Post by onamint in Sitzprobe Assemblage comments

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I thought this was pretty cool. I grew up with a very distant view of RM2K communities, and now find a lot of enjoyment in reading blogs and LPs that cover the ins and outs of projects I saw or heard of in passing during my RPG Maker youth. This reminds me a lot of those kinds of partially-concrete, partially-intuition analyses, so I think you did a great job with it!

Sitzprobe kind of reminds in part of OFF, mainly like the friction between two main characters and taking place in sort of an abstract place with like, abstract/symbolic dialogue, I guess. If it existed, I imagine I would play it through, take in all the vibes, then chew on a bunch of analysis by people a lot sharper than me XD

Rookery Games206 days ago( 2)

Thank you so much! This is great to hear. As someone who has also chewed through a lot of analysis of weird games, I'm so glad I captured the feel. Never played OFF, but I definitely was in the same internet circles as those who did.

If you want a super interesting exploration/critique of that dynamic between artists and the people who try to know them through their art, I'd recommend the Beginner's Guide. (I have been both of the people in that dynamic at various points.) Absolutely pivotal game for me.

onamint206 days ago

I've played Beginner's Guide! I thought it was very sharp! Been a good while, would be good for a revisit. Not to wander too far in the weeds of it, just the other day I was thinking about some pages I follow on Itch and like, how eventually those pages will stop updating? I'll only ever know that person through the art they release and like, the graphic layouts, avatar, and fonts they chose to represent themselves in a specific space that is both kind of personal but also somewhat commercial and public. Even if the work resonates a lot? Guess that's in the Beginner's Guide's ballpark a little.

Won't talk your ears off with the musing, of course. Might make a game on it someday, maybe.

Rookery Games206 days ago (1 edit)

I think about that a lot, too. There are probably already numerous papers on the topic of micro-parasociality, for lack of a better term. But I think it'll be years until any of us can truly wrap our brains around the way "being online" has added all these overlapping layers between public and private, personal and commercial. Sometimes I get jealous of artists who have big platforms, but then I remember that while online presence can give someone that sort of reach, it can also render someone a "public figure" in an instant. Whether they want all those eyeballs on them or not! But then again, I cannot condemn the whole thing because I am grateful for what I've learned and experienced online. Especially what I've witnessed through the tiny windows of art.

onamint206 days ago

It's hard to imagine a full understanding of social online spaces, but I am at least grateful to have expressive spaces that do not make one too vulnerable. At least, to some degree. Like you say once you get big enough to have like, gravity, you become "public" and your walled garden of sorts becomes an attraction instead. Which is good in some ways, like, a lot of artists who want to make a living of it need to self-promote, but it also seems exhausting to lose that barely perceived quality and becoming vulnerable through sheer spotlight, particularly with works of self-expression...I did appreciate how Candle in your piece insists on respecting sitzdev's peace; we've all read horror stories about folks who take playing detective too far in the gaming space.

Ultimately though I am appreciative of these windows too. I've learned a lot about myself through the graces of these lenses, and I've come closer to finding my voice with that help. Someday I hope to leave a trailmarker of my own, I suppose.

Rookery Games206 days ago( 1)

I feel really lucky that you've responded to Sitzprobe in this way. I think I've gotten maybe five-ish comments about the actual content of my games since I started posting them here in 2022, so it's really refreshing to hear what someone thinks about a thing I wrote. Comments like that can be trailmarkers in their own way. Thank you for your insightful words!

onamint206 days ago

Ah, no worries, I thought it was a really enjoyable read given the games archaeology of sorts I find fascinating. It was amusing too to chew on it and think about what other niche games I know that it reminded me of.

I was actually curious about the jam it was submitted under, but I was working under a different jam at the time, but I missed the deadline for it so now I'm just tinkering with the thing independently and so on...actually, if you like this kind of thing, there was err I think it was called the Lost Histories jam, I don't know when it was held. Either way though, it had a number of submissions kinda in this vein, people talking about defunct forums and strands of history like that. Worth a look maybe?

I know things can be a little disheartening, like, throwing stuff out there and there not really being a ripple back? Expression unheard is a kind of misery. But I understand too that it's really nice when the signal connects through the noise and all? So thank you for putting something out there that I could tune into! I'll have to check out more of your stuff too ^^

Rookery Games205 days ago

That's so kind! I'll definitely try to track down the jam you mentioned; I really can't get enough of stuff like that. I actually released something a month or so ago about signal vs. noise! It's called "not signs... patterns." Very different vibe than this conversation, but I thought I'd mention it.

onamint205 days ago

Maybe I can link to it? I think I have it on file here somewhere, I'm not sure how accommodating of links Itch is, even to its own stuff.

Lost Histories Jam Link. Hopefully that works, I've never had to insert a link before. The piece I'm most familiar with in there (and how I found it in the first place) is "Dictionary of the Known World" which discusses parts of theory, culture, and practices around old RPG Maker forums. I thought the title was pretty clever.

And I've been meaning to take a crack at "Not Signs" actually. I've been wanting to get into journaling/solo games more but struggle to summon the attention usually? But I've been journaling/note taking a lot more since I've been tracking various game ideas and things, so like I'll have to try and apply that to an experience instead of untangling my brain, I suppose XD

Rookery Games202 days ago( 1)

Thank you for the link (it works)! I'm in a similar boat with journaling. I'd really like to play more solo games -- both for the experience and to inform my own work -- but I find trouble carving out both time and energy.

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