The hypocrisy is deafening

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Since were are on the monetary topics. I was wondering how many of you actually checkout the GS marketplace when needing to purchase graphic or music for your games? Do you even consider supporting your fellow users before you buy something? I'm not saying buy just for the sake of supporting GS people but do you even consider checking out their work. Maybe if you did, some of them might be able to afford a pro membership. Just thinking out loud.

gyroscope

Hi Dave, that's a fair and useful point you've made; the only thing is though, I personally don't think there's much, if any, hypocrisy as such with members buying assets; I think it's more that people tend to forget the Marketplace is there; or as helpful and useful as it is to find and buy stuff, there are still a limited amount (relatively speaking); what I mean is if someone's looking for something specific (which perhaps the majority of people are), there's a much smaller chance that they'll find what they want. :-)

----------------------------------------------
http://davidgriffinapps.co.uk/

iPad: End of the Earth game coming soon to the iTunes App Store....

HoneyTribeStudios

I hear some of the music over there aint too shabby...

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Maybe that's because people don't use it. It's kinda like what came first the chicken or the egg?

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Yes as honeytribestudios makes quality stuff and people should check it out.

gyroscope

Perhaps @SaladStraightShooter should open The GameSalad Marketplace category again so that the latest arrivals to the Marketplace can be advertised... that might encourage more people to take another look. What do you think?

The_Gamesalad_Guru

I don't think anyone cares. Which is why I broached the subject.

LiquidGameworks

It would help if they would fix the structure of the marketplace. As a simple example, I won't buy music without being able to hear the entire track. As a musician myself, I don't think the first 15 secs can capture enough of the song to really express what you're paying for. That, and no easy way of sorting. Its a mess is what it is. I really do think a marketplace thread, where users can call attention to new items, is a good idea. It may be flooded with the same users, but it'll draw a more attention to the marketplace as a whole.

floydianspiral

This is how I think of it, and keep in mind I'm an audio guy mainly. I wouldn't purchase anything from the marketplace simply because it is a GS marketplace. While that sounds bad that is the connotation I have with it. No doubt there is quality work there but a) I wouldn't want to buy something that someone else could have bought and used for their games, effectively making mine seem less unique b) going through the marketplace is a hassle and I wouldn't buy an audio track having only listened to 15 seconds of it. The best way for me to sum it up is that I feel like people contract out jobs for a reason, so it is professional, rather than buying stuff in stock from a possible user created thing. Hats off to you HTS, I like the music in there! but as a fellow freelancer I get more business by hosting stuff on my own personal website and contract out by talking with developers. I'm sure that is the same with artists of all trades. I referred a lot of friends to post their demo reels on this site hoping for people to contact them, but it seems like a lot of people in the GS community simply do not want to pay for good music, art, etc when they have things like soundsnap, clker, and more. ::Le sigh::

fzeed

I don't buy artwork unless it comes in an EPS or AI format. I do buy ALOT of stuff from debug design (http://www.graphic-buffet.com/) and i don't know if he is still active on the forums, but when i first start using GS he was, so i guess i am supporting a fellow GS user.

SAZ_1

@honeytribestudios ... i got that one shaz ..lol

HoneyTribeStudios

@Liquidgameworks - Yeah they have a list of stuff to change in the marketplace and proper audio previews is one of them. Although I dunno when that'll be. I was posting previews you can actually hear in the forums. But someone decided to delete the thread. And not tell me. How nice of them.

@FryingBaconStudios - Cheers. Indeed I was enjoying the caribbean beats of one of your tracks. Well for 15seconds anyway.

@SAZ_1 -

aario

@FryingBaconStudios - Ive actually bought some of your loops

gregr209

I have purchased several templates from various GS members but never off the Marketplace. The Marketplace, like the Cookbook is just sort of a mess. I would rather go to GSHelper or Deep Blue apps web page or others to find templates and things.

LiquidGameworks

@ SS I can list a couple things, but would it be okay to post any 3rd party links which demonstrate a good style? (or I could email examples of good systems)

As for list:

1) Sortable by creator and price in all.
2) Use a page system, not an endless scrolling age which only loads a few at a time. The few times I tried looking in the market, I stopped searching because this annoyed me so much.
3) In audio, create sortable categories which users are required to fill out: Length, bpm, genre, (plus creator and price)
4) In audio, give sellers the option to post a full demo (I can't stress this one enough... The 15 sec system is utterly useless for determining the quality of a song, particularly in a market where we are not yet familiar with users who post quality stuff)
5) For graphics, require that all dimensions of an art asset are included. When the market first came out with GS featured artists, there was a lot of confusion over the specs of the graphics, and a lot of people found that images were actually in GS unfriendly condition (not 72dpi, odd pixel numbers, etc).

We really do appreciate you soliciting information. And good luck with the current firestorm.

EatingMyHat

Here are a few suggestions:
1. Allow video for templates. I bought many DeepBlue templates, but I would never buy without checking out the video
2. Allow listening for a full track (with some beeps or some other method to avoid theft)
3. Bring back the Marketplace forum but as a close forum... more like an RSS feed of new stuff coming in to the Marketspace (no comments or posts, so it will not come back to be the bump fight arena)
4. Don't focus on Popular Assets (or not exclusively) - showcase random assets to keep the page fresh

Just my 2 cents...

---

Follow Eating My Hat on Facebook and the Blog
Check out my templates in the GS Marketplace or at the store

SlickZero

Some kind of sorting system. The continuous scrolling is very deterring. Currently, it's something like 40 scroll swipes to get to the bottom of the page in the audio section.

