Hi, Thomas. I wanted to reply to your question in a way that wasn't simply yes/no because I think your question deserves a more detailed answer.
I've used your newsletter to learn about new games and the independent creators behind them. I typically buy one of those games every 3-4 newsletters, when something grabs my interest. Now with Hasbro stating that DnD 5e (which I'm not a great fan of because it plays like a miniatures war-game, but my wife enjoys so we campaign together) is "undermonitized" <shudder>, I want to double-down on my support of indie games.
But the Itch.io interface and search is just hot garbage. I don't like Itch.io. But if that's where the action is right now, so be it. If you decide to slog through that morass to find the gems, I'll be happy to reap the fruits of your labors, for sure. But I don't want you to have to suffer that. As they say, "sometimes the juice ain't worth the squeeze."
Up to you, of course. Good luck and continued success.
Thank you so much for this lovely comment, Jason. Really appreciate it. I think you've put your finger on a pretty universal problem with itch. It would have never taken off as a platform without twitter picking up all the slack in terms of discoverability. So this seems like a good place for me to step in and help out. I'm pretty good at keeping things sustainable and definitely want to keep this newsletter fun to do. Right now, its a nigh unanimous vote for yes. So it looks like I'm giving it a shot at least!
I value your curation and opinion. If it’s just a mailbag of self-submits for publication - and the mention of semi-automatic inclusion makes it sound like that - it won’t deliver that value. If it’s not automatic, and you profile the ones that catch your eye, then that’ll be something I can’t get from “search, sort by new”.
I'd love an Itch roundup, since I've found that lately, I've lost track of some of the new big releases on that website. At the same time, only do what you want to do for this newsletter. You already have a hefty newsletter, but it's your call if you want to expand it.
That's agood point, Geoffrey. There's ways of balancing out the loss of ads with this idea. I'll have to find a balance that seems fair to me and to marginalized designers but thanks for setting me out on this train of thought.
I took my time in responding to your poll. Ultimately, I voted no.
I think your desire to provide a platform to promote indy creators is admirable. I am concerned about the amount of work that you would be signing up for.
The question is will it impact your other projects?
Hi, Thomas. I wanted to reply to your question in a way that wasn't simply yes/no because I think your question deserves a more detailed answer.
I've used your newsletter to learn about new games and the independent creators behind them. I typically buy one of those games every 3-4 newsletters, when something grabs my interest. Now with Hasbro stating that DnD 5e (which I'm not a great fan of because it plays like a miniatures war-game, but my wife enjoys so we campaign together) is "undermonitized" <shudder>, I want to double-down on my support of indie games.
But the Itch.io interface and search is just hot garbage. I don't like Itch.io. But if that's where the action is right now, so be it. If you decide to slog through that morass to find the gems, I'll be happy to reap the fruits of your labors, for sure. But I don't want you to have to suffer that. As they say, "sometimes the juice ain't worth the squeeze."
Up to you, of course. Good luck and continued success.
Thank you so much for this lovely comment, Jason. Really appreciate it. I think you've put your finger on a pretty universal problem with itch. It would have never taken off as a platform without twitter picking up all the slack in terms of discoverability. So this seems like a good place for me to step in and help out. I'm pretty good at keeping things sustainable and definitely want to keep this newsletter fun to do. Right now, its a nigh unanimous vote for yes. So it looks like I'm giving it a shot at least!
I value your curation and opinion. If it’s just a mailbag of self-submits for publication - and the mention of semi-automatic inclusion makes it sound like that - it won’t deliver that value. If it’s not automatic, and you profile the ones that catch your eye, then that’ll be something I can’t get from “search, sort by new”.
That makes sense, Jeremy! Thanks for your input.
I'd love an Itch roundup, since I've found that lately, I've lost track of some of the new big releases on that website. At the same time, only do what you want to do for this newsletter. You already have a hefty newsletter, but it's your call if you want to expand it.
I appreciate you looking out, thanks! I'll ensure it's sustainable for me but I'm excited to do something that people seem to so unanimously want.
If you do the new game listings, you could allow advertised games to go to the top of the list, maybe with a bold title so they standout.
That's agood point, Geoffrey. There's ways of balancing out the loss of ads with this idea. I'll have to find a balance that seems fair to me and to marginalized designers but thanks for setting me out on this train of thought.
Hi Thomas,
I took my time in responding to your poll. Ultimately, I voted no.
I think your desire to provide a platform to promote indy creators is admirable. I am concerned about the amount of work that you would be signing up for.
The question is will it impact your other projects?
I wish you well with your decision.
Thanks for the thoughtful response, Jason! I appreciate it!
> 365 city entries sounds too much
_Ptolus has entered the chat._ ;)
One day, I'll actually read that book!