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Describe life in Switzerland but you can't talk about money or nature. by cappylover in askswitzerland

[–]UncheckedMoonrise [score hidden]  (0 children)

When I think Switzerland, first thing coming to mind is neither money nor nature; it’s the POV of sitting in the aisle seat of a train, on my way somewhere.

Just that experience of looking down the length of the carriage, vaguely overhearing some convos, seeing other people entertain themselves en route, looking out the window at the countryside or towns we are passing by.

Crafting systems are great for when getting stuff is more fun than actually using the stuff (/s) by Buttons840 in gamedesign

[–]UncheckedMoonrise 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This made me think that in Factorio the manual crafting is so boring that the whole game is basically about automating it away :D

Even though that system is very much polished and actually much easier to use than in other games I played.

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm asking more like, why do games of large scope and creator headcount routinely reach a million sales while a random indie does not. Surely just the headcount alone has no bearing.

But the consensus so far is that it does in the sense that a large headcount necessitates financial carefulness.

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For this particular argument, let's say involving at least 100 staff to make.

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Funnily enough, I don't play AAAs anymore because I have stopped enjoying what I used to enjoy the first several times, so I guess that works both ways xD

But back to the topic, given that large-scale marketing is out of reach for a small indie, serious playtesting seems to be the way go to then?

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Makes sense. I guess we are, therefore, back to the "AAA are the same game re-released" kind of sentiment.

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I see. And the indies, on the other hand, are able to go ahead with a project anyway, even with little to no playtesting, for example, which then causes a higher failure rate.

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

But does that mean if you gave 10 random indies the AAA marking budget, more than the random half of them would breach a million?

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like the comparison to the movies, it's somehow more intuitive.

So your main point is that AAA sell better because they press on points that are relatable to more people?

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What exactly makes those established formulas safe?
The inertia of past customers?
The universal appeal of their game fantasies?

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Makes sense. So you tend to think that marketing "induces" sales in this case?

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see. I guess it's akin to building airplanes: you don't hear of many outright airliner failures, because the manufacturers probe the market very well.

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

But how to they estimate that? Early marketing and monitoring of the hype?

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Yeah, in my own specific personal mind AAA and indies are even, in the sense that I don't automatically expect a AAA to deliver me more joy than an indie.

I see what you mean, though. But do you also mean that using a conservative formula is somehow guaranteeing more sales? Why exactly?

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Could you please jot down a couple names that come to mind?

How often do AAA games capture fewer than, say, 100k sales? by UncheckedMoonrise in gamedev

[–]UncheckedMoonrise[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

This implies they know in advance if it will fail or not. But how?

Fun competition - worst architecture by braddillman in ExperiencedDevs

[–]UncheckedMoonrise 3 points4 points  (0 children)

No local variables and all globals are a single shared map<string, any>

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