Is being an Indie better left unsaid?

[Jemander9]

I'm wondering whether to include an 'about us' section at my web page (http://www.mindscopesoftware.com), but I'm not sure how the pros and cons of this advertisement weigh out. I imagine that some people will be more likely to support an indie developer while others would be hesitant to purchase a product that wasn't from some large, well funded company with an expansive support system. What are your thoughts?

[Mark Fassett]

I think, if you make yourself seem human and your company appear to have a soul, then you are better with the about than without. But if it's just a list of people and their positions and what they've done in the past, it's a waste of space. Be human. That's one of the advantages of being indie.

[cliffski]

for expensive support system read "useless and arrogant"
Most big games companies treat their customers like dirt, therefore anything that distances you from them is IMHO a good thing.
Ive been reading yet more marketing books, and there is something to be said for marketing yourself as the 'alternative' in the same way (on a much smaller scale) that pepsi markets itself as the alternative to coke.

[Nemesis]

I think that in general it is good to have an "About Us" section. If you (and your team) are a veteran from the gaming industry, it is worth speaking about the 20+ years of combined experience. If you cannot afford any such claims, make it slightly less personal and talk in terms of the company. For example, company XXX is dedicated to bringing you fun games yada yada. Then let the games on offer do the talking :)

[GameStudioD]

I think the 'about us' page is important. If you do it correctly, it can give your company a good face, a human face.

You should definitely focus on positive, professional aspects. Even if you are a one man show working in your garage, dont mention it.

And remember your customers will not be looking for 'indie' games, but games to play in general.

[LiquidAsh]

It's kind of funny to see that two of the three urls from people recommending an about page do not actually have an about page.

Although I've never not purchased a game because of concern about poor support, I think it's best to have about info somewhere on your site. No about info generally leads me to assume the worst about a company.

Anyway here's mine: http://www.sugarpillstudios.com/about.htm.

I'd be happy to hear any comments people have.

[Nemesis]

LiquidAsh,

If you're referring to my URL, it is a temporary page I hacked up in a couple of hours that is running on my own dev machine. It's purpose is there to let interested members of this forum have a peek at some early WIP shots and provide some background on the project.

Eventually I'll be focusing on designing and hosting a proper site. Until then, I'm afraid my comments in terms of the business / hosting side of things will be a "do as I say not as I yet have to do".

[David York]

Personally, I believe this depends on your target audience. If you're selling to teenagers, you should probably keep the human aspect out and go large corporate in your image. If you're selling to artists, many of which are very fond of the "support the local XXX scene", then put it in there and make it prominent.

[Valen]

And remember your customers will not be looking for 'indie' games, but games to play in general.

Exactly. 99% of people don't care who made the game, they just want to play one. Brand loyalty does exist, but it's something totally unrelated to "indie games vs corporate games." This is because "indie" (or "independent developer") is not a brand. A brand is established by a single company, a single face that the consumer sees. The word "indie" can refer to almost any person or any company, and its meaning completely outside of anyone's control. Thus there's no point in associating yourself with it, especially since most customers won't even know what it means. This is very much like saying in your company description that you're selling your games via shareware. Why would the customer care?

A brand on the other hand, is something worth building. A brand is the perceived image of your company (or product) in the mind of the consumer. This is something that you can control, and you can for instance make your company known for making some of the most polished, fun, and completely bug free games. Blizzard Entertainment for instance, managed to create that brand out of themselves (I still haven't seen a game that was made better than StarCraft). Try to think from the perspective of the customer. What do you care about when you're buying something?

[Alchemygames]

From the point of view of a small publisher, an indie developer can be quite an attractive proposition. We are already stating that we will prefer submissions from small independent development teams.

The obvious reason for this is the low development costs associated with indie development... it follows that the smaller the development house, the lower the project costs (usually), and thus, the lower the risk for smaller publishers to become involved. This does not mean that the product is somehow less attractive as the actual quality of the game still has to be good.

I guess it depends on the scale of development, the costings involved and the attitude of the developers, but I know that we see a GOOD game with indie costings as a very attractive proposition.

Quality is the key. ;)

[formfarbeminze]

Anyway here's mine: http://www.sugarpillstudios.com/about.htm.

I'd be happy to hear any comments people have.

i took a look at this single page of your website as well as a quick sneak into the page's sourcecode. here's what i found:


- to write 'our mission statement' would be nicer imho. 'mission statement' sounds a little bit like your drill sergeant.

- what was your mission statement anyway? already forgot it. text to long. non-geek ram buffer overflow.

