techbear
03-04-2008, 09:27 AM
O'l Steve Pavlina said words of wisdom long ago. He said "releasing your product is the first step, not the last" and "You have to build a relationship with your customers". He meant that you can't just plop your product on your website and move on; you have to listen to your customers, keep upgrading your product, and thus build customer loyalty. I've had a LOT of trouble following these rules, but recently I believe I finally understand.
I think of it as the principle of Love and Attention.
We can continue to assume that our game executable is a packet of work and functionality that brings pleasure to those who use it. Or, we can accept that we create boxes of Love and Attention that we sell, and players buy it, open the box, and enjoy that Love and Attention.
Even games that we give away, anonymously, to random download sites, still have an echo of Love and Attention that players feel and seek. In contrast, the storm of Love and Attention that a MMOG player receives can be overpowering.
Ultimately, we developers are producing Love and Attention, not just game mechanics and particle effects.
In some ways, this is a distressing concept. I (like most of us) am an introvert. I want to hoard my Love and Attention for my family and friends, and I don't make friends easily. I don't even WANT that many friends. I CERTAINLY don't want too many people to be dependent on me for Love and Attention. I'm very facile with my compiler; not so much with the whole caring for other people thing.
They say that an extrovert gains energy from a crowded room; an introvert loses energy from it. Thus, most MMOG developers (quite naturally) hire extroverts to be "the face of the company", and they do a good job of giving Love and Attention to the players. But that doesn't mean that the players will be satisfied. They still crave Love and Attention from every other member of the development group. Just as teen girls know every detail of every boy in the band, many players seek out personal (and private) information about every member of a development team, for the same reasons. This is a special problem for small developers; there's less to hide behind.
Bands have dealt with this for a very long time, and (at least their producers) recognize that the Love and Attention they are selling is more lucrative than the vinyl. So they go on tour, go to signings, go on talk shows, and even sell private events for the girls with rich parents. We can learn something from this.
But there are lots of examples of people who don't buy this nonsense. For instance, Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) has virtually gone into hiding, and there's some rumors that while he continues to paint, he then burns his paintings. Clearly Watterson doesn't want to give any Love and Attention to his fans (other than what he already did, I mean). He, and other artists, feel that what's important is to clearly and purely express themselves creatively.
Part of the principle of Love and Attention is that your creative output isn't owned by you alone. Your players or fans take the Love and Attention and make it their own, making creations based on yours, critiquing your work, and begging for more Love and Attention that meets their needs. This means that your creative vision is muddied up with theirs, it's no longer pure. For some artists, this is unacceptable.
Just yesterday I heard that Prince (the musician, not the mercenary CEO) was suing several fan sites, demanding they remove copyrighted images, lyrics, etc. While everyone agrees that musicians shouldn't crap on their fans, and it's possible that this is just an example of lawyers earning their paycheck, I can easily believe that Prince just doesn't have much Love and Attention to give his fanbase. I think he has a right to demand that his artistic output be pure, not sullied by letting the riffraff "own" part of his creations. It just makes poor business sense.
Back when I was working at Acclaim on the All Star Baseball titles, a marketing guy came to us and asked for marketing ideas. We told him that we should take videos of the dev team, and post them to show the fans what we were working on, how it was going, and WHO was making the game. This would create a real connection between the players and the developers.
He didn't get it, and that can mostly be blamed on the top-down corporate mentality, which has ALWAYS desired to make the individual developers into faceless, nameless cogs. But it's also true that big companies usually don't have any idea they are creating Love and Attention, and act accordingly. There are exceptions, like Saturn, Mini-Cooper, and others, but in those cases the marketing department is the group that understands and capitalizes on the principle of Love and Attention.
Here's another example; Star Wars. Lucasarts can like it or lump it, but Star Wars is owned by millions of people throughout the world, who responded to the Love and Attention Lucas put into his movies. No amount of lawyers are going to stop every fan costume, fan fiction, fan video, and fan convention. Lucasarts can work hard to maintain control of Star Wars, or they can accept the principle of Love and Attention. And until they do, we shouldn't expect a great Star Wars MMOG.
In a recent web news story about Jonathan Coulton, they wrote:
---
"I like seeing somebody talented get out there and make the music that they want to create without really having to compromise at all," says Coulton fan Brian Richardson. "As fans we try to reward Jonathan for that. There's a reason ... people go out and make music videos for his songs. It's because they understand what he's giving to them, and they really want to be able to return it in kind."
Coulton nurtures this contact, now spending three or four hours a day interacting with his fans online, absolutely certain that this contact is critical to his success.
---
When I talk about Love and Attention, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Coulton's business model is not about selling his songs. It's about selling himself, and his time.
Like most geeks, Coulton probably isn't the kind of person to want 1000 friends, so the time he gives to his customers is probably one of the most difficult parts of his job. Musicians can usually count on the stage and the venue to provide a scripted, controlled structure that makes dispensing Love and Attention easier for the performer. But the fans want more, and meet-and-greets, and even e-mail, can be more emotionally challenging.
Of course, it could really be all about MY inability to render Love and Attention; I know there are fans of my old games that are standing by to receive some. But as I've discussed before, it's really a big emotional commitment, and some developers are prepared for it, and some aren't. It's possible that I'd have more Love and Attention to share, for a project that I had an enduring commitment to. That's not historically my strong suit, though.
