Are the days of the lone games programmer numbered?

This article was spurred on from a thread in the Acorn Arcade forums, are the days of the lone programmer over? In this article I attempt to answer this from the RISC OS market, I may cross over points I have raised in the other article.
 
All the way through the RISC OS world from 1990 to present day, most programs were written by individuals rather than groups, as the market grinds down can this hamper our community? Will it reduce the number of programs released? What are the problems?
 
There are two sides to this problem, first is the lack of resources and the second is backing. Let's deal with the first point. The lack of resources has hit home more now then ever before as the PC market has taken speed and gone way beyond our slow world. More formats have been created, more hardware and for us to release anything close such as movies on RISC OS we have to resort to age old programs and faffing around with finding a decent player. If this was Windows we could download numerous players and off we go. Quite a few RISC OS companies aren't particularly forthcoming with much needed information either.
 
There is also the problem of example code that could be examined. A lot of coders have grey areas that they know little about and it would be extremely helpful for some sort of resource to be available with examples but it doesn't exist. Thankfully the community tends to be forthcoming with information but it can frequently end in, "No, we can't do that."
 
If resources were made available then they should be on one central site, possibly Coder's Cauldron so coders can go to one site and find everything they need. Problem is that many people don't want their source code released as they don't want to be ripped off and, sadly, don't want to be ridiculed by their methods. This is where the second point comes in.
 
Lee Johnston mentions the main problem in the forums:

"Usually the moment a game like this is released you immediately hear comments of derision such as "oh it's only 2D" or "the graphics don't match those done by professional artists". In such an environment it's difficult to maintain enthusiasm and commitment. Note that I don't condone naff games being sold for high prices but some of the games that fall foul of these remarks are free. How demoralising is that?"

Unfortunately it seems like you can't release a game without bad criticism by a stupid few. You seem to always get someone saying just ignore them but you can't as few people are that thick-skinned. These comments are hurtful. You always get the "If this was a PC game then it'd be free", which, quite frankly, sucks. If you were comparing RO to the PC world then it'd be dead as there isn't any killer application left on it.
 
These doom spreaders seem to get a kick out of kicking coders mentally. I can name a few doom-sayers, thankfully most of them have gone to other platforms (Linux), sadly most people I know have gone. Picture it, you have spent years on writing a piece of software (not necessarily a game), released it and what do you see? Newsgroup postings and reviews with severe negative comments in. Nothing constructive. Why would they want to carry on? SunBurst took years to write and when it came out it was criticised heavily for stupid points like:-

"It's trying to be Elite and it is not by any means."
 
"It's 2D, the way forward is 3D."
 
"SunBurst uses 2D graphics."

Why should we bother to continue? Please advise.
 
It seems the only way to fend off this abuse is to either become part of an existing team or create a new one. Lee Johnston was pulled into the VOTI fray, I quote:

"For me, being invited into the VOTI fold has proven to be something of a lifeline. Nathan's almost relentless encouragement has kept me going at times when giving up on something has seemed the more worthwhile option. I've also had the opportunity to bounce ideas off of people like Andrew and Owain - it makes me feel that what I'm doing is worthwhile."

The confidence boost is amazing and with a constant contact with a team hub (as I perform in VOTI) then nothing can go sour. My experiences of another group (that have largely disbanded) also highlight the need for some sort of team hub much like I operate within VOTI. This other group just didn't have a central person to do all the routine stuff that needs doing and it fell to bits. The job I do is immensely easy as far as I see it and don't see why there aren't more people like me in RO land. I quote from Andrew Weston:

"being in a group with a definite core is reassuring...."

Creating a team of people can be quite difficult. You need to get to know any possible team members first so that you can be sure they won't quit easily or do nothing or even worse, rely on another coder to do everything. Probably the main element is at least one coder, then the graphics artist(s). As shown above you need someone to act as a team hub who can find information, recruit new people and give news and encouragement to team players. Many teams have never seen the light of day, many have died in the later stages but if you are optimistic you will succeed, you will.
 
The BIG problem that we now have is that time it critical and everyone is doing things in their spare time but sometimes the graphics artists are too busy or the coder is and one holds the other back, it is frustrating but there is nothing that can be done. It has also come to light that RO has many shortcomings while trying to knock out a half decent game.
 
The number of people involved in a project is large now due to the small amount of time people have. Artex have it better as their games are destined for other markets where more monies can be gained but VOTI's aren't so hence the amount of cash people get will be small, the more people, the smaller the amount and the less interest people have in it.
 
I hope that any lone coders, artists, musicians, teams or whatever step forward and ask for help. VOTI and Acorn Arcade will help where we can - we are here for the market!