#Monetize Game Assets

[greport2018]

NFT Gaming Platforms Help Gamers Monetize Game Assets

NFT Gaming Platforms Help Gamers Monetize Game Assets

The gaming industry has never been the same and has changed a lot after revolutionizing effect in the last few decades. The gaming industry is seeing a drastic upturn because more gamers have started playing modern games. The rapid growth of the internet, the development of new gaming platforms, and the adoption of platform compatibility make the gaming industry easy to rise. Cryptocurrencies…

[treasure-mimic]

So, let me try and put everything together here, because I really do think it needs to be talked about.

Today, Unity announced that it intends to apply a fee to use its software. Then it got worse.

For those not in the know, Unity is the most popular free to use video game development tool, offering a basic version for individuals who want to learn how to create games or create independently alongside paid versions for corporations or people who want more features. It's decent enough at this job, has issues but for the price point I can't complain, and is the idea entry point into creating in this medium, it's a very important piece of software.

But speaking of tools, the CEO is a massive one. When he was the COO of EA, he advocated for using, what out and out sounds like emotional manipulation to coerce players into microtransactions.

"A consumer gets engaged in a property, they might spend 10, 20, 30, 50 hours on the game and then when they're deep into the game they're well invested in it. We're not gouging, but we're charging and at that point in time the commitment can be pretty high."

He also called game developers who don't discuss monetization early in the planning stages of development, quote, "fucking idiots".

So that sets the stage for what might be one of the most bald-faced greediest moves I've seen from a corporation in a minute. Most at least have the sense of self-preservation to hide it.

A few hours ago, Unity posted this announcement on the official blog.

Effective January 1, 2024, we will introduce a new Unity Runtime Fee that’s based on game installs. We will also add cloud-based asset storage, Unity DevOps tools, and AI at runtime at no extra cost to Unity subscription plans this November. We are introducing a Unity Runtime Fee that is based upon each time a qualifying game is downloaded by an end user. We chose this because each time a game is downloaded, the Unity Runtime is also installed. Also we believe that an initial install-based fee allows creators to keep the ongoing financial gains from player engagement, unlike a revenue share.

Now there are a few red flags to note in this pitch immediately.

Unity is planning on charging a fee on all games which use its engine.

This is a flat fee per number of installs.

They are using an always online runtime function to determine whether a game is downloaded.

There is just so many things wrong with this that it's hard to know where to start, not helped by this FAQ which doubled down on a lot of the major issues people had.

I guess let's start with what people noticed first. Because it's using a system baked into the software itself, Unity would not be differentiating between a "purchase" and a "download". If someone uninstalls and reinstalls a game, that's two downloads. If someone gets a new computer or a new console and downloads a game already purchased from their account, that's two download. If someone pirates the game, the studio will be asked to pay for that download.

Q: How are you going to collect installs? A: We leverage our own proprietary data model. We believe it gives an accurate determination of the number of times the runtime is distributed for a given project. Q: Is software made in unity going to be calling home to unity whenever it's ran, even for enterprice licenses? A: We use a composite model for counting runtime installs that collects data from numerous sources. The Unity Runtime Fee will use data in compliance with GDPR and CCPA. The data being requested is aggregated and is being used for billing purposes. Q: If a user reinstalls/redownloads a game / changes their hardware, will that count as multiple installs? A: Yes. The creator will need to pay for all future installs. The reason is that Unity doesn’t receive end-player information, just aggregate data. Q: What's going to stop us being charged for pirated copies of our games? A: We do already have fraud detection practices in our Ads technology which is solving a similar problem, so we will leverage that know-how as a starting point. We recognize that users will have concerns about this and we will make available a process for them to submit their concerns to our fraud compliance team.

This is potentially related to a new system that will require Unity Personal developers to go online at least once every three days.

Starting in November, Unity Personal users will get a new sign-in and online user experience. Users will need to be signed into the Hub with their Unity ID and connect to the internet to use Unity. If the internet connection is lost, users can continue using Unity for up to 3 days while offline. More details to come, when this change takes effect.

It's unclear whether this requirement will be attached to any and all Unity games, though it would explain how they're theoretically able to track "the number of installs", and why the methodology for tracking these installs is so shit, as we'll discuss later.

Unity claims that it will only leverage this fee to games which surpass a certain threshold of downloads and yearly revenue.

Only games that meet the following thresholds qualify for the Unity Runtime Fee: Unity Personal and Unity Plus: Those that have made $200,000 USD or more in the last 12 months AND have at least 200,000 lifetime game installs. Unity Pro and Unity Enterprise: Those that have made $1,000,000 USD or more in the last 12 months AND have at least 1,000,000 lifetime game installs.

They don't say how they're going to collect information on a game's revenue, likely this is just to say that they're only interested in squeezing larger products (games like Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, Fate Grand Order, Among Us, and Fall Guys) and not every 2 dollar puzzle platformer that drops on Steam. But also, these larger products have the easiest time porting off of Unity and the most incentives to, meaning realistically those heaviest impacted are going to be the ones who just barely meet this threshold, most of them indie developers.

Aggro Crab Games, one of the first to properly break this story, points out that systems like the Xbox Game Pass, which is already pretty predatory towards smaller developers, will quickly inflate their "lifetime game installs" meaning even skimming the threshold of that 200k revenue, will be asked to pay a fee per install, not a percentage on said revenue.

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: Hey Gamers!

Today, Unity (the engine we use to make our games) announced that they'll soon be taking a fee from developers for every copy of the game installed over a certain threshold - regardless of how that copy was obtained.

