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Hey,

I was wondering whether anybody would be interested in a) downloading and b) selling from an Honourware site.

For those of you who don't know, honourware is essentially 'pay what you think it deserves'; the customer downloads it for free, then pays how much they feel like paying.
I feel that this would help new developers who wish to go down this path. It would be free to publish on, and the authors would get 100% of the amount gained.

So, what's your verdict?

If I get good use out of something I'll usually pay for it. If I find it exceptional - like some software tools I have been using - I'll give the developers extra.

Distributing via an honourware system is far better than just sitting on the next big idea.

That's my personal opinion. A problem I see with a lot of new developers is a lack of perspective; they might think that their game is worth £20 when it's closer to £5 or £7.

I think that having this, along with a feedback widget and such, would make the game very good.

I don't know, I'd like to put a thing I'm working on (once it is done) up on a site like that, but I don't know how many people would want to download from a site which says 'you don't have to pay, but if you want....'. I'd rather more people download it and play it to be honest.

Anyway, it will be a while until mine is finished, so if you end up following this path I'd love to see how much success you have with it, and I may end up doing the same.

While I support Blap's idea, and I do think it's an interesting way to market your product, and it works for plenty of software developers, I would like to point out that if you're just starting out, overestimating the value of your game is something we all tend to do, we did this with things like nicely painted armies, or that one Pokemon card that we just never wanted to get rid of no matter what we were offered, an Honorware site is the best way to do something like this.

On the other hand, if you just want people to get your rules and play, Wargames Vault has a way to sell your stuff for the grand price of 0.00... And the great way about this is that you never have to really worry about people getting your rules and then forgetting about them, because you can update them via Wargames Vault, and it will alert anyone that has bought your product.

Yeah, Wargames Vault and similar sites are definitely best for set and free priced games. However, there are very few sites for Honourware (none that I know of), so for people looking for that option, it would be there.

Hmm,
This would be an interesting idea. I'm not sure it's really needed at this point though.

Those who wish do distribute for free, already do. Most are findable through http://www.freewargamesrules.co.uk/index.html which links to websites offering free rules. Some of these sites have an honorware function that let you can donate $ if you like their free rules.

Those who are looking for pay do so through places like wargamesvault, four color miniatures wargames downloads and similar sites and private sites. Rather than Honorware, more companies seem to prefer to offer a free shortented "basic", or "summary" version of their rules to get folks interested and then sell them the full rules.

I'm not sure if an honorware clearinghouse would be a better model, as the host site would have to wait until someone liked something before they got any money.

Sum up, it's not a bad idea, I just don't think it's necessarily a better idea than the models currently in use.

Yes, I just thought that it'd be useful for people who want to launch them in that model exclusively.

Just dedicated to that purely.

Sorry Blap, I knew what your intentions were for this, and I hope it works out I was just giving an alternative to those that just want to get their rules out there.

If anyone is considering this, PM Blap, perhaps you can figure something out

No, I haven't got any problems with it. The whole point was that this would be dedicated to honourware. If people want to sell them in any other way, there are websites.

I think that honorware is a bit of a misnomer though, I think you should probably see what websites offer Perceived Value Pricing

It sounds like a good idea. I'd like to see it up and running.

Alright, I'm having a website made. It's hopefully gonna be similar to DeviantArt, with user pages, a few forums and an advertising section for artists, sculptors, etc.

Possibly also a treasury which is funded by a portion of the money earned.

 BlapBlapBlap wrote:
Hey,

I was wondering whether anybody would be interested in a) downloading and b) selling from an Honourware site.

For those of you who don't know, honourware is essentially 'pay what you think it deserves'; the customer downloads it for free, then pays how much they feel like paying.
I feel that this would help new developers who wish to go down this path. It would be free to publish on, and the authors would get 100% of the amount gained.

So, what's your verdict?

