APRILSCHILD'S PROFILE

author=Liberty

author=Max McGee
Thiamor:

Here is the thing...professional covers a very wide range of artists and a wide range of prices. You can find extremely gifted artists that will work very cheap, and they may well even be better than more expensive artists who can charge more because they are more well known.

They should not. The reason they are cheap is because people take advantage of them or constantly do the 'oh, but x was cheaper' or the bullshit line "you'll get exposure". Quite frankly, if their work is good you should pay them well. FFS, sorry, but this is something I feel pretty strongly about - people getting paid fairly for their work and not getting ripped off just because they're artists. It's ridiculous and people who do it should feel bad.

Hi! I don't post around here often but I do lurk, and I've been following this discussion. I'm the art director for Max's company, and I wanted to clear something up.

As an artist/illustrator myownself, I take it as a point of pride to always deal fairly with the artists who choose to work with us. The artists we work with tend to be very happy to work with us again, and most of them come back to work on projects with us over and over again.

We are not a big company, and the TTRPG industry - especially little indie guys - are not known nor expected to have big money to throw around. Basically, what I do is up front I let a community of artists know, hey, this is what we are able to pay per piece, you'll get a contract, paid directly on completion, and get credited. Those who find the terms acceptable contact me, and we work things out (like if someone says, this is a bit more complex, etc., we can fiddle with the price a bit). No one comes in to working with us blind, they know how much money we can pay them before they begin work and sign a contract.

I'm also pretty conscious of not letting revisions drag out, and being specific upfront about the image design, so that no one is getting less for more work. Generally, we hit 0-3 small revisions, so no one is feeling used.

Like I said, the artists we've worked with have always gone away happy, paid on time, and more than happy to work with us again and recommend us to their friends for our fair business practices. :/

EDIT: Sorry this was so off topic. I just felt hurt by this allegation, because I think I'm a pretty good person, so yeah.

More on topic: Kickstarters are more successful when the asking is low, because they tend to go over the asking when they're funded. I feel like Americana Dawn could have gone a different crowdfunding route, like indiegogo, and kept whatever they pledged so that they could at least make the game, even if it wasn't at the level they wanted to get it to. Or a patreon, so that funding could be ongoing.

Dude Kumada I almost got trampled during No World for Tomorrow, so I read you like yesterday's headlines.

@ Liberty: Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback. I agree re: the axe. It was a last minute addition that Max asked for so it just kind of got thrown on there :(

@ Everyone else: his thumb exists but it isn't shown because it is behind his back and for added measure under his cloak. You know, like you do when you put your hand on your hip. And you're wearing a cloak.

If I may, to respond, sorry again I'm not Max:

The short game is "you are a bum who owes taxes, time to make some money," but the short game is only supposed to take 1-2 hours to play through entirely.

If Max put the kinds of quests you are talking about in the normal and epic modes of the games, I think it would be really cute. But then again, I like those kinds of shenanigans.

author=Versalia
(I guess I'm supposed to be JOURNEYING! since I am a Journeyman? or something)

"A journeyman or journeylady is someone who completed an apprenticeship and was fully educated in a trade or craft, but not yet a master." -Wikipedia

Feel free to let Max McGee respond to his own game's criticism though.

I'm sure it would stoke Max's ego to say that he's the only one allowed to have opinions on things, but I don't tend to buy into that philosophy :P

Anyway, I don't really see what's wrong with the menus - how would you change it, visually? - but I agree that the "press z" button minigame graphic must go. Good thing Max said before somewhere on one of these screens that it's going to be replaced.