Strategy Session: Manor Lords Early Access Review | MMORPG.com

Comments

• Tiller Member LegendaryPosts: 11,485

  May 2

  Still pretty early, I'll wait and see where this goes.

  SWG Bloodfin vet
  

  Elder Jedi/Elder Bounty Hunter

   
  
• Angrakhan Member EpicPosts: 1,837

  May 3

  Biggest risk I see is the fact this guy just had a 7 figure pay day. Does he use that revenue to hire a proper dev team and finish this out to a level of say No Man's Sky or does he just pack it in and call it a career? The latter would be very tempting. That doesn't mean he'll abandon it, but he might just mail in the remainder of the game to call it a 1.0 release and just occasionally toss out a patch to keep sales coming in while he works on it in his spare time. Good for him, but his players might not like it. Time will tell.
• DarthBotto Newbie CommonPosts: 14

  May 3

  This game is what Kingdoms of Elyria wants/pretends to be.
• Splattr Member RarePosts: 577

  May 4

  
  

  Angrakhan said:

  
  

  Biggest risk I see is the fact this guy just had a 7 figure pay day. Does he use that revenue to hire a proper dev team and finish this out to a level of say No Man's Sky or does he just pack it in and call it a career? The latter would be very tempting. That doesn't mean he'll abandon it, but he might just mail in the remainder of the game to call it a 1.0 release and just occasionally toss out a patch to keep sales coming in while he works on it in his spare time. Good for him, but his players might not like it. Time will tell.

  
  

  
  
  That is a valid question, but here is why I think it shouldn't be a concern.
  
  If money is the driving force behind this person, then trying to make a solo indie game wouldn't be in the cards in the first place. There are way easier ways to earn a very good salary than by being an indie developer, let alone coding in the gaming industry as a whole. Developing software for other industries usually pays higher and has more stability than the gaming industry.
  
  As a sole developer, if all you are worried about is making money, then why would you be working on a solo endeavor for what is essentially a niche market? You can churn out a bunch of crap mobile games and generate more money much quicker.
  
  If I was offered a $30 mil bonus at work, would I quit my job? In a heartbeat. But that is because although I don't hate my job, I am not passionate about it. Most indie devs are passionate about their work to the point that they spend every free minute and every free dollar on the project. Not because they are expecting a 7 figure reward - the odds are not in their favor - but because they love what they are doing. And regardless of their financial situation, they will continue to work on their project.
  
  If anything, the success of Manor Lords will only push Slavic Magic to work harder on the game. As you imply, money is no longer a concern. I'm don't know about his financial situation, but with a little restraint, he has enough financial freedom to work solo for decades. He could, as you suggest, bring in a handful of other developers to expedite the push to 1.0, even if you account for the added overhead of having a small team, there is enough money to last for several years or more.
  
  Again, this requires some level of financial restraint. We have seen developers spend all of their cash reserves on fast cars, hookers, and blow. But in this case, we have a guy who has gone well past the tech demo stage and has shown that he has the ability and the passion to see this project to the end.

  
• ValdemarJ Member RarePosts: 1,417

  May 4 edited May 4

  To your point Mitch, Valheim saw massive success and an influx of cash. They slowly and  carefully added staff, basically kept to their already slow-paced development timeline, and kept on with the game they wanted to create.

  
  

  There aren't any guarantees, so if the risk isn't worth it, then people should wait for release. For everyone else, GamePass is a good option to try these things out and find out for themselves.
  

  

  Bring back the Naked Chicken Chalupa!