I don't think it will be a good idea. And to throw it out there as the "bad guy downloader"- I can already download whatever I want, whenever I want, so why then would I want to pay anything? ( I'm throwing this down as a devils advocate discussion point. and that a secondary point off of this is that the "New word view" that everything should be out there for free, you just give me what you "Think" is is worth is false.)

Call me old school and cruel, but in my world: If it is for free, I'm getting it for free. In my eyes its free.... thats what its worth.

I get a chance to get something, I don't care about you as a designer. In much the same as "Crowdfunding", you have to let your audience fund your product. You develope a following, then you can continue to have a collective support/ creation process. Feedback-><- support is the name of the game.

I would definitely be interested in downloading from it, but probably not in paying for anything. I'm not trying to be mean, but that's the honest truth. I am exceedingly stingy when it comes to videogames. Most games I've seen in the "pay what you feel is appropriate" category are about the same quality as games which are legitimately free. (I still remember shareware games fondly...) I mean, if by some miracle I got a mind-blowing game I might toss the creator a few bucks, but I just think that I have a wildly different standard from everyone else when it comes to how much money to pay for a game.

I've heard about this sort of thing before, but I haven't heard about it being wildly successful. "Pay what's fair" worked for Dr. Strange, but I'm skeptical about how well it works in real life. My worry is that everyone would download it for free, and you'd never see a red cent. On the other side of that coin, it still gets the developer's name out there, even if the first wave of his fans don't support him financially. It just doesn't seem like it would be worth the effort, but if you're passionate, you should give it a shot.

Bottom line, if I felt the site was reputable (and I wasn't going to get a bunch of malware) then I would give it a shot.

Sorry to be a downer. I hope it works out for you. Good luck!

What would be distributed?

Most likely rulesets from people that want to develop a game system, but don't have the capital to start the entire thing (model production, book production, etc...)

Yeah, user submitted rulesets mostly. Artists and sculptors looking for work.

It's essentially going to be a launching platform for people who want to go down the honourware route, with resources such as a treasury and such.

That's interesting. I have an interest in doing a world setting, but not a game system.

There is a large boat of people that is..

Why pay when i get it for free ?

I'll be honest, i wont pay for something offered free in most cases.

I actually don't know what is being suggested in the OP...?

A site where people can download "shareware"? Aren't there many of these already?

I can tell I'm missing something...

Read Blap's subsequent posts...

The website he wants to make would be a site for people that want a way to create and "publish" their game system rulesets to get them out there in the world without asking people to pay like 10 bucks or w/e... And offering their rules for people to buy and pay what they want for it.

OK, I understand that many people will just download it for free. But consider a museum that runs on voluntary donations. People will visit and pay, because they think the museum deserves it.

I understand it's a rather poor example, but the point is that if people enjoy content and believe that it is deserving of a reward they will often do it. If you don't, no problem, you haven't lost anything. If you do, then you can give a small something ($3, £2, etc.) to keep the producers going.

A lot of webcomics operate under a similar method and accept donations.

I've used such a site before, but it was for music not wargaming. First I downloaded an album to see if I liked it, then when I found I really did I dropped 10 dollars for it. So even if a lot of people download for free, they might come back and drop a few dollars.

Anyways I think the whole idea is great and much better than kickstarter.

Most producers would like to get payment for their work. Some altruistic ones may not, but then another question pops up:

who will pay for the rackspace and electricity for the servers hosting the service? Even free hosting has it's limitations.

To be honest, Im a big user of Linux and Libreoffice, have been for years. Bought a version of Linux called Lindows back in the day, but so far havent donated anything to Ubuntu or Libreoffice other than providing feedback when encountering issues.

The example of a museum doenst really work though. many museums rely on government funding or private endowments to continue operations. Many museums have "suggested" prices, and many enforce those prices unless you provide student ID etc.

It's human nature to want something for free (just look at the population on the public dole). As a producer, your best bet is to get something for your labor right off. Maybe adopt a model like Google/Android apps. Low purchase price and high volume. But again, that may not work as well as TT gaming is still a pretty niche pastime and doesnt exhibit the volume that smart phones do .