Havilah McGinnis
@mwahahavilah.bsky.social
putting words in pixel mouths
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
I’m super happy to officially announce our next project, spearheaded by @threeohfour.bsky.social!
“Gilt” is a sci-fi/fantasy game about a priest haunted by a dying God.
Learn more (and wishlist!) over here:
store.steampowered.com/app/3979770
“Gilt” is a sci-fi/fantasy game about a priest haunted by a dying God.
Learn more (and wishlist!) over here:
store.steampowered.com/app/3979770
Gilt on Steam
Embark on a quest of redemption across the planet of Gilt to restore a disillusioned priest's faith, a dying God's power, and the waning hope of a people who have forgotten how to believe. A sci-fi fa...
store.steampowered.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:58 PM
I’m super happy to officially announce our next project, spearheaded by @threeohfour.bsky.social!
“Gilt” is a sci-fi/fantasy game about a priest haunted by a dying God.
Learn more (and wishlist!) over here:
store.steampowered.com/app/3979770
“Gilt” is a sci-fi/fantasy game about a priest haunted by a dying God.
Learn more (and wishlist!) over here:
store.steampowered.com/app/3979770
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
#3157 A helpful tutorial
November 17, 2025 at 11:40 PM
#3157 A helpful tutorial
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
It figures that an industry that thinks that "vibe coding" is a reliable thing would now decide that QA is the next thing you can replace with AI 😒
Your friendly reminder that good QA people are worth their weight in gold and an invaluable part of game dev
Your friendly reminder that good QA people are worth their weight in gold and an invaluable part of game dev
October 28, 2025 at 5:34 PM
It figures that an industry that thinks that "vibe coding" is a reliable thing would now decide that QA is the next thing you can replace with AI 😒
Your friendly reminder that good QA people are worth their weight in gold and an invaluable part of game dev
Your friendly reminder that good QA people are worth their weight in gold and an invaluable part of game dev
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
This is all a question of the pleasure of responsiveness, and for me the best model of this is in @stcymsn.bsky.social’s dissertation. It’s been incredibly influential to my thinking on narrative satisfaction.
Responsiveness in Narrative Systems
Author(s): Mason, Stacey | Advisor(s): Mateas, Michael | Abstract: While game studies and interactive narrative communities have developed a rich body ofresearch around agency in our interactions with...
escholarship.org
October 24, 2025 at 9:27 PM
This is all a question of the pleasure of responsiveness, and for me the best model of this is in @stcymsn.bsky.social’s dissertation. It’s been incredibly influential to my thinking on narrative satisfaction.
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
If your values don't apply to everyone, they're not your values. They're just a favor you do for people that you like.
"They're not supposed to do that to ME" is not a position worthy of respect.
"They should never do that to ANYONE" is.
"They should never do that to ANYONE" is.
October 24, 2025 at 8:09 PM
If your values don't apply to everyone, they're not your values. They're just a favor you do for people that you like.
Ask A Manager is a great place to learn management/office tips, and also a great place to find a letter writer describing common behavior in the game industry and get a response accurately labeling it as "bizarrely adversarial"
Someone wrote Ask A Manager asking if they can keep letting jerks at work who won't listen to her mess things up, without chasing to try and fix things for them.
I want this person to write her own advice column. I want her to be my life coach. I love her.
www.askamanager.org/2025/10/can-...
I want this person to write her own advice column. I want her to be my life coach. I love her.
www.askamanager.org/2025/10/can-...
can I just let difficult coworkers be wrong?
A reader writes: I have developed a stance over time that my friends, partner, and colleagues all say is unprofessional: I let people at work be wrong, especially if it’s not going to impact our botto...
www.askamanager.org
October 22, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Ask A Manager is a great place to learn management/office tips, and also a great place to find a letter writer describing common behavior in the game industry and get a response accurately labeling it as "bizarrely adversarial"
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
I might not be making Hades 3, but if this is what anyone is after, PLEASE check out Mythmatch and help spread the word to others who might want this because I am making this and it is good!
store.steampowered.com/app/1778050/...
store.steampowered.com/app/1778050/...
October 13, 2025 at 10:39 AM
I might not be making Hades 3, but if this is what anyone is after, PLEASE check out Mythmatch and help spread the word to others who might want this because I am making this and it is good!
store.steampowered.com/app/1778050/...
store.steampowered.com/app/1778050/...
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
October 9, 2025 at 4:42 AM
David Simon, creator of ‘The Wire’, being interviewed by Ari Shapiro (NPR)
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
Proud to announce Deviant Legal’s Game Developer’s Guide to Publishing Agreements: a free resource for developers wanting to learn about publishing deals. Publicly accessible, without requiring to provide your data: deviantlegal.com/guide/game-d...
October 8, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Proud to announce Deviant Legal’s Game Developer’s Guide to Publishing Agreements: a free resource for developers wanting to learn about publishing deals. Publicly accessible, without requiring to provide your data: deviantlegal.com/guide/game-d...
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
These kinds of stories are so important to tell
How My Family Taught Me About Political Violence, a true story thread
When I was a kid we had a Nazi flag in our attic. It was huge and red with a swastika in the middle and on several occasions I asked a friend if they wanted to see a real Nazi flag and crept up the ladder to unfold it and stare.
