ID:181483
 

Hello, everyone. This is very simple, and for non-members only.

Im gonna buy 5 Memberships, for the 5 winners. And also donate $100 to BYOND, when the contest is done.

How do you win?

Easy, go to 20 different websites and talk about BYOND.
Come back here and post the proof of it. First 5 to do so, get a free membership from me.

Other Info

The contest starts today until 5 winners.
The posts must have atleast this date, 26 May 2010.
And no posting on the same thread as someone in the contest.
You must make your own topic.
The website must not be related to BYOND in any way.



Questions?
Begin!

~David
While this is a very nice concept, I'd include another restriction in your list. It might be seen as spam/negative by some communities if somebody gets there and starts advertising/talking on BYOND out of the blue in order to win a contest. You should thus note to restrict the mentioning of BYOND when the forum/community rules kindly ask to avoid such blunt advertisement.
I honestly do not believe that the best way of promoting BYOND is by basically having a bunch of people spamming websites about it. BYOND already has a bad reputation on a few indie related sites, lets not make it any worse.
In response to Schnitzelnagler
Schnitzelnagler wrote:
While this is a very nice concept, I'd include another restriction in your list. It might be seen as spam/negative by some communities if somebody gets there and starts advertising/talking on BYOND out of the blue in order to win a contest. You should thus note to restrict the mentioning of BYOND when the forum/community rules kindly ask to avoid such blunt advertisement.

Then they cant in such forums, they should know this, since they joined such forums/sites. Im thinking that if you stick to game related/fan related sites, it would be alright. Also, as a signature link, with a small description woudnt hurt, right?

Just let the word out and prove it.

If it cant be done, gladly lock this topic.
In response to 2DExtremeProductions
2DExtremeProductions wrote:
Schnitzelnagler wrote:
While this is a very nice concept, I'd include another restriction in your list. It might be seen as spam/negative by some communities if somebody gets there and starts advertising/talking on BYOND out of the blue in order to win a contest. You should thus note to restrict the mentioning of BYOND when the forum/community rules kindly ask to avoid such blunt advertisement.

Then they cant in such forums, they should know this, since they joined such forums/sites. Im thinking that if you stick to game related/fan related sites, it would be alright. Also, as a signature link, with a small description woudnt hurt, right?


Not everyone is blessed with common sense.

I'm assuming you do not visit other communities, but from what I have experienced, they usually dislike those who join just to promote their own site. Some communities even disable users from posting in certain forum categories to prevent such a thing. Imagine, if someone joined BYOND and their only goal was to promote GameMaker, thus, they post in the Gaming category several times and then disappear. If anything, I think it would deter a few users from wanting to visit that community.

It's great that you want to promote BYOND, but I'm sure you could find a different way of doing so, instead of having a bunch of people spamming numerous websites.
In response to Calus CoRPS
but I'm sure you could find a different way of doing so

I cant seem to think about any, so...any ideas?
In response to 2DExtremeProductions
2DExtremeProductions wrote:
but I'm sure you could find a different way of doing so

I cant seem to think about any, so...any ideas?


Well, if you are willing to donate five memberships, which is $90.00, you could always host a contest. BYOND needs some fun games that would attract people from various communities. I personally enjoyed AZAs contest, where he selected a specific theme, space, and then told us to create a game. The only problem is that BYOND contests usually acquire a plethora amount of hype, such as the 'Space Game' contest and the 'Get Something Done' event, but towards the deadline, people usually dropout. So you need motivating factors to keep developers productive.

First of all, no one enjoys working on a game for two months, which a theme they do not particularly enjoy, just to earn the first prize of a BYOND membership or a few bucks. I know it is not feasible for you to distribute out $1000 or more like non-BYOND contest, but the rewards should be... worthwhile. There should also be a decent second and third place prize.

The theme of the concept should be something not too extraordinarily bizarre. Themes such as space, western, modern or even a game genre will grab more people’s attention. From experience, the main reason why I usually drop out of contest is the lack of competition. Even though money may be involved, I rather compete against 20 developers and lose than to win against 2. Encourage developers to make forum or blog post about their work in progress. Along with that, you could make a weekly blog post, similar to ACWraith's Tech Tree, which informs users of who is currently participating and how their project is doing.