- 'Sugar P.Pills' ??? sugar peepee..?? what???

- are you a founder, a designer, a programmer, or even a president? Oh, you are all of them. how interesting. it sounds like you are a very important man. wow.

- i bet one of the many reasons jeff vogel is recognized in his scene is he's got a photograph of himself on his website. photos are the best way to create that desired human touch others were refering to in this thread. me personally, i once searched the net for hours to see how mr carmack looks like.

- layout-wise: think about importance of elements. is it 'Free Download' or 'FREE Trial' or 'must have'? which one is the catch? you know, a ferrari does not look that much speedy compared against a porsche or corvette...

- the same goes for the email-links. they look like links to the real thing, alas the photos or the personal sites of the teammembers, like the most imporatnat part. but when you click on those links you don't even know why you should want to send them an email. if i had a technical problem with running your games on my machine, which one of the email adresses should i use to get some help? is it the president? or maybe i should email the programer of the game? that would be who? in any case i could write the webmaster a message...

- the background picture. i don't understand. the corporate logo. i don't understand. is it forbidden to deal with sugarpills?

- i think i understand the basic thought behind the corporate name. i like it. it is fun, ironic and non-geeky. after all, most of your customers probably won't like maths as much as you do. problem here: the logo 'designer' was not able to incorporate that thought into your identity. the colors are okay i think. maybe not the best for a candy factory, but okay.

- the same goes for the tagline. the basic thing, i think you want to say, the idea: cool. execution: lame.

- navigational icons: a little bit too generic. i mean, stick to your theme: if it's candy, you don't have games: you have sugar-pills :-) you don't find a library in a candy store. maybe yo mean a sugar rafinery? don't be narrow-minded when you do design!

- navigational structure: good, not to much 'stuff' that will make you page look cluttered.

- you offer a text-based version of your site. this is sweet. extra sugar for you.

- overall you don't use any unrequired graphics, no clutter no stupid blinking things and so on. very good.

- in layout: think about white space.

- your site works across different platforms in various browsers. very good. almost professional.

i could go on...

know this is not meant as putting you down. it is not even critizising. it's just what happens when you forget to hire a professional. and i don't mean this to be harsh. i was even nice i think. and honest. that's the most important. anyway you maybe like to do webstuff, is this the case please take my comments as encouragement to strive for better understanding of what goes behind in design.

[Mentat]

Hello everyone... I've been a lurker for a month or so. I'm so glad I found this site.

One of the main reasons why I decided to try my luck at Indie development is because I have been disappointed with the games being released by the commercial companies.

Advertising yourself as an indie can be good, in my opinion. There is a pretty substantial market out there filled with people who are looking to play something different. On the whole, Indies have more creative freedom.

The best indies give their products soul, no matter the genre of their games.

[Nutter2000]

Anyway here's mine: http://www.sugarpillstudios.com/about.htm.

I'd be happy to hear any comments people have.
I won't go into much detail because formfarbeminze has covered more than enough ;)

I'll just mention a couple, I'd drop the President from your title, you're not big enough for it to look anything other than trite.
As for the other titles, they'll be fine IMHO, for example Tim Sweeny of Epic is often quoted as being "Programmer and Founder"

also "Comming soon" on the games page - coming is spelt with only one 'm' btw
just thought I'd mention it, we're all guilty of spelling mistakes now and again but it's one of those things that can really make your site look unprofessional :)

[EpicBoy]

I've always been a big believer in the mantra that if something doesn't work or isn't ready, take it off your public web site. The library page, for example. Having it there with a "sorry!" message looks sloppy and unprofessional. If it's not ready, why is it there and easily clickable? It makes it look like you don't have your act together...

[Greg Squire]

You may have heard the expression “Perception is Everything”. This is certainly true with marketing products on the web. Everything counts towards this, from the appearance of your website, to the quality of your game demo. If anything comes across as “unprofessional”, then you just might have lost a customer, that otherwise would of paid. I think it’s always best to emphasize the positive, when talking about who you are. Some people might be turned away by “Lone Wolfs”, but not everyone. If your site and games look and feel professional, then some of those customer fears might be calmed.

Further, don’t blatantly lie about who you are to appear bigger and better than you really are. Lies will come back to haunt you, and you and your company will carry that “scarlet letter” forever.

Also, I think “Under Construction” pages are unprofessional. Try to avoid them if you can. If you have to have one, make it a “coming soon” page, and do fill it with some content, not just the words “coming soon”. If it’s an upcoming game, try to include a short description and maybe even a screenshot if you’re far enough along.