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Comment by kelukelugames | Hacker News Reader

I've followed Jonathan Blow for a while. He has a reputation for being condescending. If you follow him a Twitter then you might come to the same conclusion. But he has given some amazing talks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxFzf6yIfcc <-compares games to televison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1Fg76c4Zfg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqFu5O-oPmU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjDsP5n2kSM

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I've followed him for a while and I think it might be a little more complicated although this is definitely how it might come across to the average person. He is blunt, and seemingly socially detached at times, almost in a Carmack-ish way. I don't see this as a bad thing really, just a different type of personality. Most of the best programmers I have known have this kind of personality.

Also, as mentioned his new language is definitely worth checking out. Yes, a language is only as good as its adoption/tools/history, but I definitely think C++ needs a challenger and not many people are in the position where they can risk taking on such a thing. Since money is becoming an issue, I hope he tries to fund this language somehow.

I've found his Twitter very frustrating to follow sometimes, but I also learn a ton from the things he links to and talks about. For example, I'm certainly not in the anti-OO camp, but his perspective keeps me on my toes and has been informing my programming decisions to a degree. He also seems like a good person in general — just one who happens to be an old school programmer with a very specific view on how things should be done. (As are many other game developers, I've been discovering!) People are complex and multifaceted, and you don't have to like every part of them. It's clear that he's a visionary and a fantastic game designer, and that he's been in the trenches for a while, so he's worth listening to for those reasons alone.

Anyway, it's kind of weird talking about jblow when I know he'll be reading this. Even if he doesn't like us so much anymore. :(

Why doesn't he like us?

I don't think he thinks most people here are "good programmers".

He's probably right. HN has some serious talent around, but it also has as rather core principles a lot of stuff that's deleterious to the kind of understanding that forms the basis of what he considers a good programmer to be.

I have throughout my career tried to maintain a grasp of everything in my stack (I went through a "study the code for HotSpot in-depth" phase that, while I don't regret it, I'm glad is over--though I may be about to start in on MRI...) and I try to make intelligent decisions about when to approach problems at different levels. I see a lot more trend-following and operating off of tribal conventional wisdom than I would like.

Well, "most" programmers are not good. So, its probably true, but for a different reason.

Every time he posts someone replies to say he doesn't know what he's talking about. (possibly not realizing who they're replying to)

Yeah, I've found that programmers who work a lot in C++ are a different breed from those who tend to work with higher level and GC'ed languages more. It really boils down to the task at hand I think. There are always going to be people who want explicit control to those who want the system to figure out things for them.

Ambitious, creative, but also kind of a jerk IMO who occasionally makes authoritarian but sloppy observations about low-level tech. You're not the only one he rubs the wrong way.

Not that this is any way an obstacle as long as he succeeds here. But if he really went all in for this game, well, I wouldn't do it that way (unless my name was Derek Smart that is). I'd pocket $1M of my ill-gotten and play the lottery with the rest, knowing there was a backup plan. I hope he has a backup plan. I can't say I like the guy, but I do like what he's doing.

Of course he comes across as condescending. He dismisses pretty much every opinion contrary to his, and while he created 1 good game in his career, I personally wouldn't trust him when it comes to knowing good engineering principles. He's creating a language that brings nothing new to game development, while dissing pretty much everything else that has been done. He's also made an ass of himself at least as many times as Phil Fish.

Contrast to someone like John Carmack, who is a legend, has achieved more in his career than most people ever will (some of the first FPS games, if not the first, pioneered so much technology, is launching rockets into space!), yet is still open minded enough to try new things, like rewriting some of his old games in Haskell and applying FP principles to game design. Oh, and John Carmack is humble as hell, considering what he's done.

Some more talks:

http://vimeo.com/94259578 (2014) http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1014982/ (2011)

If anyone likes game talks then check a repo I made https://github.com/hzoo/awesome-gametalks

>>I've been following Jonathan Blow for a while now. He has a reputation for being condescending. If you follow him a Twitter then you might come to the same conclusion.

I think that's neither here nor there in the context of this article.

I am a Jonathan Blow fan and want to encourage people to watch his talks. He's not nearly as antagonistic as Phil Fish but does say things that rub people the wrong way. Please don't interpret my message as being offensive.

He sure talks a lot, considering he made one game so far. I guess it was a good game if people like it (judging by scores on metacritic only), but I'd need a bit more of gravity around his body of work before listening his opinion on, well, anything. Compare that to Carmack for example - who didn't make games as a designer, but has a strong enough presence over the years actually doing stuff that carries weight. NB, I'm not putting him down, I'm just not seeing how his opinion is of any importance so far. And it seems he has opinion on everything and anything and is vocal about it.

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