Though, if you are not interested in contest, then there is always the 'Make an Ad' option. You could gather BYONDs best games, create a detailed ad about BYONDs capabilities, and present it to communities in which you are already a part of. The ad should not be too long where it would lose those with short attention span, but at the same time, it should be longer than a sentence such as: "Come to BYOND, where you can create and play games!"

In my opinion, the real reason why BYOND is not immensely popular is due to the lack of games that are actually fun. As you have probably noticed, there are a very few games, such as Space Station 13 and CowRP, that have garnered outside attention. From my experience, advertising BYOND as a whole does not get too many permanent members, but having a fun game to come back to everyday grabs that person. Then, if they decide to explore the site a bit, he/she may become an active developer. This is why I am more in favor of the contest route.
In response to Calus CoRPS
Calus CoRPS wrote:
Imagine, if someone joined BYOND and their only goal was to promote GameMaker, thus, they post in the Gaming category several times and then disappear.

I'm fairly sure this has been done before, several times, across multiple official guilds. Not necessarily Game Maker itself (though I'm sure that's come up once or twice). I believe the active moderators deleted the posts and banned the users for obvious forum spam.

Which is probably the standard approach for any post that acts like this.
Since the idea came under heavy fire, I will not do it.

If someone comes up with something better ill help out on the price.

Guess ill just donate for what I have been using on and off for countless years. Thanks Tom, Thanks Dan and Thanks to all the people helping on improving BYOND and making it a better community and hopefully continue to.

Good Job

~David
2DExtremeProductions wrote:
Im gonna buy 5 Memberships, for the 5 winners. And also donate $100 to BYOND, when the contest is done.

2DExtremeProductions wrote:
If someone comes up with something better ill help out on the price.

I can not claim that my idea is good, but it should be along the lines of promoting BYOND as a decent platform, which seems what you have in mind, without the problem of using a method that is fawned upon.
It might be worthwhile to give the idea a thought before letting your generous offer come to waste.

First of all, cooperate with others willing to donate. I know that Android Data was looking for something similar and would be willing to offer a bit of money as well. If you can find three or five people to share the impact, you can actually create a decent fund for prices that attract a good deal more attention than the 'earn a BYOND membership'. If you actually manage to muster five hundred dollar, you could offer 200$, 100$, 50$, 25$ and some special rewards, just as an example.

Now, all the preparations, such as creating a trusted and shared money pool, a decent contest description, getting judges and the like aside, you could negotiate on a common topic. Personally, given the blunt lack of decent (non stolen) art on BYOND, I'd consider getting new artists/new free art resources very valuable (there is a reason that Game Maker and RPGMaker both come with pre-made graphic sets). Now, advertise a contest over at Pixeljoint, Pixelation, GameAtisans, ConceptArt, DeviantArt, The Digital Art Community, Newsground and possibly WorldCreator (might negotiate a special price to be one of their sets with them to get an allowance). Ensure that you have one of the BYOND Art Society's artists and maybe some member of some of BYOND's banner guilds as judges and link back to the respective guild. The winning art should become free resource for BYOND.
This way, you do not only spread the word in a positive manner, but you even gain beneficial resources for BYOND's developers. It would seem to be a win-win situation, if the contest spawns enough interest.

Should the idea prove to work out and more people find themselves willing to cooperate, you could get a new contest running, just with playing some selected games this time. Advertise this on respective web appearance (I'll gladly provide a list, should there be any need for this).

If this goes well, do the same with creation of a game, of a web appearance, of an article on game creation, of a game review, of a library/demonstration, and so on and so forth.
I guess you get the idea. Each time you generate positive interest for BYOND in the respective communities and might rake in players, developers, artists, resources, what have you.

The tricky part is in organising the money, in writing up a decent contest description, informing yourself where such contests are allowed to be advertised, finding educated judges and preventing internal fuss when somebody wants to handle things in a different way.
In response to Schnitzelnagler
Indeed. A single individual who happens to have $100 isn't going to be much help in promoting BYOND through a contest. Working together so that the contest can offer higher and more versatile prices than a BYOND Membership should be available. After all, a lot of people are BYOND Members already and wouldn't benefit as much from an extension - but might find it cool to have some online spending money.

Talking about BYOND on different websites wouldn't work out since we can't reliably determine who has been the most successful with bringing in new members. What BYOND needs is good games and free resources so that those who do stumble across our part of the internet will be more inclined to join.

