2023 Recap
This has been an unusually notable year for me and mine. I think I’ll break this into sections.
Career
After 3 years at Mythical Games I was laid off. I survived two previous layoffs they did, but when they cut all production on the game I was working on there was no reason to keep me around. I had mixed feelings about Mythical and so I could sooth myself by remembering the negatives. ;) Honestly, my biggest gripe was that the company is based on cryptocurrency and NFTs. Those things bottomed out in 2022 and Mythical was reeling ever since. We went from being valued at over a billion dollars to struggling to get the next round of funding in the span of a couple of months. I’m still not sure if there’s a future for crypto/NFTs, at least one that is less associated with scams and the crypto-bro scene, but I still don’t think the ideas are intrinsically evil. They just happened to be used mostly for evil so far.
The great things about Mythical were my team, my freedom to work with the game’s community teaching design, and being promoted to a lead designer.
But this industry is tough. Late 2022 and all of 2023 has seen massive layoffs in the game and tech industries. I was told that having interest rates near zero for so long caused over-investment in these fields, and now that interest has risen the piper needs to be paid. So when I got laid off on August 1st I expected to be in for a very long, painful and costly job search. (like the last time) Especially because I have a lot of special needs for a job. Due to Heather’s lung and heart diseases, the number one priority for me was to continue to work from home. The rest of the world has collectively decided that Covid doesn’t matter any more, but I’m not willing to risk Heather’s life on that. (More on that later) Secondly, we need the same or better health insurance. Heather now needs weekly infusions, PT and OT, and these are all things typical insurance loves to deny. Thirdly, we bought a house 2 years ago after being forced out of our rental, and this area has some of the highest home prices in the world, and our mortgage is not cheap. So keeping the salary I had was close to imperative. After those three things, the rest of my wishlist could be sacrificed if it meant a steady income. In order of priority they were 4. Please no more crypto (Having been the lead designer on one of the best games in that space meant I was seeing a lot of interest in that direction) 5.Work that utilizes my strengths and minimizes my weaknesses. 6. Keep my rank as Lead Game Designer or better. 7. A team of talented and nice people. 8. A game I’d actually enjoy playing. 9. A game in a franchise that is well known. (This helps a lot in landing jobs, which is very important in an industry where you can expect to get laid off every couple years)
So I’m happy to report I was very fortunate to land a job that hits a lot of those points. I didn’t get the job title I was hoping for, or a famous franchise. But I did get CLOSE to the clout of a famous franchise by being at a famous company: Netflix. Currently Netflix is not known for games, but they are working on them, and I’m in on the ground floor of that with a pretty new team of very experienced veterans who have worked on very big games before. And so I won’t complain at all about not being a lead, especially since Netflix pays MUCH more than I’ve ever seen offered anywhere before. Seriously, every time I remember how much I get paid now a huge rush of relief floods over me and I smile really big. Assuming I can keep this job for a while (which is a huge assumption in the game industry) it means less suffering for Heather, easier to help her parents (and many others) in their times of need, the ability to actually for the first time in my life invest significantly in the future and in my creative endeavors. It really could be a life changer. Whoever said money can’t buy you happiness is full of it.
I can’t say anything about the game I’m working on now, as we’re still in the concepting phase, but I will say I love the premise and I’ve already had a big impact on the direction of the game and feel like I’m liked and respected by my team.
Covid
This is a tricky topic to talk about. Like I alluded to above, most people don’t think Covid is a real concern any more. It was politicized early on, so there was a right/left divide on the topic for the first year or so, but around the end of ‘22 I think so many people had gotten it themselves, or knew someone who had, and witnessed for themselves that it wasn’t as scary as they thought. There was generally a pretty severe fatigue around all things Covid, especially masking, and as if a flip was switched it seemed like the world just decided ‘it’s over’.
What I just described was the cultural zeitgeist. I think the actual facts on the matter are different. The death toll never really warranted the lackadaisical attitude. It didn’t ever plummet. New strains keep popping up, long covid research is revealing more and more really bad life long side effects, as the virus disrupts your immune system. But because we are in this really cool post-truth era combined with the fatigue around the subject, very few people believe or care about those things. And painfully, that includes almost all our friends and family.
Being out of step with the general consensus of the culture on an issue that impacts our day-to-day is emotionally rough. Especially since I’m so inherently anti-conspiracy-theory. So I feel like the world is gaslighting me. I’m seeing official facts and figures that haven’t changed significantly, that everyone else apparently thinks we overreacted to.
~7 million dead.
This being a vascular disease, while it appears like an acute viral thing, it’s easy to misinterpret it as “a bad cold”.
An unknown-but-not-insignificant-risk of long permanent disability.
But I guess when a society is done with a thing they are done with a thing.
