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[Glaiel-Gamer]

If you give a piece of game free and then ask for money for the rest, you can be sure that people will be much more pissed off than if you just ask money for the whole game.
And I'm not convinced the conversion rates would be very different anyway.

True but having a portion for free will get you orders of magnitude more exposure than locking the game off.

I say wait. If mochicoins takes off (nitrome are trying it out and kongregate has their own system, there's a possibility newgrounds may try it too although last time I talked to goldfish he didn't mention it) and everyone under the sun has spare mochicoins to spend it could be worth it.

The first time games started having sponsorship logos in them people were met with hostility too. Same thing with advertisements. Now people just accept that as the norm.

[Inanimate]

Nitrome are trying it out? Drat.

[AdamAtomic]

IDEA

I think it would be interesting to have a non-advertising-driven flash community where purchasing games provided you with badges for your user profile.  So on the forum and the high score boards, you could see instantly what games that user had purchased, and click the badge to jump to that game's home page, etc.

you guys you guys

i just invented steam (and xbla??)

[Aquin]

Heh, good point.  I guess Steam does already do that.  I suppose we were hoping for a more indie/flash driven site.  Steam does get involved in the larger and more successful indie projects, but tends to ignore the flash side of things.

They have struck a good balance in their business, however.  It could be that going down this route (focusing on obscure titles/flash games which are mostly shovelware) could be a disaster.

[AdamAtomic]

haha yea, I mean I think there's something special about it being a totally crossplatform website, and having it be more open/egalitarian/democratic/whatever...anybody can post their webgame there, the purchasing system could be built into the pages that hold the demo games, would be tied to a forum account and profile, etc.  I like the efficiency/cleanliness of dumping all the achievements and crap in favor of just showing what stuff you bought?  Showing exactly how you are supporting indie devs?   

I'll throw this on the pile of ideas I've had that I like but am far too lazy to implement

[Aquin]

Yeah, that's a good point.  If it was really that open to devs then that'd truly be something.  Of course you could end up a bit with Newgrounds syndrome... but since it focuses on purchased games, probably not.  I am worried you would end up with a lot of shovelware and blatant rip-offs, unfortunately.

I'm not entirely sure how you would govern this kind of website or if you should at all.  I admit, this is way out of my league.  I can make games.  I can't make money.

[Captain_404]

It's a site idea worth exploring I think. I see trouble with getting people to accept the it though.

Let's say you got three or four really good games for the site and offered them for free. You could even put out demos on portal sites to encourage people to go and 'purchase' them. (basically just a way to get people to sign up)

From there you start releasing games that actually cost something. Though I think every game should be required, or at least forcefully encouraged, to make a demo.

It could work, I think, but you'd need some truly great games. Paying for flash is not something people are used to.

[aeiowu]

Yeah, that's a good point.  If it was really that open to devs then that'd truly be something.  Of course you could end up a bit with Newgrounds syndrome... but since it focuses on purchased games, probably not.  I am worried you would end up with a lot of shovelware and blatant rip-offs, unfortunately.

I'm not entirely sure how you would govern this kind of website or if you should at all.  I admit, this is way out of my league.  I can make games.  I can't make money.

I guess that's why I think the kind of blurst model would work well. Keep the gates up, only allow high quality games through and put them there exclusively (for the most part) so the draw is much greater. Where's Matthew?

[Glaiel-Gamer]

if you dedicate a site to it it may be more worth it to not use mochicoins and to develop your own system.

1 coin = $0.10, more reasonable value there

Perhaps people could pay for a "premium" account and get unlimited "coins" to spend while they keep paying for the account


IDK i should be working on closure right now, dont need any more ideas or projects right now, got a 10000GB folder of them on the backburner

[Aquin]

Damn, a subscription setup would be pretty nice.  But you'd need a lot of games before anyone thought it'd be worth it.

I wish I could make flash games to contribute.  Sadly, I'm not much of an AS3 person.  Maybe that will change.  I hope so, because I'd like to be more than just a customer for a site such as this.

[Eric McQuiggan]

The way to get around shovel ware and shit like that is personalities. Have a group of people that make recommendations, then users can follow the people they like, and make opinions that way.

[AdamAtomic]

Flashbang is definitely considering/implementing a subscription system for their Unity Games release system, and they want to include games by other people too.  I dunno if they're considering having flash content on there or not?

I think having a lightweight, app-store like purchasing system that displays badges would encourage a kind of competition from users to be the most supportive in a way that subscriptions wouldn't?  Maybe that is just vile commercialism tho

[Stegersaurus]

Maybe that is just vile commercialism tho

No, it's understanding psychological patterns of users in order to give them a more engaging user experience. Think of it as design by psychology. Too many flash developers are afraid of "selling out" that they won't put actual value to their work. With the right angles being taken a game developed in Flash can do just as well as any other development platform when it comes to selling it retail. In which case if you're making a portal, I'd say market your games as "games" and not "flash games", especially if the distribution is just going to be downloaded executable and not a game embedded in a web page anyway.


PS. Take what I say with a big grain of salt, because I am neither a Flash developer nor a successful indie game developer

[alexandersshen]

I appreciate this conversation on the TIG forums.  It's good to always hear developer feedback on new platforms.

Unlike ads, the plan is to have games that come into the MochiCoins system meet a certain quality threshold.  It would be disastrous to flood the program with maze and mouse avoider games.  That's why we're working closely with developers who do actually join the system.  We go through a QA process with them as well as try to find the best way to implement coins into their game. 

The platform (before coins) has been around for quite some time now (a few years), so no worries about "Mochi == scam company".  Because of our relationships with developers, we've been able to work together with devs like Ninja Kiwi and Nitrome for the program.  So far they are all very happy with the program and this additional stream of revenue for their games.

As suggested, for those who are weary, just give it some time.  We plan on sharing numbers when we have a substantial amount of data.  We launched last Tuesday, so a week's worth of data really isn't sufficient in getting an idea of distribution, adoption and so on.

We want to offer the most we can for developers out there.  As an indie dev myself, outside of the Mochi side of things, I really suggest you check out all MTX platforms available before making the choice (that is to say if you were designing with MTX in mind).  The reason games like SAS2 and Twin Shot 2 (Ninja Kiwi and Nitrome, respectively) are doing so well is because of their design process for MTX.  They were conceived in the beginning, not a slap on at the end of their dev cycle.

After evaluating everything, it's up to you to make the most informed decision on which platform to use.

My feelings won't be hurt if you choose something else. I just want good games to be out there for all of us to play and to help developers put some coin in their pockets.

[Alec]

I really hope the Blurst subscription thing works. That'd be tight.