Draining the War Chest
Apr. 28th, 2007 03:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eyebeamsAeternal Legends began its production phase today, which started with a bull session, signing contracts and handing out cheques.
I had to work my ass off to get the money together to do this properly. The frightening thing was that I could have easily done it *improperly*, without broad censure. I could have picked contractors who would work for nothing or next to nothing. I could have browbeat qualified people who wanted the work down. I could have roped in a motley crew of friends or an internet community and abused the spirit of volunteerism and friendship for the sake of getting a for-profit book off the ground. And virtually nobody would have given a shit.
Yes, as a matter of fact I *might* sprain something from patting myself on the back.
But the amazing thing is that the costs have been matched by the opportunities. Mob United Media is more successful than I thought (feared!) it would be, even if much of that success is outside of traditional gaming. But tossing around core creative ideas with Inter-Canel's president and talking about how to guide a team of actors, programmers, graphic designers and marketers through narrative concepts has made me feel that I'm going in the right direction.
On the side of traditional gaming, I've been floored by the people and ideas coming down the pipe for the AQ20 call. I've only got two duds; the rest were seasoned game designers, former Dragon contributors and a dude who used to do documentation for NASA.
Knock on wood and all that, but it's going well so far.
I had to work my ass off to get the money together to do this properly. The frightening thing was that I could have easily done it *improperly*, without broad censure. I could have picked contractors who would work for nothing or next to nothing. I could have browbeat qualified people who wanted the work down. I could have roped in a motley crew of friends or an internet community and abused the spirit of volunteerism and friendship for the sake of getting a for-profit book off the ground. And virtually nobody would have given a shit.
Yes, as a matter of fact I *might* sprain something from patting myself on the back.
But the amazing thing is that the costs have been matched by the opportunities. Mob United Media is more successful than I thought (feared!) it would be, even if much of that success is outside of traditional gaming. But tossing around core creative ideas with Inter-Canel's president and talking about how to guide a team of actors, programmers, graphic designers and marketers through narrative concepts has made me feel that I'm going in the right direction.
On the side of traditional gaming, I've been floored by the people and ideas coming down the pipe for the AQ20 call. I've only got two duds; the rest were seasoned game designers, former Dragon contributors and a dude who used to do documentation for NASA.
Knock on wood and all that, but it's going well so far.
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no subject
Date: 2007-04-28 01:50 pm (UTC)If you're ever looking for some art, let me know!
no subject
Date: 2007-04-28 11:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-30 05:11 pm (UTC)I've generally worked with companies that were either big enough to have set rates, or so small it was a percentage of the profit. I've never really needed to develop my own rates, and since I'm still trying to build a resume, I'm pretty open to offers.
no subject
Date: 2007-05-01 12:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-28 03:26 pm (UTC)You should pat yourself on the back - only we can create the type of community we want, and we can only do that by putting our money where our mouths are.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-28 11:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-29 05:00 am (UTC)