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Going, Going, Gone
polarcactus- 09/14/2016 02:41 PM
- 18470 views
Posts 
Blind
2262
View playlists
Closeauthor=Housekeeping
There's nothing wrong with wanting to go commercial. Considering how much of a time sink game development is, it's really easy for this "hobby" to consume your life, especially if you're not just making short games with rtp. If you want to go the Patreon route, that's fine, but I think RMNers have a tough time getting funds on Patreon since our games take so long to complete. Since the product is infrequent, it's hard to justify giving monthly payments; that's what I'm observing, at least. So, test it out, but don't be surprised if that route doesn't bear much fruit; selling on Steam is probably the way to go, I think.
Agreed. Although I'd be willing to support the Patreon route, I don't know if it's the best option for this project.
You could always look into Kickstarter/IndieGoGo, even if you kept the budget fairly modest. Those funds could at least get you through the initial hurdle (and provide a renewed interest XD) to finish Tristan.
This project is already miles ahead of most endeavors on RMN; the original graphics are a great asset to market this game commercially. You won't necessarily even have to hire a composer...there's a lot of royalty-free music out there. You could manage it all by yourself and keep the expenses low.
But yeah, perhaps reach out to some developers who have taken their projects onto Steam over the years. I'm sure they'd be happy to help point you in the right direction. ;')
Do you even love this project, to begin with?
Things such as "it's not getting enough attention" should not have bothered you. Canceling the project for such a petty reason shows that you don't love it enough. Who are you creating this game for? And why?
For writing-related feedback, try Reddit (writing subReddit).
For art-related feedback, hell if I know. Almost no one is going to be honest with you.
Since RMN is a developer community, everyone treats everyone else's projects politely and respectfully because they want their projects to be treated the same way. Also, some people have an inferiority complex when comparing their games to the seemingly better looking ones. Hence, criticisms of any kind are extremely rare here.
As for putting the game on Patreon, it could easily backfire.
I have seen many enthusiastic game developers who put their game on Patreon transform into lethargic, lazy bastards because their Patrons became a guaranteed source of constant income. And the project won't ever be completed, due to :
I'm just a random lurker from the 2010s.
Since you want some feedback so much, here's my 2 cents :
Story
The basic premise is pretty generic, but that leaves a lot of room to subvert and deconstruct conventional tropes and stereotypes as the story progresses since the audience is expecting cliches to happen. I'm interested to see how would you develop the story and put your own spin to it, but the poorly written characters are giving me plenty of warning signs.
Tristian is one of the blandest characters in the game, considering the amount of screentime she has.
She comes off as a bit Mary Sue-ish, since she's too perfect. She's strong, beautiful, smart, famous, and everyone wants her, even the princess she's protecting (it kinda hints at this, maybe I'm just reading too much into this?) makes her completely unrelatable. Her insecurities and weaknesses (if she has any) do not hinder her in any way.
Princess Ianna, on the other hand, irritates me to no end.
She's weak, always sad and depressed about what happened to her country and it seems that the sole purpose of existence is to create some cheap drama for the audience to empathize with. It always looks like she's relying on Tristian for everything and it doesn't feel like she'll grow out of it anytime soon. It feels as though being weak/hapless is written as her defining characteristic instead of her fatal flaw.
As for the others, there's too little for me to comment on.
The bad guys seem pretty generic. They look like the typical nebulous evil organization working on some evil plan for god knows what.
Art
The mapping is extremely well done.
The beautiful scenery makes exploration enjoyable instead of tedious.
The hand-drawn character art, however, needs a lot more polish, since the body proportions are all wrong, the overall art messy and clashes with the rest of the game, especially the beautifully rendered maps and the UI.
Gameplay
Uh...it's fun I guess?
Not really sure what to say regarding the combat system, since I had grown sick of turn-base battle system after years of playing RPGM games. I'm more of a fast-paced combat player, but that's just my personal preference.
OVERALL
A pretty generic story with potential to grow, but plagued with forgettable characters. The gameplay is okay.I would still play it though, just to see how well the story develops
Things such as "it's not getting enough attention" should not have bothered you. Canceling the project for such a petty reason shows that you don't love it enough. Who are you creating this game for? And why?
