cRPG

Off Topic => General Off Topic => Topic started by: shazbot on November 10, 2012, 10:17:38 pm

Title: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: shazbot on November 10, 2012, 10:17:38 pm
Open discussion about something that I consider an interesting question.

Personally, I consider that a Mod and/or indie dev team has to be held to higher morale standards than a "normal" game developer. As an indie, your only chance is to have a community around you that helps you develop the game and also promote it. You don't have millions to spend for marketing. Word of mouth is the one and only way to make indie games a success.

This kind of community is a very special one, and has it's unique ways. They usually stick around longer if things go wrong. They can accept bugs as part of the unique character of the game (as long as it's within bounds :wink:), but in return, they ask for more. They ask for communication, interaction, honesty - in short, they don't want to get fucked over. That's the most important part. It also sounds like a nobrainer, but the big players in the industry show us that it's not really an importance for them. Fuck something up as a big player? Just throw more money into the marketing. Fuck something up as an indie? Gone for good.

I think this is the reason I love indie developing, from both POVs (if you get what I mean). You don't have this streamlined shit, with every decision triple checked by economists if it might increase sales by another 0.1%.

So indie developing must be the paradise then? Do whatever you want, and eventually, you will hit that big success?

Well, obviously, it's not that easy. Indie devs have to fight against different dangers. Indie devs often lack money and diversity. A big studio can buy any necessary dev qualification in an instant. Indies don't have that convenience, they either have to learn it themselves, find someone who is crazy enough as themselves to work for free, or buy it with money. Then there is also licensing costs, and those can fuck you up for real too, because there's so much licensing needed, it's horrible.

So, long story short, indies need money, as sad as it is. Now the interesting part: where to get it from? And what is acceptable as an indie dev? How far can you go without compromising your integrity, your morality, your honor, your commitment to the community? What if you are offered a low-hanging fruit, that might have a slightly bitter taste for some, yourself included? What about solving your problems by giving up some of your independence temporarily, allowing you to finance your own idea in the long run? Does the end justify the means?


Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Leshma on November 10, 2012, 10:21:54 pm
Who are you?
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: shazbot on November 10, 2012, 10:26:55 pm
This is a really difficult question. How can one know who he really is? Isn't it part of the eternal question? Strongly connected to the idea of the meaning of life, is also the question who you truly are. So I'm afraid I can't answer this question truthfully.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Leshma on November 10, 2012, 10:43:36 pm
Are you artificial intellegence?
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Jacko on November 10, 2012, 10:46:44 pm
Begone wintermute, before I set Kuang Grade Mark 11 on you!
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Tydeus on November 10, 2012, 11:29:21 pm
Lots of implications in that last paragraph. I've always been a person who believes strongly that the end justifies the means. Generalities aside though, the means change the end, and for things like video games, that means you end up with a different product. While it might further your career, for this one, I find it hard to argue that you'll end up with the same game in both situations.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: SirCymro_Crusader on November 10, 2012, 11:37:28 pm
At the end of a wall of text put a TL;DR version for us lazy bastards....

.....However good response to Leshma's questions, rather humourous, in a dry sort of way
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: BlindGuy on November 10, 2012, 11:40:50 pm
To me the OP says: I am thinking about making it pay2play, what do you think?


Also, I linked the gay porn, where are my LPs?
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: karasu on November 10, 2012, 11:42:13 pm
Lots of implications in that last paragraph. I've always been a person who believes strongly that the end justifies the means. Generalities aside though, the means change the end, and for things like video games, that means you end up with a different product. While it might further your career, for this one, I find it hard to argue that you'll end up with the same game in both situations.

Pretty much this.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: BlindGuy on November 10, 2012, 11:46:42 pm
Morality: Not an easy thing to share, it has a million shades for every one of its million shades...

Ultimately, what will you regret? Will you be completely happy with the choices you made or the sacrifices? Noone can tell you what is morally right or wrong, you must decide for youself.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Rebelyell on November 10, 2012, 11:47:54 pm
This is a really difficult question. How can one know who he really is? Isn't it part of the eternal question? Strongly connected to the idea of the meaning of life, is also the question who you truly are. So I'm afraid I can't answer this question truthfully.
throw your idea, you probably have one,
and you will newer know if you never try,
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Leshma on November 10, 2012, 11:52:34 pm
So this is for real...

Where to ask for money?

How about kickstarter.

But first, let us spread the word where ever we can. Some people are asking for money on Kickstarter completely unprepared.

Also, pick good time to start pledging process.

How much money you need?
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Molly on November 10, 2012, 11:54:02 pm
If the ends justify the means can't be answered by the community since the community has a different interest than the developer.

Overall, if the developer thinks that it is not possible the achieve a certain end with the means at hand, he/she is in his/her full right to take any means necessary to achieve the desired end - even if it means sacrificing a part of the community.

Whatever decision is made, it should be made after a careful and thorough risk assessment though.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Teeth on November 11, 2012, 12:04:25 am
Morality: Not an easy thing to share, it has a million shades for every one of its million shades...

