Dan Johnson (hire me)
@coil.bsky.social
Schipperke owner @PNW
Game Systems Designer, dangerously unsupervised (prev Big Blue Sky Games, Blizzard, Bungie, Irrational, etc)
Hire me!
#GameDev
he/him
Game Systems Designer, dangerously unsupervised (prev Big Blue Sky Games, Blizzard, Bungie, Irrational, etc)
Hire me!
#GameDev
he/him
Pinned
Dan Johnson (hire me)
@coil.bsky.social
· Nov 14
Hello newskies! I'm Dan, a game designer currently hailing from the Seattle area. I have lots of schipperkes, ADHD, and many (mostly crafty) hobbies in varying states of hyperfocus or neglect.
Favorite game: Journey
Color: Aqua
Album: Paul Simon - Graceland
Cocktail: Red Hook
Dinosaur: Amargasaurus
Favorite game: Journey
Color: Aqua
Album: Paul Simon - Graceland
Cocktail: Red Hook
Dinosaur: Amargasaurus
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
So here's the thing; you can choose to use gen AI or not. You can choose to buy conflict diamonds or not. You can choose to invest in weapons manufacturers or not.
If you know how something is made and accept the harms involved, then you are making a statement that those harms are acceptable.
If you know how something is made and accept the harms involved, then you are making a statement that those harms are acceptable.
The hard part is I know non-technical people who are intrigued by the idea of using AI to help fill a gap in their skills. I generally like these people, so I don't want to yell at them for trying the technology, because it isn't going to make them magically agree with me or understand the harms.
November 27, 2025 at 9:24 AM
So here's the thing; you can choose to use gen AI or not. You can choose to buy conflict diamonds or not. You can choose to invest in weapons manufacturers or not.
If you know how something is made and accept the harms involved, then you are making a statement that those harms are acceptable.
If you know how something is made and accept the harms involved, then you are making a statement that those harms are acceptable.
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
So yes, I am very mad that the entire gen AI "industry" is built upon a foundation of fraud and theft. Even if the tech worked perfectly (it doesn't, which is a separate problem), the sacrifices required to make it function are extreme and destructive, even before the environmental impact.
November 27, 2025 at 9:35 AM
So yes, I am very mad that the entire gen AI "industry" is built upon a foundation of fraud and theft. Even if the tech worked perfectly (it doesn't, which is a separate problem), the sacrifices required to make it function are extreme and destructive, even before the environmental impact.
Introduce yourself with four spaceships but Pigs in Space appears twice
November 27, 2025 at 5:49 AM
Introduce yourself with four spaceships but Pigs in Space appears twice
Invert a band
Prince
Wait, no
Queen
Shit
Uh...
Normal Allie
Prince
Wait, no
Queen
Shit
Uh...
Normal Allie
invert a band
worse than ezra
worse than ezra
November 27, 2025 at 5:38 AM
Invert a band
Prince
Wait, no
Queen
Shit
Uh...
Normal Allie
Prince
Wait, no
Queen
Shit
Uh...
Normal Allie
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
if what you're doing can be done by genai its not worth doing
November 27, 2025 at 5:06 AM
if what you're doing can be done by genai its not worth doing
I'll bite: do you remember *any single other line* the guards in Skyrim say?
Writing skill is being able to write "arrow to the knee" AND the lines that disappear into the larger tapestry. Narrative design skill is setting ATTK to happen 1% as often as any other line.
Chatgpt has neither.
Writing skill is being able to write "arrow to the knee" AND the lines that disappear into the larger tapestry. Narrative design skill is setting ATTK to happen 1% as often as any other line.
Chatgpt has neither.
November 27, 2025 at 5:04 AM
I'll bite: do you remember *any single other line* the guards in Skyrim say?
Writing skill is being able to write "arrow to the knee" AND the lines that disappear into the larger tapestry. Narrative design skill is setting ATTK to happen 1% as often as any other line.
Chatgpt has neither.