For writing-related feedback, try Reddit (writing subReddit).
For art-related feedback, hell if I know. Almost no one is going to be honest with you.
Since RMN is a developer community, everyone treats everyone else's projects politely and respectfully because they want their projects to be treated the same way. Also, some people have an inferiority complex when comparing their games to the seemingly better looking ones. Hence, criticisms of any kind are extremely rare here.
As for putting the game on Patreon, it could easily backfire.
I have seen many enthusiastic game developers who put their game on Patreon transform into lethargic, lazy bastards because their Patrons became a guaranteed source of constant income. And the project won't ever be completed, due to :
- Money keeps on flowing even if the devs do nothing.
- To keep Patrons interested, the devs only need to show them some minor, insignificant updates.
- If the project is completed, the devs need to come out with new projects to keep the Patrons around (so that means they'e gonna stick with that game forever).
I'm just a random lurker from the 2010s.
Since you want some feedback so much, here's my 2 cents :
Story
The basic premise is pretty generic, but that leaves a lot of room to subvert and deconstruct conventional tropes and stereotypes as the story progresses since the audience is expecting cliches to happen. I'm interested to see how would you develop the story and put your own spin to it, but the poorly written characters are giving me plenty of warning signs.
Tristian is one of the blandest characters in the game, considering the amount of screentime she has.
She comes off as a bit Mary Sue-ish, since she's too perfect. She's strong, beautiful, smart, famous, and everyone wants her, even the princess she's protecting (it kinda hints at this, maybe I'm just reading too much into this?) makes her completely unrelatable. Her insecurities and weaknesses (if she has any) do not hinder her in any way.
Princess Ianna, on the other hand, irritates me to no end.
She's weak, always sad and depressed about what happened to her country and it seems that the sole purpose of existence is to create some cheap drama for the audience to empathize with. It always looks like she's relying on Tristian for everything and it doesn't feel like she'll grow out of it anytime soon. It feels as though being weak/hapless is written as her defining characteristic instead of her fatal flaw.
As for the others, there's too little for me to comment on.
The bad guys seem pretty generic. They look like the typical nebulous evil organization working on some evil plan for god knows what.
Art
The mapping is extremely well done.
The beautiful scenery makes exploration enjoyable instead of tedious.
The hand-drawn character art, however, needs a lot more polish, since the body proportions are all wrong, the overall art messy and clashes with the rest of the game, especially the beautifully rendered maps and the UI.
Gameplay
Uh...it's fun I guess?
Not really sure what to say regarding the combat system, since I had grown sick of turn-base battle system after years of playing RPGM games. I'm more of a fast-paced combat player, but that's just my personal preference.
OVERALL
A pretty generic story with potential to grow, but plagued with forgettable characters. The gameplay is okay.I would still play it though, just to see how well the story develops
author=Link_2112
I think this site has become too much like facebook/social media. People are too busy making pointless statuses, playing forum games, and posting non-RPGmaker related stuff. The gamepages and games have taken a backseat. There used to be much more commenting on gamepages, especially images!, and topics about game stuff. I don't know if it's because of the changes to the site or maybe it's a natural evolution after so many years of the same stuff. Because truthfully when I see a topic about something like random battles, I think "man, that has been discussed to death".
Link pretty much summed up my feelings of RMN as a whole. I wouldn't call this place a game development community anymore, it's a complete sham.
There is more activity under the Welp,Welp! forum ( due to those foolish Mafia games and other random crap ) and the games that do get discussed/gain attention are the ones belonging to, as Blindmind called it, RMN's 'inner circle' ( funnily enough, those inner circle members aren't of the old guard, but members who joined about, oh, around 3 or so years ago ).
I guess I'm just upset and frustrated with the way things have turned out and when a RPGMaker site, which is aimed at the development of indie games as a whole, turns out into a social media circus, there is something seriously wrong. I've been here for a long time ( since 2009 ) and watching a once energetic community devolve into a place where Mafia games take precedence over actual, meaningful discussion for game development is really, really, sad.
suzy_cheesedreams
1480
Well, there are fairly frequent review-based events, not to mention game and resource making events.
