The daily monologue of an indie - or how to cope with typical fears...

[baegsi]

How do you cope with typical problems an indie game business face? In low times when I'm tired from too much work, sometimes one of the following issues come into my mind:

1.- How can digital content like computer games be successful? Most of my friends just open eDonkey if they want to have a game. Sometimes they buy a game, but that's the exception. So by creating games, I'm pouring my time and heart into a product that can and will be just taken away from me.

2.- Games are one of the most difficult computer applications that one could write. You have to deal with all the real time issues and its a long way from an already complete game to a professional polished one. Maybe I see this too simple, but IMO a typical office shareware application takes much less work. You don't need an artist, you don't need musicians, you don't have to deal with framerates and all those compatibility issues etc.

3. As a result from 2: making a game just takes so long. It is especially a proplem since what I really want to do is *designing a game* and not dealing with technical problems most of the time. I'd say, at least at the beginning, I spent 70-80% of my development time with technical details and the rest with the design of a game, where in fact the value I offer is the actual game idea and not the technical realisation.

4.- When I go to a retail store, I see dozens of new games every month. Why should someone buy my game, if there're so many alternatives available? And I see these great games reduced to budget price just because they are one year old. For christmas I bought XIII and Mafia for 10EUR each, two great games I could technically never compete with, in fact, I could never write in 10 years (because they have a 100x bigger budget).


Normally, I answer the following to myself
1.- These people are not your customers. There are still plenty of honest people that want to pay for your game.
2.- That's true, but you get better every day. You are doing what you really love, and that's worth it.
3.- Same answer as in 2. With time and experience (and maybe new team members/or contractors) you will be able to do more design and less technical fiddling.
4.- You don't compete with them, because they serve a different audience. You provide something unique, because your game idea can't be found somewhere else. It's the same with music, movies and books. Although there're an incredible mass of new creations every day availble, the need for new ones will never vanish.

I know, these issues have been brought up and answered 1000 times (please feel free to ignore this thread and better work on your game). *And yet*, they are coming back from time to time. My personal answers are merely based on believe and not experience, I don't have a selling game yet and I'm planning to need at least another 3-6 months to have one, so its a long road.

Most of my time I have more high times than low ones, and the fears are no issue,but I'd like to hear if you experience the same and how you cope with that. Do you have the same fears or different ones? Do you have different answers? Do you question/doubt what you do from time to time? How do you stick to your plans?

[gmcbay]

For me it boils down to reminding myself I do it because I like doing it.

Getting into indie game development is honestly a really crappy way to make money or be financially successful. Yeah it can be done and we can all point to 4 or 5 groups or individuals that prove it, but odds-wise you'll be lucky to just break even.

[mahlzeit]

So by creating games, I'm pouring my time and heart into a product that can and will be just taken away from me.
Yep. Every business has its own set of problems, and so does this one. It's a good idea to reduce the impact of these issues as much as possible, but it doesn't make a lot of sense to worry about the things you can't change anyway. (Ideally, you can work out a way to use these problems to your advantage somehow.)

IMO a typical office shareware application takes much less work.
Dream on. :) Writing a good application takes just as much effort as writing a good game. Anyone can create a shareware app that doesn't sell.

what I really want to do is *designing a game* and not dealing with technical problems most of the time
Then you should work towards that goal as much as possible. Find a way to leverage existing technology, find a way to hire a programmer, etc.

Why should someone buy my game, if there're so many alternatives available?
Because your game kicks ass and everyone needs to have it. And if it isn't kick-ass, then you don't deserve people buying it. Online or retail.

*And yet*, they are coming back from time to time. My personal answers . . .
Maybe your personal answers don't adequately answer the questions. If you keep coming back to these questions over and over, your answers apparently aren't satisfying enough... All I can say is: search for better answers. :)

[MrPhil]

From my point of view each of your questions seems to spring from the desire to succeed. That might sounds simple and silly but I wanted to bring up the idea because I used to have a lot of fears about being ‘successful’ until I really figured out what success would mean to me. Earlier in my life being a success meant doing something really important that changed the world like Bill Gates, Neil Armstrong or Albert Einstein.

These days being successful is more about being happy with my life and maximizing my freedom and options. I came to terms with the fact that everyone doesn’t get to be an Albert Einstein and being successful in life has less to do with changing the world and more about making the most of your situation.