Guess who has a somewhat highly anticipated game coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2024? That's right, it's us and a lot of other developers.

That means Another Crab's Treasure will be free to install for the 25 million Game Pass subscribers. If a fraction of those users download our game, Unity could take a fee that puts an enormous dent in our income and threatens the sustainability of our business.

And that's before we even think about sales on other platforms, or pirated installs of our game, or even multiple installs by the same user!!!

This decision puts us and countless other studios in a position where we might not be able to justify using Unity for our future titles. If these changes aren't rolled back, we'll be heavily considering abandoning our wealth of Unity expertise we've accumulated over the years and starting from scratch in a new engine. Which is really something we'd rather not do.

On behalf of the dev community, we're calling on Unity to reverse the latest in a string of shortsighted decisions that seem to prioritize shareholders over their product's actual users.

I fucking hate it here.

-Aggro Crab - END DESCRIPTION]

That fee, by the way, is a flat fee. Not a percentage, not a royalty. This means that any games made in Unity expecting any kind of success are heavily incentivized to cost as much as possible.

[IMAGE DESCRIPTION: A table listing the various fees by number of Installs over the Install Threshold vs. version of Unity used, ranging from $0.01 to $0.20 per install. END DESCRIPTION]

Basic elementary school math tells us that if a game comes out for $1.99, they will be paying, at maximum, 10% of their revenue to Unity, whereas jacking the price up to $59.99 lowers that percentage to something closer to 0.3%. Obviously any company, especially any company in financial desperation, which a sudden anchor on all your revenue is going to create, is going to choose the latter.

Furthermore, and following the trend of "fuck anyone who doesn't ask for money", Unity helpfully defines what an install is on their main site.

While I'm looking at this page as it exists now, it currently says

The installation and initialization of a game or app on an end user’s device as well as distribution via streaming is considered an “install.” Games or apps with substantially similar content may be counted as one project, with installs then aggregated to calculate the Unity Runtime Fee.

However, I saw a screenshot saying something different, and utilizing the Wayback Machine we can see that this phrasing was changed at some point in the few hours since this announcement went up. Instead, it reads:

The installation and initialization of a game or app on an end user’s device as well as distribution via streaming or web browser is considered an “install.” Games or apps with substantially similar content may be counted as one project, with installs then aggregated to calculate the Unity Runtime Fee.

Screenshot for posterity:

That would mean web browser games made in Unity would count towards this install threshold. You could legitimately drive the count up simply by continuously refreshing the page. The FAQ, again, doubles down.

Q: Does this affect WebGL and streamed games? A: Games on all platforms are eligible for the fee but will only incur costs if both the install and revenue thresholds are crossed. Installs - which involves initialization of the runtime on a client device - are counted on all platforms the same way (WebGL and streaming included).

And, what I personally consider to be the most suspect claim in this entire debacle, they claim that "lifetime installs" includes installs prior to this change going into effect.

Will this fee apply to games using Unity Runtime that are already on the market on January 1, 2024? Yes, the fee applies to eligible games currently in market that continue to distribute the runtime. We look at a game's lifetime installs to determine eligibility for the runtime fee. Then we bill the runtime fee based on all new installs that occur after January 1, 2024.

Again, again, doubled down in the FAQ.

Q: Are these fees going to apply to games which have been out for years already? If you met the threshold 2 years ago, you'll start owing for any installs monthly from January, no? (in theory). It says they'll use previous installs to determine threshold eligibility & then you'll start owing them for the new ones. A: Yes, assuming the game is eligible and distributing the Unity Runtime then runtime fees will apply. We look at a game's lifetime installs to determine eligibility for the runtime fee. Then we bill the runtime fee based on all new installs that occur after January 1, 2024.

That would involve billing companies for using their software before telling them of the existence of a bill. Holding their actions to a contract that they performed before the contract existed!

Okay. I think that's everything. So far.

There is one thing that I want to mention before ending this post, unfortunately it's a little conspiratorial, but it's so hard to believe that anyone genuinely thought this was a good idea that it's stuck in my brain as a significant possibility.

A few days ago it was reported that Unity's CEO sold 2,000 shares of his own company.

On September 6, 2023, John Riccitiello, President and CEO of Unity Software Inc (NYSE:U), sold 2,000 shares of the company. This move is part of a larger trend for the insider, who over the past year has sold a total of 50,610 shares and purchased none.

I would not be surprised if this decision gets reversed tomorrow, that it was literally only made for the CEO to short his own goddamn company, because I would sooner believe that this whole thing is some idiotic attempt at committing fraud than a real monetization strategy, even knowing how unfathomably greedy these people can be.

So, with all that said, what do we do now?

Well, in all likelihood you won't need to do anything. As I said, some of the biggest names in the industry would be directly affected by this change, and you can bet your bottom dollar that they're not just going to take it lying down. After all, the only way to stop a greedy CEO is with a greedier CEO, right?

(I fucking hate it here.)

And that's not mentioning the indie devs who are already talking about abandoning the engine.

[Links display tweets from the lead developer of Among Us saying it'd be less costly to hire people to move the game off of Unity and Cult of the Lamb's official twitter saying the game won't be available after January 1st in response to the news.]

That being said, I'm still shaken by all this. The fact that Unity is openly willing to go back and punish its developers for ever having used the engine in the past makes me question my relationship to it.

The news has given rise to the visibility of free, open source alternative Godot, which, if you're interested, is likely a better option than Unity at this point. Mostly, though, I just hope we can get out of this whole, fucking, environment where creatives are treated as an endless mill of free profits that's going to be continuously ratcheted up and up to drive unsustainable infinite corporate growth that our entire economy is based on for some fuckin reason.