More frequent updates to the listings. I know I've had 5 or 6 songs waiting to be listed going on 3 months now. And only see other new uploads like once a month.

A little better quality on the preview of the audio track. And maybe a way to listen to the whole track, and how it loops. Would need a "watermark" in the audio file like was mentioned earlier.

A cycling showcase that changes daily or weekly, showcasing an individual developer. Something similar to the graphics/template section. Not many music packs to showcase at the moment, but if the marketplace is sectioned by developer, it could link to that developers section, and work.

LumpApps

I have one package on marketplace but I didn't know it was already posted. Had to search for it by name yesterday to find it.
So there is defenetly something improvement possible.
As for audio. I would never post a whole song since stuff gets stolen a lot here.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

@aario Hope you found it worth the money and useful. Although I didn't start this thread to push any of my loops.. I know that there are a lot of non pro users who sell on the marketplace, like Homeytribestudios. I made loops for the marketplace as to try as Dave pointed out, add rich content for GS users @ an affordable price. If you watched my audio series you've seen a taste of how much work I put into my stuff and for the price I posted them at it's not worth my time as I could make more as slave labor in some third world hell hole. But I did it to try to support the GS community and enrich along with others the GS resources and community. I know right now the Marketplace is tough but this is not about GS it's about making some effort to help out your fellow members and sacrificing the extra time it takes to use it to support other GS users. I'm by no means saying you have to buy JUNK, don't do that, but man show some love to your fellow developers and give them the same shot you want for yourself. Why did I name this thread as such? Because all of you want and complain about people not buying or trying your apps and yet you do the same to the people who help you everyday on here and please I'm no taking about me, I don't need or want your money. What I would like is for others to try to support their fellow developers. Some say pro users are selfish, we maybe so but I ask that you all take an honest look in the mirror.

beefy_clyro

I simply stopped looking on the marketplace for 1 reason ... when you've scrolled down a few extra loads, preview something and hit back, you start right at the beginning again .... That is the most annoying thing since Jedward! It should remember exactly where you was on the page and take you back to that spot!

The_Gamesalad_Guru

@beefyclyro yes we all agree it sucks and I sent PM's to to those in charge months ago and yet haven't heard a word. @sss these marketplace questions need some answers like are we being heard and is GS team working on solutions? We need feedback and you're our voice SSS!

Also, other than the usual suspects..lol including me. I can see most GS users didn't bother to post here and just as I thought, nobody gives a !@#$% and that is sad, as when something affected them they filled at thread and found time to post. I myself have to take sometime to think about how much in the general forum I'm going to bother helping. I may instead take an approach of targeted helping instead of blanket.

Chunkypixels

I think the marketplace suffered from a few early issues, that put people off from using it...

1. As people have said, the search and preview system doesnt work very well and just becomes annoying.
2. in the case of Templates, for the most part theyre just cheaper to buy direct from the creators own website... on the GS Marketplace they tend to be 20% or so more, and dont reflect regular sales or price changes that the sellers might have on their own site.
3. The quality of much of the artwork in particular is very hit and miss. Theres a lot of unusable assets just cluttering up the system.
4. music and sound effects were added later... by which time I think most people had already given up on using/looking at the Marketplace.

So I think people just find it easier/cheaper to look elsewhere.

To be honest, its an afterthought to the main business of GS... so its never going to compete with purpose built asset marketplaces that just specialise solely in providing assets, so its always going to be hard to convince people to look at a GS Marketplace first above other established sites that already provide assets.

simo103

just from a users perspective .... very hard to find anything .... didn't know if/when new stuff was posted. After giving it a look once or twice I gave up and continue to purchase when DBA/TSB etc post in the forum or in their own email sales alerts.

EDIT: something about the title of this thread was bothering me ... it deeply implies that people complaining about the price of things are also not supporting others in their purchases ... thus the hypocrisy. This is narrow minded as many support others outside the marketplace (I'd bet on a ratio of 30/1 or more ... perhaps DBA and TSB could give a general idea of their ratio). The problem with the marketplace is usability and marketing .. no hypocrisy there. I think the innuendo of some of the posts lately against some broad members of the community would be well suited to be tuned down a bit as some good people are being caught in that wide net some are casting.

RP

I'm still in the last leg of getting set up for the marketplace, but I have been pondering over the hurdles set by selling assets that will in-turn become unoriginal the first time they are used in a game. That gives other potential customers less incentive to use them knowing that these templates, graphics, music, sounds, animations, effects etc. are subject to use in other apps. I'm going to try to focus on graphic assets that can be utilized a bit more universally without felling like someone is stepping on someone else's territory. Yes, indeed it is not the same as providing customized work to a single client, but neither is the pricing. I know everyone wants originality in their app and if push comes to shove they have people they can PM for that type of work. Or even....a little quid pro quo...hmmmmm?

Assets are like tying on clothes and sometimes you just can't find a good fit. You certainly don't want to show up wearing the same outfit because you wont stand out. I think music has a better opportunity for reuse here just as it does in video/film where graphic assets are bit more tied-to-the-hip of the title they are used in.

The_Gamesalad_Guru

Yeah I've been working on some particle effects animation and other incidentals that are kind of universal. Like fire, rain smoke et... I was looking for a generic item for one of my games and I took my own advice and looked in the marketplace and if the general item I was looking for was there I would have bought it. So I put in the work and made my own and I'll add that to my items to sell as it's a very common item for games.