What's your greatest strength/weakness? Why?

[+ EraYachi 180]

You could be new here, or an old-timer, but wouldn't it be nice to elaborate on that little "RM Skill" section under your avatar? Let people to get to know you a little better as a game designer. You could have skills that no one knows about, but everyone has at least one area 'under construction'.

 

In the theory side of things, I was thinking of throwing an idea out there--what about a topic where people (who volunteer their info) list their strength and weak spots, like a Granny's List for skills? Then people can reference the list to see who needs help in their 'weak' areas, and those who are exceptionally skilled. That 'RM Skill' tag is incredibly vague, after all. It can also help slingshot newcomers to a place where they get to know other members, at least on a skill-by-skill basis. Anyway, that's food for thought.

 

I'll start with myself, though I'm about as mysterious as a hungry seagull.

 

• Strength

• I want to say art direction. I do; I'm good at developing my own artistic style and I'm a decent artist. That includes parallax mapping. In fact, it's almost even with my top strength. But realistically, my greatest strength is creative writing. Narrative, to be exact, and directing the flow of a fictional environment from its 'hard-to-not-love-them' characters to its unique placement in a fantastical setting. Story pacing, plot twists--let's not list it all; suffice to say I can make a scene. And that covers just about any genre, except romance. I'm the George Lucas of romance. It goes right over my head. I break peoples' hearts when I try.

 

• Weakness

• -sigh- Mechanics. Specifically, battle mechanics and stats. The dry work, with formulas and numbers, and all that jazz. This actually includes scripting. I'm good at eventing, but I'm of the one-touch-type breed when it comes to scripting. It is, and forever will be, my ultimate weakness. I'm capable of incorporating other users' scripts into my game and executing the instructions, but that's as far as I get. If you want brilliant boss battles and nitpicked combat systems, you shouldn't ask me. I break peoples' hearts when I try.

 

So, got anything to share? It's all right to admit you're good, and all right to admit you suck at something. If you think you're not good at anything, re-evaluate. There are TONS of skills you might not think apply. Even if you can tell a crappy episode of Bones apart from a good one, then you possess knowledge of story direction you may not be aware of.

 

[magic2345 252]

Stop breaking my heart! 

 

Joking aside, let's see....

 

Strength:

Even though my RM Skill says Writer, I picked that because the part I love most in creating a game is making a story. I myself don't really think that I am that good at writing, but I love doing it. My strength would be....hmm, I guess I'm more of a jack of all trades, but mapping and writing has a soft spot in my heart. Ohh, but I DO love world building, especially fantasy-based ones, so that could be my strength.

 

Weakness:

I'd say my weakness would be scripting, making music, and spriting. Also I have trouble conveying feeling in a scene. Another weakness of mine would be motivation, I am easily demotivated and that causes me to sometimes just suddenly stop developing my game. But, like loneliness (ha, I'm trying to sound poetic), my motivation comes as fast as it goes away.

 

Haha! Writing this down felt like being interviewed for a job! 

[INDOJIN 70]

Strengths:-

 

>Eventing.

>Level/Game Design

>Killing airborne houseflies and mosquitos with my bare hands.

>Coming up with ideas.

 

Weaknesses:-

 

>Putting said ideas to words.

>Art. All I've ever done is some basic frankenspriting. Like this pokertable.

>Music. Unlike art, I've never even dabbled with this.

>Scripting. All I know is how to remove options from the menu and methods for custom formulas. (They're called methods, right?)

 

Luckily, my good friend and teammate covers most of my weakness and I, his. Except for art, music and scripting, we both suck at that.

[Hokobishu 13]

Oh man...you guys...way better than me. Hahaha I'm just a noob even though I've been using the program since it came out!

 

Strengths: I am a great creative writer and I love to do events, as my I am fair to middling with my music. My writing comprehension is amazing, I can create something from nothing and the opposite is also true. I can turn an idea into a full fledged storyline complete with sidequests and dazzling arrays of tangents.

 

Weaknesses: Focus, I have a really hard time focus. It's my ultimate weakness, as well as scripting, I want to learn it, but it's all Greek to me. As for Art, I can draw proportionately wrong stick figures, that's about it. I would love it if someone would teach me scripting, I mean said person would have to hold my hand, because I am a baby when it comes to scripting. I can't even use other peoples' script WITH the instructions. Man am I hopeless.