In the past I had this crazy idea about creating a contest that would involve the creation of a game. I would provide the tools so that a group of people can work on a single game by hosting SVN services, a forum and a bug tracker for example. The contest would've been a long-term one in which the organizers would check up on the individual teams on a regular basis, determining what they were doing and giving helpful tips and suggestions to each of the projects in question. The winner would be the team that didn't quit and made the best RPG game.

Ultimately the idea was shot down because it would be very difficult to set up and maintain, and would likely not work because it's so long-term. This was one of the ideas of a contest I had and right now I seem to be dry. If you've got any ideas on a contest (which must involve BYOND RPG somehow) feel free to share them. Maybe we can find a few others that have some money and make a pool. I'd be more than willing to set up a section of the forum so we can discuss such matters privately.
In response to 2DExtremeProductions
You could try funding games which are already in active development rather than running an advertising challenge or make a game contest like other people do. There are lots of talented programmers who're unable to bring their games to fruition because they can't pay for artwork, hosting, or whatever. Present company included.
If it helps...Since the whole advertising thing wont work...my developer's team(Not just BYOND, I am the head of the BYOND Division) has a website devoted to the BYOND Division...I am going to be getting some forums for it, where people can discuss BYOND and our games as much as they want.

RushSoft BYOND
In response to Android Data
Android Data wrote:
If you've got any ideas on a contest (which must involve BYOND RPG somehow) feel free to share them.

All of my suggestions in the posting you replied to relate to BYOND RPG, if you want them to. An art contest can feature a special use in mind, or even theme. Playing through certain games to solve a contest puzzle can easily involve RPGs (which allows you to get for some RGP pages to advertise as well ;)). Creation of a web appearance, game creation article, review and library can focus around an RPG if that is one of the restrictions on a contest.

Schnitzelnagler wrote:
Now, advertise a contest over at Pixeljoint, Pixelation, GameAtisans, ConceptArt, DeviantArt, The Digital Art Community, Newsground and possibly WorldCreator (might negotiate a special price to be one of their sets with them to get an allowance). Ensure that you have one of the BYOND Art Society's artists and maybe some member of some of BYOND's banner guilds as judges and link back to the respective guild. The winning art should become free resource for BYOND.

(...) Should the idea prove to work out and more people find themselves willing to cooperate, you could get a new contest running, just with playing some selected games this time. Advertise this on respective web appearance (I'll gladly provide a list, should there be any need for this).

If this goes well, do the same with creation of a game, of a web appearance, of an article on game creation, of a game review, of a library/demonstration, and so on and so forth.
In response to SuperAntx
SuperAntx wrote:
There are lots of talented programmers who're unable to bring their games to fruition because they can't pay for artwork, hosting, or whatever.

I can see the art part (and thus my suggestion), but free hosting offers are found rather frequent on the Classified Ads forum and if you don't want to take these, the amount of money you have to invest for a decent shell has drastically decreased.
Could you name a few development teams with legal games (no trademark/copyright violation) on BYOND that can not lunch because they lack hosting alternatives?
In response to Albro1
Albro1 wrote:
RushSoft BYOND

One of the things I often see people doing wrong is initiatives such as this. I have no idea what the non-BYOND section of this "RushSoft" is going to be up to, but the general condition of the website is already telling me that the organisation itself is flawed - experienced people don't generally type "ur" on their website.

Creating websites for your group so you can work on BYOND games is a good idea provided you're actually taking this out as a hobby. But many people - and as far as I can tell this RushSoft thing included - try turning their game creation into some sort of company/organisation, as if their members are part of something big (they're not; they haven't even made anything yet).

I don't wish to sound rude, but I believe that it's better to actually be working on a game than to focus on creating a website for some fictional company that's going to die out in less than a month. I've seen it happen often, and I don't see many of those names succeed.

The reason I signed up for BYOND is because it's a hobby, a fun diversion in the monotone life we all try to run away from. I like creating new and interesting things and making others happy; I most certainly don't like the hype that surrounds foundations such as RushSoft.
In response to Android Data
Android Data wrote:
Albro1 wrote:
RushSoft BYOND

One of the things I often see people doing wrong is initiatives such as this. I have no idea what the non-BYOND section of this "RushSoft" is going to be up to, but the general condition of the website is already telling me that the organisation itself is flawed - experienced people don't generally type "ur" on their website.