Anyways, that's that, I find having these big posts that break everything down to be helpful.

[astrobydalia]

Astro knowledge

A short more educational post for y'all!

work by astrobydalia

Pisces/Neptune rules marketing while Gemini/Mercury is more about sales. They’re both deeply related but difference is Gemini is the salesman that appeals to your reason and resorts to mind games (Mercury) in a one-on-one to convince you why you should buy into something. Marketing on the other hand is ruled by Pisces because it appeals to the collective unconscious (Neptune). It’s all about crafting subliminal messages that make you see that product/idea as more appealing even when you know what you're seeing is not realistic. Very related to propaganda as well. This is also a field that requires a lot of creativity, they're constantly using metaphors, hyperboles or even making up little fictional stories to sell a product...

I've already said this but for anyone new, the planet that rules real love is moon not Venus. See the full explanation here

Where Sagittarius is in your chart will bring luck and happiness, but Taurus does give off expansive (or dare I say expensive) energy too. Where Taurus sits in your chart is an area of your life that will be more grandiose in nature cause Taurus rules over indulgence and pleasure. You could experience some sort of privilege when it comes to this house, the themes of this house come to you in abundance with little to no effort. Some examples:

Taurus 1st house: have a striking and bold appearance, gives off luxury and attractive vibes regardless of their looks. These people could come across as a "high value woman/man" without trying

Taurus 7th house: very active and abundant love life, lots of suitors and business partners landing on your lab, they want to provide for you and/or give you lucrative opportunities

Taurus 9th house: having access to high quality education or elevated knowledge. Probably attended a very exclusive or expensive collage, payed vacations vibes, easy and frequent relocations

Taurus 10th house: almost untouchable reputation, very respected and liked by others, is always seen as innocent or harmless, lots of success with their ventures

The 2nd house also talks about your roots and upbringing but in a more objective and material sense. This house and the position of its ruler can be very telling of how your actual social and economic context shaped your basic values. It can also talk about your house as the 2nd house rules over real state, lands, properties, etc. The 4th house is more about your home, how you were raised within that reality and how it impacted you emotionally at your core

Example: Libra risings could come from an environment that shaped their values around survival and money gains due to Scorpio 2nd house (I've seen very commonly they come from marginalized groups or humble beginnings or very financially competitive environments). So they have a family that is very demanding and expected them to work or be a boss from a young age (Capricorn 4th house)

Speaking of, 2nd house does not ONLY rule money!!! It rules RESOURCES and anything that you own that is highly valuable and you can put a price on!!!! And yes of course since these things are valuable they can be easily monetized, traded, used to make you money. This can be your skills, assets, real state, etc. The 2nd house is your piggy bank basically

There's a lot of talk about how 11th house is how you make money in your career while 2nd house is how you spend it. Well this is technically true but I'd like to add more explanation to this. In derivative astrology 11th house is 2nd (money) from the 10th (career) so it does show how you actually make money from your career. 2nd house is where you get money but 11th house is how you make money. Your 11th house is the multiplier (credits to @cosmicpuzzle for that fact) while 2nd house is where your financial stability lies on. In other words 11th house is indicative of how you generate more but 2nd house is all about what you already have, its about what you can make with what you OWN already, it deals with money that is already available through your resources' value (again, you piggy bank). This does 'make' you money in a way like if you lose your job and are lacking money your 2nd house where you turn to for example if you own a house you can rent it, you can buy a rare item that costs a lot, selling your art or any other natural skill, etc. The concept of value is important in this house bc it can increase or decrease (while 11th house increases and multiplies). The more valuable your resources are the more potential money you have available which means more financial stability and wealth. Anyways hope all that makes sense

We often refer to water signs when talking spirituality but truth is fire signs are very spiritual in nature as well. Fire symbolizes the spark of life itself, nothing could exist or be created without it. Aries deals with the basic ontological conception of 'I am, I exist', Leo is about how the self manifests and create itself and Sagittarius is about the purpose of the self. Living beings need heat to thrive/live and just like fire radiates heat your spirit radiates energy, creativity, passion, action, inspiration, purpose... and that's what fire signs represent. I'd say fire represents the fundamentality of spirit while water is more about the complexity of inner world.

Just like Aries is the "natural" ASC for a birth chart, Libra is the natural ASC for a composite chart cause a birth chart represents the chart of an individual (Aries) while composite represents the mutual relationship between two people (Libra)

When you develop the themes of a certain house in a healthy manner, you naturally start attracting the themes of the opposite house. This goes to show you that things in astrology aren't as compartmentalized as they seem, everything works together in certain way SPECIALLY axis'. Examples:

You need to focus on yourself first (1st house) to find the right partner (7th house)

You need to investigate and learn (3rd house) in order to find higher answers (9th house)

When you invest successfully (8th house) you earn more available resources (2nd house).

When you develop your hobbies and individuality (5th house) you find keen people (11th house)

When you heal spiritually (12th house) you find healthier habits (6th house)

There's this misconception that you have to disregard your South Node in order to develop you NN, but the thing is the SN is the starting point that can lead you towards developing your NN. This can happen as a harsh and painful lesson tho if you liger too much on your SN. For example NN in Libra need to learn to compromise in this life, there's a lot of focus on the self and independence, but eventually this placement teaches them that if you really wanna develop yourself in full potential (Aries) eventually you'll need others (Libra). If they linger too much on Aries SN they could experience a harsh lesson that forces them to count on others

work by astrobydalia

[sexymemecoin]

The Emergence of NFTs: Transforming Digital Ownership and Creativity

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have revolutionized the way we think about digital ownership, art, and collectibles. By leveraging blockchain technology, NFTs provide a way to create, buy, sell, and own unique digital assets with verifiable provenance and scarcity. This article explores the world of NFTs, their impact on various industries, key benefits and challenges, and notable projects, including a brief mention of Sexy Meme Coin.

