If you are indeed moving to the Mobile Market... Android might give you much more exposure than Apple. If you were to port EBF4, the only comfortable way to play it would most likely be the Ipad or other large enough tablets. Just an option I guess...
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Matt Roszak
@matt-likes-swords
Age 34, Male
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Glasgow University
Glasgow, UK
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Another idea is to have regular content updates. This will encourage people to keep coming back.
maybe you could make it into a visual novel, which would require less work, having that you already made interesting connections between character and already have a good fanbase
if i had the money i would develop it for everything but sadly i dont it's a good game i liked it
I wouldn't call EBF4 a failure, in fact, I think it was quite a success given the state of flash games these days. It did very well.
Is flash dead? Well....dying. Perhaps not dead, but it looks like it's on its way out the door.
Ok, the competition is not good and seem to favor the mobile market, but it will not kill completly the web game market. Just split up the potential players. And don't doubt some games are on both markets or the fact mobile users sometime play web games.
Flash itself is dying, but you can do the same kind of games with html5 now. You mentioned you also get tired of this series, why don't you start a new one?
There is 2 alternatives to the problems if you come back to web games:
Make smaller chapters every few months. It generate more traffics, more fans, and keep people interested to know how the story will progress. It fix problem of size and save game because the game is shorter.
Or if you favor huge games, go to Greenlight AND Kickstarter at the same time before the game is finished. They seem to give way better result when combined. Then you can distribute it anyway you want.
Also, I know social life is a problem for most PC artist. My solution have been to go to a nice public place with a laptop when I can. Like a cafés. You never know who can get interested in your work, if your not too shut in your own world.
What ever you do, good luck!
The game wasn't a failure.
You did a good job pointing out the good and bad in EBF4. Now work on shinking that bad list once you start working on your next project.
As for going mobile: Go for it, especially the Android Market.
Hey matt, been a long time fan. You have to be my favorite flash game designer of all and just wanted to know your games make me smile like how when I play console games like BK, or Mario games etc. It's sad to hear you are stopping flash for now, but I hope the best for you, and perhaps one day you will come back. Thanks for everything :3
Your experience, as told in your blog post, should provide insights to aspiring developers. I'm sorry to hear you were so disappointed with your experience. I'm sure you've heard it enough from other fans but I thoroughly enjoyed your EBF universe. Taking a break from your industry is fine, especially so as to avoid getting burned out and to let your experiences percolate in your unconscious mind. Anyways, #support #etc
i think from all the game had to offer it was a huge succes everyone liked it and i was one of the first players to finish it on Kongregate and now that i think of it this game could use :) is an animated series because if you say'd this game was not well playd than that means it wasent well known only on kongregate newgrounds and armorgames and it was on 1st place when it was 1st released if you will ever need voiceing for a character ill be more than glad to help you out free of charge >.o because i enjoyd your game so much
Well i must admit EBF4 Doesnt match game on steam cause its a brwoser game and steam is one of the famous site for PC,XBOX,PS3 Games. Im also played some game in steam thought.
I read some riview from your post and Yes they are right. You can updated the item or limited avatar or even item later after you successfully published the game.
But if you insist to get EBF to steam Me as a hardcore gamer (Lol i played 3 game at the same time) :
1. The Gameplay is number one achievement you want to go through. Indeed from ebf 1 to ebf 4 there a bit change but never changed the fighting style or even how the story line works. When player found your gameplay good for them. they found your game addicted and fun they became your fans. Like DoT* 2 its still beta though cause all of the hero wasnt released yet. but from the beginning DoT* 2 take a plenty years to revolt and causes a big impact on w*rcr*ft with only fighting for the ancients that always same.
2. ALOT of gamer is also focused to the Quality of the game not to mention yours are good but its an 2D and they like 3D (Oh come on this is 2013 already). Yes this might be considered as pratice for some game developers. Like DoT* as well. They changed their quailty 180 Degree and thats make them pretty popular indeed.
3. Story Line and Development of Characters more and more! If your players into the hardcore then this where you should begin with. Not just with adding 1 Character and the same character from ebf 1 -3. Sorry but add some supporting story line and supporting characters.
4. Game Development. Dont develop your game alone cause it will be waste of time. You got your fan right or maybe some friend? Ask them to help you! You cant develop a game alone when it comes to MMO and also you need your own main site .Although it wasnt easy for having another years to make it from flash to mmo with browser and mobile game?? well its better to played in mobile game rather than pc if you got the version of mobile game.
Dont give up yet. Your world doesnt end here. And i am fking waiting ebf 4 for years and why u disapointed with it? And cuz of some people talking about a fking browser game you already give up? Cause salary problem and riview for some people you out from flash game?
$60k from a flash game? Thats insane really.