Ultimately, what will you regret? Will you be completely happy with the choices you made or the sacrifices? Noone can tell you what is morally right or wrong, you must decide for youself.
Seeing as disagreeing with the morality of the status quo gets you in prison or make people despise you, society pretty much tells you what is right or wrong.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: shazbot on November 11, 2012, 12:11:21 am
there are some good points, i'll reply in a minute. I'd just like to remind everyone that we are talking about a hypothetical question, Therefore, I would "appreciate" it if certain words would not appear, words that one could consider "offtopic" for a hypothetical question.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: BlindGuy on November 11, 2012, 12:13:11 am
Yeah point taken, sry. This thread has worried me greatly though. I am going to bed now cause I gotta be up before the cockerels tomorrow.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Teeth on November 11, 2012, 12:32:01 am
In any case, whatever game developers do to get their money does not concern me. As long as the end product is good. That is something that tends to happen though with big companies. Their focus on maximizing profit takes a shit on their creativity and they pick low risk ideas, which results in Call of Honor: Modern Pewpew 17. Which despite being somehow commercially succesful, makes me want to shoot myself.

So whatever happens funding wise, indie developers should strive to stay creatively independent. They could be incorporated into EA for all I care, as long as they are allowed to make their vision of a great game. As far as maintaining a community goes, you first need to have atleast the prospect of a game to have a community. Worry about the game first and the community will come if the game is good, especially nowadays there are reasonably cheap ways of reaching out to a lot of people.

In short, money shits on creativity, if an indie developer manages to get money without it shitting on their creativity, fine by me.



Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Vibe on November 11, 2012, 12:36:58 am
Please do not sell your soul to EA D:
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Falka on November 11, 2012, 12:39:15 am
I think bigger part of the hypothetical community would accept almost any move made by dev who provided game in which players have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours. Such dev would have carte blanche.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Nessaj on November 11, 2012, 12:41:22 am
Everything Teeth said.

(click to show/hide)

As long as the developer has full creative control of the game it doesn't matter where they receive money from - long as the final model isn't Pay2Win :P.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Tomas on November 11, 2012, 12:56:05 am
Every Indie games need money at some point to be successful.  You just have hope that the price you pay in control/independence doesn't outweigh the financial gain you receive.  Unfortunately I expect it is virtually impossible to really know where the line is until you have crossed it, so the best option is probably to take small steps and pause after every step to check you can still look at yourself in the mirror :D
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Vibe on November 11, 2012, 01:00:19 am
While we're at that, Paradox is an awesome publisher. Been following Salem beta and the 2 devs that have pretty much full control over the game. And it's a very niche game, so not a big money earner.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: autobus on November 11, 2012, 01:09:18 am
Share your dream with the community and the community will bear all the "compromising". I think almost everything is acceptable unless it affects your final product and all the low-hanging fruits are fine if they help you achieve what you and the community dream of.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: tizzango on November 11, 2012, 01:20:13 am
I agree with Teeth and Tomas entirely, they have good approaches.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Smoothrich on November 11, 2012, 01:21:45 am
yes "shazbot" i'll swallow my integrity (and more) to start filming gay sex scenes with you for the rebranding of MELEEFUCKING.COM as a medieval larping gay porn stream site that requires cRPG gold for more content until you have enough money to fund your gender reassignment surgery
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Kafein on November 11, 2012, 01:24:11 am
When I had finished to read the OP, I thought "so, this guy says nothing". I read again, and yes, this is a big wall of nothingness.

Edit : ever thought about a career in politics ?
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Kafein on November 11, 2012, 01:31:52 am
I'd like to discuss the OP if there was something to discuss. Nothing that wasn't known by everybody here has been said yet.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: polkafranzi on November 11, 2012, 01:37:50 am
(click to show/hide)

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: IR_Kuoin on November 11, 2012, 01:43:35 am
Can someone tell me what his post was about? Dunno if it was because I'm reading this late at night, but I didn't get in a single word of what he actually meant  :|
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Shemaforash on November 11, 2012, 02:04:36 am
Why is this getting downvoted?
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Tears of Destiny on November 11, 2012, 02:19:50 am
Why is this getting downvoted?


People are reading into it deeper then they should and are bringing preconceptions.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: TurmoilTom on November 11, 2012, 02:21:32 am
Why is this getting downvoted?

Berenger told me he'd let me suck his dick if I did.

And we all know how large and succulent his member is.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: kinngrimm on November 11, 2012, 03:03:47 am
Life is short, time rushes by. Make the best out of the opportunities offered to you. You may think that moral is everything, but it wont feed your future children. It wont pay for a car, a house etc. So if you want things like that and an offer is made to you, take it. If but these things are less important, but for you things are important like freedom of choice in the developing cycle, then you can't let yourself be compromised by contracts which would give the contract giver the right over the types and forms of implementations, so that what you see fit would stand in the background.


Quote
So, long story short, indies need money, as sad as it is. Now the interesting part: where to get it from? And what is acceptable as an indie dev?
If it allows you to stay alife and perhaps get some extra money, why not aslong you keep the rights how, what and when to do it your way.

Quote
How far can you go without compromising your integrity, your morality, your honor, your commitment to the community?
this can only be answered case by case

Quote
What if you are offered a low-hanging fruit, that might have a slightly bitter taste for some, yourself included?
If your alarm clocks are ringing already before you accept a deal, get the fuck away from it.
Give someone you trust the details, then someone else who has experience in that area, compare what these 2 different person have to say about it, independently.

Quote
What about solving your problems by giving up some of your independence temporarily, allowing you to finance your own idea in the long run?
If it solves some problems, then you get a step closer to what you want! It doesn't need to exclude forever to reach the long term goal, the streets may cross again later as long you keep a look out.