I notice that while lots of game pages have very few to zero comments, there are still quite a few that have people playing and commenting on the game - people that I don't think as being a part of this "inner circle". That on the other hand is I guess just what happens when a group of people with shared interests spend nearly every day talking to each other for years. It's really only a natural evolution, as I far as I can tell - for better or for worse... although I do believe effort is made to showcase games and other things by members who aren't so vocal in the forums (in the interest of fairness?). These are just the observations of a lurker, so take them for what you will.
The random battles topic, amongst others, was started by a member who seems to genuinely want to get some general tips on game design.
It sounds a bit glib, but if you want there to be more interesting discussion there is always the fact that you can start a new topic yourself. (I can't really talk; the most I've contributed to lately has been the user/game character erotica topic in welp! ha)
I don't have as much perspective as older members on the matter of whether or not the site has grown too fickle and superficial, of course.
And as some have said earlier, that amount of page views & subscribers is not really something to thumb your nose at. You work terribly hard on your game, but no one owes you their attention. I'm sorry you feel that you haven't received enough constructive criticism. I don't know what to suggest for that - maybe recruit a few more beta testers?
Anyway, I hope you do find a more fulfilling way of working. Strictly art based work might be the go if you're feeling wholly without support for full-on game development. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.
I notice that while lots of game pages have very few to zero comments, there are still quite a few that have people playing and commenting on the game - people that I don't think as being a part of this "inner circle". That on the other hand is I guess just what happens when a group of people with shared interests spend nearly every day talking to each other for years. It's really only a natural evolution, as I far as I can tell - for better or for worse... although I do believe effort is made to showcase games and other things by members who aren't so vocal in the forums (in the interest of fairness?). These are just the observations of a lurker, so take them for what you will.
The random battles topic, amongst others, was started by a member who seems to genuinely want to get some general tips on game design.
It sounds a bit glib, but if you want there to be more interesting discussion there is always the fact that you can start a new topic yourself. (I can't really talk; the most I've contributed to lately has been the user/game character erotica topic in welp! ha)
I don't have as much perspective as older members on the matter of whether or not the site has grown too fickle and superficial, of course.
And as some have said earlier, that amount of page views & subscribers is not really something to thumb your nose at. You work terribly hard on your game, but no one owes you their attention. I'm sorry you feel that you haven't received enough constructive criticism. I don't know what to suggest for that - maybe recruit a few more beta testers?
Anyway, I hope you do find a more fulfilling way of working. Strictly art based work might be the go if you're feeling wholly without support for full-on game development. Best of luck with whatever you choose to do.
I think it's you that has changed, and I mean that in a positive way. RMN is ultimately a casual, social, hobbyist community and it doesn't have the community infrastructure, professionalism, or maturity to meet the needs of more mature developers. The more you grow as a developer, the less useful you'll find this place.
I agree with everything you say about the community, and I think it's been true for a long time, just maybe less obvious than it is now.
I think that a big part of the deterioration of the community is that the more valuable community members have been contributing less and less, probably because they've realized that this place is very creatively stifling. I've noticed some formerly prominent people here posting on other, bigger gamedev communities (like reddit's r/gamedev) and they seem to be getting a lot more out of it.
EDIT: To clarify what I mean by creatively stifling, there is a small number of acceptable opinions about game design on RMN. Every discussion here is framed in terms of the built in features of either the event editor or popular scripts, as if together they encompass the entire universe of what's possible in game design. Every game design thread boils down to talking about mechanics from SNES or PS1 games, rehashing the same ideas over and over again. There's just nothing new to get out of it.
I agree with everything you say about the community, and I think it's been true for a long time, just maybe less obvious than it is now.
I think that a big part of the deterioration of the community is that the more valuable community members have been contributing less and less, probably because they've realized that this place is very creatively stifling. I've noticed some formerly prominent people here posting on other, bigger gamedev communities (like reddit's r/gamedev) and they seem to be getting a lot more out of it.
EDIT: To clarify what I mean by creatively stifling, there is a small number of acceptable opinions about game design on RMN. Every discussion here is framed in terms of the built in features of either the event editor or popular scripts, as if together they encompass the entire universe of what's possible in game design. Every game design thread boils down to talking about mechanics from SNES or PS1 games, rehashing the same ideas over and over again. There's just nothing new to get out of it.