Writing skill is being able to write "arrow to the knee" AND the lines that disappear into the larger tapestry. Narrative design skill is setting ATTK to happen 1% as often as any other line.
Chatgpt has neither.
As an expert in Executive Dysfunction I'm seeing this condition more and more, particularly among tech company heads:
Premature Enshittification
Unfortunately, it's fatal and incurable.
Premature Enshittification
Unfortunately, it's fatal and incurable.
Tim Sweeney got that silicon valley brain worm.
Hey Tim, you're providing a service to customers, not to your shareholders.
Hey Tim, you're providing a service to customers, not to your shareholders.
Opposing Steam's AI disclosures, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says game stores should drop "the AI tag" because "it makes no sense" when "AI will be involved in nearly all future production"
Steam has actually made AI disclosures even more prominent
www.gamesradar.com
November 27, 2025 at 2:01 AM
As an expert in Executive Dysfunction I'm seeing this condition more and more, particularly among tech company heads:
Premature Enshittification
Unfortunately, it's fatal and incurable.
Premature Enshittification
Unfortunately, it's fatal and incurable.
I'm just going to pretend this is another of those "it's on Tubi, it's on Crave, it's literally on Crave" memes
RFK orgasm poem? it's curtains for zoosha
November 27, 2025 at 1:53 AM
I'm just going to pretend this is another of those "it's on Tubi, it's on Crave, it's literally on Crave" memes
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
drawing parkour/menus on one axis and mystlike/skinner box on the other
all games are either mystlikes or skinner boxes
November 26, 2025 at 9:28 PM
drawing parkour/menus on one axis and mystlike/skinner box on the other
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
I will admit, I missed this specific section of Valve's initial 2023 refusal in the previous reporting. It's unfortunate but pretty clear-cut. Even the impression of CSEM is a very reasonable hard stop for a platform. (Note the final two sentences.)
November 26, 2025 at 10:15 AM
I will admit, I missed this specific section of Valve's initial 2023 refusal in the previous reporting. It's unfortunate but pretty clear-cut. Even the impression of CSEM is a very reasonable hard stop for a platform. (Note the final two sentences.)
"...She usually dresses me"
November 27, 2025 at 12:02 AM
"...She usually dresses me"
Oh that's easy: because a NYT Cooking sub is $6/month, but a news sub is $25/mo.
November 26, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Oh that's easy: because a NYT Cooking sub is $6/month, but a news sub is $25/mo.
Tim Sweeney got that silicon valley brain worm.
Hey Tim, you're providing a service to customers, not to your shareholders.
Hey Tim, you're providing a service to customers, not to your shareholders.
Opposing Steam's AI disclosures, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says game stores should drop "the AI tag" because "it makes no sense" when "AI will be involved in nearly all future production"
Steam has actually made AI disclosures even more prominent
www.gamesradar.com
November 26, 2025 at 11:43 PM
Tim Sweeney got that silicon valley brain worm.
Hey Tim, you're providing a service to customers, not to your shareholders.
Hey Tim, you're providing a service to customers, not to your shareholders.
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
The most simple fact is: It makes sense because your consumers care about it. Set aside any facts about AI and just treat it as a black box component. If buyers say it factors into their purchasing decisions, then it matters to you because the point of your service is to sell what they want to buy.
Opposing Steam’s AI Disclosures, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney Says Game Stores Should Drop "the AI tag" Because "it makes no sense" When "AI will be involved in nearly all future production"
www.gamesradar.com/games/opposi...
#ai #gamedev #steam #epicgames #videogames #gaming
www.gamesradar.com/games/opposi...
#ai #gamedev #steam #epicgames #videogames #gaming
Opposing Steam's AI disclosures, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney says game stores should drop "the AI tag" because "it makes no sense" when "AI will be involved in nearly all future production"
Steam has actually made AI disclosures even more prominent
www.gamesradar.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:40 PM
The most simple fact is: It makes sense because your consumers care about it. Set aside any facts about AI and just treat it as a black box component. If buyers say it factors into their purchasing decisions, then it matters to you because the point of your service is to sell what they want to buy.
