking along... unfortunately, that also makes them invisible to me. The hope is that seeing a few pledges here and there helps a bit with my sunny disposition.If you are a Mythruna player and have read this far out of some sense of curiosity then hopefully this doesn't feel like a money grab. My Mythruna donators have already gone above and beyond with support and generosity and I really can't ask for more (except for maybe from future-new players when updates start again). That's a different kettle of fish as the idea was always to be on the path to 'self sustaining'. This is just about my open source developer tools.I realized somewhat grudgingly that if things didn't change for the tool situation that I was on a path to burn-out and the tools on a path to self-destruction (presuming life doesn't choose to let up anytime soon on the distractions). I derive a lot of tangible Mythruna-related benefits to having these tools out there in users' hands.If you are a software developer that hasn't seen my open source tools yet you can see here: http://www.simsilica.com/?page_id=34 If you are a software developer that is using my tools successfully then you might consider throwing a little support my way:Thanks for reading. Logged

Rayblon

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Posts: 1847





One day I'll be a species in Mythruna...





DonatorsHero MemberPosts: 1847One day I'll be a species in Mythruna... Re: Kind of for developers only... (Patreon info) « Reply #1 on: September 04, 2015, 12:06:11 AM » Quote from: pspeed on September 03, 2015, 11:42:09 PM Mostly this manifests as a total lack of patience for anyone accidentally or intentionally or ignorantly wasting my time in avoidable ways.



The cynic in me tempts me to say "By all means, let them roast", and another part of me wants to crack a joke about the fact that you think any of us would ever think you're money grabbing.



But the part that matters feels inspired by the potential that this one post of yours may carry. Now, I probably already know the answer to this question, but what does this mean about the progress on Mythruna and Ethereal Space? Namely, will this buy you some more development time if it turns out to be a roaring success?



Either way, it's always great being able to read what you have to say... even if it's not a report of monumental progress on your games and the general awesomeness that is Mythruna and your other projects. You may not think it, but every penny that has been donated to you has been earned. The cynic in me tempts me to say "By all means, let them roast", and another part of me wants to crack a joke about the fact that you think any of us would ever think you're money grabbing.But the part that matters feels inspired by the potential that this one post of yours may carry. Now, I probably already know the answer to this question, but what does this mean about the progress on Mythruna and Ethereal Space? Namely, will this buy you some more development time if it turns out to be a roaring success?Either way, it's always great being able to read what you have to say... even if it's not a report ofprogress on your games and the general awesomeness that is Mythruna and your other projects. You may not think it, but every penny that has been donated to you has been earned. « Last Edit: September 04, 2015, 01:07:13 AM by Rayblon » Logged Mythruna Handbook | Wiki | Donation Page | Donation Benefits

pspeed

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Posts: 5578







AdministratorHero MemberPosts: 5578 Re: Kind of for developers only... (Patreon info) « Reply #2 on: September 04, 2015, 09:08:20 AM » Quote from: Rayblon on September 04, 2015, 12:06:11 AM Quote from: pspeed on September 03, 2015, 11:42:09 PM Mostly this manifests as a total lack of patience for anyone accidentally or intentionally or ignorantly wasting my time in avoidable ways.



The cynic in me tempts me to say "By all means, let them roast", and another part of me wants to crack a joke about the fact that you think any of us would ever think you're money grabbing.



But the part that matters feels inspired by the potential that this one post of yours may carry. Now, I probably already know the answer to this question, but what does this mean about the progress on Mythruna and Ethereal Space? Namely, will this buy you some more development time if it turns out to be a roaring success?

The cynic in me tempts me to say "By all means, let them roast", and another part of me wants to crack a joke about the fact that you think any of us would ever think you're money grabbing.But the part that matters feels inspired by the potential that this one post of yours may carry. Now, I probably already know the answer to this question, but what does this mean about the progress on Mythruna and Ethereal Space? Namely, will this buy you some more development time if it turns out to be a roaring success?

Yeah, though I doubt it will be a roaring success. A lot of the things I work on as open source are used directly by Mythruna (Lemur, Zay-ES, etc.) and so benefit from my greater attention and benefit from the community's greater attention. And the best way to get them more community attention is to improve their docs and such (which doesn't directly benefit Mythruna because I already know how to use them. )



Quote from: Rayblon on September 04, 2015, 12:06:11 AM Either way, it's always great being able to read what you have to say... even if it's not a report of monumental progress on your games and the general awesomeness that is Mythruna and your other projects. You may not think it, but every penny that has been donated to you has been earned.



