If you consider crowdfunding, watch this first

I've seen this video before.
It is a frank discussion on joining the industry and how very few people are successful.

Well worth a watch.

Along with the "Fail Faster" video on You Tube, these are must views for anyone contemplating joining the industry.

Cheers,
Joe

I agree. There should be a "watch this topic first" link on this forum. And placing all the links to those kind of video's.
Then, instead of having a strict welcome. We can give a warm welcome instead. And simply give a link to that place with all the information.

I believe that, indirectly telling people, what to expect works a dozen times better. And the discouraging could be less.

PS. That video, they talk about time. That would be my major reason for not even try a first time. I simply don't have it due to my daily job.

It's a great video full of some hard truths, for sure.

However, we have to be careful with how we approach new people in the game design hobby.

Just like starting any other creative venture, in the beginning, everything is half-baked and mediocre. That's just what beginnings look like.

But many people give up during that time because they're comparing their crappy, early projects with someone else's incredible, later projects. They come to believe they just don't have what it takes to be successful. However, what they don't see is that the other person's early projects were all garbage too.

The first book I wrote was okay, but the one I just finished (my sixth book) is leaps and bounds better in every measurable way. And that sixth book has already sold more copies than my previous 5 combined. If I had walked away after the first book, I would have never improved as a writer, and I would have never gotten to this point.

We have to make sure new designers are aware of the "designer's journey."

Eric Lang, Martin Wallace, Richard Garfield, Alan Moon, etc have all made some EXTREMELY crappy games. Let's not forget that.

That's a great point.

We probably need to make that much more clear to new designers.

I remember when I was just getting into things. I couldn't wait to find someone to do the art and whatnot. It was foolish. I didn't understand the line between design and business.

Not being hard on myself so much as being realistic. I don't regret it or anything because it was a good learning experience. But it would have been nice to not have spent that money.

And it was foolish.

It's like the guy who plays a round of golf, thinks he likes it, and then goes to a sporting goods store to buy every golfing thing they have.

The slow build is a much better way to go.

Learn, grow, get better--then take the next step. And repeat.

As far as learning experiences go - to this I agree. My first game had me invest $20k... Yup that much. I had it made in Canada (Mistake #1), I did not have any sales strategy (Mistake #2), it was a CCG (Mistake #3), I knew nothing about Publishers (Mistake #4), nor did I know about Kickstarter (Mistake #5), I was alone on the project (Mistake #6), I didn't know what Blind Playtesting was (Mistake #7), etc. A whole bunch of beginner mistakes...

But as my boss puts it: "20k to learn a business is not so expensive." And in a way he is right. Starting a Franchise restaurant costs about the same BUT you also need to include renovations which could double the costs.

With "Tradewars - Homeworld" my total investment in Game Design is about $30k... But if you look at it from another angle, I cut my development costs by 50% from my first game to the second one.

So you learn ... BGDF has been an "in-valuable" tool in helping me better understand Game Design (as a whole). Still wish that Quest AC could have been made in China. Would have cost me 10%... So instead of $15k, would have been $1,500... Again you learn from past mistakes. Now I know my weakness = SALES. So I've teamed up with a Publisher who has a very strong sense of sales and marketing. They have been very open with their strategies for the KS. At the same time I too learn more about KS too.