Quote
Does the end justify the means?
Opportunists say yes, realists say maybe, moralists say never.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Bjord on November 11, 2012, 03:39:19 am
Whatever you do, however you do it, just do it well. How you get the money doesn't matter, just be smooth about it. If you appeal to our dreams, we'll make yours come true.

Crowdfunding is in my opinion the ultimate way to finance a project, though.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Thomek on November 11, 2012, 03:42:45 am
Well.. whatever gets the job done without ruining your reputation completely. (As your rep is important..)

There are two sides, what you can do without money, and what you need money for.

I have similar challenges, and have worked and is working a lot with people with similar challenges, although on a smaller scale. (Film industry, student films, music videos.)

I.ex I make crap films all the time, but I still need people who are willing to work their asses off for me, for free. And tbh I have paid my dues by working my ass off for free or very little money for others in the past. (Thank god not anymore though!)

First you gotta have people believe in you or the project. Throw some stardust in their face, and have a core group that is willing to help you with that. It helps to be charming and cool, strangely. If you are an asshole, it doesn't matter how good the films are, people will won't work for you. (Speaking again from actual in-field experience here..)

Secondly there is a problem of people. Most people that work for free are inexperienced, lazy bastards who justs wants the easy way out. People you can't trust to do it right, the first time, is a huge risk. That's why you need as few people as possible. Cut off people that can't keep deadlines, and don't be too trustful and patient with them! Well, sometimes you find great people, but these people need to feel that they are seen, and that they have an influence on the product, even if though they really don't. (But they can't know that) Basically you have to be a step before in the social game and be a good leader.

Now, money.
Sometimes, you need money, but very often it's just convenient to throw money at a problem that can be resolved without them, if you had the right people with the right skills. I.ex once I needed an expensive car for a film. In stead of renting it, I sent by worst/best hustler friend to the most expensive car shop in town, and he hustled it for free from the main salesman. Of course, a prolonged game development is something else than a short film.

To get real big money, you need real backing, and the only thing that will get you there is a brilliant idea and past accomplishments. Still though, sad but true, pure hustling probably accounts for a lot of your chances. You won't get real money from cRPG I'd think. (Let's say enough to fund a bunch of guys working for a year)

In any case, it might help a little bit. What you could do without pissing off the playerbase:

1. Sell vanity gear like crowns or whatnots.
2. Beta keys for your coming game?
3. Kickstarter?

I'm really afraid a monthly fee would kill off too large a part of the playerbase sadly. cRPG players are often on older hardware, and often come from less than rich countries. And for a MP game, you need a minimum of players.

What I would do..
I would say goodbye to girlfriends/friends/family, move to Croatia with cmp and 1 or 2 other devs, rent a huge flat that double as office, and make the fucking game. There, living costs should be comparatively low, and there would be nothing else to do, but to make the game. You will also be able to find cheaper workforce for graphical artists etc. If you can combine this idea with a kickstarter, you might be able to get quite down the road when it comes to a year of financing.

Also, think small.. I would love to play an awesome game with crap graphics  (but great music, that you can hustle for free) and buy a beta key with the promise of more.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Segd on November 11, 2012, 04:02:03 am
That is pay2win, which is only good for the russians.
I mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium
Like World of Tanks or Planetside 2. Without giving significant advantages over other players.
This is far better for me than:
I would easily pay like 30-50 euros just for a game as good as CRPG.
And on top of that id pay 10-15 euros a monthly fee.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Smoothrich on November 11, 2012, 04:11:47 am
What I would do..
I would say goodbye to girlfriends/friends/family, move to Croatia with cmp and 1 or 2 other devs, rent a huge flat that double as office, and make the fucking game. There, living costs should be comparatively low, and there would be nothing else to do, but to make the game. You will also be able to find cheaper workforce for graphical artists etc. If you can combine this idea with a kickstarter, you might be able to get quite down the road when it comes to a year of financing.

Are you suggesting a way to design a game, or pitching to me the pilot episode of NBC's next smash hit sitcom? 
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: bilwit on November 11, 2012, 04:25:04 am
Can someone tell me what his post was about? Dunno if it was because I'm reading this late at night, but I didn't get in a single word of what he actually meant  :|

Why is this getting downvoted?

Because it's a giant wall of text with not a lot to say (or even one cohesive point for that matter) and doesn't even belong in General Discussion. Indie and mod development has always been DIY. For indie games, they can do whatever hell they please with it as it's their game. For mods, all they can really do is accept donations as they come and for most cases the devs aren't professionals and are either doing it out of their own love for it or building a resume so it's pretty laughable to say that we should hold them to higher standards just because the nature of their mod community allows them to be more intimate. I also don't see what any of this has to do with morality. Dumb thread.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Shemaforash on November 11, 2012, 05:00:10 am
Because it's a giant wall of text with not a lot to say (or even one cohesive point for that matter) and doesn't even belong in General Discussion. Indie and mod development has always been DIY. For indie games, they can do whatever hell they please with it as it's their game. For mods, all they can really do is accept donations as they come and for most cases the devs aren't professionals and are either doing it out of their own love for it or building a resume so it's pretty laughable to say that we should hold them to higher standards just because the nature of their mod community allows them to be more intimate. I also don't see what any of this has to do with morality. Dumb thread.

