That Sprite

That Sprite

@thatsprite.bsky.social

he/him or they/them | Tabletop DM that writes stuff | Support Artists I don't do things to be popular. I do them because even if only one person cares, then it meant something to them.

25 followers70 following48 posts

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

I don't know who needs to see this, but have some unsolicited life advice I've been feeling for the last month. The first step to improvement is to acknowledge something is wrong. The second is to ask yourself what you're gonna do about it. Do it. Inertia is only real if you let it control you.

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That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

It's one of the only options that makes sense anymore. The current state of the world and its economy doesn't want creativity and passion projects. You can't AFFORD to do that anymore. (14/15)

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

All anyone can do in the games industry is to put one foot in front of another, keep moving one day at at time, and hope you don't stumble and lose everything. Because sitting still and planning your steps carefully? Not in this economy. (15/15)

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That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

Independent developers who get publisher funding are going to be on incredibly strict deadlines to get something profitable out the door, and anyone going even further on their own has to foot an ever increasing bill while praying that the thing they've worked on will hit it big enough... (12/15)

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

...that they can LIVE for the next few years. ...So why wouldn't people just make "Friendslop"? Why wouldn't they just make these social, basic multiplayer experiences you can blast out in a few weeks or months that are expected to be treated like disposable garbage? (13/15)

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That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

So the industry I spent my life in is now only interested in extracting maximum "productivity" from the most desperate people who will put up with anything and sell their souls to AI. (10/15)

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

Creatives are leaving en mass as their dreams are broken by publishers who decided their company isn't making enough 0s WEEKS after a project they worked years on came out. (11/15)

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That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

As a QA, the games industry is all but dead for me now. If I'm lucky, I can get a 12 month contract role that requires me to relocate all the way to Vancouver that won't pick it up for a second term, has no benefits, for the same amount of pay I was getting at the job I held 2 years ago. (8/15)

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

And then I get to do that song and dance again when that contract expires. If they were to even give me a glance and think I was worth their time when I'm not already in the area- It's likely they only want to entertain people already in the city so they have less variables to worry about. (9/15)

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That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

My professional career so far has been doing QA for various video game companies. Independent, mostly. Last year I had to get a job at a company I can really only vaguely describe as "grey market" because I don't want to get in trouble. It's not the career I spent my life in. (6/15)

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

It's not the industry I wanted to work for. But the industry I did want to work for went up in flames post-Covid, and people with all the money have decided that my role can be automated for the sake of getting less people to do even more work for less money in the name of "productivity". (7/15)

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That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

I'm making moves to try and get a version 1.0 of my tabletop system done by the end of this year. Do I charge money for it? If so, how much? Can I legally do so when I've taken some very direct inspiration from other people's works along the way that influenced the development of it? (4/x)

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

If I charge money for it, will that completely bury anyone even picking it up when people might not WANT to throw $5 for a completely unknown system? Hell if I know. My only real options are to pick an option and take the plunge. (5/x)

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

It hits so hard as someone who has been actively considering if I want to all-in on making a passion project game, an RPG based on a setting and tabletop RPG system I've been developing in my ADHD-riddled free time for the last 3-4 years. (2/x)

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

It's easy to say "I wanna do this. I wanna take the plunge" ...What happens if, 2 years later, nothing happens? I'll be happy with the fact I did it for me, but doing things for yourself doesn't pay the bills. Self satisfaction won't put food on the plate if nobody cares about it. (3/x)

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

The original design for this character was drawn with my own hands in MS Paint. I am not an artist. I don't have much desire to be one. You DO NOT "need" AI. You never did. Don't let people convince you that we do.

That Sprite
@thatsprite.bsky.social

COMING SOON! Sprite Fights Episode #3! A #WrestlingEmpire show where we try to take the wildest and weirdest of the game completely seriously! We've got 8 Man Tag Team Elimination action, Tournament matches to determine our first Champion, and a grudge match between TF2's Scout and Fortnite Jonesy!

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