Hoo boy, I quite remember the last guy storming off the list in a huge fit after all the feedback we gave. Guy was namedropping all over the place boasting about how this idea was really going to take off. Haven't heard anything since. ;)
Since this is more of a client services issue, I'd suggest you hire a lawyer before doing anything. Have him review the EULA, and if it's legal have him draft the contract for each client service. What you need are binding contracts that state exactly what the client is receiving in the end. Not only will it cover your ass, but it'll also make the process a lot easier by being honest with the client what exactly they're receiving. With anything promising "potential revenue" you should not promise any definitive gains, and you need to be clear about that. Honestly, I don't see this business model working. It's hard to sell as a freelancer without any previous metrics for success. You'll probably only get an investment from somebody who doesn't want to shell out a lot of cash for what is likely a high-risk venture. Maybe you'll find a avid gamer community website/company looking to promote itself and figures throwing a small amount like $50-100 your way for a billboard ad in-game, but if they have any sense of strategy they can see that $100 invested in an AdWords campaign that will probably yield a much higher rate of impressions unless your campaign becomes extremely popular. So, I'd advise against it. And since time itself is money, if I were in your shoes I wouldn't invest the time into making something like that work all by yourself. If you ran a marketing agency that had dumped resources into R&D to get some hard metrics data to show financial viability in such an investment, then I'd say have at it. But I think there are much easier ways to make money to fund something like this. That said, there's always somebody that finds a niche who can make these things work with some modest gains. But just keep in mind what everyone else has said about the potential ethical dilemmas of it polluting/diluting gameplay. If you just don't want to spend the time doing assets... just ask for someone else to make the assets and promise them their name in the credits. Most people don't have a problem going with that. —Kevin On Sep 20, 2011, at 8:17 PM, Eugenio Roman wrote: > I hope, I mean, I am gonna do some visual test and post it here during the > week, because I feel that it goes with the atmosphere. So, I thought selling > some of those spots, might be a nice way to earn money and save some time > doing some texture work, if someone proiveds me with an image they want to > advertise. My main concern is the legality, like, what if they don't pay, > they pay and I never finish the campaign, or someone suing me for copyright > content on the advertiser's image, or valve simply frowning upon the idea of > selling ad spots on a map. I'll try to do the test image tomorrow, if I am > not overloaded with Uni work. > > On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 10:00 PM, Arthur Lin <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Somebody tried to recruit people to do this and he got plenty of good >> feedback on why it is not a good idea. To me, the biggest problem (out of >> many) is that it cheapens the quality of the campaign and you don't earn >> that much for doing so. Valve has been experimenting with ways for >> contributors to get something in return as you can see with TF2. For L4D, >> Cold Stream was a "commissioned" project if that's the correct terminology. >> What's funny is that the guy that tried to recruit people had some of his >> work incorporated into Cold Stream! I think he originally did the scrolling >> water effect in Freezer Burn and brought it over the horse-shoe map. >> Anyway, >> I'm sure the two have kind of arrangement involved. >> >> As for ads outright, I don't remember Valve really pushing them since >> Counter-Strike. That may be a sign that they've learned a valuable lesson >> regarding that approach to at the very least keep it on hold. >> >> In any case, I'm sure you'll get something in return if people like your >> work, maybe worth more than just cash. >> >> On Tue, Sep 20, 2011 at 7:54 PM, Glen Huey <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> This came up once before with someone on here and received a pretty cold >>> response. I don't know for certain but I believe the only way to profit >>> from this hobby is to build an impressive enough portfolio of work that a >>> gaming company hires you. >>> On Sep 20, 2011 7:14 PM, "Eugenio Roman" <[email protected]> >>> wrote: >>>> Hello, so recently I got an idea to earn some money with the time I am >>>> spending on my L4D2 campaign. >>>> >>>> In my campaign, the survivors get to some subway stations, and I was >>>> thinking of puting some add spots and sell them to, I donno, whoever >>> wants >>>> to purchase that spot. A bit like how Deus Ex has real adds on its >> game, >>>> exept, mine won't be dinamic, it will be a one time add forever. >>>> >>>> The only problem I see, is the legality of doing this. Can I sell spots >>> in >>>> my map? I am not selling the maps, but just adds on the map. The map is >>> free >>>> and people would pay me to get their image on some places of the >>> campaign. >>> I >>>> sent Gabe an email some hours ago, but I doubt he will reply. I also >>> can't >>>> seem to find the Left 4 Dead 2 Authoring tools' EULA so I can fully >> read >>> it. >>>> So, I am hoping someone over at Valve (Chet!) can lend me some advise >> on >>>> this. It would be nice to get something out of all this time I am >>> investing. >>>> >>>> What do you guys think? Should I go for it? Any unforseeable >>> consequences? >>>> Any of you tried this before? >>>> >>>> Thanks >>>> -- >>>> Eugenio "Motanum" Roman >>>> >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://twitter.com/#!/MotanumR >>>> http://steamcommunity.com/id/Motanum >>>> http://www.youtube.com/user/motanium >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> L4Dmapper mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> http://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/l4dmapper >>> _______________________________________________ >>> L4Dmapper mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> http://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/l4dmapper >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> L4Dmapper mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/l4dmapper >> > > > > -- > Eugenio "Motanum" Roman > > [email protected] > http://twitter.com/#!/MotanumR > http://steamcommunity.com/id/Motanum > http://www.youtube.com/user/motanium > _______________________________________________ > L4Dmapper mailing list > [email protected] > http://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/l4dmapper _______________________________________________ L4Dmapper mailing list [email protected] http://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/l4dmapper