It's not his fault that the cRPG community is illiterate and can't read a text.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Smoothrich on November 11, 2012, 08:01:21 am
real talk if you wanna make money just make a League of Legends model game filled with microtransactions, that you grind up with gold like in cRPG now or you just buy with money instead.

skip a gen (or buy looms) for 20 bucks basically, or drop a few dollars here and there for bonus currency/XP gains.  be able to "rent" heirlooms for fixed prices of currency too, pay a dollar a day (or grinded gold) for that or something.

just create a balance to cRPG now (but ten times faster and easier to gain everything because this game has a godawful grind for a lordly armor set + selection of MW weapons, or a need to exploit the market which turns many people off), and a way to skip this grinding by just paying money up front.

this will give hardcore gamers with no jobs a reason to populate the server, and keep the disposable income gaming demographic throwing money at you.

people already spend ~20 bucks for a MW item, sure they get banned for it and its not allowed but all you'd have to do if you released your own game was manage it in game and people will throw money at you.

anyone who complains about the game being "pay2win" and that they never will support you are liars, probably the same types that type angry posts about the next call of duty game being disgusting money grabs killing PC gaming while eagerly clicking refresh until it gets prereleased on Steam to throw 60 dollars at it.

with faster grinding for gear/levels and a legitimate way to spend money for items, people will quickly start accumulating all the content of the game.  that is why it would be your job to constantly add new, overpowered gear so people can throw 10 more bucks at it to stomp the servers for a week, then nerf it all into the ground so the game remains balanced.

congratulations, you are a fucking millionare.  hire me as your PR guy please

edit:  throw a bone to "competitive gamers"  and have a 5 vs 5 mode for clan scrims or something like that, with no bonuses (grind or money wise) allowed, with some neat features to support teams.  have big banners of your clan on sides of an arena, bet in game currency on the outcome, whatever.

most of this is with a cRPG type game in mind but whatever you are thinking of, this is probably the best model for an indie game to become self-sufficient in funding and a reason to constantly add content while creating a balance towards "casual" and "hardcore" gamer types.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: shazbot on November 11, 2012, 08:38:22 am
... the means change the end, and for things like video games, that means you end up with a different product. While it might further your career, for this one, I find it hard to argue that you'll end up with the same game in both situations.
Too much singular.

How about kickstarter.
Kickstarter is interesting and has it's place, but is only working in a very specific stage.

If the ends justify the means can't be answered by the community since the community has a different interest than the developer.
A very interesting statement (I'd upvote if the crappy forum would let met), however I heavily disagree. If the community has a different interest than the developer, it can never be a successful indie game. Because the developer is the extended arm of the community, and the community is the extended arm of the developer. They are a symbiosis. Both must be interested in a unique experience and also the success of the project.


Can someone tell me what his post was about? Dunno if it was because I'm reading this late at night, but I didn't get in a single word of what he actually meant  :|
When I had finished to read the OP, I thought "so, this guy says nothing". I read again, and yes, this is a big wall of nothingness.
If you don't see anything in it, then it might not be adressed towards you.


Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: shazbot on November 11, 2012, 09:02:50 am
If your alarm clocks are ringing already before you accept a deal, get the fuck away from it.
Every deal will raise alarm clocks. If it doesn't, then you shouldn't be thinking about signing a deal in the first place.

About more detailed opinion on kickstarter:

Many people think that kickstarter is the holy grail, but I think it's true to say that: A game that is successful on kickstarter, would also have success without it. Kickstarter is all about marketing. Projects fail that have great ideas but not a very good video or presentation. Also, kickstarter is all about visuals. So you have to be far into the project already to be able to make a kickstarter project a success. The way I see it, kickstarter is to cover the last third of the track, nor the first two.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: BlindGuy on November 11, 2012, 11:01:06 am
Gotta love the ppl like Momo and Kuoin who havent understood the question but have trawled thru each post downvoting it!

Thought about this as I sat on the motorway today, and while sometimes he doesn't express it perfectly, Kinngrim makes some good points. Also, I may not have the CORRECT opinions, but I DO have some experience here: I have funded myself for several years now with my own internet business, and am just joining the team of another fairly new startup, hence why I have been away from crpg for a few weeks:

1/ Get opinions that matter: sure you have a vague idea about who some of us are, but you need the opinion of a/ someone who has sweated with you over your project and understands it and b/ someone succesful in a media business. Unfortunatly most of the crpg community seem to be either students or layabouts and as such, moralising and shitposting are their forte and not real world industry experience.

2/ Take baby steps if whoever your looking at accepting funding from will allow it. Examine who they have funded recently, if anyone, and see what liberties have been allowed/removed from them.

3/ Do what it takes to get it done: This is YOUR baby. You can be morally clear of conscience whatever descision you make as long as the final product is to YOUR liking----> We cried when you changed the game, each and every time, but most of us are still here, I cannot speak for anyone else but I am not going to abandon your projects because you have decided that you need to get payed for your time.

Ultimatly, as long as you dont COMPLETELY sell your ideas and they become some paytowin stupidity out of a nice game, such as happend to BF:Heroes, WoT, NavyField etc. then you can feel completely morally free to do what you like: It is your intellectual property, only you can decide its value as only you know exactly what it has cost you so far, we can Uhm and Ahh but we have no idea a/ how long you have spent making a product for ingrates that isnt getting you anything b/ what any terms for any prospective deal look like.

