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06-13-2015
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:)
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: no.
Posts: 10,309
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06-13-2015
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Amdin
Join Date: Dec 2013
Posts: 1,290
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stefuhn pls hier real peeps |
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06-13-2015
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 19
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Skill do you remember green guy / iROOSTER And anytime you want I'm down to help bring SHRUB back |
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06-14-2015
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The Unwanted Critic
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 3,639
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@Latte they don't need to hire pixel artists, there are kids/teenagers willing to make stuff for free, it isn't a rare skill. Plus there's custom uploads. But hiring a couple programmers isn't that expensive. It would only cost maybe $50,000 a year each, and the amount of work they could get done is insane. It would cost less too if they outsourced it. |
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06-14-2015
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 19
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06-14-2015
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the KattMan
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: United States
Posts: 4,204
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06-14-2015
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what the heil
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: powerrangerville
Posts: 1,351
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Also, I wouldn't underestimate the power of professional art. While Classic's recent work has actually been very professional-looking, Classic as a whole lacks good marketing. There is a lot more art that Classic needs than just stuff that volunteers can do. The problem isn't as simple as just getting a team that can fix the game and save the day. It's getting investors and growing the business model of Graal itself, neither of which seem to be happening any time soon. |
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06-14-2015
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,379
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06-14-2015
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:)
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: no.
Posts: 10,309
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06-14-2015
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what the heil
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: powerrangerville
Posts: 1,351
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06-14-2015
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o my
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: GH
Posts: 531
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I actually feel pretty strongly about the volunteer-based system Graal uses. Honestly, I think it's wrong and exploitative. The higher ups (Unixmad, Toonslab) RELY on the blood, sweat and tears of unapaid volunteers, and then profit on this unpaid work. It's sad. They do the absolute minimum for the game, yet reap all the rewards. Without these volunteers, the game would go nowhere.
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06-14-2015
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:)
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: no.
Posts: 10,309
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i guess one could say I "have a brilliant future" ahead of me?
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06-14-2015
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🍇🍏🍋🍊🍒
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 4,330
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I agree with not wanting to being paid. It sets standards (sometimes unrealistic) and creates a strange work environment (im referring to Graal, as normal jobs are much different). That being said though, the "higher ups" should acknowledge the volunteer work that is being done and take steps to improve the game. For example, lag has always been an issue for Graal, yet Unixmad hasn't done much of anything to fix that issue. It would help for him to be communicative in the community, but I don't see that happening either. So in ways I agree that the volunteer work is exploitative, only because the higher ups aren't even relevant in the game, just the team of volunteers are. And even then, they have little to no contact to the higher ups too. |
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06-14-2015
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,379
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06-14-2015
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The Unwanted Critic
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 3,639
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In comparison, Tera's concurrent userbase on Steam ranges from 10-20K(which is likely inflated due to people keeping the launcher open when they aren't playing). Now, Steam doesn't account for all the players, but from my experiences in Tera it seems like the population doubled after the Steam launch(maybe even tripled, servers that were "dead" even have login queues now. I'd assume Steam accounts for over half of the playerbase currently. There's also Tera in Korean and Japan which are much smaller, so in total we're looking at maybe 50-100K concurrent users at most. Tera generated over $200 million in revenue in 2013, and this was BEFORE the Steam launch, or the expansion. it's probably much higher now because the population went up immensely. With 10x the population, it generated over 1000 times what you estimated Unixmad makes off of Graal. Also look at other games like Rise of Immortals, that had a team of dedicated developers to support an online playerbase of 50-100 players at a time before it eventually shut down. You'd be surprised how much money f2p games generate. Also, if Unixmad hired developers, the population would likely grow and generate more revenue as a result. If they added cool items actually worth buying that actually did things besides look pretty, maybe people would buy gralat packs. Need more reliable evidence? Team Fortress 2 is a Steam exclusive. In 2013, it generated $139 Million in revenue. Team Fortress 2 currently has 60,000 Online, Graal has ~5000 online between all servers. Also keep in mind tons of people in TF2 are probably idling/botting on multiple accounts for drops. So at 1/10th the size, Graal would theoretically generate ~$13 million in revenue annually. Obviously it'll vary(maybe people are more likely to spend money on TF2 than Graal), but populationwise Graal is bigger than you think. |
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