Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

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papillon
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Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#1 Post by papillon »

Disclaimer - what I say here does not constitute a promise or a business offer. Be clear on that. I am thinking out loud about fun stuff.

Given points - I like yuri. There's not enough yuri being made. I don't have the time to write all the yuri games I want. I do have more financial resources available than many people in this hobby.

What would make you, creators, more likely to write more yuri games?

A contest with cash prizes? (In this case you'd keep full control of your game and get money, if you won.)

Funds available to complete and publish qualifying yuri freeware? (In this case, if you wrote a script, and I liked the script, I could pay for the art to be completed for it. It would still be mostly your game but I might demand a certain amount of editing rights, because if I were funding it I'd want things to turn out my way.... The potential for drama here is high. Also the money would go to the artist, not you.)

Being able to sell me your finished script? (In this case all you'd have to do is write it, and if I liked the script, I would pay you, and then take it and do whatever I wanted with it, including changing it drastically, polishing it up, putting art in it, and selling the resulting game.)

Apprenticeship? (Some sort of complicated arrangement in which I guided you through making a game and put up the funds for it and then we both benefited from the eventual result except this would potentially be a big paperwork hassle)

Some other ridiculous scheme I haven't thought of yet? Maybe a pinata? Voodoo dolls? Promising to pay $20 to the author of every single yuri game released in a month?

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#2 Post by Greeny »

We're working on a big commerical GxG release - don't worry, the Yuri Revolution is at hand!
We'll brave the first wave if we must!

I think the contest idea is a pretty good one though. It would do more than just add more GxG to the mix, I think this could be made into an exciting event like NaNoRenO, great experience for developers, a chance for all contestants involved to get a little spotlight...
Not necessarily for yuri but I was actually thinking of having Gliese Productions host such a VN contest event once we have more funds at our disposal, mainly as a publicity thing though. So the idea is not so "out there", definitely something that would kick off.

I'd say that it's the top contender in the list. Apprenticeship seems too vague and unstable of an arrangement, and funding edges more towards... well, basically traditional... funding. Investment. Very un-indie stuff, might probably intimidate indie developers.
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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#3 Post by Caveat Lector »

papillon wrote:What would make you, creators, more likely to write more yuri games?
Chocolate. 8)

(Seriously, though, either a contest or apprenticeship sound the most appealing to me, I know I'd definetly sign up for a VN contest hosted by either Hanako Games or Gliese Productions, hope I'm making sense, still jetlagged)
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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#4 Post by SilverHyena »

I like the contest idea best. It's fairly easy to set up and the game creator gets to keep their game. And, even if the game creator doesn't win the prize there'll be some new yuri games for them to try out once it's all over. On the contest runner's side, it'll probably end up being cheaper since you'll theoretically getting multiple games at once. The only downsides I can see to it are that the games will probably be shorter and less ambitious since people will be working with a deadline.

I'm also interested in the apprenticeship idea. I mean, I have no real idea how it'd work, but working under your guidance sounds kind of awesome. I imagine I'd learn a lot of useful stuff if this was a real option. But, like you said, it's potentially difficult. And I feel like the person you were working with would get more out of it than you. (Maybe not though)

(And on a side note, I totally agree. I would definitely like to see more yuri and yaoi games out there. I'm more for the yaoi side of it, but yeah... Thank you for making games that support those kinds of relationships!)

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#5 Post by Angie »

I think we are slowly getting to the world of more yuri games.
My project got GxG relationships possibilities as well, amongst other.

From what you've offered as your ideas, I also think contest is the best. Probably the easiest way to get people's interest.
But, I'd happily go for second choice, too! Just being able to release a game means a lot to people, I believe.
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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#6 Post by KomiTsuku »

Just do what I do and discreetly fund studios to make games you want to play.

I've tried apprenticeships before, situations where I gave guidance on the finer points of development and funded the entire thing. People run off or lose interest and I'm stuck with a pile of resources and no time to use any of them. Lost two people to not wanting to develop that story anymore (standard stuff) and one to medical issues.

Contests are a bit subjective and it is trickier to get high quality entries into it.

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#7 Post by Carrogath »

A contest sounds really cool, and, if you just straight-up wanted more freeware yuri games, would probably be the simplest way to go. Everything else sounds kind of convoluted and prone to weird legal issues. My last suggestion would be to make a sacrifice to the yuri gods. They're probably about as starved for it as we are

I personally would write yuri games regardless of whether I received any compensation for it, but that's just me.

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#8 Post by papillon »

My worry with a contest is that people may have budget problems going into it and feel hampered by their lack of art rather than empowered to make pretty things.

It would certainly be easier to set up though.

I wonder what dates are sacred to the yuri gods?

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#9 Post by Anne »

You could do a script contest? (that's close to the second option but with a deadline)

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#10 Post by LVUER »

Promising financial help for an author (or studio) who release a yuri game sounds good. Need to be polished more but it may help motivate some people.

Just to be clear beforehand, this yuri we're talking about, is it yuri catered for homosexual people, for the girls, or for the boys? Since the result can be very different.
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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#11 Post by SundownKid »

You can try offering financial help to a trusted game creator, that way you can be sure it will turn out quality. The amount would depend on the length of the game. For example, "I will give you $1000 to make a 50,000 word VN. If it makes more than $1000 in profits, the rest will go to me until the money is paid back." And offer advertising and publishing assistance. Sure, you could go for a freeware contest but that would probably result in shorter less polished games.

You should definitely specify whether it's a realistic depiction, or whether it's guy oriented fanservice, that will determine whether a certain writer is prepared to write it.

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#12 Post by Asceai »

I'd like to make a yuri game, but I'm approximately the most useless person for such a project. I can't draw, my writing isn't that great (especially characters, and that's kind of important here), I can't make music, so uh... yeah. If anyone wants to create an epic yuri RPG or something with combinable spells, upgradable weapons, SRPG-style battles and explorable dungeons or something, I'll be up for that.

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#13 Post by KittyKatStar »

I'm planning to work on yuri games (or games with yuri elements in it), it just seems I got so many other projects to finish first *before* I can even get to the yuri routes. OTZ

I like the "Funds available to complete and publish qualifying yuri freeware" idea. I'm sure many people just want to get some free games out already and help yuri get noticed and show there's a market for it.

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#14 Post by Boha »

I asked around when I was considering adding yuri sections to my game, but there was zero feedback on it. I presumed that nobody was really interested in yuri; so feedback and support would make me more likely to consider yuri as a developer. I'm waaaaaaaay too busy for a contest and not very interested in apprenticeships.

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Re: Selling out (theoretical discussion only)

#15 Post by saguaro »

We need a yuri game jam I tell you what.

Seems like funds available to complete and publish qualifying yuri freeware could work, especially if the person pitching is required to have a completed script or an alpha playable-version of the game to be eligible for funding.

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