Why do people think Game Development = Game Programming on this site

Question

This site could be so much more if there were more game design questions asked. I feel when someone says game development they immediately think game programmer.

When developing a game you have to first come up with an idea, implement the idea with some type of prototype( could be paper ), decide if it's worth pursuing, implement a simple digital version, playtest, make changes, test, test, test, add new rules to balance, etc...

All of this is the development of the game. If this site is just going to be about game programming, can we please make a corresponding game design stack exchange because that's the hard part not the programming.

Answer 1

The site is what the community makes of it, within the guidelines set in the FAQ. As of this writing, the game-design tag is the 10th most popular tag on the site.

What game design questions do you feel are missing from the site? Ask them. Just make sure they fit into the criteria for a good question set in the FAQ.

As far as the website technology and moderation goes, we're not biased towards programming questions.

If you see an actionable change that could be made, please do suggest it (in the chat, or as a separate meta question tagged feature-request perhaps).

The process for creating a new Stack Exchange site happens in Area 51, if you want to pursue creating a game design stack exchange; but as there's already a shortage of interest in game design Q&A here, I expect you'll have a hard time raising the necessary participation to get a game design stack exchange started. That effort would probably be better spent helping our game development community grow in game design questions and answers.

Answer 2

When developing a game you have to first come up with an idea, implement the idea with some type of prototype( could be paper ), decide if it's worth pursuing, implement a simple digital version, playtest, make changes, test, test, test, add new rules to balance, etc...

Correction: when you're serious about developing a game, you do those things.

Most people on this site are amateurs. And most amateur game developers are programmers first and foremost. They either got into programming in order to make games, or are interested in programming and decided to make a game with their programming skill.

And since most amateurs abandon their projects, this means that the majority of questions you'll see are about the part that amateurs actually do. Namely, programming. Every amateur has their own idea of what game they want to make, but few ever get past that "prototype" stage you mention. Indeed, most don't try; they go straight to the "make a big, complex game engine" part.

Since few ever get to even a functioning prototype, they are never in a position to ask about how to improve some element of their game design.

Answer 3

This site could be so much more if there were more game design questions asked. I feel when someone says game development they immediately think game programmer.

I think you're drawing incorrect conclusions; the reason there are fewer game design questions on the site is that they are fewer questions of that type being asked, not because those questions are in any fashion explicitly disallowed or discouraged.

As long as the question fits the scope of the site (reasonably related to game development, not a discussion-oriented question, et cetera), then it can be asked here. People simply haven't asked that many game-design questions relative to the number of programming-oriented ones. If there are questions that should be here, ask them.

If this site is just going to be about game programming, can we please make a corresponding game design stack exchange because that's the hard part not the programming.

I disagree completely with this assertion that the programming aspect of game development is easy -- all aspects of the process are challenging and which is more challenging for any individual will be impacted significantly by that individual's actual skillset.