So to close: Donkey must do w/e it wants, noone else has any say as noone else has any idea what sacrifices have been made/avoided, in the past and still to come.


EDIT: WHY can I not type for a few seconds without typos? Goddamn im a tard.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: IR_Kuoin on November 11, 2012, 12:00:33 pm
Lol at the guy who deleted my post.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Teeth on November 11, 2012, 12:13:21 pm
Because the developer is the extended arm of the community, and the community is the extended arm of the developer. They are a symbiosis. Both must be interested in a unique experience and also the success of the project.
I think you vastly overestimate the importance of listening to and interacting with a community. Just take a look at this game, community input rarely gets responded to by developers and if it does happen it is mostly in the form of sassy remarks. The developers work very slowly and often on completely different things than the community would like them to. Yet we are all still here, because the game is that good.

A game that is successful on kickstarter, would also have success without it.
Exactly like you mention here, a truly good game can do without a community supporting it through it's babysteps. Similarly a truly good game allows developers to do some crazy immoral shit, which will all be forgotten by us simple minded gamers as soon as we get to play that amazing game.

I mean http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium
Like World of Tanks or Planetside 2. Without giving significant advantages over other players.
This is far better for me than:
I am sure I am not the only one who greatly detests micro transactions. I would rather pay a 100 bucks at once for a really good game than constantly having this nagging in your head that you could have that one amazing weapon already if you just paid 3 bucks. Similar thing with monthly subscriptions, you feel like you have to play because you pay for a certain period of time. What I love about single payments for a game, is that after you've paid it's yours and you are free to do with what you want without having a worse experience than anyone else. Nevertheless, these micro-transactions seem like a very successful moneymaker and if a game is good I'll still play it, so developers should do what they got to do.

With that said I greatly detest any unlock system in these kind off games. Games should be worth playing only and exclusively because of their gameplay, not because you get a weapon after 20 hours. The grinding mentality that seeped into gaming everywhere in the past decade seems a bad thing to me. I would love cRPG to be without looms and levels, cause the gameplay itself is interesting enough to me.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: BlindGuy on November 11, 2012, 12:22:52 pm
Micro transactions can be good and bad. Segd seems confused.

RIOT games, who make League of Legends will take your money for a thousand things, but they are all cosmetic changes, you cannot buy the ability to win.

But World of Tanks IS a pay to win game. You cannot get the effective ammo without real money, and the best way to get an effective tank is a/ grind for months or b/ make a single instant payment: This is Pay to win.


Reguardless, Im with Teeth, like I wrote above: Most of us will play the game because its good, we don't care what you had to do or sell to get it made, if it the end result is something both Shazbot and the zerglings who play it are happy with, then thats a win.

Also, morallity is something very often husbanded by those who feel they got cheated out of something by whoever it is they are calling immorall. It has also been used to discourage original thoughts by those under the control of sects, such as Christianity and Islam have used to control information and personal freedoms because it seemed to undermine their control. So be careful, it is just as easy to limit yourself unfairly because of your morals.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Smoothrich on November 11, 2012, 01:24:17 pm
But World of Tanks IS a pay to win game. You cannot get the effective ammo without real money, and the best way to get an effective tank is a/ grind for months or b/ make a single instant payment: This is Pay to win.

Just need everything to be available with real money and in-game currency, and have a relatively fast grind time for in game currency.  Though to be fair the current rate of XP gain in cRPG is comparable to a lot of F2P titles I've played.

No advantages, just shortcuts to skip grinding (to attract casual players with no time to level) and cosmetic items for everyone.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Leshma on November 11, 2012, 01:36:17 pm
Kickstarter is interesting and has it's place, but is only working in a very specific stage.

I've been following various kickstarter projects for over last six months. It is working if you do your homework right and if you have something to show.

If your game is already finished but you still need the money (I don't care what for), just show "early alpha" content and say how you badly need money to take to another level. Release the game in six to nine months and everyone will be happy.

If you're just starting and you don't have "cool" idea for a game which will attract internet retards (see project Homestuck) then you'll need a name behind you. Frankly speaking, outside "these walls" you're not very popular developer. So it is recommended to have something to show on kickstarter.

You'll also need shit load of media coverage and you can't do that on your own. You can use us, regular forum lurkers to do that for you or you can try to contact some of folks who host popular youtube channels to present your project (I have a feeling that some of them will ask money or something in return).

Or another option which won't cost you anything aside from yours and Haralds free time. Make your own kickstarter here on site, similar to what Chris Roberts did.

Put initial pledge at 20 euro, up to 500 euro. You obviously have a lot of faith in this community, otherwise this thread wouldn't exist in the first place.

Test our allegiance!

You're always bragging how you have 3000 or more regulars playing cRPG. If one third of that number pay 20 euro that's 20000 euros which isn't much but it will serve as nice initial boost, later you can try other options. If we don't manage to gather at least 5000 euros, you really shouldn't worry about us and what we think, go somewhere else.