Aw, thanks. Yeah, though I doubt it will be a roaring success. A lot of the things I work on as open source are used directly by Mythruna (Lemur, Zay-ES, etc.) and so benefit from my greater attention and benefit from the community's greater attention. And the best way to get them more community attention is to improve their docs and such (which doesn't directly benefit Mythruna because I already know how to use them.Aw, thanks. Logged

pspeed

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Posts: 5578







AdministratorHero MemberPosts: 5578 Re: Kind of for developers only... (Patreon info) « Reply #4 on: September 07, 2015, 11:37:33 PM » Quote from: Rayblon on September 07, 2015, 11:22:54 PM I just paid the JME forums a visit. I only stayed a few minutes because I clearly don't belong there, but it was... interesting, to say the least. You've made waves of your own, beyond anything I've done on the Mythruna forums. You're not opening hospitals or making donations yourself, but you're a philanthropist through and through; just in different ways.



Thanks.



I'm not always nice there when answering the same question for the 500th time so I have a bit of a bad reputation by some... but I keep going anyway. Thanks.I'm not always nice there when answering the same question for the 500th time so I have a bit of a bad reputation by some... but I keep going anyway. Logged

pspeed

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Posts: 5578







AdministratorHero MemberPosts: 5578 Re: Kind of for developers only... (Patreon info) « Reply #6 on: September 08, 2015, 01:58:47 AM » Quote from: Rayblon on September 08, 2015, 01:39:56 AM Having to explain why kickstarter is a bad idea for five years will do that to a person. xD



Heheh. Well, it's the posts that are like the programming equivalent of: "Hi, I'm holding a piece of string. It's orange. Can someone tell me how long it is?" When I'm on a roll and answering a ton of posts in a very short time and/or I've had a bad day, I have little patience for such nonsense.



For a long time, when someone would post one of these "I have a problem with my code" and didn't actually post any code, I'd reply "The code looks fine from here." After a while I realized that a large percentage didn't get it and it kind of lost it's fun.



But overall, if you correct people by flicking matches at them then it shouldn't be a surprise when a few burst into flame wars... then the next innocent guy gets gasoline and a match, and so on. I'm trying to stay out of that sort of negativity going forward. Heheh. Well, it's the posts that are like the programming equivalent of: "Hi, I'm holding a piece of string. It's orange. Can someone tell me how long it is?" When I'm on a roll and answering a ton of posts in a very short time and/or I've had a bad day, I have little patience for such nonsense.For a long time, when someone would post one of these "I have a problem with my code" and didn't actually post any code, I'd reply "The code looks fine from here." After a while I realized that a large percentage didn't get it and it kind of lost it's fun.But overall, if you correct people by flicking matches at them then it shouldn't be a surprise when a few burst into flame wars... then the next innocent guy gets gasoline and a match, and so on. I'm trying to stay out of that sort of negativity going forward. Logged

Rayblon

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Posts: 1847





One day I'll be a species in Mythruna...





DonatorsHero MemberPosts: 1847One day I'll be a species in Mythruna... Re: Kind of for developers only... (Patreon info) « Reply #7 on: September 08, 2015, 11:13:01 AM » Quote from: pspeed on September 08, 2015, 01:58:47 AM Quote from: Rayblon on September 08, 2015, 01:39:56 AM Having to explain why kickstarter is a bad idea for five years will do that to a person. xD



Heheh. Well, it's the posts that are like the programming equivalent of: "Hi, I'm holding a piece of string. It's orange. Can someone tell me how long it is?" When I'm on a roll and answering a ton of posts in a very short time and/or I've had a bad day, I have little patience for such nonsense.



For a long time, when someone would post one of these "I have a problem with my code" and didn't actually post any code, I'd reply "The code looks fine from here." After a while I realized that a large percentage didn't get it and it kind of lost it's fun.



But overall, if you correct people by flicking matches at them then it shouldn't be a surprise when a few burst into flame wars... then the next innocent guy gets gasoline and a match, and so on. I'm trying to stay out of that sort of negativity going forward.

Heheh. Well, it's the posts that are like the programming equivalent of: "Hi, I'm holding a piece of string. It's orange. Can someone tell me how long it is?" When I'm on a roll and answering a ton of posts in a very short time and/or I've had a bad day, I have little patience for such nonsense.For a long time, when someone would post one of these "I have a problem with my code" and didn't actually post any code, I'd reply "The code looks fine from here." After a while I realized that a large percentage didn't get it and it kind of lost it's fun.But overall, if you correct people by flicking matches at them then it shouldn't be a surprise when a few burst into flame wars... then the next innocent guy gets gasoline and a match, and so on. I'm trying to stay out of that sort of negativity going forward.