What Are NFTs?

NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are unique digital assets that represent ownership of a specific item or piece of content, such as art, music, videos, virtual real estate, and more. Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are fungible and can be exchanged on a one-to-one basis, NFTs are indivisible and unique. Each NFT is recorded on a blockchain, ensuring transparency, security, and verifiability of ownership.

The Rise of NFTs

NFTs gained mainstream attention in 2021 when digital artist Beeple sold an NFT artwork for $69 million at Christie's auction house. This landmark event highlighted the potential of NFTs to transform the art world by providing artists with new revenue streams and collectors with verifiable digital ownership.

Since then, NFTs have exploded in popularity, with various industries exploring their potential applications. From gaming and music to real estate and fashion, NFTs are creating new opportunities for creators, businesses, and investors.

Key Benefits of NFTs

Digital Ownership: NFTs provide a way to establish true digital ownership of assets. Each NFT is unique and can be traced back to its original creator, ensuring authenticity and provenance. This is particularly valuable in the art and collectibles market, where forgery and fraud are significant concerns.

Monetization for Creators: NFTs enable creators to monetize their digital content directly. Artists, musicians, and other content creators can sell their work as NFTs, earning revenue without relying on intermediaries. Additionally, smart contracts can be programmed to provide creators with royalties each time their NFT is resold, ensuring ongoing income.

Interoperability: NFTs can be used across different platforms and ecosystems, allowing for interoperability in the digital world. For example, NFTs representing in-game items can be traded or used across multiple games and virtual worlds, enhancing their utility and value.

Scarcity and Collectibility: NFTs introduce scarcity into the digital realm by creating limited editions or one-of-a-kind items. This scarcity drives the collectibility of NFTs, similar to physical collectibles like rare coins or trading cards.

Challenges Facing NFTs

Environmental Impact: The creation and trading of NFTs, especially on energy-intensive blockchains like Ethereum, have raised concerns about their environmental impact. Efforts are being made to develop more sustainable blockchain solutions, such as Ethereum's transition to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.

Market Volatility: The NFT market is highly speculative and can be volatile. Prices for NFTs can fluctuate significantly based on trends, demand, and market sentiment. This volatility poses risks for both creators and investors.

Intellectual Property Issues: NFTs can raise complex intellectual property issues, particularly when it comes to verifying the rightful owner or creator of the digital content. Ensuring that NFTs are legally compliant and respect intellectual property rights is crucial.

Access and Inclusivity: The high costs associated with minting and purchasing NFTs can limit accessibility for some creators and collectors. Reducing these barriers is essential for fostering a more inclusive NFT ecosystem.

Notable NFT Projects

CryptoPunks: CryptoPunks are one of the earliest and most iconic NFT projects. Created by Larva Labs, CryptoPunks are 10,000 unique 24x24 pixel art characters that have become highly sought-after collectibles.

Bored Ape Yacht Club: Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is a popular NFT collection featuring 10,000 unique hand-drawn ape avatars. Owners of these NFTs gain access to exclusive events and benefits, creating a strong community around the project.

Decentraland: Decentraland is a virtual world where users can buy, sell, and develop virtual real estate as NFTs. This platform allows for the creation of virtual experiences, games, and social spaces, showcasing the potential of NFTs in the metaverse.

NBA Top Shot: NBA Top Shot is a platform that allows users to buy, sell, and trade officially licensed NBA collectible highlights. These video clips, known as "moments," are sold as NFTs and have become popular among sports fans and collectors.

Sexy Meme Coin (SXYM): Sexy Meme Coin integrates NFTs into its platform, offering a decentralized marketplace where users can buy, sell, and trade memes as NFTs. This unique approach combines humor and finance, adding a distinct flavor to the NFT landscape. Learn more about Sexy Meme Coin at Sexy Meme Coin.

The Future of NFTs

The future of NFTs is bright, with continuous innovation and expanding use cases. As technology advances and more industries explore the potential of NFTs, we can expect to see new applications and opportunities emerge. From virtual fashion and digital identities to decentralized finance (DeFi) and beyond, NFTs are poised to reshape various aspects of our digital lives.

Efforts to address environmental concerns, improve accessibility, and ensure legal compliance will be crucial for the sustainable growth of the NFT ecosystem. Collaboration between creators, platforms, and regulators will help build a more robust and inclusive market.

Conclusion

NFTs have ushered in a new era of digital ownership, creativity, and innovation. By providing verifiable ownership and provenance, NFTs are transforming industries ranging from art and entertainment to gaming and virtual real estate. While challenges remain, the potential benefits of NFTs and their ability to empower creators and engage communities make them a significant force in the digital economy.

For those interested in the playful and innovative side of the NFT market, Sexy Meme Coin offers a unique and entertaining platform. Visit Sexy Meme Coin to explore this exciting project and join the community.

