What do people want?
Well the short answer to that is the obvious one."They want sex scenes"
What people however fail to realize is that the build up is what sells those sex scenes. We all can watch porn in mere seconds and forget the faces, the actors and everything involved in mere seconds after watching it.
That does not help build a fanbase, business or aquire money in the long run. And we are in for the long run.
The longer and more correct answer is "People are dumb as a brick"
People claim they want something but the moment they get that something they lose all interest in it because they got what they wanted and not want something else. That can be more, something else entirely, the same thing again but wrapped in different colours (FIFA, Call of Duty etc.)
But what you get once you give in to their wishes and demands is a bunch of ungrateful whining dicks that behave like little spoiled children who bitch and whine about almost everything you do. Thats exhausting, erases your creative flow and your passion hits rock bottom almost instantly.
What happens once this project is done and what is the reputation of naughtyroad till it happens?
So far his reputation is that he doesn't bend to the demands and wishes of others who try to influence his vision to something they want or claim to need. That he releases quality content in terms of renders, coding, writing and characters with more depth than 99% of the games on this board.
Immersion and a believable plot/story that could be used to teach at writing schools.
People do not forget about the characters, story and plot even weeks or years after they played it. Haters gonna hate but they still play it. They still get impatient near a release and they still bombard us and naughty with demands, silly arguments and keep trying to get a foot in the door to maybe... just maybe get a chance to change even the slightest thing in the game. From the beginning till now they had no chance.
The Options are simple from a business point of view.
Option 1 Naughty gives in to the demands. Releases are earlier, with less content. People specualte more, demand more, kill his creativity and passion, burn him out and leave once the project is done to bitch and whine somewhere else. This increases the money flow, the fanbase growth but in the long run loses alot of people cause the quality will suffer, creativity will suffer, workflow will be more stressfull and deadlines will sit in his neck 24/7. Even sleep becomes a luxury as you can't shut off the voice in your head that reminds you of the deadline everytime you try to relax.
Option 2 Naughty reaches out again to companys who can distribute his game. Like GOG, Steam etc. The thing i learned in writing is that No doesn't mean no until you get a written message that states "We have recieved your multiple requests to publish your work but sadly have to inform you that after thoroughly studying your material and after careful consideration, we can offer no place in our portfolio for you! We still wish you the best for your future business endeavours" Which is business language for "Stop sending me shit you fucking muppet"
He also keeps ignoring the demands and whining of people and continues his work as he envisioned it from the start and keeps grinding the hard part of making his hobby a business model that can pay his bills. The hard part of becoming your own boss is not just the work. It is everyone around you or in this case online who try to make you fail. The companies you reach out to for help who crush your dreams with one negative answer after another.
Once this game is done. Really done. Finished and polished. Naughty will be known for making a good story, a good game, in depth characters with believable emotions that people can feel attached to not just brainless bimbos who just yell fucky fucky.
Which is hard, demanding and can burn someone out pretty fast. Nevertheless it is crucial that he finishes it on his terms, his vision and his decisions. Otherwise it will haunt him for the rest of his days that he could not finish it the way he wanted.
I do not care if Steam said no. I do not care if GOG will say no. Someone will say yes and they will make lots of money and he will make lots of money.
How can i be certain? Simple. Big Publisher be it gaming or writing or even movies. Claim they know what people want. Yet they sink millions in movies, games, books and they all act shocked and call the fanbase all kinds of names. They don't know shit anymore. They got to comfortable sitting on their asses counting money and producing one garbage after another. It made money for a time but true Quality will shine through it all sooner or later. We happend to be one of the later ones. Fine by me.
Want some examples?
Game of thrones = Season 1 to 7 David Benoiff and D.B. Weiss followed the books George R.R. Martin wrote almost 1:1 and everyone involved got rich. Season 8 they go off script and write their own stuff despite not knowing shit about writing. Same here. People who don't know shit demand or claim to know better than the one who created everything they love in the first place. If you listen to such people you will shoot yourself in the face... twice. First for listenting to them and secondly for actually believing them.
Cyberpunk 2077 We will create the best game since witcher 3 and GTA V combined. They fail. They listen to investors rather than their staff, overwork their employees, write a story full of plot holes, try to reach insane deadlines and kill every creativity of their staff in the crib. Fail horribly in all aspects. Why? They listen to everyone aside from the people who actually make the fucking game. Investors, Fans, journalists. They live in a fantasy land that completely ignores reality cause they know best. And the people who actually do all the work are completely ignored.
Larian Studios comes around with Baldurs Gate 3 and not only shows what a work of passion without grinding your team half to death can do and not only win every price there is but make millions with it. All because they stay true to their vision and don't give two shits on the haters. Ignore everyone who claims "no one will buy this or play this, this genre is dead, who the actuall fuck plays a game with a combat system that has turns in this day and age?"
Yes it is hard and we do not pretend that once the game is done Naughty suddenly becomes a millionaire but what he can establish here is quite obvious. Future customers and investors will know 5 Things.
1. He does not fold under pressure. To no one. Thats important especially in business deals as everyone is trying to fuck you on the deal. EVERYONE!
2. He knows his shit. Story, Plot, Characters with depth, Coding, Renders. He knows how to make a game 100% on his own. So if a team becomes an option he knows exactly what people he hires need to be capable off and what is important and what isn't.
3. He delivers what he promises. Yes it takes time. Yes it is alot of work. But do you want quality or garbage?
4. He knows how to write on a professional level. Which is alot of work and a demanding one but also showcases the quality of his projects and what to expect. Both for customers/investors and future business partners.
5. He is transparent. Everyone from customers to investors or future business partners know exactly what they will get if they join. Thats worth alot in todays world.
And yes i again wrote way to much but since i got a newborn in my house.. (my wife is at fault) i have to take every second i can to write or sleep. And today is writing day..... well it is night but its her turn
