RPGDX > Forums > General Discussion > The Humble Indie Bundle

RampantCoyote · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 2:52 am Post subject: The Humble Indie Bundle

Well, these guys just re-wrote the book on how tiny indie game developers (like us) can re-write the book on how games are distributed and sold.

Over 1 million dollars. In ONE WEEK. With "old" games. Plus they did a lot of good for the community. And it was a win for players. And they extended it for three more days...

The Humble Indie Bundle

I haven't played all of the games yet. Penumbra: Overture also came with a coupon to get the entire trilogy for only $5 - which I also bought, based on the first half hour of playing the first game.

Very cool stuff. I hear rumors of great weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth from the bigger distributors and portals over this...
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

tcaudilllg · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 9:59 am Post subject:

Novelty exercise. It won't last, I'm afraid.

If you really want to make your game accessible to the poor, then it may be best to send a signal that you're turning a blind eye to the piracy of your game, while reminding people that to make capitalism work you've got to give as well as take. That's what it's really about in my opinion: sustaining capitalism. If you want to make money, you'd better spend it if you've got it!

Now I suppose the idea is to make people really think what a thing is worth before they buy it, but I don't think most people will be willing to think that hard about it. While I think that none of those games is worth more than $5 (except for the mermaid game... I'd give $10 for that one, possibly), I don't feel bothered to buy them either.

Hajo · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 10:06 am Post subject:

I dunno. If I value something, I feel it to be fair to give something in exchange. So this model seems to be based on this - people feel well if they think they do things in a fair manner, and so allowing them to give some money helps them to feel well.

Besides this, they help the game developers as well as charity, so it really is a good thing to give some money. I think it's a win-win situation for all sides.

To me it seems to be basically the same idea as this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_trade

Fairness is something that surprisingly many people consider important. There are psychological studies, but I don't know online sources.

RampantCoyote · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 4:18 pm Post subject:

tcaudilllg - While I'm not 100% sure I agree, I thought I'd direct your attention to this --- which is pretty much exactly what you said about piracy:

Saving a Penny - Pirating the Humble Indie Bundle

XMark · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 7:06 pm Post subject:

RampantCoyote · Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 8:01 pm Post subject:

Point taken. Games are more optional.

But saving the money to buy a game would probably have been better for me.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

tcaudilllg · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 6:48 am Post subject:

I'll say this: it's better than begging for donations. Getting donations is the most degrading thing in the world psychologically, unless they aren't for yourself.

The question is, will anybody else do it?

RampantCoyote · Posted: Thu May 13, 2010 2:02 pm Post subject:

After they picked up a million bucks in a week? You know they are going to try. I think that it may prove a little like catching lightning in a bottle, though.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz