#137764 - keldon - Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:26 pm
It was an interview question, and though he thought it was a bit of a challenging question I found it to be a very clever and revealing question. Surely everybody wants to finish stuff, but people tend to get the most satisfaction from starting a project or on its completion.
And that's not to say that you just get excited that you've come up with a name; I'm talking about researching and developing the technology for a project, discovering various technologies and really learning about it.
Finishers are generally not starters, they're more interested in just having it done, and get their buzz from the fact of completion and not a moment before.
So what type of person are you?
#137765 - kusma - Wed Aug 15, 2007 2:35 pm
starter, definitely ;)
#137786 - Miked0801 - Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:49 pm
Varies day to day - finisher right now.
#137788 - Lynx - Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:13 pm
Finisher.. though.. in my role, I don't usually start anything, the systems do.. I get my most satisfaction from completing a task, specially a hard one. Because ' I WIN ', that's why. : )
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#137794 - Dood77 - Wed Aug 15, 2007 7:51 pm
Starter, I have many, many unfinished web pages, Games Factory games, programming language tutorials... lots of stuff. While I do get satisfaction out of finishing projects, I hardly finish them, because I get excited for a new idea...
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#137800 - gauauu - Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:28 pm
For me, it depends.
If I'm getting paid, or if the finished product is something I really want, I tend to be a finisher.
If it's just something fun for the sake of doing something fun, I'm a starter, and will likely not finish.
#137804 - bean_xp - Wed Aug 15, 2007 8:58 pm
Finnisher who hardly ever gets things finnished...I still enjoy the learning part, just get a real buzz from finishing. (Same as Dood77 I guess)
#137811 - Ant6n - Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:31 am
starter - spent all summer reading tech docs and coming up with efficient and crazy designs to solve interesting problems, without actually having implemented them
finishers are probably more useful for a company, but a starter here and there sometimes might come up with funkier ideas (cuz they's kontemplators)
#137813 - keldon - Thu Aug 16, 2007 12:49 am
| Ant6n wrote: |
starter - spent all summer reading tech docs and coming up with efficient and crazy designs to solve interesting problems, without actually having implemented them
finishers are probably more useful for a company, but a starter here and there sometimes might come up with funkier ideas (cuz they's kontemplators) |
Well the "R&D guy" in my interview said you need a bit of the two. What good is a finisher without a starter, and vice versa.
You might notice that I don't have a web site, however I do have a secret domain name. I have publicly exposed it to a few who weren't very interested to show my Java source code to something. Some may know that I had a website that is still on-line but I don't talk about.
I'm a starter (IMO), I get my joys out of learning, researching and creating new ideas. It's a bit of a "problem" when my project motivation is "personal satisfaction" since my task of attaining satisfaction is completed when I've figured it out and prototyped the proof of concept. "Finishing" to me includes:
- completed documentation and details for reuse
- a professional finish, such as title screens and menu systems
- a help booklet and help section in the game, complete with tutorials
- game / program options and configuration
Maybe "starters" may be better placed in engine development or the completion of research tasks and project modules. Finishers can work alongside the project manager (or in fact fill that role) and ensure that all code is "finished". This may involve instructing the "starter" coder when to stop, or to declare a good point for a deadline.
#137901 - melw - Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:00 am
A starter.
Although as some already stated, doing something for work may go more on the finisher side, while as free-time activities are more for fun. Sometimes it goes as far as not even starting a project before moving forwards to something else. :)
#137903 - keldon - Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:40 am
Well work is different because your motivation is pay, therefore you task is completed when your boss says so. When it's for your own personal satisfaction then it is complete when you are satisfied with it, which is different for starters and finishers.
#137911 - tepples - Fri Aug 17, 2007 10:44 am
I'm a starter. For a few projects, I have been able to become a finisher by freezing features and making a checklist.
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#138128 - laos - Mon Aug 20, 2007 2:25 am
I start and finish, because i never get anything, i always got to start it, and you cant leave anything half-assed.
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#138867 - Dan2552 - Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:09 am
I'm a starter, but wish I were a finisher. I was going to make a simple web app to help me keep track of my project progress, but I havn't even finished that.
#138869 - keldon - Thu Aug 30, 2007 1:43 am
| Dan2552 wrote: |
| I'm a starter, but wish I were a finisher. I was going to make a simple web app to help me keep track of my project progress, but I havn't even finished that. |
Classic post ^_^
#138891 - Diddl - Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:52 am
| gauauu wrote: |
For me, it depends.
If I'm getting paid, or if the finished product is something I really want, I tend to be a finisher.
If it's just something fun for the sake of doing something fun, I'm a starter, and will likely not finish. |
for me it's nearly the same.
my motivation decreases after I see I can it do (there is no new and difficult part). if it is only "work" without problems, I need a additional motivation (getting paid, need/want the result).
#138915 - sajiimori - Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:21 pm
I never finished a single project before I got hired... no matter how small. As soon as the finish line was in view, I lost interest, thinking "Okay, I get it. Next!"
Luckily I don't hate the Beta-Final period of game development after all. Having a team counting on you to finish is a great motivator.
#138933 - Tikker - Thu Aug 30, 2007 11:26 pm
I'm a watcher
#138960 - keldon - Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:26 am
I think that's the key word, motivation. One major motivation to finishing a project is proving that it works, or can be integrated easily into another system. Sometimes that happens with me if I immediately know how something works but want to double check its difficulty.