Also, if that game is similar to cRPG and has Strategus component you should consider legalizing multiaccounting in a specific way. If game is sold (after release) for 30 euro, individual player can buy up to 5 copies/accounts, each copy being added to his original account and each copy should cost more than previous (50, 75, 100, 150 euro). That won't make Strategus pay to win if you limit number of accounts in one clan. Will just allow people who want to play only with close friends (4-10) to have the some impact on Strategus and will get you more money. But you'll have to work on generations system a lot to make that happen (multiple characters, make something like in Guild series of games).
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Molly on November 11, 2012, 01:47:05 pm
[...]
A very interesting statement (I'd upvote if the crappy forum would let met), however I heavily disagree. If the community has a different interest than the developer, it can never be a successful indie game. Because the developer is the extended arm of the community, and the community is the extended arm of the developer. They are a symbiosis. Both must be interested in a unique experience and also the success of the project.
[...]
Best example of a controversy symbiosis is right in front of you: cRPG.

There is such a wide variety of things the developers and the community disagree about... so obviously the vision of the devs is different to what the community might like/want. Still, everyone sticks with it... mostly.
The reason isn't the symbiosis - which I don't really see as one - but the fact that cRPG is unique. A unique gaming experience let's a community endure issues and problems far beyond what a "mediocre-standard" game could allow itself.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: kinngrimm on November 11, 2012, 02:25:29 pm
Kaja made for the wolves a nice customized loading screen and menus. We come to an agreement and i paid him with a 2x loomed gear. It was worth it and i would do it again.

I would pay even more if i would get a customized set of light/medium/heavy armor set, consisting of Head/Body/Foot/Hand armor which would somehow represent a Wolves Theme.
I would also pay real money to you devs for that if that would then guarantee me it would be included in one of the upcoming patches. This surely would need some communication so my idears would be included for such a set, but hey i would pay for it, so there is something you could make money with ... people want something special, give it to them and let them pay, as long it doesn't touches the game mechanics and wouldn't overly hurt the eye why not :)
Hell i would pay upto 50 bucks out of my own pocket for such a thing, and if i would ask around in my clan possibly more.

I pay you instantly 50 bucks if you increase my lvl from 35 to 36. I only need another 125,142,319xp anyways. At least i would be over with it then and i could start playing more my alt, perhaps even then learn how to manual block ^^

I pay you 10 bucks for a free respec without xp loss. (But really i would prefer unlimeted free respecs, this also like in GW, where you can safe and load character builds. Alts wouldn't be needed anymore, Strat games would always have the needed amount of classes as people who apply just switch to what is asked of them, generations would still be needed for all the different types of loomed gear you now need for all these classes, but your XP/lvl wouldn't change by a respec, people would reach higher levels sooner, by that then the playing field gets more even, still with max lvl)

I would even pay you to get some of my own idears included into strategus, as you perhaps already know we are working on some things which you and your team can test and perhaps include later on, but if the crpg community would make a list of things we really want to have included, but you wouldn't much like them, hence the moral conflict ^^, let us pay you for some changes you would do then anyways.

But this is all mostly about, you get money and keep on going like now.
What about you get something what you want to see implemented, someone out of the community does the coding and therefor you give him a free wish about a game mechanic which then also would be implemented, at least to test it, if it would turn out to be bad for the game, you can take it out afterwards again. But that way you may get more people into the development cycle and the development cycle may get a boost. Lets bargain ^^
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Thomek on November 11, 2012, 02:40:57 pm
Many people think that kickstarter is the holy grail, but I think it's true to say that: A game that is successful on kickstarter, would also have success without it. Kickstarter is all about marketing. Projects fail that have great ideas but not a very good video or presentation. Also, kickstarter is all about visuals. So you have to be far into the project already to be able to make a kickstarter project a success. The way I see it, kickstarter is to cover the last third of the track, nor the first two.

I disagree. I would rather say a games successes on kickstarter has zero correlation with the quality of the game in the end. I do agree it's all about marketing, and of course, that marketing can give a hint about how great idiots/cool guys/geniuses the makers are, and see if their idea catches on.

Of course, visuals and music are important there, but I would think they are not the most important. It's all about the spin. I'd say the only visuals you actually need are good concept art. (http://conceptships.blogspot.com/) The rest lies in a good pitch and a well-directed/shot and edited video. If you can manage to spur the curiosity and anticipation of donators, coupled with your own enthusiasm, you are most of the way there.

Also.. remember, with your loyal fans from cRPG, you have a much stronger base to start off a social media campaign than 90% of kickstarter projects.

I'm a believer chadz, just do it.

Spurring the imagination:
(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Firebrand on November 11, 2012, 02:43:12 pm

But World of Tanks IS a pay to win game. You cannot get the effective ammo without real money, and the best way to get an effective tank is a/ grind for months or b/ make a single instant payment: This is Pay to win.

DON"T SAY SHIT!
THIS GAME NOT PAY2WIN!

I have 60% victories in WoT, i never used premium account, i didn't bought any premium shit tanks and never used gold shells. All my stat is solo-random, no platoons and no companies, only solo! So dont say to me i have to pay money to own lemmings!
 Also game is fun on low levels, so you don't have to grind for 10 lvl to enjoy game. I would say those who pay much in WoT are just shit players who can't manage to achieve victory.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Leshma on November 11, 2012, 03:16:53 pm
I pay you instantly 50 bucks if you increase my lvl from 35 to 36. I only need another 125,142,319xp anyways. At least i would be over with it then and i could start playing more my alt, perhaps even then learn how to manual block ^^

Selling XP boosters for money is prime example of pay2win.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Smoothrich on November 11, 2012, 03:29:30 pm
Selling XP boosters for money is prime example of pay2win.

