As GDC looms, it's important to beware of survivorship bias. Talks about "how we succeeded" are compelling narratives, but mostly pointless. Pay more attention to those who failed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Survivorship_bias

Off to @Official_GDC , holler if you'll be around! #GDC2024

The thing about #tech #layoffs that people who haven’t been through it often don’t understand is that morale never recovers. The employees who remain will never have the same relationship with that company, bosses or peers.

Watching people you respect pack their stuff and crying on the phone with their spouses is something that never goes away. When I survived a layoff in my 20s I became a “do exactly what the ticket says” person. I stopped suggesting ideas, providing feedback, believing anything a manager told me.

If you are a company considering layoffs, especially a profitable company, you should approach it as “this department will have 100% turnover”. The second I got another job offer I left that company and six months later nobody who had been there at the time of layoffs remained.

I’ve seen that pattern play out multiple times.

Very excited to do another #GlobalGameJam starting tomorrow. Last game jam I did was 4 years ago!

Gearing up in a couple weeks to participate in my first game jam since COVID kicked off a few years ago. Since that happened, I transitioned from working on the Xbox operating system team to working on games professionally.... I wonder if it'll lead me to approach the jam any differently in the moment. Really excited to do another Global Game Jam at PacSci

Thank you @grumpygamer @DavidBFox and everyone at #TerribleToybox for giving another fun adventure with #ReturnToMonkeyIsland! Just finished the game and had so much joy just going through the whole thing, taking my time with puzzles, and challenging myself not to use any hints. I remember vividly when I beat the first one as a kid and thought one day I'd make games like this! RTMI reminded me I still haven't done an adventure game of my own, and that really needs to change.

I see several users on mastodon.gamedev.place wondering whether they should refrain from posting non-gamedev content (applicable to any thematic #Mastodon instance).

You *can* post any content!

Just use the post visibility option to configure where it should appear.
If you want to share non-gamedev stuff a lot, set it as Unlisted. This way it won't appear in the gamedev-focused Local timeline. #FediTips

@DamnCatOnMyDesk Thanks for the tip!

Howdy all, poking my head in to see what this place is all about