Dark, I suppose you're right that most people would take longer to make a demo. I'm just used to my self, so I don't often consider the rest of the world.
I do, however, believe there is a visually impaired stereotype that does exist. The belief is that any product directed toward the visually impaired, will sell more easily than one directed toward the main stream. I happen to firmly believe this is true, and I happen to know it would be a lot harder to sell a small independent mainstream game than you might think. As someone who has made independent mainstream games, I can assure you it even takes me a week or two to get them going! Sound files can be grabbed from other sources, but graphics cannot. More than anything else, artwork in games, and programming techniques to display those graphics smoothly, account for 80% of the project. In the end, you are most likely correct Dark. If creating the demo would take a while, it is probably less likely someone would try it. Well, but then again, a sighted stranger would have expected many more pre orders, lol, now I've talked myself back full circle. Haha, I'll stop. It would be wonderful to, almost, support myself by selling games, but I think diminishing return would come in to play. One would think that producing more games would equate to more money, but there are only so many people in the community, and people's spending money is finite. As new games released too closely together, people simply would not be ready to spend more money on the new game yet. Hmmm, now if I could only find the perfect balance! Haha, just kidding! --- On Mon, 6/13/11, dark <d...@xgam.org> wrote: > From: dark <d...@xgam.org> > Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Airik the Cleric a scam? > To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> > Date: Monday, June 13, 2011, 11:43 AM > Hi Jeremy. > > Interesting thoughts but I'll just point out one thing. > > You mention "punching out a demo in an afternoon" > > The speed at which you personally can program stuff is > frankly unnatural! In fact given the wrate you create games, > roughly one every six weeks to two months, you could nearly > have enough to live on just from game sales alone, eg, if > each game sold at 20 dollars each sold 150 copies, that'd be > 18 thousand dollars a year, ---- as I said almost! enough to > live on. > > However, most people cannot "just punch out" a demo that > quickly. > > I'd guess for most developers, creating a demo of a game > like airik would take at least a fortnight of work, maybe > more, and if your prepared to work a fortnight for a scam of > a thousand usd or so you might as well go further and make > the bloody game, ----- in fact as far as I've gathered from > developers like Phil and Tom's work, the initial physics and > engine creation is the hard part and making extra levels, > objects etc is relatively simple (and a lot more fun), thus > the Scam would, for most people be less trouble than it was > worth, pluss of course, if I were such a scammer, why would > I make an accessible game in the first place? > > There are many sterriotypes about visually impared people, > but an idea that we all are all wealthy enough to be > tempting scam targits is not one of them I'd ever heard. > > Myself, were I inclined to pull such a preorder scam, I'd > put it out as a standard graphical independent game, and > thus generate a good bit more cash with the same amount of > work. > > Btw, as I said, I stil do not think Airik is a scam, for > all we know Jake has been run over by a bus and is in > hospital, has won the national lottery and is sunning > himself in the bahamas or has been kidnapped by aliens! > > there are imho many more logical reasons the game could be > delayed than scamming. > > Beware the Grue! > > Dark. > Beware the grue! > > Dark. > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jeremy Kaldobsky" > <jer...@kaldobsky.com> > To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> > Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 4:07 PM > Subject: Re: [Audyssey] Airik the Cleric a scam? > > > > Well I have not pre ordered the game, and I wasn't > around for any of the past trouble makers, so I have > remained completely quiet on this topic. I don't want > to try guessing whether it is, or is not, a scam. > > > > I just wanted to comment on the idea that $1000 or > $2000 isn't enough of an incentive to scam the > community. Please remember, this is only theoretical, > and I am not trying to link this to any of this Airik the > Cleric business! > > > > If the guy is sighted, people are correct who have > noted, he probably wouldn't have realized how small it > is. I, myself, am sighted and I imagined the community > here was much larger when I first showed up. I'm the > first to admit I'm poor, and man, a thousand dollars is a > huge incentive to do something, though stealing that from > people is not how I would want to obtain it. Yes > people have bills, and car insurance, and so forth, but a > person running a scam would be making this money on the > side. There would be no reason to believe the guy actually > had to support himself on profits from a scam, he presumably > has a day job that does that. > > > > Yes, to some it seems like releasing a demo, and bug > fixes, proves this is not a scam, but I believe when we > theorize about what a real scammer would do, it seems > logical. I know how I would have done it, if I had a > different sense of morality, and I certainly would have > released a demo to "prove" to people something was > coming. So you take an afternoon, or a day, and you > punch out some type of game demo. That's really quite > simple to do, and you can then write about all of the > amazing things the game will have. I wouldn't have to > cover the cost of sound libraries, since I could just steal > them from other sources. If someone is scamming the > community, why would they feel the need to pay for sounds? > > > > I think the low pre order price is another thing that > actually makes sense. It's all about balance, of > course. Since this would all be "free" money to the > scammer, this is not the time to be greedy. Offering a > lower price means more people will be willing to pay in > advance. This is also the reason I, if I put myself > into the mindset of a scammer, would push back the release > date several times. The longer things delay, the more > people will wander in and pre order. Even with all of > this Airik debating, I'm sure some people have still placed > orders after the first release dates came and past. In > the end, the scam artist, using a fake name, could invest > little more than a few days work to pull off the scam. Now > I'm sure a sighted stranger would have expected 3 or 4 times > as many pre orders, but as I've said, a thousand dollars is > still more than enough money to make it worth it. > > > > Boy, when I got near the end of what I wanted to say, > I felt like I had just written a "how to scam the audio > games community" manual! Sorry if that's what it > sounds like, and it wasn't my original intention. I > suppose the lesson to take away from all this, is that you > should probably trust a developer before you're willing to > hand them money early. I also want to end this by, > again, reminding everyone I am not trying to say anything > about the current Airik the Cleric situation. I don't > feel it would be fair for me to guess on that, either way. > > > > > > > > > > --- > > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > > gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > > You can make changes or update your subscription via > the web, at > > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > > All messages are archived and can be searched and read > at > > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. > > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the > management of the list, > > please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. > You can make changes or update your subscription via the > web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/gamers@audyssey.org. > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the > management of the list, > please send E-mail to gamers-ow...@audyssey.org. > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to gamers-unsubscr...@audyssey.org. 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