[Cait 385]

Strengths: ideas, somewhat on mechanics, characters, writing, graphics -interior and other man made stuff

 

Weakness: face sets, scripting, logos, backgrounds

 

I swear my lack of ability to create faces is what kills many of my more unique games, so I normally stick with humans.

[SpookyMothman 361]

THE GOOD

I'd say one of my greatest strengths is characters. I love to write them, and I think I'm really good at writing believable, sympathetic characters. I explained one of my characters to a friend, and he asked me to stop for a bit because it was hitting too close to home. ... which I think is a good thing?

 

Since I'm so bad with plot and story, I'm hoping that character development will work as a good substitute.

 

Another one of my best strengths also happens to be my favorite word in game development: balance! I have an eye for things that work and things that don't, and I'm pretty good at finding out how to make things work.

 

THE BAD

As I briefly mentioned before, my biggest weakness is story. I can't do it. I just can't. For some reason, writing plots and stories is a task and a half for me. I don't know why.

 

Another problem is that I keep spacing out. So... I guess you could say I have a concentration issue. I get stuff done, but very slowly. Once I get going, though, I tend to keep moving forward.

 

THE UGLY

I freak out whenever I see certain things in games. Like healers who can't do anything but heal (bonus points for if all of their stats are uselessly low). Or spellcasters who have, like, five of the same spell, just with different names or elements, and nothing else. This ties in with balance, of course. I just don't like seeing it.

[LordSquirrel 150]

Strenghts:

 

I like to think I'm good at coming up with idea, writing in general, and I think I'm getting better at mapping.

 

Weakness:

 

Pretty much everything else, other than probably balancing out certain skills.

[Amysaurus 734]

Ah~ let's see...

Strengths:

Art~ I've always loved pixel art, and I quickly fell in love with RPG Maker's styles once I discovered them. With five years of practice, I've finally gotten used to shading and making smooth animations. I also love drawing, though my style varies from extreme realism to cartoonish, so I never quite fit the RTP.

Writing~ It's a fairly safe assumption that if I'm not making art, I'm writing. I love creating short stories and poems. I'm also incredibly picky when it comes to grammar and word choice, and I pretty much lose it when I see a game full of clichés.


Weaknesses:

Ah.... Everything else, unless being a good cook is a valid RPG-making skill

Edited March 11, 2014 by Qtpi0121

[Tsarmina 2,612]

COWs:

*Can Operate Well!

 

-Art. I guess this hardly needs to be mentioned ^-^ (Most of you have probably seen my Laboratory at least once!) but I not only find art easy, but also enjoyable, relaxing, fun, and inspiring. Art includes bitmap and vector, cel shading but mostly soft shading, and recently even tiles and pixel art along with my normal stuff.

-Writing. I do a LOT of creative writing, and my idea/brainstorming stuff comes...like, super-easy. Like idea diarrhea. Idearrhea! ^^"

-Mapping. I've recently been parallax mapping, and it's addictingly fun. Give me a tileset and I will make something out of it. ^-^

-Characterization. Personality is a super-factor for me. I'm pretty good at balancing characters and making them unique.

-Being a redhead. For those of you who know me, you all no there's no need for explanation--and nothing that can beat it.

 

DOGs:

*Difficulties and Observations in General

 

-Scripting. Speak a real language, please? @_@

-Formulae. No math! 

-Procrastinating. Sigh....you guys should already know this by now...

[Spectre 829]

Well then. My turn.

 

Strengths (if applicable):

 

Writing: Give a literature and philosophy student nothing, and he'll churn out the most complex yet captivating tales of a corrupted past. Hell, I'll infuse Nietzsche and Kant into your plot and/or character development if need be.

Digital Art (non-sprite): A lonely kid picks up a felt tip marker at the age of 3 and has never stopped drawing since. Albeit with different writing implements, of course. I'm fairly adaptable when it comes to styles, and I can modify a pre-existing idea, or create a new one out of scratch.