-I had to search for the "ur" you were talking about, and I found it. I cannot do anything to fix that as I do not administer that site, but I know the people and know that that FaceBook section was just a rushed type of thing.

Creating websites for your group so you can work on BYOND games is a good idea provided you're actually taking this out as a hobby. But many people - and as far as I can tell this RushSoft thing included - try turning their game creation into some sort of company/organisation, as if their members are part of something big (they're not; they haven't even made anything yet).

-We have not said we are a part of something big, but we are striving to be. Not necessarily the RushSoft BYOND Division, but RushSoft itself. I wish I could direct you to the forums so that you could see our progress, but alas, these are the Developer's forums. Once the Engine is released, a public forum will most likely be made.

I don't wish to sound rude, but I believe that it's better to actually be working on a game than to focus on creating a website for some fictional company that's going to die out in less than a month. I've seen it happen often, and I don't see many of those names succeed.

-I also do not wish to sound rude, so please do not take this the wrong way. We started organizing around Christmas time last year, and have been steadily working since then. Due to the lack of responses on my topics asking for help, the BYOND Games production has been slow. I have only recently recruited 2 other members into RushSoft BYOND, and we are hoping to have at least 1 game completed and released sometime this year. I do understand your thoughts here though, and I have no doubt that every company has chances of failure. I am not going to act like one of those "Yeah, we are dedicated and won't die out" guys, because I know that is illogical. There is at least a 50% chance of failure for all starting groups. This is why I respect your input, but must also include my own.
Also, the website you see there was made in about a day and a half, as I am very busy with life and working on the games and do not have the time to make that website look the best that it could.

The reason I signed up for BYOND is because it's a hobby, a fun diversion in the monotone life we all try to run away from. I like creating new and interesting things and making others happy; I most certainly don't like the hype that surrounds foundations such as RushSoft.

-I do not exactly understand what you mean by "hype that surrounds RushSoft", but I will try to give a meaningful explanation. If we (RushSoft BYOND) sound too serious, I apologize. I know RushSoft itself is serious, but that is because they are very busy trying to complete the Paddle Engine (Which by the way is almost done, but there is no expected release date yet.). RushSoft BYOND does not want to be completely serious, because I completely understand your viewpoint of going onto BYOND to sit back and take a break from life. Of course in game production there has to be a bit of seriousness, but the last thing we wish is to pass all of that onto the players. If this is happening to you, please inform me of why and how you would suggest it be fixed. Input from the players results in a better look to the rest of the players, even if it does not appeal to the developer.
In response to Albro1
Albro1 wrote:
-I had to search for the "ur" you were talking about, and I found it. I cannot do anything to fix that as I do not administer that site, but I know the people and know that that FaceBook section was just a rushed type of thing.

You can't do anything to fix it, because you don't administrate that part of the website. I find this to be very typical: you think you're so big, that you split things up into divisions, and leave only a select few in control of the big picture.

-We have not said we are a part of something big, but we are striving to be.

You're not part of anything big as you haven't created many games, so don't kid yourself and keep to BYOND as a hobby. Until you've released a couple of games, there's no sense in generating an organisation that controls your "massive" development team.

Not necessarily the RushSoft BYOND Division, but RushSoft itself. I wish I could direct you to the forums so that you could see our progress, but alas, these are the Developer's forums. Once the Engine is released, a public forum will most likely be made.

I still don't see the need to join an organisation which has multiple "divisions" like this. I believe RushSoft like any group of people isn't going anywhere unless they work together; instead you guys seem to split up into separate groups already.

I'd expect that a company such as RockStar or UbiSoft has separate divisions, each maintaining a different game or engine. They have reached the size at which they need divisions and a strict organisation; you have not but I think you're over complicating things by pretending to be.

-I also do not wish to sound rude, so please do not take this the wrong way. We started organizing around Christmas time last year, and have been steadily working since then. Due to the lack of responses on my topics asking for help, the BYOND Games production has been slow.

Perhaps the lack of assistance and people willing to join your team is hindered by this whole RushSoft thing. I would have no problems joining a team; but I do have problems joining an organisation such as RushSoft, especially if I'm going to be ordered about (as I expect would happen, since you guys are just a division after all).

I have only recently recruited 2 other members into RushSoft BYOND, and we are hoping to have at least 1 game completed and released sometime this year.