What do you think? Do you think the principle of Love and Attention is a valid business model? Are you pursuing it? Should we all?
I think of it as the principle of Love and Attention.
We can continue to assume that our game executable is a packet of work and functionality that brings pleasure to those who use it. Or, we can accept that we create boxes of Love and Attention that we sell, and players buy it, open the box, and enjoy that Love and Attention.
Even games that we give away, anonymously, to random download sites, still have an echo of Love and Attention that players feel and seek. In contrast, the storm of Love and Attention that a MMOG player receives can be overpowering.
Ultimately, we developers are producing Love and Attention, not just game mechanics and particle effects.
In some ways, this is a distressing concept. I (like most of us) am an introvert. I want to hoard my Love and Attention for my family and friends, and I don't make friends easily. I don't even WANT that many friends. I CERTAINLY don't want too many people to be dependent on me for Love and Attention. I'm very facile with my compiler; not so much with the whole caring for other people thing.
They say that an extrovert gains energy from a crowded room; an introvert loses energy from it. Thus, most MMOG developers (quite naturally) hire extroverts to be "the face of the company", and they do a good job of giving Love and Attention to the players. But that doesn't mean that the players will be satisfied. They still crave Love and Attention from every other member of the development group. Just as teen girls know every detail of every boy in the band, many players seek out personal (and private) information about every member of a development team, for the same reasons. This is a special problem for small developers; there's less to hide behind.
Bands have dealt with this for a very long time, and (at least their producers) recognize that the Love and Attention they are selling is more lucrative than the vinyl. So they go on tour, go to signings, go on talk shows, and even sell private events for the girls with rich parents. We can learn something from this.
But there are lots of examples of people who don't buy this nonsense. For instance, Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes) has virtually gone into hiding, and there's some rumors that while he continues to paint, he then burns his paintings. Clearly Watterson doesn't want to give any Love and Attention to his fans (other than what he already did, I mean). He, and other artists, feel that what's important is to clearly and purely express themselves creatively.
Part of the principle of Love and Attention is that your creative output isn't owned by you alone. Your players or fans take the Love and Attention and make it their own, making creations based on yours, critiquing your work, and begging for more Love and Attention that meets their needs. This means that your creative vision is muddied up with theirs, it's no longer pure. For some artists, this is unacceptable.
Just yesterday I heard that Prince (the musician, not the mercenary CEO) was suing several fan sites, demanding they remove copyrighted images, lyrics, etc. While everyone agrees that musicians shouldn't crap on their fans, and it's possible that this is just an example of lawyers earning their paycheck, I can easily believe that Prince just doesn't have much Love and Attention to give his fanbase. I think he has a right to demand that his artistic output be pure, not sullied by letting the riffraff "own" part of his creations. It just makes poor business sense.
Back when I was working at Acclaim on the All Star Baseball titles, a marketing guy came to us and asked for marketing ideas. We told him that we should take videos of the dev team, and post them to show the fans what we were working on, how it was going, and WHO was making the game. This would create a real connection between the players and the developers.
He didn't get it, and that can mostly be blamed on the top-down corporate mentality, which has ALWAYS desired to make the individual developers into faceless, nameless cogs. But it's also true that big companies usually don't have any idea they are creating Love and Attention, and act accordingly. There are exceptions, like Saturn, Mini-Cooper, and others, but in those cases the marketing department is the group that understands and capitalizes on the principle of Love and Attention.
Here's another example; Star Wars. Lucasarts can like it or lump it, but Star Wars is owned by millions of people throughout the world, who responded to the Love and Attention Lucas put into his movies. No amount of lawyers are going to stop every fan costume, fan fiction, fan video, and fan convention. Lucasarts can work hard to maintain control of Star Wars, or they can accept the principle of Love and Attention. And until they do, we shouldn't expect a great Star Wars MMOG.
In a recent web news story about Jonathan Coulton, they wrote:
---
"I like seeing somebody talented get out there and make the music that they want to create without really having to compromise at all," says Coulton fan Brian Richardson. "As fans we try to reward Jonathan for that. There's a reason ... people go out and make music videos for his songs. It's because they understand what he's giving to them, and they really want to be able to return it in kind."
Coulton nurtures this contact, now spending three or four hours a day interacting with his fans online, absolutely certain that this contact is critical to his success.
---
When I talk about Love and Attention, this is exactly what I'm talking about. Coulton's business model is not about selling his songs. It's about selling himself, and his time.
Like most geeks, Coulton probably isn't the kind of person to want 1000 friends, so the time he gives to his customers is probably one of the most difficult parts of his job. Musicians can usually count on the stage and the venue to provide a scripted, controlled structure that makes dispensing Love and Attention easier for the performer. But the fans want more, and meet-and-greets, and even e-mail, can be more emotionally challenging.
Of course, it could really be all about MY inability to render Love and Attention; I know there are fans of my old games that are standing by to receive some. But as I've discussed before, it's really a big emotional commitment, and some developers are prepared for it, and some aren't. It's possible that I'd have more Love and Attention to share, for a project that I had an enduring commitment to. That's not historically my strong suit, though.
What do you think? Do you think the principle of Love and Attention is a valid business model? Are you pursuing it? Should we all?