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TCO
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Richmond, VA
Jan 1970
time: 00:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Velociryx
well, yes and no. One of the main things that investors ask is, "is there a market for your product?"
Most companies don't have anything but an idea when they go to the money men. Thus, all they have are projections (which amount to best guesses) and high hopes.
We'll have numbers. X people have downloaded our game. X people are participating in our discussion groups. X people on our mailing list, and the following stable of ideas for taking the game commercial.
Compared to most folks who go to the investors asking for money, we'll have lots more ducks in a row....
-=Vel=- |
You are setting up a straw man and not being consistent.
YES, web interest is better than just pure concept. It is not as good as demonstrated sales. And in case you haven't noticed the market for hot air has gotten a lot worse nowadays.
If you have a system all set up and can show how the revenues could start coming in, than you might have a shot here. For instance if you set up a "free" MP server that gets kids hooked like crack cocaine... and than you tell VC you are ready to start charging. However, even in this case, VC will be skeptical. Why haven't you flipped switch to charging yet? Why do you need investment funds prior to charging rates?
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ravagon
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Australia
Sep 1999
time: 13:19
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quote:
Originally posted by GP
Vel,
I'm not trying to rain on your parade. But REALLY HONESTLY it sounds very fluffy to me. Until you can show someone lkike me how this owuld make money, it will not interest investors. You should also think this through yourself more closely before you spend lots of time, money, relative's money, etc. |
As far as I can tell though, money/investors aren't really the primary issue here. At least not for some time. AFAIK (and I only lurk around Vel's site so maybe I don't know) the participants do so only part time in their spare time. ie: Production time sacrificed for very low production cost.
Other than legal/copyright/patenting expenses (about which I have no idea whatsoever  ) the major costings involved would probably be in burning CD's, packaging, producing the manual (There is going to be a paper manual right Vel? ) and possibly advertising. 90% (?) of all of which would be done at/near the end. ie: After they have a virtually finished product to show any marketers/investors etc.
Even in the absolute worst case of not being able to pick up any financial backing they could still produce it privately, using el cheapo internet advertising over civ-type gaming sites (for example ) and burn off CD's/electronic manuals for postal delivery whenever required. Participants would have put in a lot of spare time (and hence I suppose money by default) but they still wouldn't suffer serious losses.
[PS: Vel, reading your comments on economics inspired me to reread your Lands of Lorraine AAR.  It seems to me that some judicious editing might be in order in case any "investor" were to read it bud. Heh heh  ]
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Velociryx
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of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:19
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Hey guys! And apologies for the delay....was replying, got an error, and when I went to head back to the page, that strange university link came up again, so I scooted off to bed.
First, let me say to GP...I'm glad you're pushing my thinking. Conversations like this are good for me. They keep me on my toes....keep me thinking....and that's always a good thing.
To answer some of your questions from the previous page, which might shed some additional light on my thinking:
The main reason I selected real estate to go hand in hand with the other piece of it (making a computer game) is because I understand the real estate market. When I was married, it was what I was planning to do anyway. Divorce set me back a good bit, time-wise, and as it happens, the formation of the company, and getting myself into a position where I could pursue that "hobby" of mine, coincided nicely. So, while there is no synergy to be had in terms of similiarities of the business, there's certainly a synergy in terms of structure and timing....a very good, convenient thing, that.
Second reason is cos once you understand the rule of the game (speaking in terms of real estate here), it's about as difficult to make money going that route as it is to fall off a log. The difference is, that rather than build up a portfolio of properties to finance my retirement (as was the original plan), I now intend to build up a portfolio of properties to generate an income stream for the company, whose purpose is to make coolio computer games. With such an income stream behind us (eventually paying all overhead, but admittedly, that won't happen overnight), it leaves the development team free to take as much time as they need to get the game right. No "rush it out the door for Christmas" cos the publisher says so" scenarios, cos we won't even shop for a publisher till we're happy with it, and when we do shop it around, if we don't like the deal they offer, we don't bite. It's that simple. That's something that not many companies in the industry as it stands right now can afford to do. In general, the rule is, take what the publisher offers you so you can stay in business.
I don't like the way that game is played, and so sat down to devise a new way to play.
The interesting thing is, that it apparently has merit. We've got two potential investors who are quickly becoming rabid Candle'Bre fans. They're calling US on a regular basis to check in and see how we're doing. Since our initial call to them, every call that's been made has been them to us.
I think that says good things.
In my mind though, it doesn't matter what the other "leg" of the business is. Could be anything, so long as I understand the business, and it provides us a steadily increasing income stream that we can grow to the point where it covers our overhead. It just happens that I know enough about the real estate market to make that work.
And why focus on it at all? Simply because it's easier for the creative team to do their thing if they don't have to worry about whether or not we have the cash to pay them (not an issue yet, since we're doing this on a volunteer basis so far, but eventually).
How are we different from FreeCiv? I've been asked that question before, and I would say this: To my knowledge, the FreeCiv project has no plans to take their game commercial. The people working on it have to know that. And, since they know there's no chance of the game ever being marketed for money, they know it's purely voluntary. Not the case with our team. There's a prize waiting at the end of this tunnel.
I don't know enough about the FreeCiv project to know what level of collaboration exists there, but I know that in our case, the level of collaboration is quite high....and across the board, our team is chomping at the bit to play the first round of MP games....I've already got a full "dance card" where that's concerned, actually...
Rav...duly noted!  I guess I DO need to go back to the Lands of Lorraine AAR and do some....accounting...*G*
NYE: Thanks bud! Stay tuned....every day that goes by, we're getting closer....
And thanks to everyone who might be reading/lurking here who's offered up advice (even if it's to try to disuade us from what we're currently doing....I'm stubborn, but I get even MORE stubborn and determined when people tell me it can't work....so keep it coming!)
-=Vel=-
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Velociryx
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of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:19
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Mostly, it's about speed. Yes, I know that I CAN do it on my own, and am not opposed to that, but I also know that it'll take significantly longer that way. So...I'm exploring all options. Actually, the people we started out calling weren't supposed to be interested at all! LOL...we were just on a fact-finding mission...asking them questions about what kinds of companies they generally invested in and so forth....but then they started asking us questions, we got to talking, and it just sorta grew from there.
Invaluable contacts, as far as I'm concerned. They've been VERY helpful!
Need them though? Nahhh. Even without them, we could get there eventually. But for the sake of speed, it's very tempting....
-=Vel=-
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TCO
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Richmond, VA
Jan 1970
time: 00:19
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quote:
Originally posted by Velociryx
Mostly, it's about speed. Yes, I know that I CAN do it on my own, and am not opposed to that, but I also know that it'll take significantly longer that way. So...I'm exploring all options. Actually, the people we started out calling weren't supposed to be interested at all! LOL...we were just on a fact-finding mission...asking them questions about what kinds of companies they generally invested in and so forth....but then they started asking us questions, we got to talking, and it just sorta grew from there.
Invaluable contacts, as far as I'm concerned. They've been VERY helpful!
Need them though? Nahhh. Even without them, we could get there eventually. But for the sake of speed, it's very tempting....
-=Vel=- |
Just be aware that they will put pressure on you once they have invested.
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23-04-2002 07:45
really? 
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