Maybe those are the people that are beyond help. They aren't thinking logically if they think anyone can troubleshoot code that they haven't had the pleasure of seeing... And they also wouldn't know a joke if it punched them in the face. Perhaps the best course of action for them is inaction. You're there because you're a nice person, but that doesn't mean you have to... Pardonnez mon français, put up with the collective shit of everyone there. Some people really don't deserve your attention, and I can imagine that those people are the ones you described.



Sorry if that sounded a bit cold, but it's the truth. Maybe those are the people that are beyond help. They aren't thinking logically if they think anyone can troubleshoot code that they haven't had the pleasure of seeing... And they also wouldn't know a joke if it punched them in the face. Perhaps the best course of action for them is inaction. You're there because you're a nice person, but that doesn't mean you have to... Pardonnez mon français, put up with the collective shit of everyone there. Some people really don't deserve your attention, and I can imagine that those people are the ones you described.Sorry if that sounded a bit cold, but it's the truth. Logged Mythruna Handbook | Wiki | Donation Page | Donation Benefits

pspeed

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Posts: 5578







AdministratorHero MemberPosts: 5578 Re: Kind of for developers only... (Patreon info) « Reply #8 on: September 08, 2015, 11:25:46 AM » Quote from: Rayblon on September 08, 2015, 11:13:01 AM Quote from: pspeed on September 08, 2015, 01:58:47 AM Quote from: Rayblon on September 08, 2015, 01:39:56 AM Having to explain why kickstarter is a bad idea for five years will do that to a person. xD



Heheh. Well, it's the posts that are like the programming equivalent of: "Hi, I'm holding a piece of string. It's orange. Can someone tell me how long it is?" When I'm on a roll and answering a ton of posts in a very short time and/or I've had a bad day, I have little patience for such nonsense.



For a long time, when someone would post one of these "I have a problem with my code" and didn't actually post any code, I'd reply "The code looks fine from here." After a while I realized that a large percentage didn't get it and it kind of lost it's fun.



But overall, if you correct people by flicking matches at them then it shouldn't be a surprise when a few burst into flame wars... then the next innocent guy gets gasoline and a match, and so on. I'm trying to stay out of that sort of negativity going forward.

Heheh. Well, it's the posts that are like the programming equivalent of: "Hi, I'm holding a piece of string. It's orange. Can someone tell me how long it is?" When I'm on a roll and answering a ton of posts in a very short time and/or I've had a bad day, I have little patience for such nonsense.For a long time, when someone would post one of these "I have a problem with my code" and didn't actually post any code, I'd reply "The code looks fine from here." After a while I realized that a large percentage didn't get it and it kind of lost it's fun.But overall, if you correct people by flicking matches at them then it shouldn't be a surprise when a few burst into flame wars... then the next innocent guy gets gasoline and a match, and so on. I'm trying to stay out of that sort of negativity going forward.

Maybe those are the people that are beyond help. They aren't thinking logically if they think anyone can troubleshoot code that they haven't had the pleasure of seeing... And they also wouldn't know a joke if it punched them in the face. Perhaps the best course of action for them is inaction. You're there because you're a nice person, but that doesn't mean you have to... Pardonnez mon français, put up with the collective shit of everyone there. Some people really don't deserve your attention, and I can imagine that those people are the ones you described.



Sorry if that sounded a bit cold, but it's the truth.

Maybe those are the people that are beyond help. They aren't thinking logically if they think anyone can troubleshoot code that they haven't had the pleasure of seeing... And they also wouldn't know a joke if it punched them in the face. Perhaps the best course of action for them is inaction. You're there because you're a nice person, but that doesn't mean you have to... Pardonnez mon français, put up with the collective shit of everyone there. Some people really don't deserve your attention, and I can imagine that those people are the ones you described.Sorry if that sounded a bit cold, but it's the truth.

I just feel the need to clear stuff off my plate and move on. These kinds of posts have a problem of coming back to haunt later as they get equally as bad responses that need to be corrected... and ultimately those become damaging because people will find those bad answers in searches.



So it helps me in the long run if I ask for more information if someone else already hasn't. I just feel the need to clear stuff off my plate and move on. These kinds of posts have a problem of coming back to haunt later as they get equally as bad responses that need to be corrected... and ultimately those become damaging because people will find those bad answers in searches.So it helps me in the long run if I ask for more information if someone else already hasn't. Logged