I figured this message is more appropriate to this forum, so please excuse the double post Afterwork Games is nearing launch and is now online for developer submissions. There may be a few broken links and many place-holders, but most of the functionality is there, including the submission page. We're now accepting finished game submissions to add to our empty game sections. A serious investment is going into advertising and bringing this site to the top, and as such, we're looking for the best of games, as described on our page. We're also seeking out games on the web and will fill in the pages during the next few days. This is a perfect opportunity to reserve any of the enhanced listing spots for rediculously cheap prices. Please read through our features to learn why we believe Afterwork Games is needed for players and developers alike. The site is hosted and fully functional at http://www.yamisoft.com/ag/. It will be transfered to www.afterworkgames.com next week. Looking forward to your game submissions! [edited by - Yamisoft on August 9, 2002 12:45:01 AM]

The site is now up at its proper domain www.AfterworkGames.com.

Site looks great...same with Cramgene..

Ill be sure to submit my game in afew days.

Ibuku
weaponstudios.com

quote: Original post by cliffski
I was quite impressed with the look of the site too. But I always ignore anything about paid listings. I paid a not insignifcant sum of money for a premier listing at Tucows and once and it didnt achieve anything.

I know what you mean. I''m paying for a featured slot on Tucows and it hasn''t made a difference at all in Cramgene sales. And I''m certainly not about to pay just to see the download count.

Using Tucows as an example, here are some common issues which I believe to be serious flaws contributing to poorer game developer success (success meaning exposure and download count):

1) It''s hard to tell what Tucows is from the main page because of its overbearing ads and confusing layout. I bet a lot of downloader newbies turn back before they even see the "Computer Games" link.

2) The name Tucows doesn''t relate to games, or shareware for that matter. Your company name is an important keyword in helping attract potential customers. I remember stumbling upon Tucows a long time ago. I only found out it was a download site a few years later. Had I known from my first encounter, I could have been an extra visitor.

3) I''m sure I''m not the only gamer with a taste for visuals arts. Tucows rates low on my scale.

4) I had to search the page 10-15 seconds to realize I had to click the Downloads tab to see the game categories. I believe that''s an unintuitive design. You''d figure clicking the Games tab would take you there. I was looking for something like Categories and I had already scrolled down beyond the tabs, as my surfing eyes are used to blocking ads and ad-looking graphics from my view. Their colour scheme is also mixed-in with the ads. Again, just a bad design in my opinion.

5) Once you find your category, you''re presented with a boring text list. So now the eventual player (if he/she''s still there) has to read through a short 1-line text entry and decide if it''s worth clicking. A picture is worth a thousand words.

6) The games are listed in alphabetical order. The disadvantage is obvious here. (Out of personal preference, I rarely pay attention to products named 123_LookAtMe for the same reason I don''t pay attention to TV commercials.)

7) There''s no Buy button for the user (I forget if there''s an option to pay for this like many other sites). It makes sense to me that if I downloaded a game from a site, I should be able to return to that same page to buy/register the product. It''s ridiculous to charge the developer just to add functionality that does a service to the player.

8) Premier listings are expensive and burried in surrounding, unrelated ads.

9) It''s hard enough to keep a user long enough for a single click, but having to click 7 times for someone to download Cramgene decreases my chances of them finally having it on their machine (and that''s if you''re targeting Cramgene from the start - most don''t know what game they''re looking for exactly).

Each of these issues are a setback for the developer. Granted, Tucows isn''t specific to shareware games, but most download sites aren''t. This implies untargeted advertising (or a bigger budget) which in turn leads to fewer prospective downloaders of your game.

These nagging problems are part of the reason I established Afterwork Games. I admit that right now the appeal of a premier listing isn''t as great as it will be down the road, hence the cheap prices. Until Afterwork Games proves itself, we''ll be giving many of the premier slots for free.

Thanks for the feedback, always appreciated.

Afterwork Games