Maybe you are right, Sal. I have changed as a developer. I'm more jaded, harder to please, but always, continously, striving for excellence. Maybe I should just move on from this place and find another hangout, a place that won't limit my creativity or dampen my enthusiasm.
Or just chat with more serious, like-minded people like myself on Discord or Skype...
Or just chat with more serious, like-minded people like myself on Discord or Skype...
author=Luchino
Maybe you are right, Sal. I have changed as a developer. I'm more jaded, harder to please, but always, continously, striving for excellence. Maybe I should just move on from this place and find another hangout, a place that won't limit my creativity or dampen my enthusiasm.
Or just chat with more serious, like-minded people like myself on Discord or Skype...
We have a discord server! It's not so active but we have one!! :D
eplipswich
2728
If I may chip in , I definitely agree with Luchino's decision. First of all, people are forgetting that Luchino has achieved a milestone: completing production of a free game (Enelysion). And so after completing this milestone, those who are serious in game production would want to move on to bigger things, especially making money.
Ultimately, game production isn't child's play, and it isn't something that anyone would want to do as a hobby forever without any reward. Even for me, after translating two free games from Japanese to English, I certainly would like to move on to bigger things with regard to translation (trust me, translation can be mentally tiring, so you can imagine how even more tiring creating a game is).
So that being said, Luchino, I would definitely vouch for you to try out Patreon. You have nothing to lose anyway. But of course do so when you're ready for it.
And to add on to the state of RMN, RMN is ultimately just a stepping stone for aspiring serious game creators. Anyone who is really serious in game creation will eventually grow out of this community and move on elsewhere, which definitely isn't surprising.
Ultimately, game production isn't child's play, and it isn't something that anyone would want to do as a hobby forever without any reward. Even for me, after translating two free games from Japanese to English, I certainly would like to move on to bigger things with regard to translation (trust me, translation can be mentally tiring, so you can imagine how even more tiring creating a game is).
So that being said, Luchino, I would definitely vouch for you to try out Patreon. You have nothing to lose anyway. But of course do so when you're ready for it.
And to add on to the state of RMN, RMN is ultimately just a stepping stone for aspiring serious game creators. Anyone who is really serious in game creation will eventually grow out of this community and move on elsewhere, which definitely isn't surprising.
TheNecromancer
3160
author=suzy_cheesedreams
Well, there are fairly frequent review-based events, not to mention game and resource making events.
This is true, good point Suzy! ;P There are events for game making and there is always a push to get more games reviewed. So it's not all bad. I think there was/is a way to get MS for helping or commenting? I don't remember specifically. Things aren't all negative but it was better in the past.
suzy_cheesedreams
1480
Well, I mean I can't speak for what it was like years ago having only been here for a few years myself. But I think it's a bit disingenuous to paint RMN as being a poor place for seasoned developers when there are still many people who continue to work here after having completed their own games.
I agree with Suzy. I can't agree with your shoveling and talks about 'mature' and 'professional.' It's crap.
You're always welcome to become a regular in Welp forums, but no one forces you. Talking solely about game design doesn't make you a better dev. To me all this sounds like Phil Fish. You can always have a proper discussion on Slack or IRC.
And to be honest with you, everyone here pays attention to your games, Luchino.
Also, I don't feel, you should make Tristian commercial... It doesn't feel right and you would end up redoing too much. Taking a break and making some other stuff sounds right to me.
I would love to support you on Indiegogo. And I think, that Patreon may be good for your art too. But I wouldn't talk about professional too much. The enthusiastic feel was what I always liked about your games and resources.
Also, IF is right. You can shorten Tristian. Maybe making Part 1 for now (I see the demo is down too). It is the best thing you can show to your investors.
You're always welcome to become a regular in Welp forums, but no one forces you. Talking solely about game design doesn't make you a better dev. To me all this sounds like Phil Fish. You can always have a proper discussion on Slack or IRC.
And to be honest with you, everyone here pays attention to your games, Luchino.
Also, I don't feel, you should make Tristian commercial... It doesn't feel right and you would end up redoing too much. Taking a break and making some other stuff sounds right to me.
author=Blindmind
You could always look into Kickstarter/IndieGoGo, even if you kept the budget fairly modest. Those funds could at least get you through the initial hurdle (and provide a renewed interest XD) to finish Tristan.
