I have a question about the contributor agreement.
It is an agreement between the game developer and whom?
How does it secures the the game code for instance, to be your property?
Does the kit also includes an agreement between the owner and the end user, like it appears in the install process of the game?

I would appreaciate your answers on this matter.
Thanks in advance.

The Contributor Agreement in the Kit secures all assets that go into the game including art, code and even music, so long as it is done exclusively for the game. At the present time there is no End User License Agreement (EULA) included in the Kit. I will probably do one for an upgrade, but as yet I have not drafted one myself and don't want to just put one in the Kit that I feel is not of the same caliber as the other forms in the Kit...

GL & HF!

Tom B

Hi Tom;

As of Sunday, the 10th, at 7:39 PST, I can't resolve the url www.gamedevkit.com

That aside, the branding issue Dan Marchant pointed out is right. People are thinking development kits when you are selling game business development kits, essentially. Marketing, it's all about perceptions as we know.

The simple and certain move here, and probably the cheapest, considering you are only out (and I am not underestimating, just quantifying your operating loss so far) your initial cost for the domain and the code, the original kit development costs [most of which I'm sure you did yourself], the domain expense, and whatever marketing you did, however large or small, is to repurpose the branding.

Cut your losses and rebrand properly is my advisement. It's a game business kit, so name it (brand it) so what the person is shopping for in terms of their expectations are met when they get there. Deviations are death in marketing, especially with flimsy things like buyer perception and brand preferences.

Based solely on my credibility of being the original copywriter for "The Thighmaster" (given I started with, 'The Home Gym Abdominizer') I suggest you call it, gamebizkit.com, and take it from there. No bisquits comprised of ones and zeros, but and IDE window with dollar signs might be a good start for a visual to work with.

As of the time of this post, www.gamebizkit.com is available per networksolutions.com whois search

HTH,
Adventuredesign

You might also consider just offering specific parts at a smaller price.

A lot of developers need an NDA but may not require some of the other items you offer in your kit. Offering the NDA alone for a fraction of the price (maybe $50) might get people buying the product. Once they;ve bought one - you require them to register to do so - you've got them on file. They'll then realise how usefull your product is and hopefully (if you're good to them) how helpfull you are. This will encourage them to purchase the product.

Once you've got people buying any product its easier for you to keep them on board if you have good product and customer service. Developers will see this and are likely to buy more from you and in the future seek legal advice from you over another attourney.

Kook...I have had similar suggestions from others. And I will probably end up doing a single form sort of set up eventually, though I really think it's a bad idea for most developers. If someone is looking for an NDA and has not yet secured the assets in their game...which means they did not produce all of the assets themselves and did not get a solid work for hire agreement signed by everyone who contributed assets, they are putting the cart before the legal horse. Bad plan if you ask me. In addition, the Kit actually explains when and WHY you need to use NDA's...sort of a good thing to know before you start asking people to sign one.

For me the Kit is not just about selling something. Not that I don't ewant to sell a bunch. I do. But the Kit is really about getting a decent bit of business advice and legal counsel out to a bunch of people who can not afford to get it directly in person. So I am not too sure if just putting contracts in their hands without the approorpriate advice makes sense. There is actually a reason why what's in the Kit is in there and why it is in there in the order it's in there.

Tom B

Quote: Original post by Game Attorney
I could use a little help here. As many of you know, I have dedicated myself to the Game Inststry and specifically to helping out start p and indie game developers. I have been representing developers for some time now and contribute a great deal of time advising indie developers on basic business and legal matters including authoring a series of articles that appear elsewhere on GameDev.net and do a sporattic Q&A. I also speak at the Garage Games Indie Game Con every year, in addition to GDC and the other industry events.

I've looked at your kit before, and I can give you my feelings on the matter. I am developing several games part time, and yes, I do plan on finishing and releasing them eventually (read: when they are done, they are done, but i'm working on them.)

Anyway, for one, the price tag is a little too steep. If I really want to spend big bucks, i'll go to a lawyer, or read up on the information myself (I might be going to law school anyway, lol).

Here's my feeling: I can figure out how to register a copyright in about a half hour on the net. You can also find forms written by lawyers on the net that you can buy for pretty cheap. Add in the book "Game Development Business and Legal Guide" which is available on amazon.com for 19.99 including shipping, and i'd imagine you have quite a bit of the same information for less cost.

Now, I'm going to guess your product is better honestly, but the problem is that people who are guessing about how far they can go with this whole game development thing are scared to lay down that kind of scratch. People who are relatively sure they will earn money will probably go to an actual lawyer.


Anyway, i'm being longwinded. To make a long story short, I admire what you are trying to do, but I am going to reiterate others' sentiments: You need an EULA included, and I would try having a sale and seeing how it sells. Maybe for one week, slash the price to $199 and see if you get any bites on it.

I will state that I am a possible potential customer, and there may be others like me who have your product on their "consider" list, but haven't ordered it yet.

I´d agree with EDI. For the past few years I´ve always been with companies who´ve had their own local legal guys, but if I´d be back in indie development the price tag would scare me a bit.
I´m not saying that it´s steep, but for the gamedev.net crowd it´s more than a substantial investment. And looking at the number of people who actually publish stuff, it´s probably safe to say that your target audience on gamedev.net isn´t too big. So most of the people who look but don´t buy are probably just window-shopping (in contrast to people who need legal advice, but don´t buy for some other reason).

So, I´m not sure that there´s much you *can* do, what I´d definitely consider is splitting up the package, or offering some sort of reduced content for those with a tight budget and/or no games to publish (maybe put together a how-to and an overview of what´s needed, but leave out most of the actual documents). I imagine that the financial pain threshhold for wannabe indie developers is somewhere along the lines of $50. If you can provide a service for those in that price are you might start seeing more traffic.

Another thing you could consider is offering added incentives, such as a "buy the deluxe pack, get one 10-minute online consultation for free".

Third, your gameattorney website could use some prettifying. There´s not much content, and with current font and layout is a bit detrimental to quick browsing. The gamedevkit site looks good (althought I don´t get why the menu isn´t on the left).



(not a potential customer at the moment, but I greatly appreciate the service)