[kcamberart]

Development going forward

So in case anyone hasn't heard, Unity announced this morning that they're going to be making some pretty major (baffling) changes to their licensing plans and monetization. TLDR regarding the pertinent info (from what I understand. The company hasn't made another statement at the time of writing, and the FAQ is very vague):

They've removed the cheapest paid subscription tier (Unity Plus) completely, and are altering Unity Personal (the free one) so that the editor needs an internet connection in order to function. If you're offline for 3 days, it kicks you out until you reconnect to the internet again for the software to phone home. This is apparently not an issue if you subscribe to Unity Pro, the $2,000/yr plan.

If you publish a game made using the Unity engine, once it passes a certain threshold of installations and revenue, Unity will charge you a fee for every subsequent installation of your game on a per-month basis (and it's not per-purchase, it's per-installation. So (allegedly) if someone on Steam buys, installs, uninstalls and then reinstalls your game, or if they need to update the game, that's considered multiple different instances of installation and Unity will (allegedly) charge the developer as such). This will go into effect in January of 2024, but will seemingly retroactively apply to all games published before then as well.

If I've misunderstood any of this, please feel free to correct me.

I would not be surprised if they heavily walk back some of this (i.e., "the last time we announced something bad everyone got mad about it, so this time we'll announce something unbelievable and then say that we changed our minds so people will be more willing to accept the slightly less bad thing we wanted to do in the first place"), but it's setting a very bad precedent for using Unity for any future projects.

I'm currently weighing my options on whether to finish Vollema in Unity and then migrate to a new engine for future projects (Godot gets better every day, from what I've heard), or to just take what I've made so far and start over using different software. Honestly, it's early enough in development that the vast majority of what I have finished and ready to implement is visual assets, dialogue, narrative stuff and audio, so I'm leaning heavily towards testing the waters with a different engine. I likely also will not be able to work on or release any smaller games in the coming months for the time being (RIP 2023 Halloween Game, I'll make it up to you) while I make some decisions. Regardless, I'll keep you all in the loop.

TLDR: I'm likely going to be changing game engines, which will definitely set Vollema's development time back a bit (along with my other projects), but development in general will continue regardless.

Hopefully I'll have more positive news to share with you soon! I'm gonna miss my add-ons, though. Oh man, am I gonna miss my add-ons.

[thearcanagame]

I've been a long time fan/creator artist in the arcana game since the beginning in 2016 since the shift of Nix Hydra to Dorian, I understand some rules have changed. Alot of us don't have the dorian app so if we didn't have the dorian app is content creation outside of the app fine?

Fan creation is welcome! The guidelines we ask you follow are the following:

- Creators are welcome to use all of the Arcana assets on Dorian for free and they can monetize Arcana in Dorian games and streams without restrictions.

- Do not monetize the Arcana IP outside of Dorian.

- Do not share premium Arcana content or commercially available Arcana content, including digital copies of content available on our merch store such as the Minor Arcana art book.

- Do not distribute games or comics that feature official Arcana assets, even if distributed for free, apart from promotional materials for content on Dorian.

- Do not share Arcana fanart as part of any game or visual novel outside of Dorian.

- Do not share premium Arcana content created by creators on Dorian without their explicit consent.

If you are confused about specific content you are absolutely welcome to reach out to us for clarification!

[askagamedev]

Hello, I'm an aspiring game developer generalist but I honestly have no clue where to start, and my lack of attention span does not make it any better, do you have any advice on how to start learning to become a generalist?

It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to be a hobbyist, then I suggest reading my guide on the [minimum competence needed] to be able to contribute to a game development team. Then, start doing each of these things - write code, create art assets, build a level, make something playable. As you learn to do these tasks and level up, you'll become a generalist that's able to make a lot of contributions to a dev team.

If you want to be a professional generalist, the requirements are much more stringent. Generalists in the game industry really only exist at the upper mid-senior level, there really aren't any junior generalists because the juniors really lack the experience shipping and finishing games. A junior might enter without a specific specialty, but they have a lot of learning to do. It's much easier to learn one major thing at a time than it is to learn many things all at once, especially when the goal is delivering shippable quality results.

The minimum bar for competence for professional generalists is much higher. A professional generalist isn't someone who knows a little of everything and can get something started, it's someone who can finish a wide variety of tasks. A professional generalist can operate and produce work of shippable quality in multiple areas. I've personally worked on cameras, economy, combat, monetization, characters, AI, progression, animation, cinematics, localization, and lots of other game systems in my career.

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Got a burning question you want answered?

Short questions: Ask a Game Dev on Twitter

Long questions: Ask a Game Dev on Tumblr

Frequent Questions: The FAQ

[sorenblr]

What was it like when games had "Replay Value" and "Fun Factor"? Why are games today designed to have "'Neverending Play'" and "Salt Factor"?

Games have been pretty much dogshit since they stopped prioritizing "Fun Factor"...

But yeah, it just wasn't as viable to try and hold players in years-long compulsion loops before widespread online functionality and the design/business practices that this enabled: patching, microtransactions, GaaS/Gatcha structures etc. It's not that this wasn't always the desired outcome- the industry even in its nascency attempted to monetize "Neverending Play" with arcades and the design philosophies that formed around coin-based play- only the overhead cost was far greater and the potential for direct profit piddling compared to modern practices. Even MMOs required a relatively large investment in digital infrastructure that ensured only a few could achieve long-term sustainability- Gatcha games similarly come and go every quarter, but the buy-in is a fraction of whatever it took to get The Matrix Online off the ground.

"Replay Value" meanwhile found joint expression with "Neverending Play" in the Roguelike genre. This is critically one of the few pathways to commercial success for indies that lack access to massive digital infrastructures or lucrative IPs- a way of suggesting hundreds of hours of compulsive play (notice how often the phrase "gameplay loop" is deployed to describe specifically player compulsion cycles) with a relatively modest asset base. The same ethos of variety-within-scarcity underlines the popularity of deck-building mechanics and makes their inclusion attractive to developers forced to appease arbitrary ideas of hour-to-dollar value, to slip past the refund window on Steam etc.

