I believe that hats will be one of the ways to solve this conundrum.
As I’ve said before, I believe hats are one of the big unique selling points of the Pokitto.
The Arduboy simply doesn’t have that functionality, full stop.
The Gamebuino has similar capability, but I have no clue if they’re selling ‘backpacks’ yet or not, and it’s a slightly more expensive device anyway.
Once we’re at a point where multiple hats are available, we’ll be able to work towards making more ‘experiment kits’/‘kitboxes’ (name to be debated :P) which will hopefully attract more kids (and big kids :P).
I don’t doubt it for one minute.
I could do with a similar stick to beat myself with.
I know asking for donations would make my life a little bit easier,
but I’m always really reluctant to do so for many reasons.
(One of those reasons is that I’m not sure people would be getting value for money. :P)
I really like this idea.
Not just because it gives me an excuse to pretend I’m an artist,
but because I have many memories of opening the game box in the car and reading the instruction booklet before I even got home.
(I still have the boxes and instruction booklets for probably every game I ever bought.)
Voluntary donations – definitely, set it up, I’m all for it, will support it, will donate if I can. But not only that, I would be glad to see even some kind of a premium membership or something, where it’s not a donation, but a payment for something – provided this doesn’t affect the openness of Pokitto. So, let’s say a premium membership could get you:
access to special parts of the forum
better voting power in some polls (you’re kind of an investor, so you could have a stronger voice e.g. in deciding what the next official port is going to be)
access to some stuff sooner, development articles, pre-release etc.
special badges, emoticons, profile customizations, animated avatars, whatever
special thanks, names in credits and stuff
What I would definitely NOT like to see:
proprietary software and games in general being part of this plan
ads for non-payers, that just puts a lot of people off and makes the project look cheap
I appreciate the feedback so far. Openness is always the best option.
@Zockeromi I realize I have overlooked the possibility of merchandise as an alternative way of supporting the project and I should fix that issue right away.
@pharap, @drummyfish As for different “tiers” of support, I think flat-out voluntary contribution, no strings attached is the fairest play of all options. Nobody will be left wondering what is what.
Asking for a voluntary donation asks for humility, but the reason why it is so powerful is because the role of the person asking and the role of the person giving are clear. Wikipedia asks for donations. I have donated to wikipedia, because I value what they do. I don’t expect them to provide me anything extra in return.
So I am going to do two things based on what we’ve discussed here (and I wish others will continue to give their opinions)
I will create some sensible merchandise, so you can opt for that if that is the way you wish to contribute 2. I will open a Patreon just for the purpose of helping maintennance costs. Even if it brings very little, every euro earned not having to sell Pokittos just to cover administrative things helps me use time and money to develop things instead, and I will greatly appreciate it, however small it will be</>
EDIT: NOPE, I just decided will do the merchandise and we will see how it goes from there
This is one of the reasons why I want to swap out the Pokitto Grand Prix aliens for something ‘in-house’.
As I’ve said before, using open game art is fine for place holders,
but coming up with new characters gives the game more character.
(And in this case precious IP.)
I think Polar Parcel is also currently Pokitto-only, so if @trelemar is okay with it we could do something Polar Parcel themed as well.
I’m all for the merchandise option, i bet I’m one of a very small minority who cut up the Pokitto tape from the packaging in order to have a Pokitto sticker on my monitor.
Things like stickers, mugs, t-shirts etc for both the Pokitto system and exclusive games would sell well enough I think. Even a vinyl skin for the Pokitto might be quite popular. Also pokitto.com wouldn’t be the first website to ask for donations towards the running costs and I bet it wouldn’t be the last. Even if it only lead to 20-30%, tha’ts still worth it.
I really like the idea of game-specific merchandise. If a game is available on other platforms, people would still be directed to the store to buy stickers/buttons/figures, and in the process they might end up buying a Pokitto.
Why not make some game, and I mean good finished game, accessible by payment? This just for a short time, maybe some weeks.
At the end selling games is the way all the console pay the rent.
This has given me an idea.
There’s a lot of threads on the Arduboy forums about what kind of bags people use to keep their Arduboys in because there’s no ‘official’ bag,
so how about a Pokitto bag/satchel to keep the Pokitto in?
It might be possible to buy some bags wholesale and arrange to have the Pokitto logo stamped all over them,
or maybe even order a custom batch (in Pokitto colours) if there’s enough interest.
I’d be tempted to get a black one, not too keen on the white though,
I think it clashes too much with the bright green.
The openness is what makes Pokitto stand out and it would be sad if it became just another mainstream player, so the moment games here go proprietary + DRM in order to make profit, I’m out – not saying it’s good or bad, I just want this personal preference of the minority I represent be heard, as I am a small part of this community as well. However early access to yet unreleased versions is something I’d accept, as long as the final release is eventually made open to everyone. I could also probably live with delayed open-sourcing as well unless it takes a really long time, but that’s where I’d draw the line.
Asking for donations, tips and payment for services (such as crowdfunding the creation of the game) is perfectly fine though. I’d say let’s focus on these.
