I see game developers, especially those one-man indie efforts, to be modern reincarnations of renaissance artist-cum-technologists. At their core is the artist that longs to explore unknown world through manipulation of certain mediums that may or may not lead to useful applications. I see the author as somebody that takes pride in seeing his work affect people's daily lives. An artist might not even care if anybody understands his work or if anybody cares about it at all.