Sorry if this was a more serious reply then was merited, but the gaming industry is just a constellation of profoundly evil business practices and the modern notion of the "forever game" (i.e. a single piece of software that extracts attention and capital from an audience in perpetuity) is one of its supreme expressions. It would be good if the earth opened her mouth and swallowed the entire Embracer Group executive suite tomorrow.

[theoutcastrogue]

by Mike Shea on 5 August 2024:

Hasbro may be hurling D&D towards a digital future but we already have everything we need to enjoy this game for the rest of our lives. Hasbro is super-excited for a digital D&D future. They're tired of selling us, as Penny Arcade perfectly describes, a single hamburger we can share with our friends every week for thirty years. Hasbro wants subscription revenue from every player every month – not just the single purchase of a book you can keep, share, and use for the rest of your life. Hasbro doesn't want to sell you D&D. They want you to pay rent. Chris Cocks, Hasbro's president and former president of Wizards of the Coast, is pushing hard for a digital future. He already said they're running experiments with artificial intelligence saying "D&D has 50 years of content that we can mine". The new head of Wizards of the Coast, the subsidiary of Hasbro in charge of D&D, is a former Blizzard executive who replaced a former Amazon and Microsoft executive. They posted a new D&D product architect job with a clear focus on digital gaming and a new "monetization designer" which is as close to "professional enshittifier" as I've heard of in a job description. So yeah, Hasbro is really excited to charge monthly fees and microtransactions for D&D and ensure you never stop paying for it. But I have good news for you. It doesn't matter. Here are four reasons why: 1. The three D&D core books are the only D&D books that really matter and they're going to be physical books. 2. With rulesets released into the Creative Commons, anyone can build digital tools, adventures, supplements, and even entire RPGs – all fully compatible with D&D. 3. We have 50 years of previous versions of D&D we can play, multiple competing and compatible 5e variants from other publishers, and hundreds of other RPGs we can enjoy. 4. We have several independent digital platforms we can use to run our games online.

[keep reading]

So Mike Shea's argument here is that no matter what Hasbro does, D&D is enshittification-proof. Personally, I agree that tabletop games (all of them, not just D&D) are to a large extent resistant to that, due to the nature of the game, but digital platforms are another matter. Then again, I have zero interest in digital platforms, so I don't know how they work. Can you incorporate non-SRD material in an independent VTT, for example? Does it matter? No idea!

For traditional D&D, I think it's always had (in its entire history, all editions!) two distinct modes of attracting people:

here is an Official Book of Rules! I should buy it (or borrow it, or pirate it) and use it, because it's an official and authoritative publication

here is a Good Rule! I should incorporate it in my D&D game because I like it, and I don't care where it came from and in what format, official book, third party, homebrew, DMs Guild, hardcover book, piece of paper, pdf, a reddit post, my own noggin.

But last year, they tried an new thing and released a set of 25 monsters for $6 only on D&D Beyond. No physical print, and no pdf. (Previously there had been digital-only releases, mostly short adventures, but in pdf form.) And although I have no way of knowing how sales went, I strongly suspect this will NEVER work. It's just a bunch of "assets", it doesn't register as an Official Publication, there's no incentive to get it as such. So we're left with "is it a good rule?", and there it competes with a million other rules published for fun and/or profit by other people. Why "buy" that one? (You're not quite buying it: if D&D Beyond goes down, poof go the monsters!)

So yeah, I think they'll try to enshittify tabletop D&D, but they'll go about it half-heartedly (to go full in, they'd have to drop the printed books, and there's NO WAY they'll do that), and simply no one will care, D&D doesn't work like that.

[fenef]

sprites! (extra info under the cut)

Hi. Something so very cool and awesome about working with sprites is you always. underestimate how many you're gonna need.

The final intent was to have them all just mouth open / mouth close talk, like the 3d models do in-game, with the Gordon sprite being the only emoting one. Benry breaks the rule a little, namely cause his monologue is so so long it needed a bit of visual variation, and well, i guess it kind of tracks.

… that said, in the early early days, Gordon was going to just have the HEV suit helmet as his sprite, i was excited about that cause it meant I wouldnt have to do expressions for him.. but .. that thing looks weird scary so I dropped it pretty quickly, def for the better.

There are a couple up there that got cut. Benny's smile and kinda regretful looking one, used when making fun of Gordon and talking about ps+ respectively, but i thiiink it kinda felt better to keep him as neutral as possible.

maybe you're wondering why there's 1/2 a benny up there. he almost made it into the game. Before I had the big scary guy done, i was really attached to his placeholder, but at that point i wanted to keep up the "fake serious" vibe, or.. yknow as fake serious as you can be talking about hev slips..

Ok! thats all i had. i've also got some 3d models that ive been meaning to release into the wild for some time now… the ones from the ending sequence in particular, so keep a look out for em.

Ohh, and I guess as a general note, if you'd wanna use any of these posted assets for anything (non monetized ofc), then you can

[simnostalgia]

Not to be biased but why is it when someone is causing trouble in the sims community it's always coming from IMVU and SL creators?? Like, this isn't JUST about the @lindasims2 thing either. It's been like this for YEARS. I try not to talk inside baseball on Simnostalgia really because I have a lot of casual players but like...

