So by now I’m sure some of you have caught up with the whole very public spectacle that the Alganon/David Allen/Derek Smart thing has become. For those of you that haven’t, all you need to know, prior to reading, is that it’s definitely a rare case of developer rage with a lot of he said/she said shenanigans.
On the one hand, watching all this stuff unfold might seem unprofessional, uncomfortable, or just plain odd. After all, I think it’s no secret that any workplace has some amount of drama that goes on behind closed doors, right? In the gaming industry, most of the time a studio has no problems keeping a lid on what might (or might not) be going on during development – which makes the few times it does creep out something to watch.
Still, no matter what side you take in this little affair, the airing of dirty laundry and the drama that comes with it is at least a humanization of developers in general. Certainly, the human element you don’t want to associate with developers is one in which they are launching the verbal equivalent of everything from potshots to missiles across an online battlefield. But the tendency of us as players is to remove the human element from a development studio and focus only on their product, or the results it produces. Some developers prefer it that way, but I think that there isn’t any real harm at showing off passion, enjoyment, and the hard work that goes into making a game. If that means peeking behind the Wizard’s curtain, then so be it.
Personally, I find the whole exchange a bit intriguing but definitely educational. Sure, you might really think that David Allen stole a bunch of cash from Alganon’s investors or that Derek Smart is a pretentious loudmouth asshole, but the fact of the matter is that it isn’t mindless automatons who work long hours during the week to make games, it’s people like you and me, who have homes, might have families or loved ones, and who put on their shoes one foot at a time, every day. The ugly drama that results from that might not be the most pleasant of things to read, but it’s certainly a sobering, if not interesting lesson in workplace professionalism and the fervor with which developers pursue the creation of their games.
If I have any bias at all, it’d be towards the poor Community manager or team that has to deal with all of this. As someone with a bit of experience in that arena, my heart goes out to the community folks. Dealing with a member of the development team that might quote something that sparks discussion means a little stain on the studio carpet. You get out a vacuum and a steam cleaner, and the cleanup is done in a matter of days. But dealing with someone on the team that quotes something and causes a little bit of controversy? That means bringing a shovel and ton of carpet shampoo to deal with the veritable dump truck of dirt.
Hopefully Alganon will get past this little interlude – but until then, we’ll all be reading with interest.