I would love to support you on Indiegogo. And I think, that Patreon may be good for your art too. But I wouldn't talk about professional too much. The enthusiastic feel was what I always liked about your games and resources.
Also, IF is right. You can shorten Tristian. Maybe making Part 1 for now (I see the demo is down too). It is the best thing you can show to your investors.
TheNecromancer
3160
I was curious so I looked through some of the comments on your page. Holy shit you have a lot of feedback. By RMN standards you're a fucking superstar. On one page alone you have just about as much feedback as I've ever received on all my personal games put together. So perhaps it's not the level of feedback you are receiving but the amount you think you should be receiving. I'd chop your head off to receive the same amount of support. There can be only one.
Also, if you don't get much criticism, maybe you're doing things right? But it's true that games usually get more attention when they are finished. Some people will wait for a finished game and just about every game goes through several revisions in the first 48 hours of release because of the waves of feedback. Rather than nitpick on the demo, just push ahead to the end and fix things after the fact. I mean, it's no different if you think about it. People playing the demo vs people playing the full version. In the full version people will be invested in finishing it. As opposed to a demo which they know won't go to the end of the game, they don't need to try so hard because this is a throwaway save file.
Also this comment from you caught my eye:
Also, I say also a lot.
Also, if you don't get much criticism, maybe you're doing things right? But it's true that games usually get more attention when they are finished. Some people will wait for a finished game and just about every game goes through several revisions in the first 48 hours of release because of the waves of feedback. Rather than nitpick on the demo, just push ahead to the end and fix things after the fact. I mean, it's no different if you think about it. People playing the demo vs people playing the full version. In the full version people will be invested in finishing it. As opposed to a demo which they know won't go to the end of the game, they don't need to try so hard because this is a throwaway save file.
Also this comment from you caught my eye:
But I won't cancel the project. Not only will it make me look like a massive failure, but it will destroy the hours that not only I have put in, but the hours that others have put in as well. And that for me, by far, is the worst thing to do to anyone. To waste their time.By your own admission you are losing the spark of game dev. I know all about it as I'm in the same boat. Judging from what I've seen in your comments you have lots of people supporting you, actively comments and giving feedback/ideas. So it doesn't seem like RMN is the issue in this case. Perhaps you only need a break.
It kind of saddens me that I'm not the same enthusiastic developer I was some 4 or 5 years ago, but I really do want to be that person again. Anyone who has followed Enelysion ( which is still averaging around 250-300 downloads a month ) during its development and is following Tristian now would have noticed a distinct tonal shift in the way I write my blogs. I was magnetic. I don't know if I've got that in me anymore. I'm whimsical ( as nhubi put it ) and some people may find it annoying that I change track so often, but that's just me as a person, and I wouldn't change it.
Also, I say also a lot.
Blind
2262
author=Luchino
There is more activity under the Welp,Welp! forum ( due to those foolish Mafia games and other random crap ) and the games that do get discussed/gain attention are the ones belonging to, as Blindmind called it, RMN's 'inner circle' ( funnily enough, those inner circle members aren't of the old guard, but members who joined about, oh, around 3 or so years ago ).
I guess I'm just upset and frustrated with the way things have turned out and when a RPGMaker site, which is aimed at the development of indie games as a whole, turns out into a social media circus, there is something seriously wrong. I've been here for a long time ( since 2009 ) and watching a once energetic community devolve into a place where Mafia games take precedence over actual, meaningful discussion for game development is really, really, sad.
Ironically, exactly what you described is why RMN was created in the first place. Most of the "old guard" left Gaming World (which at the time was the biggest RM site) because everyone felt cheated by the increasingly superficial posts, and because the site gradually left behind RPGMaker as the focal point. WIP and a few others responded by creating RMN, which was supposed to bring a sense of seriousness and passion back to the community.
Not to say RMN is on the same trajectory as GW (I do have some faith in this place XD), but we can definitely learn from our past so things like this don't happen. Because it's really pretty aggravating. I'm making a big deal about this, because I guarantee everything Luchino is saying, a lot of us have felt as well. Especially with the "Indie Boom" drawing a more definitive line between hobbyists and serious/commercial developers, we need to support each-other more than ever.