Year after year the biggest stupidest drama is always IMVU and Second Lifers coming in with their crumpled meshes, overedited photos, and cringe 'instagram baddie' fashion that ages TERRIBLY and looks like dogshit in game. Flooding the CC market with asset flips and trying to monetize content creation while giving out unsolicited advice. It's garbage and not what our hobbyist community is about.

The problem is that we don't oppress users coming from MMO social games enough.

[minervamagicka]

So, I had alluded to this before in previous posts, but anyone familiar with my TS3 work knows that I primarily specialize & enjoy doing game conversions. When the trailer for the TS4 horses dropped, my immediate thought was "I need to dump the files of Star Stable Online", which, I proceeded to do almost immediately. I had to manually cross-reference the internal IDs of each horse model in SSO to what they actually were, so that I could begin compiling spreadsheets like the one above — Welcome to my mane & tail plans for TS4 Horses.

What is off-screen in this screenshot is countless specific breed conversions that I did not group into the five main sets I want to aim to release ASAP. Overall, I have ~97 meshes. For swatches, I intend to release the manes/tails with EA's swatches, + the SSO swatches that the model(s) came with + whatever other swatches I come up with to fill any gaps.

So far, there's a lot of set variety in my little 'packs' — I'm a western rider/enthusiast and let me tell you, the waterfall braids are chef-kiss. It truly pains me a little to know that these beautiful assets are buried under the monetization nightmare that is SSO, but anarchy will reign and they will be quite a lovely fit in TS4, methinks.

[minecraftnewsnetwork]

If anyone wants to join MCNN for the looming 5th Life season, hit us up at @minecraftnewsnetwork

In light of recent cryptic Grian-posting, it looks like this series will happen sooner than expected!

We can always use more help with:

Administration and project management

Taking notes

Writing scripts

Recording in-game reports

Downloading clips

Creating art/ visual assets

Editing video

Even if you can only do some of those, or one of those, all help is good help! Our main requests are that you be up front about what you can do, and let us know as soon as possible if your availability changes.

Our account here at @minecraftnewsnetwork is a shared account between Lead Reporters @pixiemage, @the-joju-experience, @fearforthestorm, and @salemoleander. Feel free to send an Ask directly to the main MCNN account for Discord details, or Message any of us on our personal accounts if you have questions.

Please note: We cannot guarantee that we will accept everyone who requests to join - we could get 2 requests or 200, and at some point that's too many cooks in the kitchen. Requests will largely be first-come, first-served, with some exceptions/prioritization made for those with video recording and editing experience.

FAQs

What the heck is MCNN?

A fan-created, scripted video series that seeks to summarize and report on the events that occurred across every POV in the Life Series that week. We started with Limited Life, and now I guess it's time for our second rodeo. This is our YouTube channel.

Do I have to have experience in [Video Editing]/[Script Writing]/etc to sign up for it?

Not at all! Everyone is welcome to sign up for whatever roles they want to do. We do like to aim for a certain level of quality in what we make, so if you aren't very far along in your creative journey with that medium please make sure you're prepared to receive peer feedback and edit suggestions!

I'm a minor! Can I help?

We do allow people under 18 to help, yes! Limiting who gets to help on a fan project about a ~PG video series seems nonsensical; especially when many of the adults in MCNN got their Minecraft start well before they turned 18, and it sparked a longstanding creative interest. However: School, family, and your overall wellbeing come first. If at any time the project seems to be conflicting with those priorities, you will be asked to step back for the remainder of the season.

What applications/tools do you use?

We use Google Sheets to write timecoded video notes, Google Docs to draft and work together on scripts, a mixture of ReplayMod and OBS to record in-game reports, and DaVinci Resolve to edit video. All of these tools are free to use, and we are able to walk through settings and basics with you if you're unfamiliar with any of these.

Do you make money from this? What do I get from helping?

\We are not monetized, and have no intention of monetizing or turning on ads. This is a fan-created show, made for the love of creation and celebrating a series we like. We are all unpaid interns, here at MCNN. :D That said - this is a 2+ month project involving project management, editing, writing, and other real-world technical & professional skills. If you participate and want help adding this to your resume, or need a letter of recommendation for a job or school organization/event, we are happy to assist with that!

[queer-ragnelle]

What are your thoughts on what makes something fanfic instead of an Arthurian retelling? Would it be looked down on to try to get something originally written with the intention of it being fanfic published properly?

Hi anon! I don't understand your second question, but I can definitely answer your first one.

TL;DR it comes down to authorial intent and respecting the historical and cultural context of a work. If someone writes an Arthurian story and posts it on Ao3 to share with their friends and followers, referring to their writing in their own words as fanfiction, then it's fanfiction. But I don't consider my own writing to be fanfiction, and neither do I think it's appropriate to impose that label into the past, before the necessity of such a concept existed, calling the works of Sir Thomas Malory or Chrétien de Troyes fanfiction. We're all participating in a literary tradition, but not all of us are writing fanfiction. Only the creator themselves can decide that. So...

I would prefer my books be called a retelling or a pastiche.

We could argue point 5's greater relevance here as not all retellings strive to imitate the Medieval style to such an extreme, nor can it apply to other mediums which transcend the written word, such as Arthurian films, TV shows, games, musicals, stage plays, etc. But the other points certainly apply to all Arthurian works, and point 5 applies to me. (Another example of this would be Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles, which adopts a poetic style emulating the epic poetry it's based on.) So I encourage others to research that concept more and appreciate how lucky we are that the subject of our interest is unhindered by licensing contracts and potential copyright strikes and the capitalistic necessity of pandering to commercial interest.

