Avatar photoSteven Savage

“How” is the only sure path to “can’t”

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I talk to a lot of people who are very, very sure of what they can't do in their careers.

They can't be writers.  They can't be artists.  They can't be travel agents.  They have a giant list of can'ts.  It's often larger than their cans.

When I talk to such people, I also learned very quickly that the majority of them really have little or no awareness of the career they've given up on.  They hear something, read something, or make an assumption, and then kill off their career plans right there.

The only way for you to decide you can't do something is to know how it's actually done.

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Stereotype-Fu: A sense of humor

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Continuing my series on Stereotype-fu, let's take a look at another way to deal with stereotypes in the job and career.

I should note that I'm talking about the more innocent (or stupid) ones – not the nasty, negative stereotypes that we all know a bit to well – those that judge people by ethnicity, or gender, region of borth etc.  Those are areas outside the scope of what I'm discussing.

So when you're afraid you're being affected by stereotypes in your workplace, on an interview, etc. another tool is a sense of humor.

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DON’T Go Farther: MMOs

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So I recently speculated on what MMO's could be made out of existing properties – we're pro geeks after all, we want to speculate – and do – the next big thing.  But it helps at times to know what to do.

So I now want to speculate on media properties that SHOULD NOT have MMOs – some of which have been inspired by conversations.  Think of it as fair warning – and food for thought.

BLEACH: Bleach comes down to, as a friend put it, Punching Ghosts.  The series doesn't have much to work on beyond that premise, and I think its time has come and gone.  Do a Naruto MMO instead.

TORCHWOOD (OR FRINGE, OR WAREHOUSE 13 . . .): These paranormal-investigation series either suffer from mutable continuity or VERY tight continuity with little room for players.  Their settings usually mix low-level and world-threatening stuff that don't play well with getting a sense of the world unless done right.  It's actually hard to do one of these as an MMO without a continuity specifically deisgned for them.

DISCWORLD: You just couldn't.  Discworld is about the author's humor and observations and you don't get that in an MMO.

FULL METAL ALCHEMIST: FMA, mixing magic and science and a world with at least some definitions sounds ideal.  The problem?  Everyone would want to play an Alchemist (who wants to be Regular Guy?), leading you to violate the worldsetting insanely.

Anything you don't want to see be an MMO (and may fear it will be?).

– Steven Savage