thread: 2012-03-13 : Indie POV pt 2: Does It Pay?
On 2012-03-17, Leftahead wrote:
So it looks Iike self-publishing is a great decision for some people, a sometimes-grat notion for others, and not the right approach for the rest.
It sure seems like work-for-hire can be a good way to learn your chops, develop skills, and decide if the process works for you. One thing I shoud mention is that I have actually done some RPG writing in the old freelance model and gotten paid for it; that process helped me decide that working on developing that as a skill set wasn't for me. (Maybe I should have mentioned that earlier in the the discussion, it hadn't occurred to me it was necessarily germane given that it was like over a dozen years ago...)
I certainly think that a strong local culture reinforces a lot of the upsides: having you around a a mentor makes a lot of what you say MORE true for local designer because you're right there to help them, and they in turn all reinforce each other. I've been thinking a lot about how important that community is over the last week because I am here at a trade show with a bunch of my peers; we have a really good shop in Hamp, but it's partly because Seth is there in Greenfield and I am right around the corner from a bunch of great stores in Boston and NY to compare myself to and talk shop with about what we're trying to do. The Internet is great, but it's a pale substitute for one of Eppy's Coffee and Game Design summits.
Do you think of your mentoring and help of other game designers as time spent on our own work? Or is it just part of the fun/job satisfaction? I know I learn neary a such about retailing from helping other stores sort out their problems as I do working the counter, so I have a hunch I know the answer, but was curious what your take was.
-Jim C.
