Thanks TeeGee and others, this is great food for thought. I can see how in the long run you really want to build a customer base that associates your game with your website/brand and not a portal that is can change at any time.

Just to clarify (sorry if this is a dumb question), you as the developer have some form of control over the price of your game on these portals, is that not the case? I mean can the portal change the price or run a discount without confirming it with you? I understand that you probably want to stay competitive by pricing your game according to whatever else is being offered in that category...

That's a very interesting point which I've heard others express. But I don't quite understand it and maybe you can help me with that.

If people are coming to your site and you are pointing them to one of these services for purchase, is that necessarily a bad thing? I mean they are coming to your site for its content and so I'd think they'll continue to do that for news, posts, etc. On the other hand there will be people who find out about your game on those distribution platforms, a percentage of whom will probably seek your website in order to find out more. That should be increasing traffic.

I guess I'm trying to understand if it's really worth selling the game direct on your website. Of course one issue is the additional percentage which you'll get from each purchase.

Agreed with what's been said:

1) Show it to a couple of people and watch them play. It can definitely be motivating to see their reaction, what they enjoy, and what they struggle with.

2) Regardless of number of players, etc. in my experience motivation always comes in waves. If you push through the low points long enough, you will get back into a high productivity phase again.

3) Find a fun little feature to implement. Sometimes you just need to work on something that is "cool" and find the fun in the development work itself. That should help with getting back into it and dealing with the more laborious tasks.