Textfyre Designers and Writers
ChicagoDave
I've had some interesting discussions since Secret Letter and Shadow
were published and I think it's safe to say that we missed a mark on
Secret Letter (though the jury is still out) and hit a decent mark
with Shadow. I wanted to address the issue of content and complexity
with the community.
Effective immediately, Textfyre is not going to "focus" on middle-
school content. We're going to broaden our content expectations to be
loosely defined as great stories, with great depth, and professional
implemenation. We're still going to shy away from profanity, sex, and
gratuitous violence, but we're not going to limit the types of stories
in any other way. So if our designers want to work on more complex
themes, we're all for it.
Why the change? The tween market is more sophisticated than I ever
imagined. Even my own 11 and 10 year old daughters are reading books I
find well beyond the Disney stories I envisioned in the early days of
Textfyre's development.
So although we're going to _market_ to middle schools, we're going to
open up the content to broader themes and content. Of course we're
going to test our ideas and I'm working on a fantastic partnership
with a tween girls facebook-like website. With this partnership, we
would be able to share our story outlines with a number of tweens and
get their feedback. This could help shape our designers and writers
ideas and help us build highly marketable games.
Another aspect of this is that we currently have five people working
on content. I'd like more people involved and if anyone is interested
in designing or writing for Textfyre, please let me know. The criteria
is likely going to include a reputation as a solid (nominated for an
award at least) hobbyist IF author, but outside of that, I'm open to
all interested parties.
Thanks,
David C.
www.textfyre.com
James Jolley
SPAM!
Ron Newcomb
As an adult with no kids to protect (or entertain), this is
awesome. :)
S. John Ross
> Why the change? The tween market is more sophisticated than I ever
> imagined.
It is excellent and encouraging that you've noticed. :)
[raises a glass in hopes of a good future for Textfyre]
Peter Pears
[toasts with S. John Ross - for a good future for Textfyre]
Conrad
Very cool.
C.
Jeff Nyman
> Why the change? The tween market is more sophisticated than I ever
> imagined.
Like others, I'm glad to see this as something you've found. This is
partly, of course, just market research. This "sophistication" is
something I had indicated in previous threads of my own experiences in
working with school children and the "middle-school" market. This also
becomes clear when you simply ask around and find out what people are
reading these days. That's what you want to tap into, of course, at
least in terms of getting a reach into a certain market. It also
doesn't hurt to look at the films that your given market is watching
and games they are playing. Look for the themes that are consistent
between different media that your market responds to. I found this
very helpful.
> open up the content to broader themes and content. Of course we're
> going to test our ideas and I'm working on a fantastic partnership
> with a tween girls facebook-like website.
This implies that "tween boys" are not a concern, necessarily. Is that
true? Beyond that, it sounds like the approach you are taking is
similar to one I already reported on here in one of my previous
threads. I will say that I more often than not found it useful to
focus on sites that catered to specific elements my (potential) market
was interested in. Some of the best comments and feedback I got was
from a fan site -- on Facebook, as it happens -- dedicated to the
films of the "Ginger Snaps" series. Some of the various fan-fic sites
were immensely helpful to me as well. There were other venues where it
was pretty clear that the feedback was not as helpful.
Mind, however, my approach wasn't find a group to market some content
to so much as it was to find out what could make textual IF
marketable. (I don't even necessarily mean in a cost sense.) I know
that probably sounds like I'm saying the same thing two different ways
but I found there there is, in fact, a useful distinction there to be
made.
As always, I'm happy to see you considering different paths and
adapting yourself and Textfyre as you learn more.
- Jeff
Poster
<12ac0b9d-934e-4288...@h2g2000vbd.googlegroups.com>,
ChicagoDave <david.c...@gmail.com> wrote:
Ah well, there goes that. *mutters curses at contests*
--
Poster
www.intaligo.com I6 libraries, doom metal, Building
sturmdrangif.wordpress.com Game development blog / IF commentary
Seasons: fall '09 -- One-man projects are prone to delays.