Fanfiction is, by definition, writing derivative of copyrighted material or utilization of the intellectual property belonging to someone else with ownership of the characters, setting, or other assets appearing in the fan-made work. The term exists as a means to shield amateur creators and their contributions to the fan-community under the terms of fair use from the axe of corporations who wish to monopolize and monetize the property. It likewise protects creators from having their work stolen and repurposed by others, so a small creator may have some legal recourse against a big corporate entity stealing their intellectual property. (See: Hot Topic printing indie artist's works on T shirts.) Copyright expires, unless you're Disney. So you can now write and publish works based on Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland or Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. That being said...

Works derivative of or inspired by mythology and literary traditions are not the same as fan-works suppressed by the weight of copyright laws weaponized by businesses in power.

Mythological and literary characters are owned by to no one, belonging only to the cultures from which they originate. It is to them a creator pays respect, not an individual or corporation or franchise, as is the case with works created within the last 100 or so years. Mythology requires no license to engage with in the same way one would require to contribute "officially" to a comic book series, or a TV show, or a video game etc.

If one intends to adapt The Odyssey, they need not copy/paste the fair use disclaimer into the description to cover their ass, because Homer has been dead for thousands of years, and even so, he did not own the character Odysseus, and merely contributed to the story-telling tradition of his era. The Netflix show Blood of Zeus can use Zagreus and Melinoë equally as much as Hades and Hades II, not because they obtained permission from some greater entity, but because authorization, or explicit mention of fair use, aren't required at all. Many of these traditions are tied to religion as well, and this should be handled with utmost care. Simurgh is a bird-dog creature of Persian mythology, derivative of an earlier bird-creature called Saēna in the Avestan-language of ancient Zoroastrian texts. She made an appearance in the recent episode of Delicious in Dungeon relating to griffons. Some translations of old Pahlavi texts I have actually refer to Simurgh as a griffon as a means of localizing the meaning of her name which would otherwise be immediately understood by an Iranian. This doesn't mean the anime or anything else referring to such mythological/literary creatures are fan-works, they pay homage to the old works. In the same vein, Paradise Lost isn't fanfiction of the Bible any more than the New Testament is fanfiction of the Old Testament. Fiction doesn't exist in a vacuum. If all inspired creation is beholden to its source, then everything ever written is fanfiction of The Epic of Gilgamesh.

Personally, I don't want to define my writing or art or any of the stories or films I enjoy with a capitalistic framework Arthurian enjoyers are so blessedly free of. There are, of course, exceptions. One can write fanfiction of BBC Merlin, as that story belongs to the BBC. But I wouldn't consider the show itself to be a fan-work. Neither would I consider Monty Python and The Holy Grail or Excalibur or the Camelot musical to be fan-works. Not unless Monty Python or John Boorman or Alan Jay Lerner say so themselves. The BBC did not invent the story of young Merlin, neither did Mary Stewart, perhaps not even the Vulgate did, as many Arthurian texts are lost to us. These are contributions to the Arthurian tradition, just as fanfiction is, all equally important and integral to keeping the legacy alive. They are derivative of Medieval literature and inspired by other retellings, adaptations, what have you, and not subject to corporate scrutiny. It's pointless to concern ourselves with it and draw lines in the sand which only exist in the fandom-space because of capitalism and the limitations borne of a franchise-conscious sanctions.

I hope this helps clear things up for you, anon. Feel free to clarify your second question in another ask so I can address that, if I haven't already. Have a wonderful day! :^)

[thearcanagame]

Is fanart allowed? And what about fan edits?

Both are allowed and welcome, as long as they comply with the following: - Creators are welcome to use all of the Arcana assets on Dorian for free and they can monetize Arcana in Dorian games and streams without restrictions.

- Do not monetize the Arcana IP outside of Dorian.

- Do not share premium Arcana content or commercially available Arcana content, including digital copies of content available on our merch store such as the Minor Arcana art book.

- Do not distribute games or comics that feature official Arcana assets, even if distributed for free, apart from promotional materials for content on Dorian.

- Do not share Arcana fanart as part of any game or visual novel outside of Dorian.

- Do not share premium Arcana content created by creators on Dorian without their explicit consent.

[hopeshoodie]

i need fusebox to drop their financial audit asap 💀

NO BUT ACTUALLY

(using this to shamelessly reiterate what I said in the dms)

but FB isn't publicly traded and I so desperately want to see their revenue sheets because I'm so so curious if they're making more money now after the layoffs/new gameplay than they did when S2 was at it's peak

I think people generally confuse popularity with profitability, in their 2018 investment round they managed to garner 1.5 million

But keep in mind that the old unity-based app required (correctly) a team of engineers, artists, and writers to produce. Now that FB is relying on a codevelopment (re: outsourcing) studio for assets, their overhead must be significantly cheaper. The primary revenue drivers would've been player purchasing gems, but we know they experimented with putting irl brands in the game and were trying to figure out a better monetization method.

In the new app they play ads SO constantly that I imagine that's a huge driver of revenue. The old app allowed you to replay the game without tickets, new app not so much, so that's a driver of in-app purchases.

I know there's a push in the fandom to use mods/emulation to play the game with unlimited gems, but we have to assume the majority of the player base isn't doing that. The new app has much more frequent prompts to spend gems, whereas the old app usually had 1-2 impactful scenes and 1 opportunity to buy clothes per episode.

The bitter part of me wants to believe that they ruined the game and its profitability tanked along with it but it's more likely that with a skeleton staff and low cost of producing the game they're making more than they did in past years.