Spenny Posted October 14, 2015 After The Wizard Jam, it seemed everyone couldn't contain their enthusiasm for doing another. Many people were suggesting we do one sooner than a year even, but some Grinches like myself suggested it would take away the magic if it occurred too frequently. The demand for jams was so persistent though, it was decided another jam must be held, and instead of taking all the wizard's magic, why not borrow some magic from the approaching season? Winter Wizard Jolly Jam (I'm not married to this name btw) What is it? An Idle Thumbs community game jam. Much like Wizard Jam, community involvement and encouraging people to try their hand at making a game are key components. What are the Rules? Make something.What's the Theme?Winter, Winter holidays, Idle Thumbs stuff, whatever you want.When does it take place? How long? A two week period sometime in or around December, vote here. Are you interested? Will you participate? Does the format, theme, and time frame feel right? Please make suggestions if you have them! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spenny Posted October 14, 2015 Those of us who have been discussing this in Slack have identified two shortcomings of Wizard Jam. The first is the post-jam community engagement, the second is the team building process. As far as post jam engagement, during Wizard Jam it was great seeing all the comments come in on peoples' development threads. I wonder if we can do more though? I could probably commit to doing a stream or making a video where I play through all the games. I would really like to hear others' thoughts on what could be done to make the post jam experience more engaging.Second, in terms of forming teams, I know a few people did it successfully during Wizard Jam, but some got left out, and I would want to know if people think there is a better way to do this. One idea is to have a someone play a matchmaker; if you want to be on a team, you would submit a bit of information about yourself (e.g. your skills, desired skills, and your timezone) and the matchmaker would pick the team for you. Is this a thing people want? Does the team making process need to be aided? How do we make it better? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dinosaursssssss Posted October 14, 2015 Woo! We've been talking about this on the slack for a while and I'm excited. Wiz Jam was a lot of fun, but I think we can improve in the two areas Spenny mentioned and make it even better Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darthbator Posted October 14, 2015 I'd be more then happy to put up a series of videos where I take a look at all of the games that come out of the jam too. I think that if we put a thread up 2-3 weeks before the jam that should give people enough time to form teams naturally? I wasn't around for the first jam so I'm not really sure what kind of issues forming teams presented? I installed the hangouts plugin in slack and it has the ability to make private channels and etc. Hopefully that can help fellow jammers organize. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lu Posted October 14, 2015 I would love to participate and help in any way I can. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SuperBiasedMan Posted October 14, 2015 For the record teams are 100 percent optional. Nobody wants forced teams. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbilsinspace Posted October 14, 2015 I'm am all in on this jam. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BigJKO Posted October 14, 2015 This is a jolly jam idea! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbilsinspace Posted October 14, 2015 wooben is also in, according to slack Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbilsinspace Posted October 14, 2015 Super_Jogurt is also in, and is interesting in helping me with my stuff. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zerofiftyone Posted October 14, 2015 Thanks for making a thread Spenny. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
atte Posted October 14, 2015 Twice a year Wizard Jam™ sounds good. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dinosaursssssss Posted October 14, 2015 I think that if we put a thread up 2-3 weeks before the jam that should give people enough time to form teams naturally? I wasn't around for the first jam so I'm not really sure what kind of issues forming teams presented? Just doing the thread was kinda disorganized, it was really hard to follow who was looking for teams and I think as a result some people weren't able to find the help they needed. I donno how far we need to go, but at the very least we oughta have a google doc or something centralized. At the Global Game Jam site I was at this year, the organizers had people pitch their game idea, let everyone else drift towards the ideas they liked, then they put the call out for whatever roles were needed to fill in the gaps. That worked pretty well, some variation on that might be a good option for folks who want to do teams. I donno exactly how we'd do it online, but it'd probably have to be over the course of a week leading up to the start. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted October 14, 2015 Forum threads are horrendous for organizing anything without very specific structure. Conversations start and end with nothing being resolved, comments and questions are ignored unless brought up multiple times, etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
darthbator Posted October 14, 2015 Just doing the thread was kinda disorganized, it was really hard to follow who was looking for teams and I think as a result some people weren't able to find the help they needed. I donno how far we need to go, but at the very least we oughta have a google doc or something centralized. At the Global Game Jam site I was at this year, the organizers had people pitch their game idea, let everyone else drift towards the ideas they liked, then they put the call out for whatever roles were needed to fill in the gaps. That worked pretty well, some variation on that might be a good option for folks who want to do teams. I donno exactly how we'd do it online, but it'd probably have to be over the course of a week leading up to the start. I figured we would make a thread and a public slack room for the game in general and then teams could move into private rooms should they desire. That way there's both a 'sign post' type area to look for teams and a chat room type place where people could look for partners. If someone wants to make a spreadsheet or something that would be amazing but someone would have to actually want to manage that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gerbilsinspace Posted October 15, 2015 https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZoxQ4Ul_DME Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reverend Speed Posted October 15, 2015 Had a great time in the Wizard Jaaaam, though I left it a bit late to enter. Ideally I'd be up for this, but Christmas is just going to be super busy...! Still, love the idea of regular Idle Thumbs jams... --Rev Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jutranjo Posted October 15, 2015 Had a great time in the Wizard Jaaaam, though I left it a bit late to enter. Ideally I'd be up for this, but Christmas is just going to be super busy...! Still, love the idea of regular Idle Thumbs jams... --Rev As with anything Christmas related on these boards, it'll probably be done months before Christmas. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Problem Machine Posted October 16, 2015 I'd be up to join a team as long as someone else is taking the reins. I think a bit more of a theme would be nice, since that's pretty vague as a jumping off point. Part of what made the last jam so fun was that the theme was so immediately evocative of ideas. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spenny Posted October 16, 2015 We were talking today about having the general theme of winter & thumbs stuff as mentioned in the initial post, but adding a set of secret surprise diversifiers like how Global Game Jam do. How do y'all feel about that? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted October 16, 2015 the theme is ladders WORST NEW PAGE POST OF MY LIFE here's a quote of spenny's useful post: We were talking today about having the general theme of winter & thumbs stuff as mentioned in the initial post, but adding a set of secret surprise diversifiers like how Global Game Jam do. How do y'all feel about that? the theme is still ladders tho! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twig Posted October 17, 2015 oh wow uh ...i could make that work Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Travis Posted October 19, 2015 I missed the last one and would like to try to get in on this one. I have no Wizard Jam veteran input, but I like the ideas you guys are talking about. I will keep checking back and try to find ways to help out. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spenny Posted October 19, 2015 I am making an appeal for you to vote on jam date. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
