A team of people you can trust?

[JayBlue]

So I haven't put together a team yet and I was thinking about doing so recently. But here's the thing I'm worried about. How do I find people I can trust? Who can I work with that wont try to steal ideas and do their own thing?

I know this is kind of a deep question, but I feel like it's important.

[RotGtIE]

I could dump all of my story ideas here and not a single one of them would get stolen. Ideas are the least labor-intensive part of the development process for a VN. Stealing one would be like taking someone else's completely undeveloped idea for a new car and using it to build one from the ground up. It's just more work for the thief, so it's not worth stealing - if you could even call it that.

Don't worry about finding people yet. What you need is to get your story written and your gameplay programmed such that it is functional. If you need more than yourself to get those things done, go ahead and recruit a writer/editor, but keep it down to a minimum. You can get away with delaying the development of visual and audio assets until much later in development - just use placeholder assets for now.

[SundownKid]

It's impossible to find people you can fully trust, especially strangers on the internet. Best thing to do is attempt to make enough money to hire people, so they will be in it for self interest.

Also, stealing ideas is the least of your problems. Ideas are a dime a dozen, execution is what makes or breaks an idea. I'd be fine with giving out all my ideas online because I am 100% sure that nobody will make a good game with them even if they decide to steal them. And if they did, I would probably greatly enjoy said game and wouldn't regret giving the idea to someone.

[Taranee]

I slightly disagree with the posts above. A good idea is the foundation of a good visual novel. It's just as valuable as good writing and art, even though coming up with ideas requires different kind of work. Writing and drawing require a lot of practising as well as talent, but ideas are born 100% from inspiration. It's extremely difficult or impossible to learn to become inspired, because the best ideas come from your subconscious. Some people only write different combinations of cliches and overused tropes, because their muses refuse to speak to them.

However, an idea thief probably won't be able to make a perfect visual novel that steals all your readers, because he won't have the same passion for the idea as its original creator has. Probably the visual novel would end up becoming very different from yours, even if the basic idea was the same. So even if someone steals your idea and releases a VN before you, it's unlikely that anyone will wrongfully accuse you of stealing your own idea.

Getting you ideas stolen isn't the worst thing that could happen. Having a team member who disagrees with your vision and tries to radically change your VN is worse in my opinion. You should find someone who is really passionate about your vision for the VN, so that he won't even think about making a different version of it. You should consider both volunteers and employees. Both have their pros and cons.

[Sonomi]

Many are enchanted by the thought of making a game, but not so enthusiastic about working on a game (writing, drawing, composing, programming, etc.). This is the point RotGtIE was getting at, I believe.

But to answer your question, yes, trust is important. There are various aspects you could consider, if you wish to determine reliability in a potential teammate.

One thing you might look for is a testimonial. I saw quite a few on this site. A testimonial is when someone vouches for the work of someone else, usually from personal experience. He or she might say something to the effect of, "Hi, I worked with Dave. I was very pleased with the results. He delivered assets on time, stayed in contact, and was very enthusiastic about his work. I asked him to tweak X thing and he didn't mind making the adjustment for me. He showed genuine interest in the project and even contributed a few ideas of his own. Would hire/collaborate again."

This screams trustworthy to me, but it is only my opinion. Any time someone goes out of their way to leave positive feedback on anything, especially unprovoked, that is generally a good sign.

If you cannot find others familiar with the person you wish to bring on board, politely ask that person for samples of his or her work. This speaks to their reliability, just as well as the testimonial, because it demonstrates that they are committed to finishing what they start (art, music, etc.)...and will likely manifest the same level of dedication when they join your team.

When you do gather a team, try to be as open as possible. Communication is key when you are coordinating a project. Make sure you listen to concerns as they arise and encourage everyone to contribute without feeling like their input will be entirely overlooked. You want them to view your project as their project too, because then they really will be in this together with you.

I think that is how you can form a strong team with mutual trust between its members.

[Laniessa]

Trust works both ways, by the way. If you have a good track record of some sort, it'll be easier to find committed people.

My personal advice is to participate in game jams - there's always about a dozen going on at itch.io. The shorter the better. Work in small teams - maximum of five - and change the team you work in for each game. Once you've participated in a few teams you'll be able to find people that are trustworthy and reliable. If you were also trustworthy and reliable, chances are that they'll want to make a game with you again!

There's a very fluid line in people I work with from the first games I worked on. I like game jams because there's less at stake because of the limited time, which means you can try working with more people.