 

Disabilities:

 

Coding: Yo no hablo 101101101? Nope. Can't do it. These walls of numbers, disjointed words that can only be described as untimely ripped from what could be an essay, and inappropriate parentheses makes as much sense to me as reading Chinese hieroglyphs upside down.

Being "Happy": No, I just can't do a tale where everyone lives happily ever after and goes about living cheerful lives. I enjoy a tragic or otherwise morbid twist every now and then; I do it for a bit of realism and exploring human dynamics, and without this tinge of melancholy or tragedy my concepts feel stripped bare and lacking in substance. Don't get me wrong though, I can be happy. I'd just rather not write about it.

[When Bugs Roam Ur House 656]

I read everyones', i thought they were interesting. (>'u')>

 

Strengths...

I'm still learning, but i guess... what i practise the most and therefore, have more experience in, is drawing?.. Though i only really draw anime people. And sometimes plants.

 

I really enjoy it a lot though. Especially the sketch process, and hair and eyelashes... and then being able to try out different ways of colouring. 

 

Personally, I also like composing. And then spriting and scripting.

 

Weaknesses...

Urg, definitely writing/ character development! I've never been good at either...... (\_/ "||) urg.

 

I actually kind of like writing too. But for some reason... idk, my writing is kind of bad... LOL. I can write essays, but writing a story has always been very challenging for me. 

 

It sucks because since my writing is poor, i have great difficulty making my own game without assistance... -.-

[cut84li4e 0]

Reading all of these and seeing what some of these people have made/done, such as Cait,  makes me feel like I don't have a single right to post anything here.. ;_;

But I'll embarrass myself anyways .-.

 

Strengths:

-I'm pretty creative when it comes to ideas for like...places, or powers. I can't ever really work them out into a solid looking story, but I ooze unique ideas for things.

-I'm slowly getting better at mapping, i'd say i'm above average for parallax mapping..Still can't figure out how to animate water, but i'll get there eventually.

-I easily notice small things most people would miss or don't pay attention to. Example would be, say the corners of cliffs/buildings or other things that have those sharp, blocky edges, using tools in GIMP i'v managed to make them look nice and not...sharp, blocky edges. >.>

 

Weaknesses:

-Putting those ideas into story form, or even properly written form

-Scripting

-Anything involving numbers

-Understanding scripts and crap without begging others for help ;_;

-Pretty much if I didn't list it in the strengths, i'm exceptionally bad at it.

[Corpse Wyrm 8]

I'm new to both the forums and program, but I figure this can't hurt too much to put myself out there too.

• Strengths
  
  -- Writing: My main trade. I've always been a writer, and I consider myself exceptional. I've been very inspired by Gothic Romanticism (my idol is Poe) along with some early science fiction/political commentary works (1984, Brave New World and Animal Farm are among some of my favorite books). I'm particularly good at characters and character interaction. I've had people be moved by side-characters who have gotten only one scene. Of course, being a fan of Poe, I'd be remiss if I couldn't say that atmosphere was another strength of mine. I take setting the stage very seriously, and this permeates every aspect of my writing. Nothing will take me out of a story more than misplaced descriptions or dialogue. (Modern slang in a historical setting that isn't parody? Kill me.)
  
  -- Design: Although I haven't applied it to RPG Maker quite yet, I actually have a classical education in digital design. I'm a big believer in simplicity and impact; you won't see designs from me that are highly intricate or complex, but I always seek to make them memorable and easy on the eyes. I myself am very easily visually overwhelmed, so I like a certain crispness to design. I have significant experience with all Adobe products, but I'm particularly comfortable with Adobe Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Photoshop (in that order). I've done logo and layout work, and am particularly fond of working with typography. With that said, I also have some fairly significant experience with XHTML and CSS, as I functioned for a while as a web designer for a handful of non-profit organizations. No other programming language yet, but I'm always excited to learn and I pick things up quickly.
  
  -- Editing & Critique: Being both a writer and a designer, as well as being very strongly opinionated, I consider myself very good at giving all sorts of critique, and no job is too big or too small. I find copyediting a fun way to blow off steam, so if anyone wants their dialogue or writing proofread, I'm your man. On a bigger scale, I'm always really happy to help with content editing. I'm more than happy to look at the big picture in a story and say what is and isn't working. I focus very much on flow, themes, atmosphere, and general character consistency and psychology. In that, I like being a sounding board as well, I have been told I am particularly good at asking the right questions to get the kinks worked out of a story.
  
