I have a proposal to make.
Whether one likes Civ5 or not, I think most would welcome more "Civilization" type games. It would never hurt, at least it would broaden our choices, foster competition for the best Civilization game.
Why isnt that happening? Because there is a lot more money to be made in Browser and Facebook Games and Console games. This is a very bad situation for us Civ players.
The main reason for the above is the lower player base for Cicilization-type games (as opposed to Facebook games, console games etc). But how do we, the players, then compete for ressources, for the good game designers, great artists, funding for civ games?
I believe the time has come for patronage (ie sponsorship) in the realm of computer games without mass market appeal.
In music this is quite common. Everyone knows that many orchestras could not be sustained without sponsors/patrons. That is because classical music - like civilization type games - are no (longer) mass market products.What works in music could work here, too. Maybe even better.
By effectively using ressources even with a medium sized budget you can built great civilization games. For anyone interested there are some impressive videos about the very intelligent design process of Civ4 on the net.
1) Maybe one could find true sponsors/patrons. It is 2011 now and we are entering the age where there are successfull businessmen who grew up with computer games. Some of them must have played Civ1. To some of them this must bring back memories as fond as the memories a sponsor/patron of classical music has of the days when he was a teenager and learned to play the piano. If I was say 10 mio $ worth and someone like Soren Johnson showed me a promising Civ6 concept and told me that he just needed 100k $ more to pull it off. I'd do that.
2) Maybe one could also find some medium walthy fans willing to spend more for a honerably mentioning. Say you are "Jon Doe" of England and pre-pay 3000 $ for the game then all English kindergarten-buildings in the game could be called "Jon Doe's kindergarten". Maybe you could even send in the picture of your son to be used in the 'Pedia. Some people might like such options. To some you could offer the chance to include their own ideas into the game (as long as they fit) or add a mod with their ideas for a small sum.
3) And maybe some people would be willing to simply pay normal good money for good features. Just consider how much money you pay for one hour at a bar, or one hour of vacation, or even just watching a movie. Now compare that to a game which you play 200 hours and more. While I was a student neither the option 1) or 2) above would have been possible. But if as additional content to a very good Civilization game a "Better-AI" would have been offered - say an AI playing one difficulty level better than the standard AI - would I have payed 70 $ for that? Yes, without much thinking.
To organize such funding a site like thepoint or crowd-funding sites could be used, that would have advantages and disadvantages.
But the very first thing would be to find some like-minded people who believe such a thing to be possible. I don't expect many will even agree that this might be possible or would be much less willing to join in such an endeavor, so I am happy about every single PM or reply I will get in the month to follow. In the meantime I will expand on this proposal in the coming month (and years), word it better and link it from here and there.
Finally I would like to add 2 words about who I am. It feels very odd to do so but me thinks it might help the concept. When you present a concept that sounds very 'lunatic' to an internet forum and your mother tongue isnt even english (for everyone to notice) maybe knowing something about the author helps to not disregard the idea immediately.
I have spend years of my life with GO and chess programming before I went to university. Never was a good chess player myself (peak at 2300elo and there I was overrated) but always liked teaching. Finished in top 2% in the bars exams, spend some time in Oxford on a scholarship before starting on docorate thesis. Co-founded multiple internet ventures, medium succesfull ones, a very succesfull one (where I hold far too few shares) and a complete and utter failure (me being CEO of the later hehe).
I am pretty certain a lot of people have already thought about this and probably had smarter ideas how it could be organized. Maybe there are even already postings about such a concept. If that is the case I dont mind at all if you point me to that (and I'd delete my text here).
I wonder what you think about the idea?
Whether one likes Civ5 or not, I think most would welcome more "Civilization" type games. It would never hurt, at least it would broaden our choices, foster competition for the best Civilization game.
Why isnt that happening? Because there is a lot more money to be made in Browser and Facebook Games and Console games. This is a very bad situation for us Civ players.
The main reason for the above is the lower player base for Cicilization-type games (as opposed to Facebook games, console games etc). But how do we, the players, then compete for ressources, for the good game designers, great artists, funding for civ games?
I believe the time has come for patronage (ie sponsorship) in the realm of computer games without mass market appeal.
In music this is quite common. Everyone knows that many orchestras could not be sustained without sponsors/patrons. That is because classical music - like civilization type games - are no (longer) mass market products.What works in music could work here, too. Maybe even better.
By effectively using ressources even with a medium sized budget you can built great civilization games. For anyone interested there are some impressive videos about the very intelligent design process of Civ4 on the net.
1) Maybe one could find true sponsors/patrons. It is 2011 now and we are entering the age where there are successfull businessmen who grew up with computer games. Some of them must have played Civ1. To some of them this must bring back memories as fond as the memories a sponsor/patron of classical music has of the days when he was a teenager and learned to play the piano. If I was say 10 mio $ worth and someone like Soren Johnson showed me a promising Civ6 concept and told me that he just needed 100k $ more to pull it off. I'd do that.
2) Maybe one could also find some medium walthy fans willing to spend more for a honerably mentioning. Say you are "Jon Doe" of England and pre-pay 3000 $ for the game then all English kindergarten-buildings in the game could be called "Jon Doe's kindergarten". Maybe you could even send in the picture of your son to be used in the 'Pedia. Some people might like such options. To some you could offer the chance to include their own ideas into the game (as long as they fit) or add a mod with their ideas for a small sum.
3) And maybe some people would be willing to simply pay normal good money for good features. Just consider how much money you pay for one hour at a bar, or one hour of vacation, or even just watching a movie. Now compare that to a game which you play 200 hours and more. While I was a student neither the option 1) or 2) above would have been possible. But if as additional content to a very good Civilization game a "Better-AI" would have been offered - say an AI playing one difficulty level better than the standard AI - would I have payed 70 $ for that? Yes, without much thinking.
To organize such funding a site like thepoint or crowd-funding sites could be used, that would have advantages and disadvantages.
But the very first thing would be to find some like-minded people who believe such a thing to be possible. I don't expect many will even agree that this might be possible or would be much less willing to join in such an endeavor, so I am happy about every single PM or reply I will get in the month to follow. In the meantime I will expand on this proposal in the coming month (and years), word it better and link it from here and there.
Finally I would like to add 2 words about who I am. It feels very odd to do so but me thinks it might help the concept. When you present a concept that sounds very 'lunatic' to an internet forum and your mother tongue isnt even english (for everyone to notice) maybe knowing something about the author helps to not disregard the idea immediately.
I have spend years of my life with GO and chess programming before I went to university. Never was a good chess player myself (peak at 2300elo and there I was overrated) but always liked teaching. Finished in top 2% in the bars exams, spend some time in Oxford on a scholarship before starting on docorate thesis. Co-founded multiple internet ventures, medium succesfull ones, a very succesfull one (where I hold far too few shares) and a complete and utter failure (me being CEO of the later hehe).
I am pretty certain a lot of people have already thought about this and probably had smarter ideas how it could be organized. Maybe there are even already postings about such a concept. If that is the case I dont mind at all if you point me to that (and I'd delete my text here).
I wonder what you think about the idea?