So yeah, in my opinion, it's not about "losing spark" (although that does happen), but many of us lacking support system and authentic community interest in our projects. Art can't exist in a vacuum. I think that's what happened with Luchino, and I've seen it happen before many times. Too many deserving projects on here are treated as disposable (Alter A. Variant, Oathguard, Rainbow Nightmare, many others) Even in the best scenario, the games that receive attention are clique-based, and that shouldn't be the case.
I'm going off on a tangent, so I'll digress. XD But I hope you can find the motivation you need to finish this project.
Dyhalto
7536
author=suzy_cheesedreams
Well, there are fairly frequent review-based events, not to mention game and resource making events.
Review events are becoming more and more disappointing. Look at the Review Jam from two summers ago. It was electric. Everyone was psyched. We laughed about the crumby prizes, compared each other's reviews, and ultimately spread tons of feedback. It was eight weeks of fun and excitement.
Now look at Meat Your Maker, the 3rd generation spiritual successor. It was only five weeks long and it couldn't generate a fraction of the original's energy. Even kentona half-assed his part of the event. It was basically a few extra badges if you wrote some reviews. Whoopee. Makerscore.
And all game and resource making events do is distract devs from their main projects. You could make a case for McBacon Jam helping people to network, but that's about it.
author=suzy_cheesedreams
although I do believe effort is made to showcase games and other things by members who aren't so vocal in the forums (in the interest of fairness?)
This couldn't be further from the truth.
I've been beating a drum for Nebulus to be awarded Featured Game for several months now. This isn't me with a vested interest. It's an outstanding game, and you'll agree if you try it out.
For last month's Feature, there were two candidates. It and Ocean and unity's mediocre game Bloody.... (Sorry, guys). You tell me the reason Bloody... received it.
And of course, this month's, Ara Fell, gets a beautiful scrolling gif for it's Featured image. Awesome! I didn't know it was possible. So I left a little suggestion for future Featured game treatment. Two weeks later, not even a courtesy reply. I've pretty well accepted that this is going to be a one-off thing, and the usual cast of characters will be doing a mad dash for selecting next month's on September 31st.
I definitely agree that event games shouldn't be featured when there is a backlog of amazing games worthy of the award.
Just wanted to pitch in and say that I understand where you are coming from, Luchino, and I wish you well on your future endeavors.
You've got talent!
You've got talent!
TheNecromancer
3160
author=Dyhalto
Review events are becoming more and more disappointing. Look at the Review Jam from two summers ago. It was electric. Everyone was psyched. We laughed about the crumby prizes, compared each other's reviews, and ultimately spread tons of feedback. It was eight weeks of fun and excitement.
Now look at Meat Your Maker, the 3rd generation spiritual successor. It was only five weeks long and it couldn't generate a fraction of the original's energy. Even kentona half-assed his part of the event. It was basically a few extra badges if you wrote some reviews. Whoopee. Makerscore.
And all game and resource making events do is distract devs from their main projects. You could make a case for McBacon Jam helping people to network, but that's about it.
At least the events are in place to promote doing this kind of thing. If the problem is the people, then quitting the site because of the people seems like being part of the problem. If the talented devs leave then it will be even worse.
You can't expect all events to generate the same amount of substance. People have lives so maybe the Review Jam was during a time when people were available. Now school is starting and things are happening. That's more reasonable than blaming everyone's collective desire to be a good community to each person who expects a certain level of attention/activity/feedback/whatever.
It's also worth noting that in just about every aspect of life scratching someones back to get a scratch in return is commonplace. There are countless things fighting for a persons attention. Doing favors is a valid way to secure help, instead of sitting back and waiting for it to find you.
This couldn't be further from the truth.
I've been beating a drum for Nebulus to be awarded Featured Game for several months now. This isn't me with a vested interest. It's an outstanding game, and you'll agree if you try it out.
This doesn't mean effort isn't made. It just means one aspect isn't what it should be or maybe just not what you want. I'm sure the lucky people who do get featured appreciate it. Plus, isn't it a vote? So it's fairly democratic. It depends on who gets involved and their interests. Maybe they compare Nebulus to their choice and feel theirs is more deserving.
