Arce wrote:...
Consider this: We, the Elysian Shadows team, decide tomorrow that we're entering the Beta stage for Elysian Shadows. You can now sign onto our website and play the Beta! Simply log onto our site, pay a $10.70 fee, and you'll receive a direct download link from our server. How many people would be willing to do this? Let's assume in a best case scenario that only our most loyal fans are, our subscribers. Well...3,738 * 10.70 = $39,996.60. You know how much of that a "middle man" takes? Zero. You know how much of that we owe to "production costs"? Zero. With that ALONE we'd have met JForce's profit for their game...Still in the Beta stage, on ONE platform, not considering "extra packages," T-Shirts, ads, or any extra revenue stream we could think of.
Maybe the above look is optimistic, yes...But it does convey a very valid point: We have not closed ANY windows in terms of our market, and do not owe ANYBODY a portion of our revenue. Those calculations are assuming our CURRENT fan-base does not increase when we release this game, that we don't make ANY publicity from releasing a full-fledged RPG on a plethora of consoles...
I get what you are say, and tho i think you make some valid points, but much of this is counting chickens when you dont even have eggs.
Yes you'll have a few that buy the beta, but i put emphasis on "few", not to mention that you probably should take into consideration the 3-4 or how many years you have worked on this. But thats NOT the point of this, is it? Who cares what jforce and who ever does, this is about your guys' project, and you, screw the rest.
Now dont get me wrong, i wish the absolute best for the team and the game, i hope its a great success. but in terms of having the ability to easily get your game to people, you just cant beat something like the xbox arcade what-cha-ma-call-it. the game runs on DC, linux, osx, psp. Now while thats pretty darn awesome, its rather pointless in terms of trying to estimate a real profit from these platforms. i will say that if you get the game on some form of an apple store, you might be able to get some profit off there. Windows will probably be the biggest earner.
Unless,
you to get the game/libgyro ported to to C#/xbox, i truly believe you can make real money there. Id be willing to wager that you could probably makes as much as 3-4 times the combined sales from the other platforms. As well as probably adding some glitz and glam, you can do some cool lighting/shading effects with normal maps and a few basic shaders. something of this nature,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut0SqBeAy1Q, but i digress.
Anyways, this is not meant to upset you guys, just my opinion, and some constructive criticism, I respect you guys and enjoy keeping an eye on the project, and perhaps its your semi witty arrogance that makes it all the more fun.
ps: on a last note, this reply was not in any way a reflection of your guys' passion, ability, or merit. IM ON YOUR SIDE.