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#1 2012-04-20 13:41:12

KZR
Member
Registered: 2010-07-14
Posts: 1,447
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POLL - Would you support ?

If a video game company raised funds from its fans, and in exchange, released all their games for free , would you put your money on their funding?

Answer the poll here:

Please help me. This is a small market study i'm doing. Give your honest answer only.


http://www.facebook.com/questions/2595098175505/


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#2 2012-04-22 15:36:48

Alexandre
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From: Brazil
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 3,300
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Re: POLL - Would you support ?

it depends on the games.

are you talking about crowdfunding?

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#3 2012-04-22 22:40:28

Redshrike
Member
Registered: 2010-09-11
Posts: 49

Re: POLL - Would you support ?

Do you mean free as in beer (no cost) or free as in freedom (that is, under an open license)?  Because I imagine that that would have an effect on my answer.

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#4 2012-04-22 23:17:25

KZR
Member
Registered: 2010-07-14
Posts: 1,447
Website

Re: POLL - Would you support ?

The idea is this:

Whenever a new title is to be released, it becomes a crowdfunding project.
Whoever funds the project gets special perks (rewards) such as the most common "boxed version with printed cd and manual".
However, the final release is to be free (as in freedom) for everyone and have its source open.

I came up with this because the donation model, while logically fair, is far from generating much revenue.

Crowdfunding works in many similar ways, except it rewards the donor with a specific perk based on the amount of money.

i also did some research on the old time shareware model where games were freely distributed, but contained only the first part of the game. to get the other episodes, the author requested a fee, which after paid, would result in the author sending the full version. Apogee got absurdely rich with this, before they split and blew it.

All this is because the open source world usually fails to get proper funding, and people usually prefer to  have something physical or meaningful in return for their money. When you donate, that's it. When you fund through crowdfunding, you can choose what to get in return, and that seems to work better.

So, here are two possibilities:

1. Release part of the game without funding, build a fanbase, ask the fans to fund the rest of the development.

2. Release a few games on our own funding to make a name, and ask future projects to be funded.


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#5 2012-04-23 02:56:30

Alexandre
Administrator
From: Brazil
Registered: 2009-01-27
Posts: 3,300
Website

Re: POLL - Would you support ?

KZR wrote:

So, here are two possibilities:

1. Release part of the game without funding, build a fanbase, ask the fans to fund the rest of the development.

2. Release a few games on our own funding to make a name, and ask future projects to be funded.

it depends on which kind of game you're making. My 2 cents:

If you're making a medium-sized game (such as SD), release a first part of the game and check how players react. If they're willing to pay for your product, then it's a good sign: you've got the direction right.

If, on the other hand, you're an indie developer who only makes tiny mini-games, then you may go for option 2. Beware when choosing this for larger projects, though, because the player may feel insecure as to whether he or she will ever see the game completed.

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