We stan
1992, btw: pixelart may have came a long way, but a reminder how gorgeous it was back then.
November 26, 2025 at 10:28 PM
We stan
Anyone want to smuggle my latest job app past the robots at Epic?
November 26, 2025 at 9:48 PM
Anyone want to smuggle my latest job app past the robots at Epic?
New best compliment just dropped 🫠
I’ve never known a better leader; I’d follow you anywhere
November 26, 2025 at 7:59 PM
New best compliment just dropped 🫠
Symbolically best rather than literally, but @llcoolpete.bsky.social once told me he'd play WoW again if I were raid leading.
What is the best compliment you ever received? Putting aside whether or not you believed it.
November 26, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Symbolically best rather than literally, but @llcoolpete.bsky.social once told me he'd play WoW again if I were raid leading.
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
Whole lotta Games Industry CEOs and Shareholders that need to read this one.
If your org is on your seventh layoff or Lord-have-mercy, your 82nd re-org, we suggest that it's time to take a hard look at your underlying planning issues...
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
www.rawsignal.ca/newsletter-a...
All hat, no cattle - Raw Signal Group
If your org is on your seventh layoff or Lord-have-mercy, your 82nd re-org, we suggest that it's time to take a hard look at your underlying planning issues
www.rawsignal.ca
November 26, 2025 at 4:06 PM
Whole lotta Games Industry CEOs and Shareholders that need to read this one.
I will admit, I missed this specific section of Valve's initial 2023 refusal in the previous reporting. It's unfortunate but pretty clear-cut. Even the impression of CSEM is a very reasonable hard stop for a platform. (Note the final two sentences.)
November 26, 2025 at 10:15 AM
I will admit, I missed this specific section of Valve's initial 2023 refusal in the previous reporting. It's unfortunate but pretty clear-cut. Even the impression of CSEM is a very reasonable hard stop for a platform. (Note the final two sentences.)
Picked up a couple ingredients today for Thanksgiving <checks notes> enchiladas.
Yeah that sounds about right.
Yeah that sounds about right.
November 26, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Picked up a couple ingredients today for Thanksgiving <checks notes> enchiladas.
Yeah that sounds about right.
Yeah that sounds about right.
This piece sure has a lot of Economics Posters in a fit, but I struggle to find a flaw in his reasoning except "it would be very inconvenient if the poverty line, as estimated by 1963 metrics, were actually 4x higher than it is and included more than half of American households."
This is an insightful but deeply upsetting article about why everyone in the US feels poor, and why the current political situation emerges as a direct result.
www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
www.yesigiveafig.com/p/part-1-my-...
Part 1: My Life Is a Lie
How a Broken Benchmark Quietly Broke America
www.yesigiveafig.com
November 26, 2025 at 5:45 AM
This piece sure has a lot of Economics Posters in a fit, but I struggle to find a flaw in his reasoning except "it would be very inconvenient if the poverty line, as estimated by 1963 metrics, were actually 4x higher than it is and included more than half of American households."
I got a special thanks for two years of initial design and design team leadership at my last job. 🖕💩🖕
I just remembered to be mad at the fact that, I'm told, none of the people who worked on VTMB2 at Hardsuit before it was ripped from them by Paradox and shat out by The Chinese Room ended up being credited, only Special Thanksed. Who else wants to get mad
November 26, 2025 at 4:37 AM
I got a special thanks for two years of initial design and design team leadership at my last job. 🖕💩🖕
Starting to think OpenAI might not be the Good Guys after all
Additionally, OpenAI argues its not liable because Raine, by using ChatGPT for self-harm, broke its terms of service
November 26, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Starting to think OpenAI might not be the Good Guys after all
Reposted by Dan Johnson (hire me)
A lot going on in my mentions right now and I want to be clear that my opinion on this is that Valve should have communicated with this studio two years ago in a clear way.
November 26, 2025 at 12:11 AM
A lot going on in my mentions right now and I want to be clear that my opinion on this is that Valve should have communicated with this studio two years ago in a clear way.