My name is wattleman, and I currently co-run a modern United States Navy group. As we are growing in popularity, we have realized it’s time to revamp our old, not-so-appealing, training maps. As college students, we often lack the time that goes into making fully original maps. For weeks now, we have tried recruiting and paying builders - most of them either don’t respond or ghost us after a few days.
What tips do you guys have for building a development team, specifically modelers and builders?
Here a few tips to make your recruitment posts appealing:
I will explain the listed points below in more detail at the bottom of my post.
have a friendly approach!
do not make the task seem overwhelming
provide details of their task honestly and don’t instruct them half-heartedly
include a sweet reference with a cherry on top
Keeping a friendly atmosphere in the environment you work in will make them feel as if replying to you is not an obligation, but rather a fun thing to do or something they look forward to.
If you unreasonably drop everything on them at once, including many things not said in the recruitment post, they will most likely feel under pressure, but not mention their own anxiety. This is a major contributing factor.
Give them instructions properly! If you can’t even do this, then the builder will not see much light or hope in the release of your game. Or even of themselves being able to finish due to lack of motivation.
References look appealing. When I see that somebody has included a reference to a hiring post to let us know what their game would look like, I find the task much easier to do in my head. Planning and motivation kicks in.
There are a bunch of reasons why developers will ghost you or not respond and I have ghosted someone before because he constantly rushed me and was extremely rude.
Some of the reasons would be:
Payment is not sufficient for what you are making them do
How you treat them
Deadline too short
Lack of motivation
How much did you offer to the builders in the first place?
Alright, here is my opinions on why you were probably ghosted:
Treatment of builders: If you’re always bugging them 24/7, “Have you finished yet?”, it can honestly get very annoying fast, not every person is available all the time and most of us do have school and different timezones, so you can’t really expect them to finish a project right away if you haven’t given them a decent amount of time to complete it.
Builders slacking: Always pick the builders you believe will be dedicated to helping you out. If you hire those who slack off or simply don’t have time, they will probably just end up wasting your time and doing nothing.
Otherwise, here is some tips:
Always treat them nicely, the same rule applies for the builders. Don’t rush them, building varies depending on what needs to be done, but it will be worth the wait instead of constantly asking them how it is going. Honestly from experience, if I rush it will 100% look like crap, if I take my time and actually look into what I’m building properly, I will 100% have something decently built.
Try and remain professional, but with a bit of who you are. In this case, never act immature towards them, it simply just puts people off. Act professional, tell them what you want done but never be very strict about it. But, don’t always be on the same topic about your common interest in the project, expand to building itself or possibly Roblox games, I commonly find it easier and just simply more enjoyable building for someone I am more comfortable with.
Set a reasonable deadline that’s based around their skillset. If the builder has a reputation than ask for references so you can speak with their previous contractors. Try to find a builder that is familiar with the theme, style you’re aiming for or you’ll put yourself at risk of encountering an unreliable builder. Ask each contractor on the amount paid, and determine if the work falls under quality or quantity. If each build falls under quantity than chances are that builder does the bare minimum to get the job done. If you don’t value quality than don’t be selective with your hiring process as it’ll limit your choices however if you value quality than don’t hire any builder(s) that sell quantity.
Those who sell quantity will only make quality if they’re overpaid.
In my opinion, while this could potentially boost productivity I personally wouldn’t recommend falsely portraying a mutual connection unless it’s genuine. At the end of the day we’re all people and sometimes certain personalities don’t manage to form a bond.
What I personally do is separate personal from business mainly because I don’t care about their personality long as their skillset and work ethic will either meet or exceed my expectations.
Typically when I am reaching out to builders, I ask them their thoughts and time and a quote for what they feel their work is worth. Typically if we make it that far and they say they are interested, they stop responding. So I’m not even really getting to the point of having them official as a builder.
I think right now the main issue is the fact that I am having troubles finding reliable builders. I have spent hours on the collaboration subtopic and have only found one builder that is actually reliable.