  For visual mediums, I am also happy to give critique. Even though I don't consider myself much of an artist, I have enough experience that I can usually try and point out issues and what can be done, even if I can't execute it myself. When it comes to other designs rather than artwork, I feel I can offer even more assistance. Being easily visually confused can sometimes be a benefit; I have a much easier time pointing out what does and doesn't work in a piece, and how it draws your eye. I'm a pretty good test subject for "is this design too busy."
  
  I also consider myself articulate and detail-oriented, so I can usually always find something to say about a given piece, both good and bad. Hate the feedback "looks great" or "I like it"? So do I! I will always give you the blow-by-blow of what exactly I like and dislike, and why I think things do or don't work.
   
• Weaknesses
  
  -- Human Figure: Although I feel like there are a few things I can draw pretty well, the human figure isn't one of them. Hands down. There are other things I can draw, but that's just... not one of them.
  
  -- Music: I don't have a musical ear. At all.
  
  -- Easily Overwhelmed: This extends past visually. Sometimes I just don't allow myself to research things or else I'll stress myself out. I'll go to try and find the answer to one thing, only to come across two more questions and no answers, and three hours later I'll be in the shower sobbing having an existential crisis. I'm getting better about it, and really simplified, "I am going to assume you know nothing, not even how to add or walk"-type tutorials are great.
   
• Untested
  
  -- Spriting / Mapping / General RPG Maker Functions: Like I said, I'm totally new to the program. I poked at it over the course of a few days, but went into "information overload" in trying to read every tutorial I could and getting only progressively more confused. I had to put it down and work on my game on graph paper first, and have been slowly easing myself back into the program. I feel like I have a general idea of what makes a good map, and some experience with other digital artistic endeavors and coding, so I think that once the initial feeling of being overwhelmed passes, I'll be okay. However, I haven't actually done anything with it, so I can't say if I'm good or bad yet.

And there you go. Yeah, this definitely did feel like an interview! Once I get more comfortable with RPGM-VXA, I'll try and edit this as well. ... and oh man, this turned out a lot longer than I thought it would! Mark me down for "verbose" as well.

Edited March 11, 2014 by Corpse Wyrm

[+ Sughayyer 163]

Mi there. First of all, great idea, EraYachi!!

 

Here goes:

 

Strenghts:

 

- Game design: gameplay and functions/features

- Mechanics: implementing ideas within the game, developing systems that implement the gameplay and design traits in the game.
- Eventing

- Song/BGM writing: I am a music teacher. I worked as an arranger for an orchestra a few years ago (then I decided to focus on teaching).

- Creativity: Workarounds for most of the issues (one could say a non-orthodox use of the resources/engine functions).

- Research: I like to know what I'm talking about. I also try to find logical explanations for the way things are in the game universe.

 

 

Mid-range:

(skills I'm still developing)

 

- Writing: I consider myself a good writer, I like to design characters with background, motivations, and I like to develop their relationships. But once it's settled, I still have some difficulty evoking these feelings/transcribing these situations to the player.

- Scripting: Altough I did study C++, Delphi, VB and Clipper many years ago (when I was 14 I wanted to be a programmer, but then I decided to become a musician!) I'm still learning RGSS3. Programming logic is not hard at all for me, but I always end up adapting some one else's scripts (whe nallowed to) rather than writing mine.

 

Weaknesses:

 

- Graphic artwork: I can't do graphical arts. My edits of existing artwork are but poor excuses of ...art? Really, I can't do graphics. I don't have the skill and I don't know if I have the patience to develop it.

- Decisions: Sometimes I get stranded between what I would like to do and what I think the audience is expecting. This is the main reason for the delays in my projects.

- Dislexy: Yeah. Every text must be thoroughly reviewed... this leads to some weird grammar/spelling mistakes in the games (it's harder to review the text in the game).

 

Whew, I think that does it!

[Amy Pond 99]

My strength is also my weakness. I'm very good at coming up with ideas for games. Big ideas.

 

...which means I am forever throwing away projects to work on the next big thing.