Collaborating with fans can be a good thing, but it can also be a bad thing. The good part about fan collaboration is that if a company or an individual has built up a big fan base and is working on a new project, the fans might be able to help make the project better for both fans and new-comers into the base. Another good part about fan collaboration is that some features that the fans might want to include might be a good selling point, and the list goes on.
However, like all things, there are some negative sides to it. For example, some fans who would like to collaborate with you might expect a small sum of money or some percentage of the cut of the project in order for their services. Whilst some of you might think that "That's obvious, some people would like some sort of reward or incentive or payment for their work", I agree on that, if the last product that you have published was a perfect hit and you managed to produce lots of revenue in order to do that. However, if you're still an individual developer who wants to take a shot on their new game to be successful, fans putting a price on their service might be bad for business. Another negative side to this is crediting all the fans that has put their time and effort into the game. Finding a reward for "x" amount of fans might be hard to find, especially on that doesn't cost you anything. Failure to do so might cause uproar and might risk losing some of your fan base.
In the game industry, collaborating with fans is something common, if you're an individual developer. There is this platform, called Playsource, which fosters fan collaboration for individual - or Indie - developers. Playsource allows the developers to directly communicate with their fans whilst designing their new concepts. Playsource fosters a part of fan collaboration called Co-production, where the developers would include fans into the production. This is often done with most indie developers within the industry, and an example of a developer would be Nelson Sexton, the developer of Unturned.
Reference:
Takahashi, D. (2017, March 07). Playsource to foster collaboration between indie game developers and fans. Retrieved July 14, 2017, from https://venturebeat.com/2017/03/07/playsource-to-foster-collaboration-between-indie-game-developers-and-fans/
However, like all things, there are some negative sides to it. For example, some fans who would like to collaborate with you might expect a small sum of money or some percentage of the cut of the project in order for their services. Whilst some of you might think that "That's obvious, some people would like some sort of reward or incentive or payment for their work", I agree on that, if the last product that you have published was a perfect hit and you managed to produce lots of revenue in order to do that. However, if you're still an individual developer who wants to take a shot on their new game to be successful, fans putting a price on their service might be bad for business. Another negative side to this is crediting all the fans that has put their time and effort into the game. Finding a reward for "x" amount of fans might be hard to find, especially on that doesn't cost you anything. Failure to do so might cause uproar and might risk losing some of your fan base.
In the game industry, collaborating with fans is something common, if you're an individual developer. There is this platform, called Playsource, which fosters fan collaboration for individual - or Indie - developers. Playsource allows the developers to directly communicate with their fans whilst designing their new concepts. Playsource fosters a part of fan collaboration called Co-production, where the developers would include fans into the production. This is often done with most indie developers within the industry, and an example of a developer would be Nelson Sexton, the developer of Unturned.
Reference:
Takahashi, D. (2017, March 07). Playsource to foster collaboration between indie game developers and fans. Retrieved July 14, 2017, from https://venturebeat.com/2017/03/07/playsource-to-foster-collaboration-between-indie-game-developers-and-fans/
Your comments on fan collaboration was simply on point. It simply shows how much you value your customers. Another point i got from your Fan Collaboration blog was simply the fact that you do not want to disappoint your fans at any point and that is very important for dedicated gamers such as yourself.
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts on fan collaboration are clearly stated and easy to identify, you value your fans but prefer to keep it on a professional level which I can agree on. Your understanding of the topic is very good and the terminology used is professional but still easy to read and follow.
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ReplyDeleteI've felt like the introduction was confusing to read, instead of putting contracting words like "can be a good thing, but can also be a bad thing" you should have stick to a simpler much more precise sentence like there are a bunch of pro and cons. I like how you've ended your paragraph, precise and have used the opportunity to promote something that could help the readers.
ReplyDeleteBoth positives and negatives have been clearly stated about having a wide fan community. Good example of using Playsource to explain how co-production works.
ReplyDeleteExplaining how Fan Collaboration has it's advantages and disadvantages can be understood quite well for your target audience, Topic is professionally explained.
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