I feel invisible.

I feel invisible but not literally. I’ll explain exactly whats going on below:

After working for 5 months as a Lead Developer on Rod and Reef, the best game and roleplaying game you can play on Roblox in 2026 :DD, I finally came to a conclusion today that I’d rather think is just my own perception and not an objective reality.

I feel like Im not valued in my niche, at my job, or whatever, and I might sound like a professional attention seeker, but I have my reasons for thinking this.

First of all, if you look at an artist, animator, modeler, sound designer, builder, musician, graphic or VFX designer, you can very easily come to a conclusion about that person professionally: that they’re really good at what they do, that they’re the GOAT, that it suits them perfectly, that you’re their fan, the “yoooo i could never create something like that 😭😭😭” (THIS LAST PART IS BULLSHIT, dont ever message that shit again fucking retard). I mean, even a highly biased personal conclusion.

And yes its true, tbh there are people who are really good at what they do, and I tip my hat to them.

But what about us programmers???

I’ve never seen anyone say they’re a fan of a programmer, or that their work is valued and their ingenuity appreciated as much as you’d appreciate an art commission of your beloved Roblox avatar. And I’ll say it again: I’m speaking from my own experience so far; I don’t know if in the future I’ll feel as appreciated as a programmer as I think I deserve.

It makes me a lil sad to see how the Rod and Reef devteam, with their small community, gets tons of praise from other devs and fans for their artwork, but with us scripters its just “bro, make me this system and fix these bugs oh okay thanks” and thats where it ends.

It’s like they often get all the credit, isn’t it? It’s true that they create great animations, 3D models, maps, 2D art, and game design. But none of that, absolutely none of it, can on its own, create a game as beautiful as Rod and Reef without a programmer.

Video games without us are NOTHING. And very few people truly grasp the impact or appreciate the magnitude of the amazing software creation right under their noses, a vast fragment of a human mind applying its greatest engineering power. Because I do, when I listen to a song by my favorite indie artist, I say to myself, “Damn, this mf is really good at making music, I can’t believe that heaven captured in sound was produced by this person” and then I go through my little ritual of appreciating that song.

Because I made a dream come true, my boss’ dream of finishing Rod and Reef, and I’ll keep making more clients dreams of apps and video games come true.

I’d really like to feel that everything I do isnt in vain. Yes, I might be the highest paid developer at Shatterworks, but I also want my five minutes of fame and a shower of compliments, because after all, Im human, and attention is important too.

We all want to feel important.