Sounds like you aren’t an American, but I’m sure you’ve heard of the ‘American Dream’ which says that if we work hard we can accomplish anything. Many of us see successful people on TV and in our community and think that is the ‘American Dream’ we can achieve by hard work and willpower but the reality is the ‘American Dream’ is about the freedom to pursue a line of work or vision. We don’t all get to get be Lance Armstrong, Adam Sandler, Condoleezza Rice or Jessica Simpson some of us just aren’t that lucky and never hit the jackpot even though we are doing all the right things. That might sounds depressing but accepting it changed how I view life.

Some might say I’ve sold out on my big dreams, but I think that I’ve become more in touch with the spirit of my dream. Sure I’d like to be successful like John Carmack, but I’d be happy building my dream game and selling it online. I’d be very happy if it was popular enough to allow me an average income working for myself and living by my rules and by my decisions. This is the really spirit of my dream. I love computer games and have this grand vision of a game I want to make a reality. These are the really important things, not selling a million copies of a game, winning prestigious awards and being on the tip of everyones tongue.

When this all fell into place for me life got easier, and better. Working on my game became easier and more pleasant. My fears disappeared because success changed from living up to society’s grandiose measure of success to simply becoming a better me and striving for a happier life that fits who I am.

On the forums here I often hear people asking what the best plan is or what the best technology is to be a successful Indie. I believe these are the wrong questions. The real question is, “What do I want to do?”, “What will be fun?” and “What is the real spirit of my dream and/or vision”. These will guide better than anything else I believe.

Granted I haven’t finished my game or sold a copy yet so my theory is still under testing. I’m also sure I’ll be making some adjustments to my views of life over the years. What I do know is I’m more at peace now with my progress and what I'm doing than I’ve ever been before. And maybe that is the point, it isn’t about ‘finishing’ it is about persevering to make my dream a reality.

[Kai Backman]

I really truly understand your feelings Baegsi. But there is only one effective antidote. Throw yourself into your work and enjoy every moment you have of it. Nobody is ever fully secure, that's just an illusion. You have to count every hour you are able to develop, every small new improvement you learn. That is what matters. You eventually go boom or bust, that's OK. But have you enjoyed the road?

During the day I have created a habit of reacting to when I'm tensing up. I stop for a second, relax and smile. "This is what I love to do most". And then dive back to work. :D

[Andy]

Pardon to everyone - I've read just the starting message - so, if I'll repeate somebody don't beat me a lot. :)

@ baegsi
And after all warnings you have described just imagine. Me - Andy. I'm seating here and don't care about anybody else on this Earth - except of my family, my partners, and our customers.

I don't care about any portals and their advocates anymore, I don't care about that so called independent supporting media. You ask me why - I answer you - because we are OK. And nobody can beat us of that condition - we just need to do what we were doing before for our customers. And that's a pretty sweet feeling baegsi - just trust me - and that costs all that efforts we've spent before to achive it.

So. Germans - are pretty talanted peoples, I love to work with them very much. You will be OK if you are the real German. See - I know the history ;)
And I wish you that with all my forces. Let the force be with you. :)

REM: And yes, this is a pretty hard job. You can get that in short terms in another directions etc. But! That sweet feeling baegsi - you wouldn't get it by another way than to be fighting for it at first by all you forces.

Just my two cents... ;)

[Mark Fassett]

Hmm... I don't have those fears because I'm doing what I want to do. Sure, apps may potentially make more money, but I don't want to write one or support it. Sure - there are lots of games on the shelves, but they're not the games I want to make, and most of them aren't games I want to play. I only need one person out of every 100,000 people on the planet to buy my game in order to make a million dollars off it. I only need one out of every million in order to make $100k. How hard can that be?

[Bamafan77]

From my point of view each of your questions seems to spring from the desire to succeed. That might sounds simple and silly but I wanted to bring up the idea because I used to have a lot of fears about being ‘successful’ until I really figured out what success would mean to me...These days being successful is more about being happy with my life and maximizing my freedom and options...My fears disappeared because success changed from living up to society’s grandiose measure of success to simply becoming a better me and striving for a happier life that fits who I am.

MrPhil (or should I say DR Phil? :p ), that's an enlightened attitude you have on life in general. Or perhaps it's the case that I think it's enlightened because it also happens to match my own outlook on life. ;) In either case, I think you pretty much hit the nail on the head -- as soon as people start living for themselves and doing the best with what they have (as opposed to keeping up with the Jones' or living to the standards of pop culture heroes), only then will they find peace.