People already pay real money for heirlooms for cRPG, but its a blackmarket.  People are willing to get banned or scammed just to not deal with grinding.  There is a huge demographic for this kind of thing, and almost every game with cRPG qualities (in game currency, leveling, upgrades, etc) that are full games have micro-transactions in some way.

To them, its not pay2win, its pay to support the developer's of the game and enjoy what time they can commit to gaming instead of grinding for hundreds of hours because they have too much work or school or family or something.  All the money this generates is used to fund time and effort for adding more content (items, maps, gametypes, balance patches, tournaments, whatever).

As long as its balanced and done intelligently to support both free/one-time fee players and a constant trickle of cosmetics/gold or XP boosts/renting or buying looms/whatever with relative balance you would have a cash cow.  Hell if you were legally able to add these mechanics to cRPG right now you would start generating a silly amount of money I'm sure.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: cmp on November 11, 2012, 03:31:28 pm
Selling XP boosters for money is prime example of pay2win.

No. Boosting XP is one of the lightest possible forms of pay2win, unless it gives a huge bonus (which usually is not the case).
A prime example of pay2win is selling items with better stats that cannot be obtained through regular play.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Leshma on November 11, 2012, 03:43:24 pm
I still would prefer if you don't go that way and stick to skins and find some other creative ways to earn money. I don't like games with consumables.

Also if you're considering doing smaller scale crowdfunding on your own, please add credit card option. I don't have paypal account...
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Smoothrich on November 11, 2012, 03:44:12 pm
if you need start up money just add micro transactions to cRPG now until Paradox Games files a lawsuit, than change your identities and flee your countries to begin work on cRPG 2:  Grind Harder with even more micro-transactions
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Bjord on November 11, 2012, 03:45:32 pm
if you need start up money just add micro transactions to cRPG now until Paradox Games files a lawsuit, than change your identities and flee your countries to begin work on cRPG 2:  Grind Harder with even more micro-transactions

Good idea.

Seriously!
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Weewum on November 11, 2012, 03:56:20 pm
Are you artificial intellegence?
Is such a thing even possible?

Yes it is.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Tydeus on November 11, 2012, 04:11:50 pm
I am sure I am not the only one who greatly detests micro transactions. I would rather pay a 100 bucks at once for a really good game than constantly having this nagging in your head that you could have that one amazing weapon already if you just paid 3 bucks. Similar thing with monthly subscriptions, you feel like you have to play because you pay for a certain period of time. What I love about single payments for a game, is that after you've paid it's yours and you are free to do with what you want without having a worse experience than anyone else. Nevertheless, these micro-transactions seem like a very successful moneymaker and if a game is good I'll still play it, so developers should do what they got to do.

With that said I greatly detest any unlock system in these kind off games. Games should be worth playing only and exclusively because of their gameplay, not because you get a weapon after 20 hours. The grinding mentality that seeped into gaming everywhere in the past decade seems a bad thing to me. I would love cRPG to be without looms and levels, cause the gameplay itself is interesting enough to me.
Micro transactions do not necessitate pay2win, which seems to be your belief in the top quoted paragraph here. I think Valve really hit on something that just about every gamer can get into, be they casual or hardcore, competitive or otherwise. Hats. Micro transactions for unique character aesthetic upgrades.

I find myself agreeing with you in that second paragraph on multiple levels. Look at mmorpgs for example. Most people don't enjoy the level grind, the rep grind or gold/material grinds. Yet they remain a large part of those games. After your first gen in crpg, you(almost every single person I've ever talked to about this) no longer find anything amusing about starting from level 1 and leveling to 25+ so you can start to really be effective again. So why is it still there? What experience that is pleasing to the player is keeping this in game? Seems to me that it's there simply for the sake of sticking to the constraints of the c"rpg" genre.
/rantend


Also.. remember, with your loyal fans from cRPG, you have a much stronger base to start off a social media campaign than 90% of kickstarter projects.

I'm a believer chadz, just do it.

Spurring the imagination:
(click to show/hide)
Not sure I agree at all with that 90% but likely better off than most. Overall I agree, do what it takes to get a kickstarter project going. If you have to delay progress on the game for a few months to get everything set-up to properly do a kickstarter project then it's worth it. Kickstarters are a much better alternative than prostitution.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Kafein on November 11, 2012, 04:22:21 pm
In a game with unlimited grinding (which cRPG isn't, given the amount of xp you need for 35+ levels), selling XP boosters for real money is kinda pay2win, because a player that did not invest money cannot compete with that no matter how much time he puts in the game.

