I've been trying to get a feel for where the RPG Maker community sits but...

[Garryg]

OK, so I haven't been here long and I've just started looking at making my first real attempt at a game, which will probable be released for free somewhere to see if anybody actually plays it and what they think, possible giving hints on what to do if I want to try to make a better game that could possibly be sold.

On this forum it seems like most people are aiming to make a commercially viable game that can be sold somewhere like Steam for a profit. And that is a perfectly fine goal.

But, I'm finding it difficult to judge where the RPG maker community sits (as a whole, not just this site) on what constitutes a 'game' i.e. what level of production/sophistication is seen as 'normal' by people making (or playing) RPG Maker games.
Are there communities of people out there (again not talking about this site, just in general) who make and play simple games made on RPG Maker? Or do people more see it purely as a tool to make a commercial game with, where there is no need to tell the customer buying the game that it is made by RPG maker.

Basically, is there a fan-base of people (out there in Internet land) making and playing RPG Maker games that just use the stock built in graphics and sound etc, for fun? It's one of the better aspects of communities like PICO-8 where people are making games and releasing them on 'splore' for each other to play and build on. Even utilities like Game-Guru have this to a certain extent. Coming into this from scratch I sort of assumed there would be a community and a place where people were releasing simple default asset games for others to play (again not specifically talking about this site, also I'm not saying I'm part of these communities, just that they exist).

But so far I don't get that impression at all for RPG Maker. It's more like people beavering away on UNITY trying to produce that killer indie game. Not that I'm saying that is bad, I just assumed there would be an opposite end as well, with people making relatively small and simple things for fun that other RPG Maker fans would play and feed back on. I don't see that happening anywhere (i.e. different sites and groups) I visit RPG maker wise. (Again not specifically talking about this site)


So I've edited this a bit (by adding the stuff in the brackets)
Some people appear to have picked me up very wrong in this post, for some reason and missed what I was actually asking. In fact I'm not really sure what they think I was saying.
Is this post that muddled, if so my bad not theirs!
Maybe I just assumed that people making games and using this site would have a wider knowledge of any RPG Maker 'scene' that may or may not be out there.
I think some people may have taken this post as something it wasn't intended to be!
Prompting some defensive comments. I apologise if that is the case as that wasn't my intention!

 

[Tai_MT]

Here's some perspective:

There are very few of us on these forums who have ever crafted a game. Large or small. Most lose interest before completion and just "start a new project".

A game is a game. Long or short. Some people have ambitions to make long games. Some have ambitions to make short ones. Primarily, these are forums for learning game design and the engine you're designing with. It's a place to release your games to some extent, but most of us aren't here to play your games.

Are there some who would want to play your game? Probably. If there wasn't a demand for it, there wouldn't be pages to find those games for download here. Are those people a "community" like you envision? Probably not. You might even sometimes see people saying they'll do reviews for others and taking requests for it.

Primarily, RPG Maker is used to make RPG's. RPG's don't tend to be "short little fun games". They tend to run about 8 hours minimum, which is a ton of work.

Now, if all you're looking for is the similarity of "trading games" you're used to, the closest you might find to that is just hanging out in the "Game Mechanics Design" section of the forums. People trading ideas, innovations, criticisms, and other things based on aspects of game design. There's definitely a community for sharing those things. A sort of comradery in it from time to time as well.

Mostly, these forums are used to discuss game design and how to use RPG Maker programs. Not a lot of game distribution done here. Or, just a place to unwind from the day or game design.

 

[ATT_Turan]

But, I'm finding it difficult to judge where the RPG maker community sits on what constituted as a 'game' i.e. what level of games sophistication is seen as 'normal' by people making RPG Maker games.

I think your misunderstanding is looking at people who frequent this site as people who purposefully search out and play games made on RPG Maker. This is pretty much not the case.

People are on these forums because they are making games in RPG Maker. I think you might be mistaken about the percentage of them who want to sell their game versus those who are doing it for fun, but people don't come to the support forums for the game editing software because they are playing those games.

I also have kinda no idea what you're talking about vis-a-vis "what constitutes a game"...I guess you could get into a larger philosophical discussion about video games that have a large amount of storytelling and low choice - are visual novels really games? Do games like Beyond: Two Souls really have a sufficient amount of interaction or decision making to be considered a game, or are they interactive stories?

But there are 0 people on these forums trying to establish "The project you make in RPG Maker must have this and this and this or it somehow isn't a game." O__o

Is there a community of people who make and play simple games made on RPG Maker?

Maybe? There are certainly communities geared around appreciation of indie games. I really don't understand why RPG Maker specifically used as the editor to design said game would have anything to do with it.

Or do people more see it purely as a tool to make a commercial game with where there in so need to even tell the customer buying the game that it is made by RPG maker.

I don't see why you would. What difference does it make? Your game is good or bad because of your designing skills, not because you used RPG Maker instead of Unity or whatever.

 

[lianderson]

We support everyone making all the games! Praise be to the game make!

 

[Garryg]

Thanks for the replies. But I'm a bit confused!

I did get that the point of this specific site is for people wanting to learn to make games. And didn't assume there was any amount of people looking to play games here: other than maybe for play testing. My question was meant to be a bit more general than that, to find out if anybody here knew if there was any community of "people who purposefully search out and play games made on RPG Maker. " e.g. Is that a thing?

