Fail?

[Helderic]

Why do BBG's usually fail? Lack of members? Funds? Developer stopped updating/maintaining?

[JGadrow]

lol Boredom I think.

You work on a project for a while and it's a bright idea and over time you get bored with it and put it off for a newer, shinier project.

A lot of mine stall because I keep thinking of 'better' ways to make the project and end up, ultimately, scrapping the system and re-starting too often to ever finish it.

[trollface666]

As a gamer, most BBGs are quite insulting.

Most of them are just money making schemes FIRST and a game second. The BBGs that I actually pay money while playing are games FIRST and money making schemes second.

Which is kind of the issue. Most posts I see for BBg making just center around making money. I understand that making money has replaced family values and is the number one goal in life for most people, but if these people would take a second to understand that even if you want money money money, you will get this money making a good quality, fun game.

Seriously, how many pimp and mafia BBGs do I have to slum through searching BBGs in google before finding a decent BBG. And my god, don't even get me started with fantasy BBGs.... if I refuse to play multi million dollar cut and paste EQ clones (WoW and WAR for example) what makes you think I want to click on a text of 'attack' to kill a text of 'orc'?

Another insulting issue I have is the serious lack of How To Play guides for most BBGs. I have recently come across a very pretty mafia-rip off done with a sci fi theme, and I actually signed up and was ready to play.... only to be confronted with no how to plays or manuals anywhere. Somehow I actually ended up attacking myself in combat and dying. unsub'd immediately.

Then you have dreaded BBG 'companies' like PKE that churn out the most god awful commodore 64 abortions I have ever seen.


As a developer, I can see how the lack of time and money can affect a game's quality / development.

My coder for Cubicle Battles works and goes to school. Fortunately I do not do either. I have all day everyday to draw art for our game. So we are able to create massive amount of graphical substance for our game in a short amount of time.

Do we want Cubicle Battles to make money? Of course we do! But that isn't our goal, not even secretively. Cubicle Battles has ZERO ads anywhere. You will not see one single ad anywhere in our game. We decided that ads, while possibly good money making venues, will just break the immersion for our BBG. We don't want players to think they are playing a BBG. We want players to feel they are part of the storyline and to feel like they are taking part in a large corporation during their time in game.

I won't front either. We will have mechanics in game to make money, sure. Typical point systems that most if not all BBGs thrive on, but, that is for the PvE content. If you want to beat on other players, go ahead. You won't spend one point fighting players, and you can achieve level 99 fighting players just as you can fighting NPCs.

Another issue, sad to say, is the the seemingly growing amount of ADD in people. Working on a game takes TIME, and if you think stealing/copying/buying a script and pumping out a pimp/mafia/fantasy game is going to make you rich, you are dead wrong. Get ready to spend massive amounts of time to create a game of any substance.



These are all my opinions, so take them with a grain of salt. Sorry for the self advertisement in here, I was just using aspect of my game for a few examples.

[JGadrow]

I agree, too many people focus just on making money. As long as the game provides just a little more than it needs to keep it operational, I'd be happy.

For me, designing systems and such started as a simple hobby that led me into doing development as a full-time position. Sure, I'd still like to make a game that nets me enough of an income to make my little company self-sufficient and allow me to quit working for other people, but it's unrealistic. Still doesn't stop me lol.

[jannesiera]

lol Boredom I think.

You work on a project for a while and it's a bright idea and over time you get bored with it and put it off for a newer, shinier project.

A lot of mine stall because I keep thinking of 'better' ways to make the project and end up, ultimately, scrapping the system and re-starting too often to ever finish it.

Well, I'm lucky I don't have that problem then . My game is so complex for a 'first game' that I don't get bored at all. And I won't be lying if I said I was in love with my own game design  .

As a gamer, most BBGs are quite insulting.

Most of them are just money making schemes FIRST and a game second. The BBGs that I actually pay money while playing are games FIRST and money making schemes second.

Which is kind of the issue. Most posts I see for BBg making just center around making money. I understand that making money has replaced family values and is the number one goal in life for most people, but if these people would take a second to understand that even if you want money money money, you will get this money making a good quality, fun game.

Seriously, how many pimp and mafia BBGs do I have to slum through searching BBGs in google before finding a decent BBG. And my god, don't even get me started with fantasy BBGs.... if I refuse to play multi million dollar cut and paste EQ clones (WoW and WAR for example) what makes you think I want to click on a text of 'attack' to kill a text of 'orc'?

Another insulting issue I have is the serious lack of How To Play guides for most BBGs. I have recently come across a very pretty mafia-rip off done with a sci fi theme, and I actually signed up and was ready to play.... only to be confronted with no how to plays or manuals anywhere. Somehow I actually ended up attacking myself in combat and dying. unsub'd immediately.

Then you have dreaded BBG 'companies' like PKE that churn out the most god awful commodore 64 abortions I have ever seen.


As a developer, I can see how the lack of time and money can affect a game's quality / development.

My coder for Cubicle Battles works and goes to school. Fortunately I do not do either. I have all day everyday to draw art for our game. So we are able to create massive amount of graphical substance for our game in a short amount of time.

