Post news Report RSS No Desura for Olvand

Today I learned the people behind Desura rejected Olvand for now.

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Dear trackers,
A quick post to keep you up to date. Today, I feel very sad. After two weeks of waiting, I received this e-mail from Desura support:

Desura wrote: 'Thank you for submitting your game. We have a very difficult time selling these types of RPG games. Unless the story line is just amazing it is very difficult for us to sell them. We are going to decline to publish your game at this point.'

I didn't know this was a real option, as the game has been created with Desura in mind from the very beginning. I did what I could and sent a friendly e-mail to try to change their minds. The gist was that (1) they might have missed the most [important] [info] (2) they might have been trying to fit my game into the wrong mold, as my rpg is a multiplayer game where story plays no role, and is more of a 'moba with an rpg in between the matches', (3) I wanted to use Desura to develop, not to sell (in the beginning).

I really wonder what will happen now, and how I'll have to go on if I can't convince them. I guess I'll start with building my own version of Desura's tools (auto-updater, accolades, etc) - it's possible, other indies do it too, but it feels rather inefficient that I'll have to invent the wheel again. Any suggestions on that? And do any of you have some experience with rejection on Desura? Or maybe hints on how to convince the people behind Desura?

On a final note, I should really say how happy I am with the number of trackers that keeps going up faster and faster and the many positive responses I've read. Without these, it would have been very hard not to give up. Thank you!

If you've got suggestions or advice, respond here, or on [twitter] or [facebook].

Post comment Comments
Henley
Henley

Send an email back with a more detailed description of your game as well as your aims for the service. We are reasonable people, we get a lot of RPG's that look similar to yours so unless its really unique we do not really attempt to sell them.

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Woseseltops Author
Woseseltops

I will, thank you for the advice! And I understand you get a lot of similar games, I'm not angry or anything. It's still great what you do for indie games!

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Croco15
Croco15

Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully they reconsider.

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Woseseltops Author
Woseseltops

Yeah, me too. Yesterday I sent an email with a very detailed description, so we'll see. And if not, well... things are going to be more complicated and time consuming, but I decided not to give up.

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anathemata
anathemata

It looks to me like what makes Olvand unique is that it offers the limitless potential of a game like Dwarf Fortress placed into a multiplayer environment. I imagine the end result will be a world that is entirely user created out of basic building materials found in the world. With player cooperation a necessity in order to realize the greatest achievements, forcing players to work together and build towns, etc. Once the basic blocks a civilization have been laid by the players then advancement in the game would be driven by competing against the other players, the only way to successfully do so being cooperation within a group. That is what I hope to see from Olvand.

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Woseseltops Author
Woseseltops

This comment made my day. Every single word is correct; you understand exactly where I want to go with this game. Thank you!

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anathemata
anathemata

I can see no reason why they would not think that Olvand is unique, it is something that is currently unavailable (at least to my knowledge) in the gaming industry. A game that lets you alter the world that you play in in real and meaningful ways, like in games like Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress, etc. But, this game will be built from the ground up with multiplayer in mind! Minecraft's online is no good because the game wasn't built with that in mind and so does not foster a good online environment. Games like this should have online gameplay that emulates real social structures, and the only way to cultivate that is to have gameplay that forces players into cooperating to achieve their goals, just like in the real world. I truly hope that they give this game a closer look to see that it is much more than what they thought.

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Xeromatt
Xeromatt

Anathemata basically said what needed to be said (probably better than I could have done anyways), and I agree completely. Seeing as it's been a couple of days since this occurrence, could you inform me on the outcome (if there is one yet)?

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Woseseltops Author
Woseseltops

Nothing so far - I sent the email I wrote about in the post, and also an email to Henley with more details about the game, but haven't received any response. I'm thinking about sending a reminder (it's been almost a week now), but the line between a nice reminder and something impatient and annoying is thin. I'll post here as soon as I know more!

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