So my little game is near alpha, but we still have people quiting like I’m contaminated with a virus!
All the reasons for quiting are the same, “We just need money”
So where do you go for funding guys??/
I do’t fund. I just give people a massive share of the possible profits they might earn. Encourages them to work harder and lets them feel like they have control over their pay. It works… (Most of time)
Really?
From my time,(which is short) people (mostly artists) want a ton of money to do work.
Lol, maybe its my bad leadership…
Here, I’m the one working for the guys. There are just some risks that are hard to keep going into. Maybe they aren’t seeing the same picture as you? I found it really hard to get into a income share project. Its a gamble, where getting paid is near always consistent, with the right people of course.
As for finding funding, I have no clue. I have been earning it, just to put right back into my projects.
Well, something in my mind is to save up a bit, pay someone for very limited amounts of things (a few enemies, the main character, maybe a few environmental things), make the gameplay work well for an alpha, then show it around. You can also then put it on something like kickstarter or indiegogo. (I actually like indie gogo better, as they allow paypal, and you also can set it to give you 91% of the funds donated if you don’t make it to your goal, so you can at least try to finish your project with what you get. It’s not quite as popular as kickstarter, but there are still a lot of people with a lot of money there.)
If you have no fundings, apart getting them via Kickstarter or Indiegogo or such, the only other possible solution is shares and a team that believes in what you’re all doing. That way though, you really need to prepare a good project and keep a realistic schedule from the start. Partners will - understandably - run away if they find themselves working double or more than what you told them, and will lose all confidence in the game’s future.
This is one of those questions that gets normally awnsered with: if you must ask, then you cant do it.
Getting investors is hard, and keep in mind they don’t just toss money at you. They give you money in exchange of a percentage of ownership in your product/company. You can’t pull back away from them and they can pursue you should they feel you were just scamming them.
However there is another option: Kickstarter. To be honest: if you cant sell it on kickstarter, you will have less luck in the real VC hunt (venture capitalists that are looking to invest in risky startups.)
My team mates are all loyal, they aren’t working for money, but the possibility of a profit is always a driving force.
Make a system of “Points” or something along the lines of, you pay them points for the work they complete. Potential profit.
How I run it anyway, works quite well so far
Sounds Shotty… Its like they are working for a Gold Star like their in Day care…
To the OP, I’d try kickstarter or indiegogo…
+1
If people are quitting your project like your contaminated - you need to re-evaluate what your doing. If your artists do not feel their contributions are useful, valuable, or that they will see their mark on the project, you better cough up some cash, because future profits at no guarantee don’t make artist want to produce art for you.
It is backed up by a kickstarter yes
Not shotty, better than saying “Hey guys you get 15%”. Because thats just stupid.
Profit sharing isent a feasable option you will probobly just get bad team mates, most people can just simpily not afford to work for something that is likely not going to make money. It would be a far better option just to just make a game you can do solo, then once you have made a few use there profit to pay for people to help. IMO anyway, profit sharing is basicly only 12 year old kids that don’t know what they are doing, I’m not saying that is you but it is to risky to take the chance that there work will be stolen.
I have to agree. Working for “points” sounds condescending and insulting to me.
Truth be told, I couldn’t stand getting “points” for working on a project, it would greatly frustrate me.
What would be a preferable methood?
I have the formula for how much via how many points.
Your Share = (Total Profit) / (Total Points Given Out) * Your Points
So you are working for potential money. I’m not going to argue because it keeps my team motivated, thus working for me and my leadership skills.
If you have a better method then feel free to share?
And “You get 10% of profit” is undoubtely stupid as that person could work jack all for you and get exactly the same as the rest on the team.
If that person isn’t working, then why are they on your team at all?
Truthfully, instead it still could be percentage based, and work off your current system. Just instead of saying they are giving them points, keep that to yourself. Calculate the percentage they should have based off the points you gave them. So the team member is looking at “Wow, I get %15 for what I"ve been working on! Maybe I could raise that by working harder!” Just an idea, it could work out on a project management system. They login into each day (or weekly) and see what the percentage they get.
Not something I’d go for, but I think it sounds more appealing. Just throw out the word points and keep that portion to yourself to do the math. Then tell them directly the portion they get of the profit. Because, if I had 1000 points, how much money do I get? Its kind of left closed for me.
Just my 2 cents.
Hmmm fair I can see your argument. Basically the more “Points” (Of which I should probably change the name of) they are getting, the more likely they are going to go “Oh Hey, I’ve got heaps more than other people”
OR
Even if I work it out on a weekly basis, like said, off a potential amount of profit levels.
So i would calculate how much they would get at different game profit amounts
Like
$100
Your share would be :
$100,000
Your share would be :
$1,000,000
Your share would be :
Not that we would make that sort of money, just as a comparison.
If it works for you, well that works for you.
I would see it as a scam if I am told about a point system without being told if a point is equivalent to a fixed amount or a percentage of profits. It either means each point = X USD, or each point = X% (even if it’s less than 1%.)
But hey, if the people working with you are cool with the point’s final value being redefined arbitrarily, more power to you.
Actually… I would never work for free without a perpetual percentage ownership on income, but that’s me.