Regardless, effort is made. Kentona is always saying he is running out of ideas of games to spotlight and nobody is coming forth with suggestions. One has to promote themselves and their product to get big feedback. If that isn't happening and a game is sitting on RMN and nowhere else, and lack of feedback is an issue? Then there is more work to be done by the dev to get people interested. We can't all hit the Pom lottery.
The whole front page is littered with features that promote games that otherwise would sit in obscurity. Games are handpicked by the staff, I'd call that effort. There are 100's of good games among 1000's of games, so not all of the ones you want can be featured.
I don't think the point is what becomes of these efforts. Only that they do in fact exist. This site is more social than it has been but it hasn't given up on games. As time goes on and the site is updated, games become more prominent. I've said that the feedback on games is worse, but it's not because the site is preventing it. Maybe it's a shift in userbase and their priorities. Still a decent reason to leave.
It's easy to pinpoint the problems with the people, but I find it hard to place any blame on the site. Except for creating statuses xD One negative thing out of many positives.
emmych
817
Sorry to see this is cancelled! I deffos wish you all the luck in the world, though, since yes do I ever feel the frustration of wanting to offer something to people For Free but not having the luxury of expendable free time in order to create said thing. It is super understandable that, in lieu of being paid in interest and feedback, you'd want to get paid in actual money. I know that I personally plan to release smaller projects for a couple of bucks here and there, when I actually have time to develop something again, and will deffos be mad tacky and shoving a patreon or paypal link in people's faces when I get back to working on my larger projects that will be released for free, since yup sure do gotta eat and pay rent.
Good luck in your future endeavors! Sad to see this project go, but I'm glad you learned more about yourself and what you need from your work. ;v;
Good luck in your future endeavors! Sad to see this project go, but I'm glad you learned more about yourself and what you need from your work. ;v;
suzy_cheesedreams
1480
@Dyhalto, fair enough. I'm only speaking from my own observations.
I still think the current review/game-making events have merit. At the very least they prove that effort is being made by the staff and users.
There are devs who don't necessarily make whole games, only parts of games like graphics or music. Review-based events have been made specifically for targeting games with little to no feedback. Kentona also gave out steam games in Meat Your Maker, as I recall.
As to my second quote, I meant that I don't think there is some conspiracy to keep lesser known users out of the spotlight. It's kind of evident just looking at the front page right now.
It is possible favour is given to some people over others. I'd like to think it isn't, though I understand doing so makes me sound wantonly naïve.
But there could be any reason as to why you didn't get a reply in the featured game thread. Maybe Nebulus really is overlooked. Keep lobbying for it and hopefully it will be featured, is all I can suggest.
I still think the current review/game-making events have merit. At the very least they prove that effort is being made by the staff and users.
There are devs who don't necessarily make whole games, only parts of games like graphics or music. Review-based events have been made specifically for targeting games with little to no feedback. Kentona also gave out steam games in Meat Your Maker, as I recall.
As to my second quote, I meant that I don't think there is some conspiracy to keep lesser known users out of the spotlight. It's kind of evident just looking at the front page right now.
It is possible favour is given to some people over others. I'd like to think it isn't, though I understand doing so makes me sound wantonly naïve.
But there could be any reason as to why you didn't get a reply in the featured game thread. Maybe Nebulus really is overlooked. Keep lobbying for it and hopefully it will be featured, is all I can suggest.
Well, my advice is take a break, do some professional procrastination and maybe in a few months, maybe a year, you'll feel ready again.
While it can be frustrating to not get much feedback, if you take the time to relax and play around with your game, add lots of jokes, a random button that turns the world into a disco, I think you'll have more fun and more drive to complete it.
Take a rest and lst your spark for gamdev re-ignite, look at this blog's comments, see all the people here who like you and your game, I think that's some awesome feedback myself. :D
While it can be frustrating to not get much feedback, if you take the time to relax and play around with your game, add lots of jokes, a random button that turns the world into a disco, I think you'll have more fun and more drive to complete it.
Take a rest and lst your spark for gamdev re-ignite, look at this blog's comments, see all the people here who like you and your game, I think that's some awesome feedback myself. :D