I question the means you're going to use to release your Anime game, and I question the leadership of RushSoft in general if they've put you up to making Anime games over anything else; a genre that's been swamped with so many games already that it becomes very difficult for a team just starting to climb into the world of BYOND to produce anything that would become popular in it.

Look at GoA; it succeeded because Masterdan is experienced with developing Anime games. He's had to work a lot of years to get where he is now, and one could argue that position isn't even so cool as it's thought out to be.

I do understand your thoughts here though, and I have no doubt that every company has chances of failure. I am not going to act like one of those "Yeah, we are dedicated and won't die out" guys, because I know that is illogical. There is at least a 50% chance of failure for all starting groups. This is why I respect your input, but must also include my own.

You're referring to RushSoft as a company. It's not a company because you're not aiming to make profit off of it; and if you are, then choosing to develop an Anime game is a bad choice IMO since you can't charge money off of fan games.

-I do not exactly understand what you mean by "hype that surrounds RushSoft", but I will try to give a meaningful explanation.

The hype that surrounds RushSoft is that you're pretending to be part of this company/organisation that somehow is supposed to be better than everyone else. People who join your group will be placed in a very strict hierarchy and will be expected to work a lot on whatever game you're working on- despite them trying to enjoy their hobby.

If we (RushSoft BYOND) sound too serious, I apologize. I know RushSoft itself is serious, but that is because they are very busy trying to complete the Paddle Engine (Which by the way is almost done, but there is no expected release date yet.).

The problem is that RushSoft both sounds serious and ridiculous at the same time. You have this website with this big shot attitude of "we're going to make it big and be an awesome gaming <s>company</s> organisation" but at the same time I see words like "ur" creep up and the fact your entire focus is on Anime games isn't too promising for a group that is just starting its first steps in the BYOND world.

RushSoft BYOND does not want to be completely serious, because I completely understand your viewpoint of going onto BYOND to sit back and take a break from life.

From what I can see, BYOND is there for the hobbyists: people who want to create games, but not necessarily want to be too serious about it. You have a lot of freedom in what you're going to do and what you and your team are going to create, and you can do pretty much whatever you want. You shouldn't join a group like that until you're ready but instead create your own team, learning BYOND with your group as you go along your own path instead of branching off somebody else's thoughts.

Of course in game production there has to be a bit of seriousness, but the last thing we wish is to pass all of that onto the players.

The players should receive the serious part of your group. It's the communication amongst yourselves and to other developers that seems to be very weird at the moment, and probably the reason you haven't received more developers.

If this is happening to you, please inform me of why and how you would suggest it be fixed.

In a nutshell:
Why do I think your RushSoft BYOND division sucks (and even RushSoft is laughable)?
1) The site doesn't look all too professional, but you're trying to act as if you are.
2) RushSoft boasts that ROonline is going to assist with hosting. Except ROonline appears to be a dial-up provider and I found zero references to any other "ROonline" site out there. Either it died, Google is lying to me, or both. Whatever the case may be, the lack of even a link to their site puts me off from continuing to visit yours.
3) Speaking about being deterred from your site: the sentence "So PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DONT LEAVE!" is actually one of those sentences that is going to cause me to leave.
4) The two divisions aren't properly linked together, which either means that RushSoft doesn't think so highly of you or you both haven't considered updating that part of the site yet.
5) "A: RushSoft BYOND will specialize in non-anime games unless told to do one by its parent, RushSoft. The Anime games here were already in production before the head of RushSoft BYOND joined RushSoft, and this is a good way to finish them." As I said, Anime games aren't a very good way to start off. If the directive is coming from RushSoft, then my point has been clearly proven: you're losing your freedom by sticking with RushSoft.

My suggestion to you: create your own organisation to put your team in, and be more serious towards players and less serious in general and towards other developers. (In fact, you don't even have to be that serious to other players apart from not making things up and maintaining your site!)

I'd even be willing to help out. I've got a pretty powerful server behind me and I could host a website/forum for you. I'll even throw in SVN so your team can work on your first game (which I hope will be an RPG game and not an Anime game; RPG needs you more than Anime =P).
In response to Android Data
Wasn't this thread about helping BYOND by organising contests? *hints at derailing the thread*
In response to Schnitzelnagler
Schnitzelnagler wrote:
Wasn't this thread about helping BYOND by organising contests? *hints at derailing the thread*

The topic has already been refused. If you think that Android Data and I need to take this somewhere else, just let us know.
Page: 1 2