ummm thats the right...

Yeah, I'm not retarded. Maybe you should read the whole post:



But as unwound brought out, I accidentally moved the decimal point to the right, derp.

Still, I really doubt Data makes $210k monthly. $21k? Maybe yearly.

I honestly doubt CC has more than a couple daily sales. If that much.

(Edit: okay, explanation isn't needed for that decimal mishap, but i'm leaving it because i wrote it and i don't like hitting "delete", especially on an opening point)

i think he's saying that if you make 10% of what Notch made in his biggest week, you're still walking away with $210,000.00 a month, not 21 million. And that would be a really good clip. If, of course, you could keep it up.

Just to be clear about this and give it some perspective, that facebook movie made 23 million dollars in its opening (read: biggest) weekend. i'd be surprised if ANY independent game could ever make close to that, even on the week they got their "big break" like Notch clearly has.

I'm not saying the dude's not feeling like he won the lottery, cause he ♥♥♥♥ DID. it can be a really good week when your game gets a comic on Penny Arcade. It's an even better week when you're the star two business-days in a row.

If that happens for CC, data can expect a horrific explosion in his bank account. Notch's story is enough to turn any fool capitalist. But he's not marketing the game, he's not pouring funds into ads or getting the word out. He's putting it into development of the product (and sometimes some murderous paramilitary hardware). I think that's admirable, no need to sling your product until it's market-ready. That move would be premature right now. But i smell that day approaching on the horizon, a few builds from now when CC is in its true "1.0" release or whatever.

Did anyone here learn about CC from an ad? I certainly didn't. I heard about it by word-of-mouth in a big forum. And that's really the only avenue by which the game is getting known. Does it even have an official Facebook page? A Tumblr? even social media isn't being utilized to its fullest. And that ♥♥♥♥ is FREE.

You wanna help? to put it in hip-hop terms (the lexicon of capitalism today) then rep that ♥♥♥♥. That's how scrappy upstarts like this get funding and an audience.

I speak for myself when i say this, but i think Data deserves more money than most Activision or EA execs, because he cranked out a good product that i love and have loved for years now. largely by his own will, creative drive and initiative. I'm a loyalist, and if there's anything the community can do to help the developer, then we ♥♥♥♥ should, right?

Notch is a success story, and I'm speaking personally again, but CC is the better game. It's on US for now to make it a well-known (and therefore financially successful) venture on Data's part. Until he starts hardcore-marketing it, that is. Or until the PA guys give it good marks.

The thing i'm interested in, i guess, is how much of a difference someone like Weasel could make for a guy like Data, cash-wise. PR is a force to be reckoned with, especially in digital distribution.

The thing to remember, i guess, is that Datarealms is a company. It's not a non-profit artspace on the second floor of the local coffeeshop.

EDIT AGAIN: think about it this way: do you want to someday be able to charge money for your mod? Everyone's here cause they get something out of it, many of you are modders. If you've got the supply, you're willing and able to supply, hell you may even like supplying enough that you'd do it for free. the other half of that is demand, right? It's not hard to plant seeds, seeds that may one day grow into your own personal money-plants. think about it.

Allen, you're awesome. Email me, I want to draw something with you again, if only for the next week before I have to study my face clean off for finals. Have you ever been on Pchat?

Guys Dan is living mostly off CC revenue. If there wasn't any of it how would he be alive and well (and muscly)?

I think you all underestimate how well most games sell. I'd bet CC sells at least a hundred copies a day.

Really? A hundred? For a twenty dollar incomplete game with no advertisement budget and little to no instant wow factor?

I'd consider 100 sales a day seriously naive. CC would be lucky to get one, mostly because of the frankly exorbitant price point for the current game as it sits. Data might be making the equivalent of a moderate year's salary on the game, but that's the most, and having seen how he lives, I seriously doubt it's his main source of income.

Perhaps, but I personally can't see it being less than 10. We can only really know however from asking Data himself.

Speaking of asking Data things, let's get back on topic, shall we?

yeah, i didn't mean to derail the thread, i just had some thoughts. I want the prophet to speak again. if we're quiet maybe he'll come out. Like Jesus seeing his shadow or whatever.

The world is bigger than you think.....

After hearing him on the 1up podcast. He seems like a dedicated programer with a good head on his shoulders and a knack for finding talent like the Artist and Dan #2 the composer of the soundtrack. I would love to be able to compose like Dan does just an amazing talent.

That said Data (is Dan the programer right?) is the longest beta that I have ever seen. Going on 8 years or more. CC I think has become a labor of love and it shows with the amount of detail in every game.... There really is nothing else like it. But that said I wish he would go into a normal patch and update program releasing updates and patches as they are implemented. I'm no programer so I take y statement from experience with other indie apps. Silly bugs like ACID shell casings really could have been released in as an update and would take Data about a min to implement since others have already made patches for it. What about maintenance releases ? I personally think this should be more of a priority and really don't understand the yearly update schedule when you factor in the small very small issues in B23 that really should get officially fixed before the next release comes out. If your going to have an 8 year beta then each beta should be as good as it can be and be fixed quickly if there are small issues that detract from the game. I picked the ACID casings as an example because its the most obvious issue that I have seen while playing CC...... I'm sure there are more that I have not found since I have started playing CC again..... after waiting patiently for a few years.

Anyone know if Dan the Composer has a Website?

Yeah, but the internet isn't nearly as big as the world, and this is a very obscure portion of the internet.

The fact that we've had less than 1500 new registrations on the forum in the last two years or so is indicative of a greater trend. Sure, not nearly all of the people who buy the game are going to register, but even assuming 1 percent of people who buy the game registered (and that everyone who registered has bought the game) there's still a frankly low number of actual copies moved.

That was a really good post, Allen.

What does everyone else think? Is that what we should be doing? Maybe we should write up a a nice big post and we can spam it on all the forums we go to.

I would strongly suggest we wait until B24 to do that. There's nothing worse than getting excited about a game only to realize it's not being updated.