Hindsight gives us a lot of benefits. Through a lens of clarity it helps us pinpoint the who, what, when, where, and why of things going wrong. It shows us how. And it shows us who. It gives us a unique perspective into self reflection.
Hindsight also shows us what went right. It shows us all the good that has come through past efforts.
When ProjectWish started, we had huge ambitions. We, a group of hobbyist game developers, wanted to change the face of the MMORPG industry. Literally. We wanted to do things that had never been done in any MMO game ever. Some of those ideas we had still have not been accomplished in the industry.
What made us, a bunch of people who 1) had never met IRL, 2) came from around the globe, 3) spread across an age spectrum of nearly half a century, 4) ran the gambit of skills necessary to make a game, let alone a MMO, and 5) had never developed a game of any sort in their lives think that we could do it? Some would say it was our hubris; and they would be right. When we cut through the layers and boil it down, it all comes down to one thing: LOVE.
All of us who contributed in whatever way to The Project absolutely loved what we were doing. It did not matter that we were collectively over our heads. We believed. We believed in The Project, our ideas, our vision, and our goals. Most importantly we believed in each other. Hours upon hours of our personal lives were spent dedicated to something that we loved. We were not getting paid. We never expected to. We never even saw that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel; we all just imagined it was there and raced toward it.
While some of the details morphed over the years, an unspoken overall goal for The Project never changed: to create an environment where we could all learn and that would set us up for the future. We all wanted to “break into” the game development industry. Many of us still do; still have that dream.
We were all learning. We all learned a lot. I imagine someone could write multiple books about all the lessons we learned during the span of the project.
If we had it all to start over again, I highly doubt that any of us would pass up that chance.
In fact, I would relish the opportunity to do it again. Or start another project.
Coming full circle back to hindsight, if I had a chance to do it again there many, many things I would do differently. My lessons from the past would have me change the way I did so much. That “what” will have to wait for another time.
I would love nothing more than to “restart” The Project. How? Not sure. I have a lot of ideas. Not sure if anyone wants to hear them....
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Co-Founder & Consultant Project Wish
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