- Oct 11, 2020
- 930
- 1,435
I kinda hate to admit this, but...Giving my 5 cents to the discussion:
I set myself the goal to be in the top 100 (adult) games on patreon (just to have a goal) and am still a way off; around 300ish on earnings metric (guess, since graphtreon clashed with patreons new user reportin I can't really track until graphtreon updates stats). That is merely for self motivation though.
- usually you go for mass market with low prices and niche markets with premium
- imho that "normal" approach isn't particularly valid when there are 'expected/accepted/established' price brackets / tiers
- even if we assume there is an "unserved" niche with low competition, the entry barriers are almost zero, so as soon as this becomes evident competition evens out
- From the Princes vs. SJX comparison, I can assume that the little less mainstreamy Princess game had limited appeal due to its Goblin mc choice
- some part of the latter's lower appeal might also have been attributed to design flaws as my first game (suboptimal user guidance, no proper galleries, low rez, few anis,...) so its a bit hard to say
- I do almost no marketing for the game except engaging on F95 and itch, so there might be some potential there as well (if we take the "10-20% earnings share shoud go into marketing" rule of thumb in this domain)
Long story short: With SJX I tried to find something which I wanted to play myself and which has a certain mass appeal and which poses a challenge to what I have to do/learn/finish...
(And I wanted a MC who can say 'Make it so!')
So from that POV all suggestions are welcome and provide an interesting perspective.
P.S. And all my loot crates in the game are free
A good indicator that you're in for an 'uphill fight' is the fact that I'm paying attention to your game.
Because, I tend to be more drawn to stuff with actual game play. But if you look at the top page of 'most viewed', it's significantly tilted to VNs or sandboxed VNs (with some very light management).
Interestingly... the first 2 on the list that I'd say have actual gameplay are Karryn's (F Protag) and Androgyny (Trap/Futa protag). So... I'm wondering how important is the MC in projects that draw the more gameplay oriented crowd?
(Note: I never tried Avatar... Loli = 'Oh hell no!")
So... (and I really hate saying this)... if your wallet is your primary concern, ditch the 'game with some porn' model and go straight to 'quick fap porn VN'.
If the personal challenge of making a decent game is your first concern.... well... It's a niche market (regardless of the MC options)
PS.
It might be a little helpful if the tags that gamers (like me?) look for were added to this thread.
Management, Strategy, and Turn Based Combat all apply here. Wouldn't hurt to petition a mod to add them.