Perhaps later after you take a break think a moment for your fans and your idea of EBF.Bye
Um, the last dude, Xaelath, seems to be a native Steam person. He's really representing the opinion of Steam community in here. All he says is true. EBF4 didn't go through Greenlight not because of bad distribution at start or low popularity, but because Steam people's view on games is locked only on consoles and 3D. When they see a 2D game they go "Wtf, a flash game (used as a strong offense)? For browser (offensive, too)? No no", and there's nothing you can do to change their opinion (cause it's locked). Your best bet would be to head somewhere else. Moble phone market would give you a much warmer welcome (especially for EBF4 - it's turn-based), and size of the game or CPU power required do not matter - phones can run 3D RPGs today. Tells something? Android will give you more popularity than Apple, but I saw how everyone just hacks on Android and buys all things for free (stealing is easy and common), while Apple will ensure that people pay, and there's an easy way to port from Flash to iOS. So I really think that the next thing you should do is upgrade EBF4 with endurance/survival battles & sell it for phones while it's still hot (hot? well... debatable) to boost sales a bit. After that, ditching EBF & Flash seems a natural thing anyone would certainly do in your place.
Sorry for wall of text, making 2 posts & being annoying. I'm just worried about all this... stuff
I don't get these games, so I don't wanna give any blanket advice that isn't a back n forth conversation, but 60k is straight fucking BONKERS.
And that's comin from me, I've made that transition out of flash.
Yes start working in Unity and understanding other ways to sell games; no this game was not a financial tragedy.
It was almost a financial tragedy though! If I had waited a few more months I wouldn't be able to get a very good sponsorship at all.
My main point is that my current strategy is unsustainable and I need to ditch this sinking ship soon.
I really enjoyed EBF4 from a gameplay, thematic and humor point of view. I'm glad to hear of its success in many areas; less happy to hear of how it disappointed you.
Being someone that plays, rather than designs, games, I don't have a lot of advice about distribution/direction beyond what you can find out from your colleagues/the internet. However I do want to wish you best of luck with whatever direction you want to take your game creations. Following the progress of EBF4 was exciting for me and you seemed to enjoy/take pride in the work as it came along, which made things all the more positive.
Whatever you do end up doing, I hope the remuneration is good enough to be sustainable and that you enjoy the work, so we will still be able to experience the unique atmosphere that you bring to your creations.
Best of luck.
Thanks. :P
I really enjoyed EBF4 from a gameplay, thematic and humor point of view. I'm glad to hear of its success in many areas; less happy to hear of how it disappointed you.
Being someone that plays, rather than designs, games, I don't have a lot of advice about distribution/direction beyond what you can find out from your colleagues/the internet. However I do want to wish you best of luck with whatever direction you want to take your game creations. Following the progress of EBF4 was exciting for me and you seemed to enjoy/take pride in the work as it came along, which made things all the more positive.
Whatever you do end up doing, I hope the remuneration is good enough to be sustainable and that you enjoy the work, so we will still be able to experience the unique atmosphere that you bring to your creations.
Best of luck.
does this mean your not going to make another one? cus that would be pretty disappointing. Honestly i think that the game played better than some triple A rpg realeses now a days.
Sorry I'm late to the (pity) party! Anyways... it's clear your depressed (for lack of a better word) about the outcome of EBF4. If you ask me, it seems you have lost your passion for these games now. I loved EBF1, 2 and 3 (I couldn't have even been bothered playing 4 due to various similarities). But yea, to be honest, this series couldn't really proceed much further as it was anyways. It's just that all JRPG's seem to be the same layout. Town>Forest>Snow/Beach>Desert>Dark Area... yadayadayada. I would love to see your artwork elsewhere (someday), but for now.... rest, regain you confidence and start something fresh and original.
Well you're right in that getting Flash games sponsored is not the way to go these days.
This has been the huge panic for the passed year, and basically everyone is feeling this way. I've definately had conversations with Kajenx and Greg-Anims and BomToons, thevillageblacksmith is worried about this, lilG, AethosGames and a bunch of other guys have stressed over "what happens now?"
There are so many different answers to that question, you need to FIND THEM ALL and confidently settle on something. A lot of people will say "You should go mobile", but that's a drop in the pond for what you're options are. You don't wanna learn HTML5 all this time and find out it's useless, and that was the scariest thing for me transitioning into Unity. Throw yourself into all sorts of communities, send random PMs and messages to people you aspire to and ask them what their opinion is, start being interested in any Android or Kickstarter or Greenlight news that comes in, and try to make friends with people who seem to have things figured out.
Whatever you decide to do next: make sure you're educated enough to feel confident about it first. Cos then even if things get hard and uncertain, you'll have strong legs to stand on.
EBF4 IS NOT A FAILURE IT IS THE BEST GAME EVER
Miccool
Go mobile!