First off, that wasn't at all confrontational. You made a great point that was argued with respect and rationality. It was something I hadn't taken into consideration until you brought it up. GG, sir!The_Kodu said:
I totally agree with you on a lot of that. Your argument in favor of self-improvement for the purpose of obtaining a goal is not only admirable, but a quality trait. In my past, I taught myself HTML, CSS, and RSS feeds so I could maintain a website for my brother's podcast (he genuinely didn't have the time to study that himself and so I happily did it). I also over-learned every concept I was exposed to in school not only so I could improve my effectiveness as a tutor, but because I had an unquenchable thirst for that knowledge and didn't believe in half-assing it. That's why I graduated with a 4.0 and did an honors thesis so I could earn summa.
That said, by nature, different concepts require different amounts of time and dedication to master. As I said in my previous post, I took classes in 3D modeling (six, to be exact) while pursuing my first degree, and also took two classes in video game design. Neither of those came easily to me despite my dedication to learn. That definitely doesn't mean I couldn't improve with more study and practice. In fact, I believe in my own potential to do just that.
Unfortunately, I don't have the time to devote to that particular avenue of study at this moment. My extracurricular reading is almost solely about neurology, a subject in which I have a strong foundation. Trying to learn something brand new right now would surely be an exercise in futility because I learn best when I study in very long blocks (that completely flies in the face of academic research into memory and study practices, but I've always been weird).
A lot of that is due to ADHD. I don't use my diagnosis as an excuse, but there's no denying that it sometimes dictates how much I can concentrate at any given moment.Careers may also impact the amount of time one has to learn something as in-depth as game design. Your post piqued my interest in learning it though it's not possible for me right now. Other women might be similarly motivated to create their own games, but may share my lack of time. Also, coding is the epitome of black-and-white: your code either works or it doesn't. Such things are easier to learn than other areas of game design. What about art aspects? I've spent a good deal of time creating art, but many people haven't, and that could hinder their ability to create the type of game that buyers wouldn't ignore due to rudimentary graphics. When I say "rudimentary" I'm not talking about stark, minimalist design like in Papers, Please but rather something that looks like it was designed in MS Paint. Those types of games flood the Xbox indie category and it's hard to find one that isn't poorly received and rated.
Such deficiencies could be remedied by the tried-and-true concept of "who you know," but how many people are lucky enough to know good artists and/or musicians who could help increase the quality of their games? Not everyone is as insanely talented as the guy who created Dust: An Elysian Tale (a game I haven't played because it's diametrically opposed to my taste in games, and yet I have immense respect for its creator).
Please don't construe this post as a litany of excuses for why people can't take your sage advice. It's merely my attempt to elucidate on reasons why many women may temporarily or permanently be unable to follow it. Hopefully I didn't come across as an advocate against self-improvement. There are many men /and/ women who can only contribute their voices to problems for which they hope to see solutions. That's probably why we get confrontational when we're told, either directly or indirectly, to shut up about this topic. In my case, I have a particularly bad reaction (as you saw in my last post) to those who tell us to butt out of what we see as a valid issue and, in the same breath, told to go put our lives in jeopardy if we truly care about the treatment of our sex. Both of those are pretty big slaps in our faces.
EDIT - just one more thing. It's hard for us to use more than our voices in our attempt to improve the representation of women in gaming. Could you imagine us marching on the offices of EA and Ubisoft?
And nobody is going to martyr themselves for this cause. Now /that/ would cause a backlash of people lining up to declare us insane and irrational.
