ALEXIS9000'S PROFILE

author=unity
Let me put it to you like this. Look at these links:

http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/16366/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/16151/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/15985/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/15223/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/15202/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/15994/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/11235/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/13699/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/14193/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/12479/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/14191/
http://rpgmaker.net/forums/topics/11538/

These are all "LET'S GET A TEAM AND DO MY GAME IDEA" and such. NONE of these games ever were completed. Most didn't even get gamepages up. Why? Because this isn't how you form a team. It can work, but it's very unlikely.

author=Liberty
I will tell you the same thing I tell a lot of others who are new to the community and want to team up with others:

Quite honestly, what is being asked for is a bit much. They are asking for people to put aside their own plans, to commit to a team that they know nothing about and has yet to show anything of substance that makes people want to join.

The amount of people I would work with for a serious game team can be counted on maybe my two hands. One of those people posted in this thread. I know them, I know I can trust them to complete projects and work well with them. I know they won't flake out or cause issues with-in a team. I know that they produce quality work and that together we could create a great project. I've seen what they've created in the past, I've talked to them and gotten to know them personally, know their work ethic and that we can get along. I probably still wouldn't commit to an exclusive continuous team up with most of the people on that list though.

What you're offering isn't enough for people to want to jump on board and take a risk. You'll probably get a lot of newbies wanting to jump in but from the sounds of it you're looking for more than that - actual experienced creators, and a lot of them at that.

Before you lead a team you need to have experience as a game creator - because if someone drops out for whatever reason, it'll be up to you to work with what they left. Cultivate your skills, create a showcase of games that people can say 'oh, yeah, that's the guy who made such and such. s/he has great ideas/skills, I could try to work with them!'.

Make it one small project to see how the team works, don't force a commitment when you're not even sure whether the team will get along, who is more likely to try and take charge, who is more likely to slack off, who keeps deadlines, who does great quality work... etc.

If you want to take the short-cut route - and let me tell you, it's not much of a shortcut, but hey! it's freer than paying someone to work for you - try making smaller games, helping others out with their projects, doing some of the small community contests and learning what you can. You'll get your name out there and if people know you they'll feel better about helping you.

Of course this can backfire quite a bit if you don't have the better connection that getting to know others over a longer period will give you. Of course, just because you are close friends with others doesn't mean that you'll get a finished product out of all of your work. Some people don't like taking orders and like to be in charge, some may disappear for a time and others may just not care as much as you do about the project you're creating or create problems among the team. Sometime things just go wrong and you're left with a project that you can't finish because you don't know how to do whatever the other person was doing.

This is why it's important to cultivate your own skills.

Your skills are your selling point when it comes to creating a team, and the more skills you have (or more skilled you are in one area), the more likely it is that others will take you seriously enough to consider aiding you.

It's not just mapping, spriting or scripting, either. There's music and sound, the other graphical areas (like battlers, faces, resource management and menu design), story/plot/character development/script-writing and gameplay.

Of these the written areas are the least wanted, whilst the graphical and (in the case of XP and VX) script side of things are the most valued. Mapping and sound tend to fall between, depending on the game, though music can sometimes be just as sought after as graphics. This means that you'll find a lot of people who are willing to write the story for you, but not as many that will do the full soundtrack or create original graphics - especially when they have no reason to believe that you will actually release the game, as they don't know you or your track record.

The graphics and scripting/systems are the tangible things that people can see and are usually the first thing a person looks for when they check out a project. It's what gets people excited for a project and actually look at the story. Sometimes people will overlook this if they know the person who is making the game (for example, I would play anything made by Lysander, Kentona, Strangeluv, Legion, etc... because I know that I've enjoyed their previous games before and don't need to look at the graphics to know I'd probably find any others of theirs enjoyable.) Most of the time, though, if someone wants help they will show them something that will draw that person to the project.

It's not enough to say that the story is wild and the character designs are amazing. You have to show them that they want to be a part of the project. Usually this is done with a well-presented topic, filled with pictures of characters and areas, some sprite work and maps, a concise but well worded explanation of the story and characters, perhaps a few tunes or a small trailer so that people can get a taste of the game and decide whether or not they want to be a part of it. Of course, being know helps, but a lot of people will respond well to someone who seems to know what they are doing and what they need.

You need to sell your idea to the public, make connections, prove that you're dedicated to game making in general and your own game in particular and learn how to do things so that if something does fall through with one of your team, you can pick up the pieces so that the rest of the team doesn't just leave.