If no one cares about your game does it make sense to keep making it?

[Nereid]

It's funny how some games are sold, I can't even get anyone to play mine for free...

 

[HarlekinLehl]

Do you advertise your game? Making a free game doesn't mean anything. There are thousands and thousands of free games that are more well known. I never heard of your game. Heck, you don't even link to it in your signature so I can't even check it out.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

How are you marketing it? Does it have a page? Do you post on FB/Twitter about it? Do you tell people about it? Just because it's free doesn't mean it's "visible", if it isn't even visible, then your chances of people trying it is really super low to none.

No mentions in your post, no links in signature, those are already missed opportunities to market your game..

 

[Nereid]

I'm not ready for mass rejection...

 

[HarlekinLehl]

I'm not ready for mass rejection...

Makes no sense. Complain about game not being played but not wanting to advertise it because people could be mean on the internet? I don't see the point.

 

[Nereid]

I never said that is what they're doing, the few who saw it so far just don't care...

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Rejections is part of any career, moreso in sales... If you're not ready for it, then you need to sitback and reevaluate if you really want to do this

 

[HarlekinLehl]

I never said that is what they're doing, the few who saw it so far just don't care...

Of course not. Look, dude. You gotta know what you want. Why are you making your game? Is it fun for you to make it? If it is, it's worth it. Do you want to sell it? If so, there is no way around advertising it.

If you just want strangers to play your game, you'll have to advertise it somehow. Go on itch.io and check how many free rpg maker games are on that site alone. Why would I play yours (if I even knew what game is yours)? Even if it's free, you'll have to get it seen somehow and then deal with the critisism.

I could recommend certain discords and even some streamers who are more than willing to give your game a shot, but it's not allowed to post these links here. But then again, if you can't handle critisism... I don't see the point of the post.

Maybe you wanted someone to just tell you to not give up? That's not likely to happen. We are pretty much all devs here. We all have to deal with this. I don't think anyone has the time to pity someone who puts in less effort than ourselfes.

 

[Nereid]

I do like making it, but increasingly it appears that I'm literally the only person who would be interested (which is why I'm making it, but of course it makes little sense if it's just for me).

But what's effort got to do with interests...?

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

People will never be interested in it unless you market it really good...

 

[Nereid]

If by market you means ads... makes no sense for a free game... like I'm never going to bother with greedy Steam...

 

[AphoticAmaranth]

Even if no one cares, you're getting experience from making it, which will help you with making future games. No one makes a masterpiece on their first attempt.

 

[Nereid]

Sure... but what if no one is interested in my future games, too?

 

[HarlekinLehl]

Sure... but what if no one is interested in my future games, too?

What is the point of this thread? We keep giving you advise and you keep rejecting it.

"What if" doesn't mean anything. "What if" you get hit by a car on your way home tomorrow? Might as well just die right now, right? That's a stupid thing to say.

Listen, you have a powerful community here, you can ask with help for anything relating to improving your game, advertising it and whatnot. But this thread seems just like someone ranting about how bad life is without willing to do anything to make it better.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Not paid ads, I mean you need to tell people about your game so that they will be interested in it... Like post about it on social media etc Like on this post for example, we have notified you multiple times that we don't even know what your game is, and yet you didn't even tell us the name of your game. That's already a missed opportunity to market your game.

What if it fails??? Then I ask you, what if it doesn't fail? Thinking of what ifs won't help you at all... Go out there and do it, that is if you really want to succeed in this.

 

[AphoticAmaranth]

Then keep trying and improving. Learn from your mistakes. Figure out why exactly people aren't interested, and how you can rectify that.

 

[Biestmann]

People's time has to be earned. Without seeing your project, it is hard to say whether it is worth anyone's time. Testers are a gift, and I am indebted to all of them for putting time into my work that they could have used in other ways.

Some people here bring up marketing which would be relevant for sales, sure, but to me it seems you just want folk to play your game outside the realm of commercial platforms. Speaking from personal experience, dedication can come a long way in making that happen. Create a topic for your game here on the boards and share your development process for everyone to see. That doesn't only keep eyes on your project, it also helps you keep track of the things you already accomplished. The topic for my game https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/inde...-dreamers-free-battle-rpg-full-release.75702/ is stuffed to the brim with development updates that happened over the years, and eventually people took notice. Other devs on here are similarly dedicated.

You'll have to put in the work one way or another.

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

---

People's time has to be earned. Without seeing your project, it is hard to say whether it is worth anyone's time. Testers are a gift, and I am indebted to all of them for putting time into my work that they could have used in other ways.

Some people here bring up marketing which would be relevant for sales, sure, but to me it seems you just want folk to play your game outside the realm of commercial platforms. Speaking from personal experience, dedication can come a long way in making that happen. Create a topic for your game here on the boards and share your development process for everyone to see. That doesn't only keep eyes on your project, it also helps you keep track of the things you already accomplished. The topic for my game https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/inde...-dreamers-free-battle-rpg-full-release.75702/ is stuffed to the brim with development updates that happened over the years, and eventually people took notice. Other devs on here are similarly dedicated.

You'll have to put in the work one way or another.

Marketing isn't solely for commercial. Promoting a free game is also marketing. Your game's page is marketing. You telling people that you have a game is marketing. You telling people what that game is, is marketing.

 

[Nereid]

why exactly people aren't interested

Problem is, I'm interested in what others seem to not be...

eventually people took notice

Even with that game, though... you got your first response more than a year after your post... how did you even remain interested in continuing development if no one bothered to reply?

 

[HarlekinLehl]

Even with that game, though... you got your first response more than a year after your post... how did you even remain interested if no one bothered to reply?

We enjoy what we are doing. We enjoy trying to make the best game we can. We enjoy improving our skills with the engine. It doesn't matter if anyone else likes it.

You got to think where you are here. This forum is full with developers, not players. To get anyone on here to play your game, when everyone is busy with their own games is hard.

That's why we keep telling you to reach out to people on multiple platforms.

Check out my games thread. Similar story. Barely any reactions. But then go to my itch.io site. Different story. Still it's only because I reached out to people. Let streamers review it, reached out to youtubers to review it. If I didn't, of course nobody would bother with "just another rpg maker game"

Oh, and of course posting devlogs to keep the game on the "fresh" page is also useful.