Disclaimer: As usual, these posts are generally Artemis' opinion, and if you don't like them then you can GTFO. Peace.
The Overlooked
Many of you reading this are probably programmers who either know this already, don't care, or you've never thought about it.
There's a special "hidden" element to game making that people seem to buzz over when making a game. It's a pretty decent step in making games themselves, and, (as you can guess from my psuedo-header) I feel that it is overlooked quite often. What am I talking about? Encouragement.
Encouragement
I know what you're all thinking. "What does encouragement have to do with making a game? Clearly the programmer should be able to churn out all of the code in less than two months (ignoring any extremely busy college schedules *hint hint*)!"
You're absolutely right. A programmer should be able to handle everything from their basement, working from 10pm to 4am every weekend. That's their job. But why should their job be working alone in a basement for 6 hours a night? Thus, where encouragement comes in.
See, if you're working on a game, you get frustrated, you lose desire to work on the project, what keeps you going? The encouragement from others around you.
People underestimate the power of encouragement. It is a great driving force. When my friends tell me that they're excited to see my games work out, I get more desire to work on it. I get the fervor necessary to pull those 6 hr nights.
Ask any programmer, when they hear people interested in their game, asking questions (obvious not "When will it be done?" and the like) they like to share their ideas, perhaps get a few from you; they love it.
Conclusion:
If you want someone else to finish their game, don't sit around waiting for it to happen. Ask questions, offer ideas, encourage them. You are as much a part of the game's creation as the programmer. So if you're interested in a particular project, go to the programmer, leave messages, send emails. Find them in-game. Ask them how they're doing. Because when people show interest, programmers are more willing to churn through that extra work to complete their game sooner.
Man, I probably should've made the draft instead of just typing up my thoughts. I don't think this fully conveys my ideas... oh well.
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