#139043 - darkfader - Fri Aug 31, 2007 11:28 pm
I have retired. *lol*
#139063 - keldon - Sat Sep 01, 2007 10:13 am
| darkfader wrote: |
| I have retired. *lol* |
Well then I (on behalf of the people) command you to un-retire ^_^ p.s., very good excuse for not finishing, clever
But now the big question, if you're a starter then how do you finish? And for those who start more projects than they finish, why is this and what do you think could get you (and the rest of us) to finish?
#139246 - gauauu - Mon Sep 03, 2007 10:42 pm
| keldon wrote: |
| And for those who start more projects than they finish, why is this and what do you think could get you (and the rest of us) to finish? |
Because when I do projects for fun, I'm just doing it for fun. If it stops being fun, why continue?
The real question, in response to your questions, is who cares? If I'm just doing a project for my own enjoyment, then who cares if I finish it?
Now if you're talking about work stuff, that's a different story....
#139265 - DiscoStew - Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:43 am
I guess I would place myself as a starter, as I haven't finished any projects that I had started since I first started working on the GBA. I'm currently working on the DS right now, but after learning more tricks here and there, it's increased my want to go back to those old projects to continue working on them and possibly finish them. But, even with that, I continue getting ideas for future projects, even when I haven't completed any past or current ones. Why must I have so many things running in my mind?!!?
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#139297 - keldon - Tue Sep 04, 2007 8:49 am
| gaugau wrote: |
| Because when I do projects for fun, I'm just doing it for fun. If it stops being fun, why continue? |
Good point
| DiscoStew wrote: |
| Why must I have so many things running in my mind?!!? |
It's a burden isn't it?
Hmm, maybe the 'problem' with starters is that they always want to do something new, prove a concept or try something out. I tend to write out possible projects without starting them just so that I don't have to much on my load, although I think some really should be taken further but I've always been told by my mum not to start something you're not going to finish - which I guess is contrary to my inquisitive nature.
#139322 - Kyoufu Kawa - Tue Sep 04, 2007 6:08 pm
From day one, I've been a starter. I don't like it. A while back I took over some projects from DJ Bouch? and polished them up a bit, added some functions... the end result was EliteMap.
My next project was a level editor for Cave Story. Made from scratch using what I learned from EliteMap. That, strangely, was finished.
Right now, I'm trying hard to finish a full game I'm making together with Cearn and some others. It's nice to have a lot of people cheering me on, both online and not.
#139431 - gauauu - Thu Sep 06, 2007 4:29 am
| Kyoufu Kawa wrote: |
Right now, I'm trying hard to finish a full game I'm making together with Cearn and some others. It's nice to have a lot of people cheering me on, both online and not. |
Any info available about the game you're making? I'd love to see what you guys are working on....
edit: actually, I decided that would make an interesting thread...What's everyone working on?, so this thread won't get offtopic
#140036 - RegalSin - Wed Sep 12, 2007 10:58 pm
It depends on the mood I am in. If I had all the resources and everything was in tip top shape finisher but if I have things to do like sleep to get up earlier or think of another get rich quick shceme then starter.
I woul say starter since I have tons of ideas, writings, drawings, and sketches that is waiting for me to release.
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#140314 - DekuTree64 - Sat Sep 15, 2007 6:49 am
I'm more of a starter, but I love that final run down to finishing a project. Most of the time I get really excited when planning something new, dive in, and work on it for a long time. Then sometime in the middle when the excitement is long gone, and there's no end in sight, I get bored and quit.
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#140399 - kusma - Sun Sep 16, 2007 3:06 am
To be honest, i find the idea of "finishing" a project a bit weird. If you have this unique idea for a project, I don't think you actually finish it until you fail; if it's a success, it'll be such a huge project that the only definition of and end is when the development cost for future versions outweigh the income of the next version. Whenever you decide to end a project you mostly have decided that the project was a failure... Or you have an external force driving you to ship, which isn't a decision on it's own either.
#140414 - wintermute - Sun Sep 16, 2007 6:22 am
| kusma wrote: |
| To be honest, i find the idea of "finishing" a project a bit weird. If you have this unique idea for a project, I don't think you actually finish it until you fail; if it's a success, it'll be such a huge project that the only definition of and end is when the development cost for future versions outweigh the income of the next version. Whenever you decide to end a project you mostly have decided that the project was a failure... Or you have an external force driving you to ship, which isn't a decision on it's own either. |
Heh, don't remind me :P
devkitARM was orginally a little pet project used for my own code because I had problems with devkit advance. Not quite sure what happened there really.
Not that I'm complaining, I get a real kick out of the fact that so many people use it and release code that generally compiles straight out of the box.
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#140456 - Ant6n - Sun Sep 16, 2007 5:22 pm
that's quite a driving force, isn't it?
too bad starters will not very likely get that kind of driving force, because knowing that they are starters they usually don't tell people what they are working on. and with no release and only one person knowing, s/he can't really ride on the community's driving spirit.
#140457 - jester - Sun Sep 16, 2007 5:27 pm
Wintermute you are one of my heroes for your commitments!