AMERK'S PROFILE

Considering the amount of cliches that go into most rpg's, 41% is not bad at all. Cliches are not necessarily taboo, either, since they are expected to a degree; it's all in how you implement them.

For example, most rpg's revolve around good vs. evil, no matter how you spin it. It can't be helped, unless you are trying for something completely different, but then you risk losing your audience. In the fabled worlds of rpg's, it's expected that new towns offer better weapons, new dungeons offer hidden loot, you can steal from homes without getting into trouble... and so forth.

On a side note, if you try to make a game with little to no cliches, you risk creating a completely different game that people will be too scared to touch.

I agree with Corfaisus. I have yet to play this myself, as it seems the full game is not too far off, however once you are told the cost of the ship and then have the ability to earn quick cash through some grinding and side quests, it's up to the player to know not to go and blow it. Think of the first Final Fantasy game, when you had to earn high amounts of cash in order to purchase the fairy, except back then you didn't have optional quests to get you there, other than finding and fighting the meanest of monsters.

I will, however, offer one suggestion which is entirely up to Corfaisus to use or not. Once you speak with the pirate to learn the cost of the ship, you could add in a sort of branching option that allows the player to pay for the ship (assuming they have the required amount of cash) or to see if the pirate has any jobs for them to do. Then add in a sort of side quest involving the pirate that may net the player some extra cash. I'm not offering this suggestion necessarily so that the player can quickly scoop up an additional 500 in cash, as I agree with Corfaisus, they should be able to do this on their own, but if you're looking for ways to add in more optional content, that may be the way to go.

Just a suggestion, but certainly up to you. One of the most informative tutorials I ever found was for RPG Maker VX:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/45833692/Guide-Section

About 109 pages complete, taking the audience on a step-by-step process of using the game's engine by having the audience follow along as they create the same rpg that guide is teaching you how to create. It teaches them a bit about mapping, setting up events, transfers, creating the stories, switches, common/global switches, variables, using the database, etc.

Quite a tedious task, but probably the most effective. Something similar for this may also have a great impact.

BM, I've always been of the impression that when it comes to RMN, it's a great way to host your game. The game site is probably the most organized and complete in terms of finding most available games, and they also cover several game making engines that are not associated with RM (Game Maker, AGS, Sphere, etc.). But without also being able to have an actual forum to discuss the game, the game falls short in terms of feedback. You could, of course, use the "Blog" section of your profile, where you can update and request feedback, but as you said it's just a matter of people coming to visit the game page in the first place.

Now, whereas feedback may be plentiful everywhere else, I also find that at times the listing of games is much less organized on other sites. Sometimes I just want quick access to a game and don't want to hunt through hundreds of forum postings to find it, which is why I like RMN in that regards.

So my advice is... keep hosting the game here with its updates, but look elsewhere for the feedback. Don't give up yet. Only 36 DL's, but that's over a timeframe of less than 2 months, so not too shabby in my opinion, considering this is your second game, but the first that has been semi-completed. Also, anytime somebody posts here, or whenever you update your blog or the DL, it pushes your game to the front of the list (in terms of last updated). Chances are that there are people that might not have seen it yet, and that one update may drive them to DL it.

Another thing to consider is that since I posted the review, there have been a handful of additional DL's in the past few days. I'm not sure if that's coincidence or not, but it's possible people were on the fence, not really knowing what the game was about or if they would like it or not, and seeing a review that discusses the game in some detail might have encouraged them to give it a go. I'm like that myself some times, waiting for somebody to try out a game and post a review before I'm willing to take the time and play it myself.

Nice changes to the original names while still keeping them relatively close. I really want to see your take on the story.