In a game where grinding stops (i.e. there is a reachable level cap) or if the bonuses it gives become negligible, it doesn't really matter.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Leshma on November 12, 2012, 12:55:21 am
Also, don't forget this :D

Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: IR_Kuoin on November 12, 2012, 01:25:51 am
Also, don't forget this :D



Thanks a lot, now you ruined the ending for me   :cry:
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Leshma on November 12, 2012, 01:33:46 am
Sorry :(
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: BlindGuy on November 12, 2012, 11:55:08 am
DON"T SAY SHIT!
(click to show/hide)

Ill write 2 things: 1/ Well done for playing without paying, Pay2Win does not mean that you cannot win by not paying, but paying money WILL give you a massive advantage. Also your win ratio is pure luck, same as autobalance in cRPG, you cannot always win by skill when so much is gear dependant, and also I assume you use custom visual content, if not, go on youtube and see what everyone else is using: there is NO anticheat of any sort in WoT, you can have brilliantly coloured enemy tanks with their ammo racks, track weaknesses, fuel tanks highlighted so you can easily destroy them, but despite all this I still dont understand:

2/ WHY play WoT? Its a fucking 2D game, with 1 firemode for ALL the vehicles in the game, once you have played all the maps (there arent many anyway, about a score) you have seen EVERYTHING in this game. You either have a main gun you fire with a mouseclick, or you are artillery in which cause you have a main gun you fire with a mouseclick. Its a fucking boring grind fest with 0 personalisation, and also is completely nonsensical.... infact I give up, its just shit, if you enjoy it good for you I hope it continues to bring you mind numbing joy.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: kinngrimm on November 12, 2012, 12:20:48 pm
..., because a player that did not invest money cannot compete with that no matter how much time he puts in the game.
....
i am sleep deprevated so excuse my french .. .are you fucking serious?

I would give my left arm to stop this stupid grinding anytime. I am sick to my bones because of it. Yes i am addicted, that but doesn't exclude me being annoyed and disgusted by it.
offtopic:
(click to show/hide)

I would be a mixture of hardcore 24/7 and getting the last scrabs of money together to get perhaps more even ^^
But depending on balancing, you still could be able to outplay those who pay. In terms of hourly investment and just muscle nerve training.

(post sent after i slept away)
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: BlindGuy on November 12, 2012, 12:28:04 pm
Meh, the grind of crpg is a feature you experience only if you dont consider yourself able to compete at lvl 30. To me, between 1 and 31 IS cRPG, once you retire you can start having fun again, dodging tincans as you desperatly attemp to hit them over the head with a wooden stick. This is comedy. Seeing who can be the most efficient isn't fun, unless MAYBE it is for Germans...no racial slur intended but you guys are renowned for confusing the ideas of FUN and EFFICIENT.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: kinngrimm on November 12, 2012, 12:49:55 pm
...FUN and EFFICIENT.
can't speak for all of us germans ^^, in my case i got a boner by establishing lean elegant systems(i was for a long time programer till i got burned out), which when working mostly do stuff automaticly without me having to deal with them afterwards again.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: [ptx] on November 12, 2012, 01:06:20 pm
(click to show/hide)

If an indy developer has an established reputation/respect from a community, he would keep the community with him pretty much either way. What he does risk losing, is the respect part from that part of his community, that values his moral values and decisions in the past.
It is very much up to the developer to choose how worth his reputation in this part of his community is worth to him.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: rufio on November 12, 2012, 01:27:21 pm
pay to respec, and gear> color customization works imo, pay for lvls or looms dousnt
(click to show/hide)
, since it takes away prestige.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: IR_Kuoin on November 12, 2012, 01:30:50 pm
Well, the devs. could earn loads of cash giving out "pay2win" stuff. But luckily they aren't :D
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: BlindGuy on November 12, 2012, 01:36:35 pm
Well, the devs. could earn loads of cash giving out "pay2win" stuff. But luckily they aren't :D


Im not sure that they could atm: while they have obviously written a lot of code, I still think the majority of the intellectual property belongs to TW and their distributors. Charging for it before having an agreement in place with TW would kinda get them in some hot water.


EDIT: Then again, i havent looked into Turkish law so, who knows.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: IR_Kuoin on November 12, 2012, 01:39:18 pm

Im not sure that they could atm: while they have obviously written a lot of code, I still think the majority of the intellectual property belongs to TW and their distributors. Charging for it before having an agreement in place with TW would kinda get them in some hot water.


EDIT: Then again, i havent looked into Turkish law so, who knows.

I think Paradox would be the ones to get "mad". Mainly because they are the publishers of the game.
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: BlindGuy on November 12, 2012, 01:42:43 pm
Probably, but it depends what the deal they struck is. If TW were smart they might have been able to keep enough of the IP while still getting the publishers distribution deal, but probably not, Paradox have big money...

Ask devteam from MM: did they cut a deal with TW or Paradox?
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Kafein on November 12, 2012, 04:46:03 pm
i am sleep deprevated so excuse my french .. .are you fucking serious?

Yes I'm serious. In the case of a game where you gain ingame power based on how much you paid and your ingame time in a limitless fashion, the player that doesn't spend money cannot actually compete. Time is limited, and in this context, money is not.

However, most pay2win games offer "double XP for 1 hour" objects, not objects that immediately grant you X amount of XP, so the difference between a paying and a non-paying player can only grow as fast as all the cash things allow the paying player to get additional XP to what the other player would get doing the same thing (good luck figuring out what I meant).
Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: B3RS3RK on November 12, 2012, 04:59:46 pm
Regarding world of tanks: You can, by now, also buy premium ammo with normal credits.

This basically means, the only real advantage you can buy with real money in WoT is premium time, which does not give you any advantages infight whatsoever.

Title: Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality
Post by: Leshma on November 12, 2012, 06:37:59 pm
Why are we comparing cRPG and WoT?

I've tried WoT once and it's generic third person shooter game, only difference is the fact that you're driving ww2 tank. That's the only reason why that game is so popular, not because it's good.

Warband has unique gameplay mechanic, it's not popular just because we're playing as medieval knights.