Sadly for me, I believe that this nonchalance is having a disproportionate impact on the those who can handle the suffering the least: those who are already medically complicated and suffering. So it’s hard not to feel some amount of moral opprobrium towards the vast majority of people (Including friends and family) who live their lives in a way that causes more suffering for those who are already suffering. I follow a lot of people on social media who are disabled in various ways and are very angry at the world and at most people for the position they are in. Many don’t feel safe going to the doctor for the care they need because no one masks, including doctors. I don’t feel anger, even though I do think they are making my wife’s life worse with their negligence. Here’s why.
Social Proof:
“The psychological concept that people are influenced in their decision making by others, compelling them to act within societal norms or expectations.”
“Social proof is a psychological and social phenomenon wherein people copy the actions of others in choosing how to behave in a given situation. The term was coined by Robert Cialdini in his 1984 book Influence: Science and Practice. Social proof is used in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior, and is driven by the assumption that the surrounding people possess more knowledge about the current situation.”
So there’s a tipping point for every individual where their internal barometer for conformity kicks in. A cascade of behavior/belief/taste change can happen when enough people in a given community/culture change. This is easy to spot in fashion, music and such. And we’ve toppled over the tipping point for Covid responsibility. The individualists won and the communitarians lost. The healthy win (for now) and the sick lose. In fact, things have shifted so powerfully that there is actually negative reinforcement of the norms. It’s not just that most people don’t care about masking. But some will actually express disapproval (and often mockery) for those who do. When I expressed an opinion about this on Twitter I got involuntarily added to Lists like “Mentally Ill” and “Hypochondriacs”.
And how can I prove otherwise? After all, I also dismiss almost all ideas that lay outside of the Social Proof I’m exposed to. Like all humans, I don’t have the time or intelligence to fully investigate every minority report. So I don’t hold others to a standard that I can’t meet. The only reason I’m still Covid conscious is probably because I have a wife who needs me to be.
So while I’m not angry at my friends and family who disagree with my assessment, I am disappointed. As I’m sure they are disappointed in me, and probably alarmed thinking that I’m falling into a conspiracy theory hole or acting like a hypochondriac. Just another wedge appearing in our lives. On the plus side, my parents are kind enough to play along and not complain when we ask that they do what is now considered extraordinary lengths of masking in public for 2 weeks before visiting. Most of the disabled Covid conscious people I know do not have such loving families.
Hopefully history will help me decode this time at some point in the future. Either way I think it’s important to record this phenomenon as it affects me and Heather at this time. And we’ll see if were just bamboozled by the source of false info and half truths in this post-truth era where doing your own research is as likely to lead you into a flat earth community as it is to bring you to Truth.
Family
Heather has had the usual roller coaster of health issues, generally in decline but not rapidly. Shane moved out in the fall. He’s rooming with his girlfriend in Seattle. He’s delivering packages for Amazon and still making amazing music on the side.
AI
I talked about this last year, and it’s a rapidly evolving field so I figured I’d update my take. It’s still unclear if the potential for the creative apocalypse that I fretted about can be done with this new paradigm. After a year of watching the outputs develop the boundaries of what can be done seem to be getting more clear. That’s not to say that some sudden epiphany won’t completely upend the limits. But to me the biggest issue I’m facing is how the immediate questions of how these tools can or should be integrated into my creative work. I am very uncomfortable about the ethics involved with the lack of consent given for the data that’s training these systems. The companies developing them are all very much in the camp of “better to beg for forgiveness later than ask for permission now”. So everything in the whole field is in a murky cloud of dubious legal and ethical status.
In order to understand the subject, I’ve dabbled with several of the tools, and here are my thoughts. First of all, the image generation does one thing that I find useful. It juxtaposes concepts, ideas and motifs really well. Because of the ethical concerns I have, I can’t bring myself to actually use a generated image as a final piece of art. But I can already find ways of using it as a mood board, or a springboard for pushing my brain in creative directions I hadn’t considered. Does this negate my ethical concerns. A bit. I think using it this way at least sidesteps the overt thievery that some engage in, where they type a prompt and then “in the style of X”, filling in a living artist. And what I’m doing is closer to what an actual artist does when they google search a topic for reference. It’s just pulling a lot more references in unexpected ways and blending them together. We artists don’t ask permission from other artists when we download their work into our inspiration folders. While having a system generate an image based on millions of other images is not at all the same thing, it does feel similar enough ethically to me that I don’t feel guilty about using it this way. That’s not to say there aren’t other ethical issues, like the environmental impact, both in the real world, but also the sludge it’s polluting the digital environment with as well.
I’ve also tried to use ChatGPT for research. Such as trying to figure out how to get river boats to group together so characters can move from one to the other. It wasn’t super helpful, but apparently asking questions in the right way and with the right followup questions is a skill that can be learned. I also asked it this, which I think is interesting.
