Messages

1

... and all the other things floating around out there / Re: Star Citizen

« on: November 21, 2012, 07:14:55 pm »

meh, stop whining about p2w, even if it is, it's still better than all the other games out there.

p2w ain't that bad

2

General Off Topic / Re: Monty Python and the Holy Grail- A MUST WATCH

« on: November 20, 2012, 02:50:26 pm »

It's out already?

3

... and all the other things floating around out there / why are most 'MMOs' just 'coop'?

« on: November 19, 2012, 05:35:14 pm »

It's quick to label your game a MMORPG, but as far as I'm concerned, they are not. They are standard coop games.

In your standard MMO, every player feels entitled to be a hero. For me, a proper game has only very few heroes. And you don't become a hero by playing or grinding the longest. You become a hero by gaining a reputation, which is not a number in a char sheet, but how many people actually know and respect or fear you. For me, progress is not moving in teams and wiping substandard AI troops over and over again to see your little XP bar rise. For me, a real MMORPG is one where the players write the story. Giving players a detailed sandbox, but only few rules. The rest is up to the players themselves. Betray, Group up, rise, fall, everything affects everyone else, and nothing is scripted.

Am I naive in that regard? Or the only one who has a strong interest in such a project?

Discuss.

4

General Off Topic / Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality

« 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.

5

General Off Topic / Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality

« 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.

6

General Off Topic / Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality

« 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.

7

General Off Topic / Re: Game/Mod Devs & morality

« 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.

8

General Off Topic / Game/Mod Devs & morality

« 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 ), 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?