[casual_games] Crediting the Departed

[Hal Barwood]

Personally, I think proper credits are a sacred obligation.  No one's 
contribution is ever diminished by generosity toward others who may have 
contributed.  I hope that the emerging IGDA guidelines will help us 
arrive at an equitable modus vivendi.

On removing one's own credits -- in the movie biz, if you want to, you 
can (generally).  A writer who wants to drop in a placeholder, however, 
to mark his territory anonymously as it were, needs to have a registered 
pseudonym already on file with the guild.  Directors used to have to 
resort to "Alan Smithee," but those days, apparently, are over.

People who have left game projects early should be credited, in my view, 
if they made real solid contributions, but not otherwise.  Since those 
of us formulating the credits are the ones left behind with the power to 
do as we please, it becomes us to cultivate a certain spirit of 
goodwill, don't you think?  Certainly, that's how I operated at 
LucasArts for many years.

We're talking courtesy here, but also livlihoods.  One of the problems 
of our form of entertainment is the fact that, unlike Hollywood, our biz 
is embedded in mainstream corporate culture that wishes to anonymize its 
worker masses.  We shouldn't let that happen.  Games aren't widgets, 
they're creative endeavors, and creative human beings are individually 
responsible for their existence.

Hal



Andy Megowan wrote:

> Hi, Everyone—

> 

>  

> 

> While there is still no accepted standard for crediting individuals for 

> their work in the games industry, I think that the IGDA has made good 

> headway towards something that is fair and possibly some day legally 

> protected (ugh).  Until that day, I have some questions for everyone.

> 

>  

> 

> Is credit a right, a privilege, or an obligation?

> 

>  

> 

> In film, people can request that their names be removed from a product 

> for any number of reasons, and I bet others can explain them better than 

> I can.  If someone wishes to be disassociated with a product, would that 

> be considered as concealing information about one’s past?

> 

>  

> 

> On the other side of the coin, if you remove someone from a product that 

> ships a few months later, is there a professional obligation to 

> acknowledge and credit that person’s involvement?

> 

>  

> 

> Thanks for your thoughts,

> 

> --Andy

> 

>  

> 

> Andy Megowan

> 

> Creative Director, iWin Division 90

> 

> amegowan at iwin.com <mailto:amegowan at iwin.com>

> 

>  

> 

>  

> 

>  

> 

> 

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