Notice Publishing vs Developing

Hey guys!
A thing we've drawn a lot of criticism for recently is publishing other games while Starbound is still in development, and posting about those games on the front page. It might help to address those criticisms and clear up any misunderstandings about publishing vs developing. I'll stick around to answer other questions that might come up.

The first point to clear up is that publishing and developing aren't the same thing. Our coders and artists don't need to take any time out of their busy work days to do anything relating to publishing. Often Tiy approaches developers or developers approach us, and we talk about how we can help them out. Press releases, setting up forums and websites, helping to promote any crowdfunding or releases or exciting news, etc-- it's my job to help the developers with anything they might need.

It started with Wanderlust: Rebirth. The guys at YetiTrunk had made an awesome game, but it hadn't gotten very much attention or sold many copies. We were able to help them promote their game and get it on Steam, and since then they've sold enough copies that they've been able to make developing games their full-time jobs. Leth's gone on to work on other Chucklefish-published games, too, and is going to be working with us on the publishing end of things.

Basically, we're in a position where we can help out other indie developers in a way that doesn't disrupt Starbound's development, so we do. Helping other developers promote their awesome games is something I personally feel really strongly about!

Eventually I'd like to set up chucklefish.org as a blog for that sort of stuff, but right now I don't think it's unreasonable that we're posting general Chucklefish news on the Starbound site-- especially when we're posting Starbound development updates every week day as well.

Yes! But aside from communicating with the pirate team and having our programmers assist in interviewing potential pirate game programmers, the Starbound team is not doing any pirate-game-related work and is entirely dedicated to working on Starbound. Putting aside the fact that it'd just be a douchey thing to do, it really wouldn't make logical or financial sense for them to shift focus to a new project.

 

Is there risk management involved? Is the team taking steps to make sure they aren't investing in lemons?

I understand that helping indie developers is a noble cause. I'm just wondering if Starbound's good press may make CF look like a possible mark for some less savory folks.

 

I think it is. When you're sitting waiting for updates any unrelated news is a slap in the face. It kinda angers me when I read news about games I have no interest in.

I bought Starbound, I am here for Starbound, I don't give a single crap about anything else. Why do you have to post news about other games? It makes me wonder why continue to support Chucklefish, thats the feeling I get anyway.

 

Uuhh how much far?

 

Yes, there's risk management involved.

Traditional publishers tend to take a pretty big chunk of a game's profits-- anywhere from 40% to 70%. They tend to also have a say in deadlines, how you develop your game, etc.
We generally ask for 10% from sales-- we don't take any money from Kickstarters or other crowdfunding campaigns. In return we publish them on Steam, assist with press and marketing, provide them with websites and forums if they want them, and any advice or guidance.

Then just read the Starbound posts. Nobody's making you read the other posts, and there honestly aren't very many of them. We post news about other games because we're publishing those games. They're Chucklefish games.

 

The whole point was why post it here, why don't you guys use the other side as the main hub? Is it because this site gives more traffic?

I just wanted to post what I thought but seeing as it wont change there's not much else to say.

 

Because this is the main Chucklefish blog. There's nothing wrong with posting links to other things chucklefish is doing here. The focus remains on Starbound in spite of the occasional foray in to things not related to Starbound. That's the nature of blogs.

 

That wasn't the point.

 

Yes it was. I just dispute that your point is relevant.

 

Please don't argue, and please don't call other peoples points irrelevant. If they're posting how they feel in a civilized manner it's relevant to them even if to nobody else, and it's not harming anyone.

Thank You

 

No.

Just because someone stated their opinion does not mean everyone else has to stay silent about their own opinions.

 

No.

I replied to her comment saying she thought it was okay posting unrelated news here. I think it's a bad idea.

I don't care if this is their main blog or whatever. I think it's a dick move to post other news on this site.

 

The fact that this is their main blog is why they post "unrelated" news. So no, they're quite related.

 

The other games has nothing to do with Starbound.

 

So? This is Chucklefish's main blog, therefor, they post most Chucklefish related stuff here.

 

Yes and my whole point was why they had to do it and that I thought it was a bad idea.

 

It doesn't have anything to do with Starbound, so what? It's Chucklefish's blog, they can post whatever they're working on however they feel like it, you should thank them for the almost DAILY updates on what the Devs are doing with Starbound, which is more than you get from most other development teams!

 

Why would I thank them..?

 

I obviously disagree, and see no problem with it. Blogs can cover more than one topic, and usually do.

 

Because you want updates on Starbound news and the are kind enough to give them to you. I encourage you to find 5 development companies, indie or otherwise, that post daily updates. Now if you would like to continue being difficult please do carry on, but don't act like Chucklefish hasn't already catered enough to people like you.