Do we want Cubicle Battles to make money? Of course we do! But that isn't our goal, not even secretively. Cubicle Battles has ZERO ads anywhere. You will not see one single ad anywhere in our game. We decided that ads, while possibly good money making venues, will just break the immersion for our BBG. We don't want players to think they are playing a BBG. We want players to feel they are part of the storyline and to feel like they are taking part in a large corporation during their time in game.

I won't front either. We will have mechanics in game to make money, sure. Typical point systems that most if not all BBGs thrive on, but, that is for the PvE content. If you want to beat on other players, go ahead. You won't spend one point fighting players, and you can achieve level 99 fighting players just as you can fighting NPCs.

Another issue, sad to say, is the the seemingly growing amount of ADD in people. Working on a game takes TIME, and if you think stealing/copying/buying a script and pumping out a pimp/mafia/fantasy game is going to make you rich, you are dead wrong. Get ready to spend massive amounts of time to create a game of any substance.



These are all my opinions, so take them with a grain of salt. Sorry for the self advertisement in here, I was just using aspect of my game for a few examples.

I acctually agree to almost everything you said here... . Especially about the ads... I'm not going to have any ads at all in my game either! And ofcourse I do want to make some money, but reallity is I probably won't  .

[JGadrow]

I intend to use advertisements. I've never minded them as a player because I understand that if I'm playing the work someone else has devoted so much time to, they deserve a way to, perhaps passively, earn an income for their efforts. As long as the ads aren't TOO jarring. Like those ads that fly across the middle of the browser to try and dupe you into clicking them. I hate those.

[trollface666]

I detest advertisement. Keep that shit in the 'adult' world outside my gaming thank you. I am tired of seeing Coca Cola in my XBOX games, why should I see penis enlargement ads in my browser games?

If a developer wants to make money, just create good premium content. Is that so hard to do? I have donated to browser games before because the game was worth it. But I fully understand I am a minority here. Most players don't care about adverts.

[raestlyn]

...If a developer wants to make money, just create good premium content. Is that so hard to do? ...

Actually, it can be very, very hard. You want to give the Premium players something, but if you give them too much the gameplay will suffer. The one who donates most will be unbeatable. Thats incredibly bad for the game, as it will lose the players as a result. I have seen it happen several times.

[trollface666]

Actually, it can be very, very hard. You want to give the Premium players something, but if you give them too much the gameplay will suffer.

I agree.

The one who donates most will be unbeatable.

When I donate, I actually mean donate. Donate means giving something for 'nothing', basically. I am not talking about buying content when I donate.

Thats incredibly bad for the game, as it will lose the players as a result. I have seen it happen several times.

If the developer(s) are total idiots, then yes, a broken system like this can happen. And when players dominate a game through buying content, that usually isn't good in the long run for a game.

[JGadrow]

lol I should probably specify that I prefer advertisements that have something to do with the site I'm visiting.

For instance, I don't want links to adult friend finder if I'm playing a medieval war game lol.

Now, if you show links to other medieval war games - or even to medieval replica sites or something similar - I don't find them to be very intrusive as it still fits with the overall theme of the site.

[trollface666]

That makes perfect sense. I wouldn't mind that at all. Just keep your dildos away from my swords and we should be fine

[jannesiera]

Haha, lol, it's true.

[Tribal]

However then, are users not directed away from you site to play on a better one?

[Helderic]

Are ads even worth putting into a game? Like do you earn enough to justify taking up the space and *possibly* ruining your game play?

And what type of ads do would you want on your BBG? Because if you put on ads for other BBG's you might lose members which isn't good!

So what types of advertisements do you have? Cause I'm guessing ads for beauty products won't work to well?

Do many people even click on ads? because I *never* click on ads.

PS: Thanks for all the feedback/discussion!

[JGadrow]

Are ads even worth putting into a game? Like do you earn enough to justify taking up the space and *possibly* ruining your game play?

This depends. If you're getting heavy traffic, it's DEFINITELY worth it. If you're getting very little traffic, probably not.

And what type of ads do would you want on your BBG? Because if you put on ads for other BBG's you might lose members which isn't good!

From speaking to administrators of some of the 'big' game companies, they don't tend to see a drop in membership. I think it's because people have time to play MANY different browser games that they don't mind playing several.

So what types of advertisements do you have? Cause I'm guessing ads for beauty products won't work to well?

As I said above, I think ads themed appropriately to the site work well.

Do many people even click on ads? because I *never* click on ads.

I do if it's interesting to me. Though, few are. However, the advertisers really don't care about clicks (at least, from my line of business). Sure, they want you to click and go to their deals and all that jazz so they can try and get a sale from you. However, the biggest reason they advertise is to keep their product (or company) fresh in your mind.

[Joe]

Most people don't understand that to make a game SUCCESSFUL. You need 3-5k to market that game. When I say successful, you need a game that is unique. Not a script thats been floated around for 2 years. Every game you make needs to have a unique approach, with a unique spin. Once you've created that game you need to understand how to market it.

Tracking tools. I cannot tell you how many times I've been asked, "What do you need to track? There signing up its good?" It's good if you don't care if they are playing or not, or if you don't have an ROI goal in mind.

Flash gaming sites, convert into signups, CHEAP but they NEVER stick around and actually play the game itself. It's what alot of game owners don't understand, you need to market your game and test/try different things until you find one that works.