GameSalad Discount for Students
dmilinovichiii
Member Posts: 620
I am a freshman in high school. I can't legally have a job and even if I could, I couldn't drive to it. I don't get an allowance either. This puts me at a financial disadvantage to other developers who make anywhere between $30,000-$200,000+ yearly.
Now try to imagine yourself in my position before I started using GameSalad. The only money I received was on my birthday and Christmas. Totaled together, on a good year I would receive $200. A year and a half ago, I spent all the money I had saved up to join the Apple Developer Program and join GameSalad (back then publishing cost $99 a year). This was risky, although most things in business are. I ended up with a gross total of $516 for the first year. After the GameSalad Direct fiasco, I made the jump to Pro. It was only $99 because I had already paid for the publishing before Direct. Unfortunately, if I want to stay a Pro user, I will have to spend $499. As I explained before, I don't have enough money. If I student discount is created, I will certainly continue yearly payments, otherwise GameSalad will make nothing from me.
In the world of game development, there have been quite a few popular games made by kids such as Bubble Ball. As the games are made by kids, the games get extra attention from media. When Bubble Ball became popular, Corona got a lot of more attention than usual. They probably gained a few extra users because users will think that if a kid can do it they can too.
Many large companies such as Apple and some small ones like Corona have educational discounts. Corona lowers their price to $50 a year for education. If GameSalad plans to become a big corporation, then it would be a good idea to look into things like this that are similar to "polish" for a great game. I hope GameSalad can see the many potential business opportunities this can open up and will follow through with this.
I am sure you are wondering how this would be possible to check for high school students and I think I have come up with a viable solution. At bars or the store when someone buys alcohol, you can be carded so why doesn't GameSalad do something similar? Students can be required to send in a scanned copy of their student ID card along with a picture of them doing something like holding up three fingers on one hand and four on the other. This will guarantee that the pictures were not taken off of the internet because the chances of two pictures like would be so slim. To check for certain, a reverse image search like TinEye (http://www.tineye.com/) could be used.
Note: As I stated at the beginning, I am in 9th grade and writing is my worst subject. Please take this as a possible suggestion with valid points from a member of the GameSalad community and not some random words just because I wasn't born with the gift of articulation.
Now try to imagine yourself in my position before I started using GameSalad. The only money I received was on my birthday and Christmas. Totaled together, on a good year I would receive $200. A year and a half ago, I spent all the money I had saved up to join the Apple Developer Program and join GameSalad (back then publishing cost $99 a year). This was risky, although most things in business are. I ended up with a gross total of $516 for the first year. After the GameSalad Direct fiasco, I made the jump to Pro. It was only $99 because I had already paid for the publishing before Direct. Unfortunately, if I want to stay a Pro user, I will have to spend $499. As I explained before, I don't have enough money. If I student discount is created, I will certainly continue yearly payments, otherwise GameSalad will make nothing from me.
In the world of game development, there have been quite a few popular games made by kids such as Bubble Ball. As the games are made by kids, the games get extra attention from media. When Bubble Ball became popular, Corona got a lot of more attention than usual. They probably gained a few extra users because users will think that if a kid can do it they can too.
Many large companies such as Apple and some small ones like Corona have educational discounts. Corona lowers their price to $50 a year for education. If GameSalad plans to become a big corporation, then it would be a good idea to look into things like this that are similar to "polish" for a great game. I hope GameSalad can see the many potential business opportunities this can open up and will follow through with this.
I am sure you are wondering how this would be possible to check for high school students and I think I have come up with a viable solution. At bars or the store when someone buys alcohol, you can be carded so why doesn't GameSalad do something similar? Students can be required to send in a scanned copy of their student ID card along with a picture of them doing something like holding up three fingers on one hand and four on the other. This will guarantee that the pictures were not taken off of the internet because the chances of two pictures like would be so slim. To check for certain, a reverse image search like TinEye (http://www.tineye.com/) could be used.
Note: As I stated at the beginning, I am in 9th grade and writing is my worst subject. Please take this as a possible suggestion with valid points from a member of the GameSalad community and not some random words just because I wasn't born with the gift of articulation.
Comments
As its been said many times,You dont need any of the pro features to make a great game.
Pro is called professional for a reason. Only those who can afford it should get it. Your not a proffesional if you cant afford 500 a year.
I understand your point, but completly disagree
How many high school students do spend $500 on a package? (Congrats DreamLab... I respect you, but I think you are in the minority.)
How would GameSalad's bottom line change if they offered a $250 student version? I bet more students would purchase it, far outnumbering the suspected few that actually buy t. (Kudos again DreamLab...)
How many of those would "transition" easily into the $500 payments after they are no longer eligible for a student discount? (Once you are hooked on pro you'll never go back.)
I do question the "you are not professional if you can't afford..." statement. The goal of GameSalad can not be to provide professionals tools. It must be to set the highest generated income possible while promoting their "game making for everyone". There are lots of business models GameSalad could try. Making the most money is their goal. I don't know which model will benefit them the most.
John's words may have a sense of harness to them, but if you think about it, bottom line, he's right. If you can't afford it, and if you can't do art, nor afford to pay someone to do it, you might be entering into the wrong profession. Or at least trying to enter at the wrong time in your life.
EDIT: Adobe has many student discounts, so save up for illustrator or photoshop and buy them. Then learn how to use them, and make the art for the games instead of hiring an artist.
I remember when it wasn't free and 99 dollars for the basic version. Many members that have been here for a while can tell you people complained that they should have a discount on that or that should be free. Now it is, and you should be very grateful for that. It costs you absolutly nothing to make a great game the easiest way possible and out right now. Sounds like the deal of a lifetime to me
nobody needs pro to make a good game
even though I bought pro using 100$ of my parents money, I only pay 400$
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