I actually find "idea guys" highly insulting. What does it say when they view the hard work required to implement an idea as trivial in comparison to their idea? How does that view reflect upon my expertise? Moreover, do they really think that people with practical abilities are incapable of coming up with their own ideas?
Agreed and not just in the game industry, but everywhere. I've even seen a few people call themselves "ideas guys" here on HN and every time I think something like "so, what? you think I don't have ideas or can't come up with my own? what makes you so great?". Everyone can come up with good ideas, but not everybody has the drive, determination and skill to make them a reality.
True, but I think that "idea guys" on HN tend to be entrepreneurs who like the term "idea guy," rather than a person with an idea and nothing else. Entrepreneurs, or non-technical co-founders, bring skills to the table that a technical person need in addition to the idea, along with a willingness to take on risk. That's a good thing for guys like me. What I call "Idea Guys" usually bring nothing to the table other than the idea.
Non-technical people on HN are also far more likely to understand the work that technical people do, and thus contribute and compensate adequatly.
Will suggests that even if you have crazy ideas, you should write them down and remember them, and think about them later, because later on they might not be so crazy.
I've been playing Glitch, which is a "casual" MMORPG designed by the original developers of Flickr. They came up with the idea for Game Neverending years ago: http://www.gnespy.com/museum/ ... But more than simply having an idea, they developed a playable prototype of the game in 2002, that they put online and actually tested. I think it was a brilliant design, but it was a horrible time to come out with something like that (since The Sims Online, considered a bellwether for casual MMORPGs, was tanking at the time).
Unfortunately (or ultimately fortunately), they were running out of money, so they sidelined the game, took a module they had developed for uploading pictures, and developed it into Flickr, which they eventually sold to Yahoo. Flickr was so successful that they were distracted from the original game, but they kept it in mind for later.
Now that technology's caught up, and they're in a better financial position, they've finally re-implemented Glitch from the ashes of Game Neverending (and with the fuel of Flickr). They certainly learned a lot about online communities from their experience with Flickr, which they're applying to Glitch. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flickr#History
Insulting.