[IGDA_indies] next steps

[Brian Hook]

Ben,

I appreciate your enthusiasm, but the cynical side of me feels that a 
lot of what you're suggesting just won't happen simply because of the 
amount of resources necessary to pursue them.  Custom software, PR 
people, etc. etc. cost a lot of money and time, which few indies have 
to spare.

> * Maybe we can invent a simple way to lower the cost of advertising
> in some magazines by creating a simple way for multiple developers
> to buy a single page?

My argument would be that indies shouldn't be in magazines, they 
should be using much lower cost avenues for marketing and advertising 
(like Web sites).

> * Perhaps we should create a "buy idependent" branding campaign -
> sort of like "made in the USA" type thing to raise awareness of
> idependent developers.

This positions indies as "vs. mainstream", and I'm not sure trying to 
emphasize a competitive point of view is really what we should be 
doing.  Indies are an _alternative_ to the mainstream, not a 
competitor.

That said, a "Member of IGDA Indie SIG" logo might not be bad for 
people to put on Web sites so that awareness of the SIG itself is 
raised, which I think benefits the whole industry.

> * We should look for ways to get every tool company in existence to
> have a low-cost option to their toolsets for qualified independent
> developers.

It's not worth their time or effort.  The reward is minimal for them.  
That said, a lot of them offer downloads/reduced feature set versions 
of their tools for personal use and/or for mod development.

>* Should we advocate that companies provide a means for
> people to charge for their mods and total conversions if they want
> to do that? 

Very few companies are willing to let individuals make money off of 
derivative works without compensating them and/or signing away a lot 
of rights.  I don't see this changing any time soon, simply because 
there's no compelling reason for this to change.

> * Can a group of idependents ban together to fund a part time PR
> person who could work to get the general independent game scene
> more mainstream media coverage?

Probably not.

> What I think might be a good model to observe are some of the
> family-farming cooperatives and other artisan cooperatives that
> operate throughout the world.  

It's called "open source" =3D)

The biggest thing I think indies can help each other with is 
information and advice.  That makes the biggest difference by far.

Brian