THE FEATURED GAME THREAD

I’m a bit curious to know now, now that the game’s been officially completed for the past couple of months or so, but can Ara Fell FINALLY be viable enough in getting that illustrative featured spot of the month now after all of these years?

I mean, I know that commercial games can’t be featured and all, but shouldn’t Ara Fell be a special exception to the rule because the original version was a freeware game and it’s been one of the many beloved projects that’s been around for so very long that hasn’t had the featured treatment yet, or does the full, completed version, since that was commercial, trump that whole notion entirely? Either way, I’m curious to know what the official stance is on that, as I would definitely love to still see that game finally get its front page dues someday.

Hm, I'm a little sceptical about that. Featuring a game that can't actually be downloaded unless you pay money (on a different site, even) just doesn't feel right to me. We should definitely have a special spot to recognise and promote notable commercial games, but maybe not the Featured Game slot.

Our current policy is not to feature commercial games, but that decision was made years ago when there really weren't any commercial games on the site, and before commercial indie games started to boom in general. Things have changed a lot since then. If people want a commercial game featured I personally don't have any objections.

I think a good compromise would be to allow commercial games to be featured if they have playable content (a demo) for free so that it's along the same lines as the other featured games.

author=NeverSilent

author=Pizza
Not featuring commercial games feels a little weird and out of touch nowadays. If anything, we should be trying to help respectable commercial RM games reach a wider audience, since it'll improve the reputation of the engine as a development tool.

You don't see anything weird about putting up a big banner on the frontpage that's essentially saying "Hey, try out this awesome game! It's one of the best our site has to offer! Oh, but you'll have to go to Steam and pay for it first. No, this is totally not an advertisement."?

Regardless, I'm just a single person with his own views. If the majority of the community thinks Ara Fell is so good it deserves the Feature, and believes it's a great idea to promote and incentivise the creation of commercial RM games like this, I can't and don't want to stop you. Personally, I stand by my opinion that money and hobbyist game making - which is the main niche this site is aimed at - do not go well together in an environment of mainly free gaming such as RMN. If that's still the direction people want the site to go, so be it. I just don't agree.
Remember that RMN is not Steam, and we don't need to try to become like it. That platform already exists. If RMN stops focusing on what it's good at - hosting and promoting free, hobbyist indie games - the site may very well start making itself obsolete.

i understand this viewpoint and it is more or less the viewpoint that this website has espoused. This was originally a site for free games and a lot of people have been leery about letting commercial games encroach on our territory. But times have changed. Commercial RPG Makers are viable now. Creators like Reives and harmonic have been making them for some time, and some of the most iconic known RPG Maker games are commercial now. I think it is on us to adapt to the changing market.

author=Toaster_Team
I think a good compromise would be to allow commercial games to be featured if they have playable content (a demo) for free so that it's along the same lines as the other featured games.

I also agree with this.

Fair enough, Solitayre.

And yes, Marrend, there are actually a number of Featured Games on here that have been turned commercial or are currently undergoing the process of becoming commercial. The big difference to me is that in those cases, there actually still is a game to download and play, directly here from the site. For instance, Hero's Realm will still be available in its old incarnation for everyone to play, but the future improved version would be commercial. The same is true for Remnants of Isolation. When it's done like that, I'm absolutely fine with featuring those kinds of games. Which is why I also agree that Toaster_Team's suggestion might be an acceptable compromise.

Well, featuring Ara Fell would be the odd exception to the rule because it was once a freeware game that then turned commercial and is rather still beloved and respected on here. Plus, if you look rather hard enough, you can still get the original, freeware version on a couple of sites. That doesn’t mean that we’ll then start having an influx of commercial games being featured on here and the rest of the freeware ones then start biting the dust – oh no. I don’t want something like that to happen. This would just be the odd exception.

NeverSilent
You don't see anything weird about putting up a big banner on the frontpage that's essentially saying "Hey, try out this awesome game! It's one of the best our site has to offer! Oh, but you'll have to go to Steam and pay for it first. No, this is totally not an advertisement."?.

The Featured Game spot is the largest, most visible thing on the front page and the first thing which appears in that slot's rotation. It's always been an advertisement- even a free game can be advertised. I don't understand this sentiment. The front page is almost entirely advertisements of the community, that's the entire point of it.

Dyhalto
I'm with NeverSilent. Featuring a commercial game is basically advertising on it's behalf, and for what? There won't be a monetary kickback, as would be appropriate for that sort of thing. RMN will get absolutely no benefit from it.

For what? For supporting a developer who made a game worthy of community recognition and wants to sell their game to support themselves and their future game making ambitions.

Acting like we shouldn't do it because RMN doesn't get money from it is really selfish considering RMN is the one at fault for not having a store system- nobody wants to develop the site any more or work on such a thing. It's not the developer's fault that they can't sell their game here and directly support the site. I'm sure many of them would, were it possible, since most of them got their start here and still hang around in the various channels of the community.

Solitayre
i understand this viewpoint and it is more or less the viewpoint that this website has espoused. This was originally a site for free games and a lot of people have been leery about letting commercial games encroach on our territory. But times have changed. Commercial RPG Makers are viable now. Creators like Reives and harmonic have been making them for some time, and some of the most iconic known RPG Maker games are commercial now. I think it is on us to adapt to the changing market.

^

The site making itself obsolete is more of a problem if we sit here and refuse to acknowledge the ability to create and sell great RM Games, honestly. I mean, there's no way for me to get the numbers on it, but I'd wager that at least 85-95% of the games here are free to play. I don't see some huge anti-hobbyist shift happening anytime in the future, since RM is such an easy to learn system.

I would agree that commercially available games on the site should be required to offer demo versions. IMO commercial games RM or not should offer demos. Sucks that most don't.

I really hate the fact that I seem to be advocating a "conservative" viewpoint right now... Ugh.

author=Pizza
The Featured Game spot is the largest, most visible thing on the front page and the first thing which appears in that slot's rotation. It's always been an advertisement- even a free game can be advertised. I don't understand this sentiment. The front page is almost entirely advertisements of the community, that's the entire point of it.

I do think there's a considerable difference between advertising something that costs money, and pointing people towards something they might enjoy for free. And I'm sure that if you're honest, you'll see that difference, too.

author=Pizza
The site making itself obsolete is more of a problem if we sit here and refuse to acknowledge the ability to create and sell great RM Games, honestly. I mean, there's no way for me to get the numbers on it, but I'd wager that at least 85-95% of the games here are free to play. I don't see some huge anti-hobbyist shift happening anytime in the future, since RM is such an easy to learn system.

This is a good point, however. If we deliberately keep ignoring the current hype about commercial RM games, that might indeed just as well cause RMN to lose value as a haven for RPG Maker developers. A compromise that benefits all sides is definitely necessary here. I may be biased against commercial RMing, but I will immediately concede the point that we should give the good ones among those games their fair share of attention, too.

author=Pizza
I would agree that commercially available games on the site should be required to offer demo versions. IMO commercial games RM or not should offer demos. Sucks that most don't.

Demos or older versions as opposed to a commercial "deluxe" version, both of these I'd have less reservations about when it comes to featuring than just showcasing a gamepage you can't actually download anything from. I'm glad we seem to share the same viewpoint here.

author=Pizza
It's not the developer's fault that they can't sell their game here and directly support the site. I'm sure many of them would, were it possible, since most of them got their start here and still hang around in the various channels of the community.

Yeah, I agree, that would be great.

Oh no, no, no, no, I didn’t mean anything like that. I guess I’m more in agreement that as long as the game is good and noteworthy, regards of commercial status or not, as long as it has a playable, free version of some sorts uploaded on here, then it’s all good. I didn’t mean to make it seem like Ara Fell should be the only exception to the rule, as there are plenty of other commercialized games on here that could also possibly pass for being featured on here as well.