Me: “How can I get my fantasy franchise to be seen by more people?”
ChatGPT: “Promoting and getting your fantasy franchise seen by a wider audience involves a combination of online and offline strategies. Here are some tips to help you increase visibility:
Create a Strong Online Presence:
Website: Develop a professional website that serves as a hub for your fantasy franchise. Include information about the world, characters, and various media forms (movies, books, games, comics).
Social Media: Establish and maintain active profiles on major social media platforms. Share engaging content, updates, and interact with your audience.
YouTube Channel: Produce high-quality videos documenting your creative process, behind-the-scenes footage, and teasers. Regularly upload content to keep your audience engaged.
Engage with Your Audience:
Respond to comments and messages on your social media platforms and YouTube channel. Building a community around your franchise can lead to word-of-mouth promotion.
Collaborate with Influencers:
Identify influencers or content creators in the fantasy genre and reach out to them for collaborations. Their endorsement can expose your franchise to a broader audience.
Participate in Online Communities:
Join relevant forums, discussion groups, and communities where your target audience is likely to gather. Share your work, participate in discussions, and seek feedback.
Utilize Crowdfunding Platforms:
If applicable, consider using crowdfunding platforms to fund and promote your projects. This not only generates funds but also builds anticipation and awareness.
Attend Conventions and Events:
Attend fantasy conventions, book fairs, and other relevant events to showcase your franchise. Networking with industry professionals and fans can lead to valuable connections.
Offer Exclusive Content:
Provide exclusive content to your audience, such as sneak peeks, special editions, or early access. This encourages fans to stay engaged and share their excitement.
Optimize for Search Engines:
Ensure your online content is optimized for search engines (SEO). Use relevant keywords, create descriptive titles, and provide meta descriptions to improve visibility on search engine results.
Email Marketing:
Build an email list to keep your audience informed about new releases, events, and exclusive offers. Email newsletters are a powerful tool for direct communication.
Leverage Cross-Media Promotion:
Cross-promote your franchise across different media forms. For example, promote your books in your games and vice versa.
Create Merchandise:
Develop and sell merchandise related to your fantasy world. This not only generates additional revenue but also serves as a walking advertisement when fans wear or use your products.
Remember, building a successful franchise takes time and consistency. Keep refining your content based on audience feedback and adapt your promotional strategies as needed.”
What’s interesting and frustrating to me is that I’ve done literally all of these things except for the SEO part. But I can’t blame ChatGPT for that.
Some other interesting brainstorming things like so:
Me: “I want to make a youtube channel where I document the process of building a new intellectual property for a fantasy world that will be movies, books, games, and comics. What is a good name for that channel that incorporates my name?”
ChatGPT:
Josh Foreman's Fantasy Forge
The Foreman Fantasy Workshop
Forge of Imagination with Josh Foreman
FantasyCraft with Josh Foreman
Josh Foreman's WorldWeaver Studio
The Creative Odyssey of Josh Foreman
Josh Foreman's Epic Realms
Enchanting Realms by Josh Foreman
Mythic Designs with Josh Foreman
Josh Foreman's Imagination Forge
FantasyWorlds with Josh Foreman
DreamCrafting by Josh Foreman
Josh Foreman's Visionary Realms
SagaSculptor Josh Foreman
Beyond Imagination with Josh Foreman
I don’t think any of these are what I want, but the fact that it got me out of a rut of thinking my name needed to be the first words of the channel was legitimately helpful.
So I guess the big takeaway concerning my attitude towards this tech is that I think it’s still too early to make very strong stances about the future, the ethics or the legality. And when there’s a lack of clarity around these things, caution is warranted. I’m erring on the side of underutilizing it, rather than building a whole pipeline around it.
Talifar
I really wanted to get the final book in The Scarred Trilogy out this year. But I also really wanted to get a product to market that could help spread the word about Talifar. Sadly the latter took 100 times longer than I hoped (Insert shocked face here) which derailed the former goal. Long term, I don’t think it really matters, but it’s still annoying how slow this whole endeavor is. On the plus side I finally reached a point where the first phase of the texture product can be put down without too much psychic damage, so I can focus exclusively on finishing the 3rd book. The other two came out around my birthday on 4-20, so that seems like a good goal for this year.
When I think about the future of continuing to develop the Talifar franchise I get really excited. I’ve got a pretty specific plan, and while the chances of success have never been high, I do feel like this plan is a lot better than the semi-directed chaos of the past decade or two have produced. I’ve got several of the big distracting side projects practically wrapped up, and I’m utilizing the experience of my decade of YouTubing to sharpen that tool into something much more useful. So I think 2025 is going to be a much more creatively fulfilling year than 2024 was. We’ll see!
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