When I was a kid we had a Nazi flag in our attic. It was huge and red with a swastika in the middle and on several occasions I asked a friend if they wanted to see a real Nazi flag and crept up the ladder to unfold it and stare.
October 4, 2025 at 4:17 PM
These kinds of stories are so important to tell
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
"The primary reason is that Hollywood is making less stuff." THIS. I've seen so many people lazily (xenophobically) claim 'outsource is stealing all the work', but MOST countries are in the same boat rn. Never let the suits skimming more and more off the top convince you a fellow worker is to blame.
The most important human story in the entertainment industry right now is the severe downturn in film and TV production in LA and how it's affecting middle-class crew workers. I spoke to dozens of them for this story about the depressed Hollywood economy. www.wsj.com/business/med...
L.A.’s Entertainment Economy Is Looking Like a Disaster Movie
Work is evaporating, businesses are closing, longtime residents are leaving, and Los Angeles’s creative middle class is hanging on by a thread.
www.wsj.com
October 4, 2025 at 4:16 PM
"The primary reason is that Hollywood is making less stuff." THIS. I've seen so many people lazily (xenophobically) claim 'outsource is stealing all the work', but MOST countries are in the same boat rn. Never let the suits skimming more and more off the top convince you a fellow worker is to blame.
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
Some amazing gay history. Listen up kids.
September 24, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Some amazing gay history. Listen up kids.
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
In case you wanted to get a 100% achievement score in Old Skies today...
September 11, 2025 at 7:45 PM
In case you wanted to get a 100% achievement score in Old Skies today...
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
You will never be able to make "data driven" decisions until you realize just how much your decisions are driven by emotions: fear of missing out, defensiveness of your favorite idea, apprehension over something unusual.
That's because there's no such thing as "the data" - only interpretations.
That's because there's no such thing as "the data" - only interpretations.
September 9, 2025 at 12:36 PM
You will never be able to make "data driven" decisions until you realize just how much your decisions are driven by emotions: fear of missing out, defensiveness of your favorite idea, apprehension over something unusual.
That's because there's no such thing as "the data" - only interpretations.
That's because there's no such thing as "the data" - only interpretations.
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
1/3 20 years ago today, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I wrote a piece called "Being Poor," to answer, in a way that I hoped would stick, why so many people stayed in New Orleans to face the storm. It was and remains one of the best things I've ever written.
whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/b...
whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/b...
Being Poor
Visit the post for more.
whatever.scalzi.com
September 3, 2025 at 2:56 PM
1/3 20 years ago today, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, I wrote a piece called "Being Poor," to answer, in a way that I hoped would stick, why so many people stayed in New Orleans to face the storm. It was and remains one of the best things I've ever written.
whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/b...
whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/b...
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me...
store.steampowered.com/app/1226670/...
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me...
store.steampowered.com/app/1226670/...
September 3, 2025 at 3:28 PM
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me...
store.steampowered.com/app/1226670/...
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me
My game is good, the algorithm just ignores me...
store.steampowered.com/app/1226670/...
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
there's only one day left to preorder Moonflow. this is your last chance. if you don't preorder it today, you'll have to just ORDER it and everyone will know that you're a johnny come lately www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/bitte...
September 1, 2025 at 6:17 PM
there's only one day left to preorder Moonflow. this is your last chance. if you don't preorder it today, you'll have to just ORDER it and everyone will know that you're a johnny come lately www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/bitte...
@89ravenwolf.bsky.social went to a boardgame bar and they made a game about your life
September 1, 2025 at 2:02 AM
@89ravenwolf.bsky.social went to a boardgame bar and they made a game about your life
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
We will be jettisoning trans rights from the Dem Party platform over my room-temperature fucking corpse. We are leaving no one behind, and fuck anyone who thinks otherwise. A core tenet of American identity is that we, not the government, define ourselves.
All of us get protections or none of us do
All of us get protections or none of us do
August 28, 2025 at 11:42 PM
We will be jettisoning trans rights from the Dem Party platform over my room-temperature fucking corpse. We are leaving no one behind, and fuck anyone who thinks otherwise. A core tenet of American identity is that we, not the government, define ourselves.
All of us get protections or none of us do
All of us get protections or none of us do
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
Re-upping this again, please spread far and wide:
Humblebundle to support World Central Kitchen, and get a bunch of my books from @tordotcom.bsky.social including Murderbot and Witch King! #booksky
www.humblebundle.com/books/martha...
www.humblebundle.com/books/martha...
Humble Book Bundle: Martha Wells' Murderbot and More by TOR
Fall in love with Martha Wells’ The Murderbot Diaries series—the engine behind the hit AppleTV adaptation—and help support World Central Kitchen.
www.humblebundle.com
August 28, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Re-upping this again, please spread far and wide:
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
Making them wear high-visibility vests over camo is such a good joke you couldn’t write it
National Guard is now tasked with picking up garbage in DC
August 26, 2025 at 11:41 PM
Making them wear high-visibility vests over camo is such a good joke you couldn’t write it
Reposted by Havilah McGinnis
Hey if you're in Ireland and you like GOOD BOOKS, here's a place you can get Moonflow👇
Irish folk might like to know that you can pre-order Moonflow via an independent bookshop www.omahonys.ie/moonflow-p-1...
August 25, 2025 at 6:29 PM
Hey if you're in Ireland and you like GOOD BOOKS, here's a place you can get Moonflow👇