A spin on the ransom model
Callan S.:
Well in this case clicking on the google ads is relatively free to do (in direct money terms it's free), and so if there's good will out there to support various game designers, there aught to be enough good will to look at the links a second longer to see if ones worth clicking (I'm not directly saying they just click them regardless - just consider the advertising a bit longer and perhaps indulge a click on something that interests where otherwise you wouldn't - and that helps a game designer). I thought all that makes it considerably easier to support indie designers.
I was also idly considering accepting donations by paypal, and people can name NPC's or areas of the game in exchange. Though I'm not yet familiar with paypal at all and whether it lists who has given you money (so I can link up the actual donation with the person/the name they have in mind).
GregStolze:
I'm not sure why you think the model doesn't work. I mean, it doesn't work EVERY TIME but what does? (Well, Colt 45 malt liquor, I suppose.)
The one I've got going now is http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gregstolze/regret-with-math-an-eternal-short-story and I think the buy-in isn't a bug but a feature. I mean, think of it this way. Wealthy philanthropists fund public art, and it's not just because they want to see the art. If it was just that, they could as easily put it in their ski condo in Vail or whatever. There's a good feeling from thinking, "Hey, I contributed to culture!" though I'm not sure people think of it in those terms. Or, with gaming, "Hey, I contributed to creating a pool of fellow gamers for a game I like."
Today (I hope) I'm going to try and mobilize the kickstarter donors to go out and recruit, Amway-style. If I'm right about the psychological reward of being part of the process, that might just put me over the top.
-G.
Callan S.:
Hi Greg,
I think it doesn't fit my profile and history - I don't know this, but how much did you release material prior to ever doing the ransom model? I'm imagining a build up of reputation or community inclusion and such prior. Apart from grinding my teeth on the forge or however I appear to all and sundry, in practical terms I don't think I carry that. Or I'm way off, but I'm just evaluating myself clinically at the mo.
Anyway, rolling on and looking at adsense they do give more example latter which seem to proclude my idea (at first they seem to be giving half assed rules, where not only is everyone else to follow them, but also try and determine the companies own rules for them...but then they actually provided more examples in further text, enough to forfil their side of actually informing).
BUT I was thinking of some sort of model of getting a certain number of links to the monetized page (is that even a word?), before a product is released for free. This backlinking helps up traffic and is well within adsense rules. That seems pretty viable!
Speaking of, I have a wordpress page but found I couldn't put adds on it. Started up a blogger page, and google owns blogger - can I even google my own page? No! I even put a new article on my wordpress page by chance and about two hours latter it was googleable (yes, I tried to make a new post on the wordpress blog to include a link to it, which then hasn't shown up on google!). Some opinion I've read suggests it's search engine traffic that clicks links. Heh, which perhaps conflicts with the idea above, but oh well!
Ron Edwards:
Callan, when you're asking Greg about releasing material prior to using the ransom technique, do you mean for that particular project? Or anything he did previously ever?
If the latter, then the answer is that Greg is a well-known author for a number of customer-favorite games and settings throughout the 1990s: Everway, Over the Edge, Unknown Armies, several White Wolf projects, and more. In other words, he's a good candidate for a lot of juice in my #3 point in my post above: "Greg's new thing" automatically generates interest across a number of potential customers, as well as among other game designers who also provide secondary advertising and support simply through mentioning it.
Best, Ron
Callan S.:
Hi Ron,
The latter, and your describing exactly what I was trying to get at - I don't think it's false modesty at all to say I don't have that 'juice' behind me. That's over a decade of juice, there. That's why I was looking at more humble models.
And I should know my history of who's been involved in what, but I'm not very good at that. Sorry, Greg.
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