[princec]

These questions keep popping up in my head as well, and although I don't care about #1 really, points #2, #3, and #4 are still really grating after all this time, particularly because I'm still a complete failure in my own eyes. I still make about 1-2 sales a month, and my games biz is 2 years old and has 3 good games on it. I've still not got enough money to pay for anything (in fact all my direct debits bounced again for the 3rd month running) so I can't really expand the business through advertising. It's just going nowhere as it is.

#2 is annoying me a lot right now. It never seems to get any easier to write a good game that I like to play. But I'm a programmer and #2 is never going to go away. Nobody's ever managed to make programming good things easy.

I tried solving #3 with Puppytron but I'm having a lot of difficulty following up on it with another game idea. Trouble is, all the game ideas I have (and even the business ideas, really) involve another 6 month extravaganza.

And as for #4 - well, unfortunately the games I want to play, and therefore write, are more or less in direct competition with retail titles. I don't want to write puzzlers, or match-3, etc. I want to write real games, independently.

Damn your thread! I'm most miserably depressed now.

Cas :)

[Andy]

Damn your thread! I'm most miserably depressed now.


Hell Cas! You are talking to Mike (Retro) to Steve (Svero) directly. They give you their recommendations. Have you ever tried to follow some of them? :confused:
Grow up to some level before the showing of your increadible origianlity.
Want to be original right now - pay for it! Period.

REM: Your games are very good. If you ever care by my opinion about them and if it could help you today somehow. ;)

[princec]

Hm... new thread in order: changing stuff! (s.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?p=26666#post26666)

Cas :)

[baegsi]

Thanks a lot for your helpful feedback everyone :)

For me it boils down to reminding myself I do it because I like doing it.
Getting into indie game development is honestly a really crappy way to make money or be financially successful. I still have to answer the question to myself if loving what I do compensates the trouble of game development

Maybe your personal answers don't adequately answer the questions. If you keep coming back to these questions over and over, your answers apparently aren't satisfying enough... All I can say is: search for better answers. :)That's a good point. Problem here is that I have to try it first and that involves a couple of years of hard trying.

From my point of view each of your questions seems to spring from the desire to succeed.
...
What I do know is I’m more at peace now with my progress and what I'm doing than I’ve ever been before. And maybe that is the point, it isn’t about ‘finishing’ it is about persevering to make my dream a reality.I'd be happy if I could make a decent living from creating games, but maybe you are right that I'm too focused on becoming the next big hit. However, sometimes the image of the starving artist pops into my mind and I'm thinking about whether there isn't an easier way. That's often after I got the feeling of getting lost in technical details and losing my grand vision.

During the day I have created a habit of reacting to when I'm tensing up. I stop for a second, relax and smile. "This is what I love to do most". And then dive back to work. :DI do this also. But I go out and try to refill my energy. It works most of the time. However, I'm far away from making a living from it. Maybe I'm too impatient. On the other hand I think it's important to re-evaluate my situation from time to time.

[baegsi]

So. Germans - are pretty talanted peoples, I love to work with them very much. You will be OK if you are the real German. See - I know the history ;) And I wish you that with all my forces. Let the force be with you. :)
Thanks man, I welcome your forces :) Regarding Germans and history... I dunno, I'd rather not be a real German ;)

Hmm... I don't have those fears because I'm doing what I want to do. ... I only need one out of every million in order to make $100k. How hard can that be?If someone who tries to make a living out of indie gaming doesn't have those fears I want to give you my full respect. You seem to be on your right path. I too have those calculations, however, in my case, they are all just believes.

[baegsi]

I still make about 1-2 sales a month, and my games biz is 2 years old and has 3 good games on it. I've still not got enough money to pay for anything (in fact all my direct debits bounced again for the 3rd month running) so I can't really expand the business through advertising.
...
#2 is annoying me a lot right now. It never seems to get any easier to write a good game that I like to play. But I'm a programmer and #2 is never going to go away. Nobody's ever managed to make programming good things easy.
...
Damn your thread! I'm most miserably depressed now.Your slow biz is sad to hear. What I can guess is that you have all the technical expertise that is needed to make great games. But as you said: you are a programmer and I feel too that I'm maybe too much of a programmer. I decided just this morning that I want to shift my daily development behaviour from less technical stuff (working on my own framework) to more game design. Meaning: I want to produce every week a little prototype of one of my ideas (using blitz or my own framework which is quite mature already), so that I can actually work on the game idea, the core value we all provide. I'll see how this works out. Regarding you being depressed: out of each depression comes new energy (prove: you started a new thread :) )

