People don't necessarily play fan-games because they're better, but because they already have an existing fan-base that's looking for those games. Original games don't have this benefit and thus don't have the same chances as fan games. By making a fan-game you're leeching off the fan-base instead of creating your own and bringing in more people like yourself.

This compounds the issue when you consider what fan-games have done for BYOND's reputation. Most people who have heard of BYOND now consider it a place for children to go and "create" terrible anime games where you stand by a log or a punching bag for hours on end repeatedly pressing a button. So those people who are looking for fun games might see a load of terrible stuff about BYOND and never even visit the site while the fan-game players just google "Naruto Game" and come to BYOND.

The problem is with the conflict of philosophy. While certain things would make sense and probably pay better, they conflict with the philosophy of what BYOND actually is. BYOND's philosophy isn't the best groundwork for a business. And it's because it's trying to transition into a real business that it falls out. Is BYOND alienating the largest denomination of its user-base? Chances are that it might be. Is that a problem? Not really. If we lose the fangames, we replace them with people who want original games. The factor that we might be overlooking is the switch. Will BYOND be able to survive the switch?

And then there's the ironic bit that the stand-alone client might work against BYOND for this. Now people don't have to download BYOND for it! (If I understand how it works) By severing the chain that forced people to join BYOND and look at the website, you may be reducing signups.

In a nutshell - I have no idea what the deal with BYOND is. I don't even know if it'll still be here when I'm out of college in 3 years. I feel like there's a conflict with what BYOND wants to be and what BYOND is trying to be.

Guess we'll find out in a few years.