After working with backers on custom stuff in two out of three Kickstarter campaigns, I’m really looking forward to having that long-term relationship with players and the game next year. That’s likely the model I will move to next year. I will elaborate more in the future, but it looks as if there is a nice level of support for me to develop a free-to-play episodic visual novel/stat-builder with options for custom characters/storylines/etc through subscriptions (ie. There were other questions, particularly one aimed at the future direction of Sky Bear Games. Why not put some of my works onto a digital stage? So… maybe! Maybe I will. But… then I remembered that I’m also a playwright. This goes against my idea of what a game is. That means one that is completely story, no choices. I should mention, there were some suggestions which completely threw me, such as the suggestion that I try making a kinetic visual novel. improving the consistency of the visuals, adding in animations so they aren’t so static etc. There were also a few action points for me to improve on in the future e.g.
Some of the words respondents used to describe their perception of SBG: games created with passion, charming, quality, intelligent, creative, unique, cute, quirky, fresh, eloquent, witty, talented, different takes on familiar characters, well-written, big ideas, whimsical, humorous, fairytale vibe, nostalgic, stylish, twisty, lots of detail, historical. 84% of my players are between ages 20-40. Her Jentle Hi-ness has a lot more stat management than White Rabbit, so hopefully that will please some of the Nine Lives players. So perhaps a sequel to that should be higher on my priorities. I made Nine Lives because I loved Princess Maker 2 since I was ten years old. Speaking of doing things because I’m a fan, it looks like my most popular game is Nine Lives of Nim, and in fact a few people did say they appreciated the stats-building approach taken there. (I hope that doesn’t turn too many people off who were fans because of the lack of anime art?) That being said though, I think my next game may be in an anime art style, because I’ve always wanted to make a game in that style, as a fan. I really love that they said that, given that a lot of the criticism I have received online has been ‘your game isn’t anime art style, so I won’t play it’. Speaking of not pandering, one person said they appreciated that we aren’t ‘otaku-pandering’. (Please comment below if you have any thoughts on this topic, I’d love to know!) There are a few things I can think of (the possibility of lesbian relationships in Nine Lives and Her Jentle Hi-ness, White Rabbit being an agender character, our podcast discussing many social-justice-in-gaming topics) but I think it’s safe to say these things are happening in an organic, non-pandering way. In an answer to another question, one respondent said they perceived SBG as inclusive, among other words, which I love, but at the same time I wonder, what have we done to earn this reputation? I don’t talk a lot online about my identity, so I don’t think there is a sort of personality following happening there. Other makes up between 0.1-2% of the world population, at best guess. 45% of my player base identifies as female, 35% as male, and a whopping 20% identify as something else, be it non-binary/agender/genderqueer, like myself (I’m a demigirl, to be precise). I sent out a survey a little while back to players of my games and I’ve spent a little while waiting on the results and just getting a general feel before analysing the results. And I am trying my best to write up my business plan and business cases for work to take place next year, in between my actual work and parenting my child. I got a bunch more work than usual done on Her Jentle Hi-ness because of family helping with childcare. It has actually been a pretty positive week before that though. I’m feeling pretty down right now and trying my best. Whether you think that uncertainty is real, or pushed by the media, it sort of doesn’t matter when it comes to mental health. The COVID situation has changed here in NZ and uncertainty is pretty high.
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