Just to make one thing sure: I do not intend to spoil the vision of anyone here. I to believe that one has to stick to ones visions and that no one should give up. However, I also don't think it's good practice to close the eyes from reality. It comes down to one question: are my fears just negative babble I better ignore or are they valuable voices that say to me: better look around and find a more suitable way? Damn, why is this so difficult... :)

[Nonz]

I only need one person out of every 100,000 people on the planet to buy my game in order to make a million dollars off it. I only need one out of every million in order to make $100k. How hard can that be?

I have a friend that used this philosophy when developing an affiliate program. I actually wrote the software for him, not because I thought he was going to make me rich like he promised but because he's a good guy, hair-brained schemes and all.

Of course it didn't work, he got phenomenal traffic but no sign ups, but I did get two free pairs of skates out of it.

Came in very handy for Christmas.

And how many people can say they've worked for skates? :D

Nonz.

[ggambett]

My answers...
1.- How can digital content like computer games be successful? Most of my friends just open eDonkey if they want to have a game.
A lot of people can't even download the full version they bought, having a link, without your assistance. That's who you sell games to. There are also honest people!
2.- Games are one of the most difficult computer applications that one could write.
But maybe making games is what you enjoy... there's really no cure for that, except if you care more about the money than doing what you like. And you can make money off games.
3. As a result from 2: making a game just takes so long
Find ways to be a better <whatever you are>. Identify what takes long. Automate it. Make tools. Use 3d party libraries and tools. Make the computer work for you! As a programmer, I'm doing huge reuse of code from Betty's Beer Bar in the form of a framework/library/whatever that has evolved to the point it has a custom animation language.

Experience also helps - BBB took 5 or 6 months to make. Our current game will be 8 months when february ends, and it's infinitely more complex and especially infinitely more ambitious graphically. We are aware that we wouldn't be able to make it if we hadn't done BBB before.
4.- When I go to a retail store, I see dozens of new games every month. Why should someone buy my game, if there're so many alternatives available? And I see these great games reduced to budget price just because they are one year old. For christmas I bought XIII and Mafia for 10EUR each, two great games I could technically never compete with, in fact, I could never write in 10 years (because they have a 100x bigger budget).
1) Some people will buy Zuma and not Mafia because they like Zuma and not Mafia, no matter the price.

2) Why your game instead of many other casual games? Make the game as good as you can. Better than most if you can :) Besides, there are SO many people in the world, even if a small fraction buys your game, you make money. Think about it. Say you make an impossibly awesome game and sell 1000 copies a month. That's only 12000 copies a year, or 0.000185% of the world's population. 0.004% of the US population alone. Sure, not every person in the world is a probable buyer, but I'm citing these examples to remind you of the magnitude of the numbers involved.

[MrPhil]

@ Bamafan77 - Thanks for the kind words! At least someone thinks I’m making sense ;)

@ Baegsi – It is so hard to express what I’m trying to get across to you. Maybe a couple stories are in order.

Do you know who Kevin Smith is or his story? I’ll try to be brief. Kevin Smith is a normal guy from New Jersey who became a very popular film director. What is interesting about his story is that he didn’t follow any sort of plan, advice or know path to film director success. He dropped out of film school, maxed out his credit cards and made a film called ‘Clerks.’ ‘Clerks’ is/was nothing like any film made. It was black and white, had tons of cursing in it, jokes that hit every strange place on the menu from weird geeky sci-fi references to, and very crude offensive sexually humor. If he had tried to pitch his script to any one established in the business they would have all called him crazy. Kevin Smith ( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003620/) isn’t a success because he did what worked; he’s a success because he did what spoke to him.

This is what I think we ALL need to do. Find that weird, different, out of place vision or thing that speaks to us and make it a reality. I’m not trying to say that it is a path of riches, fame and glory. I’m saying it is a path of success in the sense of who you are and what makes you special.

The problem is society tends to praise people after they’ve done something that impacts them, not during striving and struggling period. It is a sort of hindsight way of praising success. History is filled with people trying to be successful who died thinking they where a failure, or their dreams weren’t fulfilled until years after their death. Think about these people’s life:

Socrates was sentenced to death for “corrupting the youth and interfering with the religion of the city”, but his way of expanding people’s minds is valued today and he is considered by western civilizations to be a founder of reason and the creator of the Socratic Method.