For some other products you will see, in say Facebook groups etc, sets of people looking for new games produced by or for a particular platform/system (E.g. Vectrex games or sometimes vector games in general). I didn't think any of my post made it sound like I was asking for games to play. Or did you think I was askng for people to play a game I've made. I don't know whare you would have got any of that from. And I don't have a RPG maker game for people to play!

If this type of group isn't common knowledge for RPG maker made games then that probably answers my question. It probably isn't a thing!

Maybe RPG Maker stuff is just a bit more mainstream than the homebrew I'm used to and I'm still trying to get my head around where RPG Maker fits in (if only in my view of things)... I'm used to thinking in terms of niche or mainstream! So far I'd say most of what I've made was very niche.

Again, thanks for the replies.

 

[Kes]

You might want to have a look at RMN. It probably has a higher percentage of people who play games without making them there, though there are also a considerably number of people making them as well. I get the feeling that more people there do both than do so here.

 

[Garryg]

Thanks Kes, I'll have a look tonight.

 

[Garryg]

... if all you're looking for is the similarity of "trading games" you're used to,...

Hello Tai_MT, Sorry I don't know what you mean here?
By 'trading games?' Do you mean games about traiding, or do you mean swapping games with other people?
I do nether, and didn't mention anything about that!? So I don't know what you think I am 'used to' here.
I don't mean to be pedantic, I just have no idea whare you got this from!?

 

[Garryg]

I think your misunderstanding is looking at people who frequent this site as people who purposefully search out and play games made on RPG Maker.

I don't know what I said that would make you think that. I can't see anything in the quote to suggest that!? I actualy think the exact opposite and that is primarily why I am here!

Also some people do like seeing games made by a specific editor, it's a thing. If it's not a thing with RPG Maker, that's fine. That's what I was asking.

You also seem to have taken offence at the last quote and I have no idea why!?
You are actualy agreeing with what I said there: If you are using RPG Maker as a game-making tool there is no reason for saying what your game was made in. Absolutely I agree.

Do you think I was attacking something with this post?
If so I would really, honestly, like to know what and why.
I thought it was a simple post basically asking if anybody knew if RPG Maker games-player communities exist.

 

[ATT_Turan]

I don't know what I said that would make you think that. I can't see anything in the quote to suggest that!?

Well, you edited your original post to add all these parenthetical statements that you're not talking about just this site. To me, that says you do see why your original post would be interpreted as you asking the people who use this site about the thoughts of people using this site.

And even if you add all that stuff in, my response still stands - I (and many others) are here because we're making games in RPG Makers. I certainly have no clue about subReddits or Discord channels or other Web sites that are oriented at playing and discussing games specifically made in RPG Maker.

You also seem to have taken offence at the last quote and I have no idea why!?

I don't see how the words "I don't see why you would. What difference does it make?" demonstrate any emotional reaction on my part.

You are actualy agreeing with what I said there: If you are using RPG Maker as a game-making tool there is no reason for saying what your game was made in. Absolutely I agree.

You saying:

Or do people more see it...where there is no need to tell the customer buying the game that it is made by RPG maker.

means the original choice is to market the games by telling customers it's made in RPG Maker. Perhaps you didn't intend your wording in that way.

Do you think I was attacking something with this post?
If so I would really, honestly, like to know what and why.

I don't know what words I typed that would show any emotional reaction or defensiveness. The closest I can try to guess are when I say something like "I have no idea why..." but those words do not mean a person is upset, they mean a person doesn't understand the reason for something.

The one place I use a quizzical emoticon was in response to you stating your presumption that other people in a community would be setting standards for what is or isn't a game. That baffles me, regardless of what editor or language or whatever you're talking about.

You did not offend nor anger me, you added that connotation.

 

[Garryg]

As I said in the comments. I added the statment in brackets to try to clarify what I meant. I didn't and still don't see it saying anything else without them.

I didn't think people would assume I was specifically talking about this site.

Just a matter of perception I suppose.

Thank you for your comments.

 

[Tai_MT]

@Garryg

You mentioned that you were part of a community that made games for each other to play and build on. It sounded like you were looking for that experience with your post.

Basically, is there a fan-base of people (out there in Internet land) making and playing RPG Maker games that just use the stock built in graphics and sound etc, for fun? It's one of the better aspects of communities like PICO-8 where people are making games and releasing them on 'splore' for each other to play and build on. Even utilities like Game-Guru have this to a certain extent. Coming into this from scratch I sort of assumed there would be a community and a place where people were releasing simple default asset games for others to play (again not specifically talking about this site, also I'm not saying I'm part of these communities, just that they exist).

The closest I've seen this community get to that desired experience is just the "Game Mechanics Design" section of the forums. Where people "build on" the ideas of each other. There are some people who "review" games that are posted here, but they're not all that common and most do it for YouTube content.

 

[Garryg]

Ah, ok sorry, I just drew a blank at that statment...

No, I was never part of that comunity,I just know about it through looking into PICO-8.
I did do a couple of small things on the PICO-8 platform, and had one unfinished game that I just sort of forgot about. But I was never involved in the community. I was just saying that it existed! As an example.

I get you now though, thanks for explaining.