I’d agree with this mostly but the issue here is Roblox’s majority demographic are very young, and I’m sure most of the younglings don’t put as much attention to detail in games as we do; if a game has fun or addicting gameplay, you’ll end up attracting a large amount of people even if the quality isn’t pristine.
Doesn’t change the fact that you look back at games 5 years ago and how ‘bad’ they are compared to now. Games like Jailbreak, Meep City, etc. will more than likely die off and be at the same level as games from 5 years ago. Still feel studios and teams of developers will be the predominant future of Roblox
This is a fantastic point. Ultimately, most people will automatically be in favor of a rate increase simply because it’s “more money”. What many don’t realize, is that there are many potential implications that could arise as a result of having the rates hypothetically increase to such a degree.
Can you imagine how many highly talented programmers with tremendous experience, credentials, and a wealth of knowledge in game development will be joining Roblox to start studios and make highly advanced games if the rates end up being increased by a tremendous amount? It will be even harder to compete, and this is something that we should all think about.
The rates began at $100 per every R$100k, and now a few years later they’re a whopping $350 per every R$100k. I’d argue that this is more than enough.
He’s not saying we shouldn’t receive more money, he’s saying that the Developer Exchange isn’t the way of making more money, it’ll entice more unfair competition rather than good. Maybe real world credibility could pitch into other forms of monetization would help. Roblox Staff receive real world support; insurance. Maybe Roblox could consider a similar concept (an example which could be merits/boosts) for developers of the platform rather than increasing rates.
As a small two-man team (me and my wife), that recently released our first game (Candyland), I definitely think the rates should be increased for at least the small studios/developers. After Roblox takes their cut we don’t even have half of our rent. While Roblox is not our only source of income I think this makes it really difficult for small studios to commit to Roblox, expand their team, and make better games.
Of course, I believe that Roblox deserves their cut because we understand that they have costs to cover as well. I’m simply saying that if a studio is making such a low amount of income they could at the very least significantly increase the devex rates to allow us, smaller studios, a chance to sustain ourselves.
I guess that’s the issue in the end.
Does Roblox want to compete professionally? So that Developers stay on the platform as the way to put bread on the table (or buy the table), or are developers who really want to make this a profession have to look elsewhere?
I guess I’ve always argued from the side that Roblox does want this platform to be the real deal, but perhaps not. . .
*Sigh*
I did a literal sigh while writing that.
EDIT: I’ve watched some of the videos now, so the below thing isn’t strictly necessary.
I wish somebody would write up a written transcript of all the DevEx and Monitization stuff in the RDC videos, because I’m not sure I’ll be able to see them for a while
Roblox want to be treated like a real platform, to the point David Baszucki said that he predicts a large-brand official-game is made on Roblox in the year.
With all of this information summarised, I still have a question that is semi-related to the original topic: Why is there a marketplace fee on game-passes?
I mean, I understand the reasoning for marketplace fees on collectable items, it’s so the market stays up and people don’t sell their items for 10 robux constantly, but now in 2019, the system of marketplace fees on game-passes seems arbitrary. I feel like it would be a lot easier to remove the marketplace fees on game-passes then change the DevEx rates, yet both have similar outcomes.
I think people who are talking about Masters degrees don’t fully understand how and why Roblox works, and perhaps the role of education and self-directed learning.
As a rule of thumb, external “professionals” who have “experience” are fundamentally penalized by a simple problem: they don’t understand the audience. You guys do. This makes all the difference in the world.
Also, the words above are quoted because…
having shipped a game on another platform doesn’t uniquely qualify you to be able to do it again. People who have been developing games on Roblox for years are no less “professional” than people who work for gaming studios.
experience is not easily transferable and is not universal. It’s so rare to have people outside of Roblox design, build and code a game and have it be successful - Roblox is full of these examples. Roblox development is a skill that overlaps with many fields but isn’t subsumed by any one, including “indie game developer” as classically understood.
I haven’t really said much on this issue myself, but. . .
I agree with practically everything you’ve said, especially in regards to the whole idea of getting ‘Master’s Degree’ in game Dev at some unknown school… (that probably isn’t teaching Roblox dev specifically!)
And even having experience outside of Roblox doesn’t necessarily mean an easy transition Into Roblox…
But I guess I like to think more about the problem of developers leaving the platform; rather then increased competition within the platform from developers coming from outside.
I guess because that’s a little closer to my heart .