Galileo lost his life for standing up for his belief in Copernicus' Sun-centered universe, but now we value his contribution and respect him for inventing the telescope, being the first human to see the moons of Jupiter, discovering the craters of the moon, discovering sun spots, discovering physic's laws of failing bodies and motions of projectiles. Science owes him so much because he started in motion the division of religious control from scientific knowledge.

John F. Kennedy was assassinated years before Neil Armstrong landed on the moon but with out Kennedy’s vision and leadership it is doubtful it would have happened.

Martin Luther King wanted the world to stop being prejudice and some would argue his dream still has a ways to go but he is looked up to and respected as a visionary now. But back in the 60’s he was reviled by many, view as an agitator and assassinated in 1968.

Another great example of living by a different definition of success is Gandhi. If you haven’t seen the film Ghandi with Ben Kingsley (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=mrphilgame-20&path=tg/detail/-/B00003CXA4/qid=1109014434/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/?v=glance&s=dvd&n=50784) I HIGHLY recommend you do. This man gave up everything, riches, political position and power, health, comfort, friends, family and even his life for his dream of an independent India.

I guess what I’m getting at is I’ve found comfort in pursuing my dream game instead of traditional measures of success. I stopped trying to make a ‘quick starter’ game to get on the market. I stopped trying to replicate a proven path of success. I’ve stopped making the ‘easy’ game with my ‘better’ improvements. Thank god, because I’m so much happier making my game.

[Hamumu]

I don't know which of the 12 threads on this topic that this will fit in best, so I'm putting it here, since I stumbled in here. Check out what Kevin Smith had to say when interviewed about Chasing Amy (backstory: Clerks was a smash hit with almost no budget, which got him a big budget for Mallrats which flopped, and he went on to do Chasing Amy with another tiny budget):

What did you learn from making Mallrats?
Well, one thing I learned is that it's very important to tell personal stories. They're the ones that are always going to connect with the audience. With Mallrats, we did try to be a bit more commercial, a bit more mainstream. But people were asking me at the [Chasing Amy] screening last night, "Do you feel redeemed?" And I'm like, "I don't feel redeemed, because I don't think there's anything to redeem." Yes, I tongue-in-cheek apologized for Mallrats, but never was I like, "Oh man, I am so fucking sorry!" It was a joke. If anything, this film has kind of vindicated me, and us, because a lot of people wrote us off after Mallrats. And it's kind of sad. At the time we made Mallrats, I just had nothing personal to say. I had nothing on my mind. And I was just like, "This might be fun." And it's so horrible when you make what you feel is a fun movie and everyone bashes you for being so light or selling out. What, everything has to be deep, or honest, or real, or issue-oriented? You can't just make something light?

So yeah, success comes from doing what's special to you, not selling out!

[Anthony Flack]

Hey Mr Phil, don't forget Vincent Van Gogh, he's the classic example. Mooched off his brother his whole life; couldn't give his paintings away. Shot himself.

Now his paintings routinely break records for the highest price. I wonder if his brother ever saw any of it? His art is worth billions of dollars and Van Gogh never saw a single cent.

Ah well, he wasn't really in it for the money.

[MrPhil]

@ Anthony Flack - oh yeah, great example. In fact, I think painters have a nack for being discovered after death. Isn't that the joke. If you want to be a famous painter all you have to do is died first.

[baegsi]

@MrPhil: thanks for your encouraging words. Man, I love Clerks, one of my favorite movie! I know what you mean: I too want to pursue my dream more than having conventional success. However, I'm still not sure how my dream exactly looks like! I enjoy making games, being creative, but also I want to run a good business. And for the latter, some kind of commercial success should show up because that's the right to exist for any enterprise, isn't it? It's not about getting rich and famous, more about creating something that the world can use now.

So, actually I want both: do what I love and have success with that :) . Stories like that one of Kevin Smith are very motivating, on the other hand, there are people like van Gogh. Personally, I don't think I could live the life of a starving artist, who does not care about anything except his own voice. All my respect for those people, they have very much to give, but I think I wouldn't get that energy only from creating games, at least not how I do it in the moment. With all the problems meantioned above, it's very easy to loose vision by getting lost in technical details and loosing ones energy.

