Haha, you don't realize it either, because you're not a realist. You're a highly emotional person who has, judging by your posts, seemingly conformed to the sheepish lifestyle so many people have come to accept for "reality." For the sake of a late night discussion however, I will challenge your emotion.
What's really funny is that you are both right and wrong at the same time. You are right in that Inafune is an egotistical idealist and that what he's doing is a "dick move" so to speak. However, judging by your emotional responses, I think you're choosing to avoid some issues here, issues which Flame was trying to get across.
Oh ho, that is pretty funny. One thing is certain, don't speak so readily as if you know how I am and the full scope of what I believe. I'm more inclined to define myself as a realistic idealist. A balance of the two, that while I admit, is not perfect, it does exist. I am living proof of it. I have dreams, just like this man does and I work hard to fulfill them. I have in no way, submitted to the whims of the world around me, conformed to "sheepish ways" as it were. If you knew my character, at all, you'd know that my "online persona" is a mockery of the concept of sheepism.
Am I a highly emotional person? Not as much as it appears, I'm just more expressive online than I probably should be. But shoulda, woulda, coulda I suppose. I am actually more in control of my emotions than I care to admit, it is just exceedingly boring to be stoic in response to things that it is more fun to be expressive in. For years,
years I stowed my responses, opinions, and thoughts in the world around me and it proved to be a foolhardy decision.
Flame is absolutely right here. This is what sets Inafune apart from other "whining idealists." He's made a conscience decision to save a game industry he believes is failing. Is it egotistical? Damn [tornado fang]ing straight. Is it naive? Indeed. Is it idealistic? Ab. so. lute. ly. However, whether or not it's a "dick move" depends really on how you judge the man's character. There is no "truth" in anything except what you choose to see. However, the fact (not truth) is what I quoted, and that is that instead of doing what so many MANY people do and just conform to the sad, ho-hum lifestyle they wind up growing accustomed to, he has set out to try and change what he believes is a broken system. Whether or not his quest continues and succeeds will be left up to the history e-Books, or perhaps we'll find Inafune's grail diary in the Hidden Temple. Who knows?
More privately, I admitted to this. Inafune IS indeed trying to do something. I respect that... but poorly thought out decision is
just as bad as indecision. I'm all for trying to fulfill your ideals and everything, anyone that knows anything about me at all knows this much. But it would serve well ones cause to know what they are doing before blindly charging in, which is exactly what it looks like to me.
One man does not make a team. However, judging by his actions, Inafune believes that perhaps one man can make a difference in the gaming industry. Despite what you believe to be truth, this kind of thinking takes courage, and perhaps a little insanity. Another fact is that he threw away a very well paying job to do this. To me, that takes guts. Like you said, it's extremely egotistical and idealistic, but those are the type of people that sometimes DO change the world, or in this minor case, the gaming industry. We'll see what comes of it. Like Fxeni just said while I was writing this...
Having guts is only one par of the course. Doing something foolhardy such as quitting your job because you "don't like it" is foolhardy. Especially for someone who praises Westernism, because doing something like that over here would be the dumbest [parasitic bomb] a person could do.
Especially in a time like this. Yes, recklessness can change the world and can even do things like save lives and make the path better for others... but I feel like it seems more selfish and irrational in this case scenario.
Maybe he'll change the industry & maybe he won't. Only time will tell. The only thing I'll say on the matter is that being that he's been in the gaming industry for 20 some odd years now, I think he has a better look into it than any of us do, on both sides.
I'll never deny that he knows more about gaming than me. Knows more about Japanese Industry than me. Hell, he probably knows more about life through experience than me. But, I still feel the way I do and I've never enjoyed not saying what I feel. And I feel he is making a big mistake. The prompting of my outburst is that the fans are practically praising him as some savior... when he really isn't. He's just a man, a man that is going out on a whim, for both good and silly reasons.
I want people to take it for what it is and stop sugar coating it and wrapping it in a bow. It isn't a pretty thing, so stop acting like it is, that is all. And of course, I don't mean YOU specifically, PB. That is addressed to others.
Clarification, it is a beautiful thing.
However, in closing... you are someone I deem friend-to-close-associate of sorts, when it comes to RPM. But you really don't know
me as it were, as I don't know
you beyond being Protoman Blues, the egotistical party lord of RPM.
As such, it is best not to assume just based on cynical views on one individual. It is definitely best not to assume I have "given in" to sheepish, settler views. I am far beyond that, but I
have achieved a sense of realism combined with my idealism. A lot has happened to me in my life that I cannot simply grasp hold of complete childlike thinking and delve headstrong into idealism. But that does not mean I will sacrifice my ideals either. There is such a thing called middle ground. I
realize that it isn't very human for people to strive for the middle ground... being we're all a bunch of extremists by nature. But that is my goal. I want to find that shiny place where I am comfortable with my decisions and that they were the best I could achieve under the realistic playing field.
Perhaps that too, is truly idealistic.