Heck, I will see, nobody said it would be easy. I have to figure out the proper way :)

[MrPhil]

Personally, I don't think I could live the life of a starving artist, who does not care about anything except his own voice.
I hear ya. Starving sucks!

Well maybe you need to do more exploring and experimentation, there’s nothing wrong with that. For me things didn’t start flowing until I focused on my dream project using technology that I loved. When I was pursuing the “smart” technology and the “sure” seller I had all kinds of motivation problems and fears about my success. This was an important thing for me to figure out. I believe that Kevin Smith was successful because he worked on the thing that spoke to him and moved him.

Maybe if you gave more weight to fun and interesting and a little less to what the "world can use now" you’d give yourself room to be creative and discover a cool idea. I used to pressure myself a lot about hurrying up and being successful and it was very counter productive. As a good friend of mine once chastised me, “Creativity doesn’t happen in a pressure cooker.”

You might remember me saying something similar in your thread From Java to C++ (or C#)? Your good advice needed! (http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=1823): The Best is the enemy of The Good and The Fun (http://forums.indiegamer.com/showpost.php?p=22461&postcount=34)

Anyways, I’m starting to sound all preachy which I don’t want to do. I’m still struggling myself and explaining my trips and falls to other helps reinforce the lesson into my brain. Thanks for the reinforcement ;) and good luck!

[Ricardo C]

Here's how I deal with my fears: I play one of those incredibly sucky games that nonetheless seem to sell well. Hey, if THEY can make it, then I can too ;)

[princec]

Every time I feel like giving up I download Brainwave from Dexterity again.

Cas :)

[Ricardo C]

Brainwave, eh?

*gets curious*

*downloads*

*installs*

*plays*

*blinks*

This thing makes Snood look like it was done by Michaelangelo. I think I have found my new pick-me-up title for when I'm down.

[princec]

Steve claimed to make somewhere between $10k-$12k from Brainwave.
In contrast I've made $20 from Puppytron. I'm sure I can do 1000x better. Now there's a motivator!

Cas :)

[baegsi]

Hmh, maybe it's really just all about marketing (and being at the right place at the right time ;) )

[Andy]

Hmh, maybe it's really just all about marketing (and being at the right place at the right time ;) )

Well. Really
"marketing" = "being at the right place at the right time"
Especially we our limitted budgets. :)

[princec]

I feel as if we (Puppygames) are in the wrong place now, at the wrong time. Hence, new tactics.

Cas :)

[Savant]

"marketing" = "being at the right place at the right time"
That's not really true, IMO. Marketing, when done properly, has very little to do with luck.

[Andy]

That's not really true, IMO. Marketing, when done properly, has very little to do with luck.

How that conneceted to luck Savant? - You need to search for that "right place and right time" for your software - or backward create software appealing for some "right place and right time"

I suppose so...

[Savant]

Well, I think creating a product without a market in mind (either an existing one or one that you intend to create) is silly. So really, you should have a plan in mind before you even start. You should know where you plan to position the product and how you plan to market it long before the first line of code hits the text editor.

That's what I mean by luck not playing a large factor, if the marketing is done properly.

Will you always win? No, of course not. You can target something and still miss. But when it works, it shouldn't be because you were lucky. It should be because it was the logical outcome.

[Andy]

All correct Savant. The misunderstanding appears probably when you follow by the common meaning of that phrase but I'm just reading it as is.

I suppose all our marketing guys are just trying to help us to find that "right place-right time" - either to find how to sell the product at all or to increase current sales.

"You can target something and still miss." - oh, yeah! Ones are even missing that in opposite dircetion - do more than they were expecting. But it common this is very regular case - otherwise everything could be predictable and "pre-calculatable". Just imagine: "Well guys! This year we will make that $23956 from the game X we are expecting the design doc by the end of next month" :D

[20thCenturyBoy]

Steve claimed to make somewhere between $10k-$12k from Brainwave.
In contrast I've made $20 from Puppytron. I'm sure I can do 1000x better. Now there's a motivator!

Cas :)
How about cloning Brainwave :p

[princec]

Haaaa.... it's called "Puppy Invaders".

Cas :)

[baegsi]

Found an interesting read: http://www.changethis.com/6.HowToBeCreative
It's about being true to oneself and fits very well in what was discussed here. Although I don't agree to all of it (still believe it's possible to have both: valid business and an own voice) it's thought provoking.

[Ricardo C]

I think we have a LOT of very talented, creative people here. It's convincing people that our creativity is worth their money that is proving difficult :D