Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#1

Post by scottw » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 1:33 PM UTC

http://glassbead.net/

This is a social game played (for free) in a flash client. It's been 5+ years of nights-and-weekends bootstrapping (we did receive a few thousand dollars from one of our dads a couple of years ago, but that's all the funding we've got).

We (three founders) are mid-thirty-somethings with families. We feel pretty confident in the game itself--people who play it enjoy it and come back to play again.

What we're trying to figure out now is three-fold: a) how to get the "critical mass" of users we need so that something is always going on so when new users come to visit, there's someone for them to play, or at least a few games they can watch (and what is that number?). We've pretty much milked our family and friend connections at this point.

b) we'd love to have money so we could do it full time, market it, etc. but because we're so far along already (i.e., it's working) we're not sure whom to turn to (VCs, for example, aren't really interested because we don't need very much money). Do we just keep bootstrapping, or are there groups that fund people like us?

c) any feedback (we're looking for feedback mostly from anyone who's actually played it, but we'll consider anything really)?

We hope to be able to take subscriptions soon ("premium service" which would give you some minor advantages in the game, or at least a few more options, cash tournaments, blog, etc.) and we're considering having "sponsored" beads (beads are our playing pieces, which represent everything in the known universe--from Oreo cookies to apples to Darth Vader) as the primary revenue source someday.

We're holding a tournament tomorrow (Saturday, March 29) at 6p MDT if anyone wants to just come and watch (or play, of course).

Re: Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#2

Post by jws » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 2:54 PM UTC

I wonder if bootstrapping a game community can be accomplished with Amazon's mechanical turk?

You'd probably want a tiny game change to keep the turks from playing each other, and to only bring in a turk if there is not a suitable real player.

Re: Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#3

Post by slim » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 3:05 PM UTC

your have to improve your website design.

when i go to http://glassbead.net, i must see the game board. also, you should not require the player to register before playing.

Re: Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#4

Post by scottw » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 3:31 PM UTC

slim wrote: post #3

your have to improve your website design. when i go to http://glassbead.net , i must see the game board. also, you should not require the player to register before playing.

You can see several sample games in the youtube videos on that page.

Because it's a social game (i.e., you can't play alone), registering is more of a quality control than anything, like news.ycombinator, for example. Registration is extremely minimal (email address only required).

Re: Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#5

Post by scottw » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 3:32 PM UTC

jws wrote: post #2

I wonder if bootstrapping a game community can be accomplished with Amazon's mechanical turk? You'd probably want a tiny game change to keep the turks from playing each other, and to only bring in a turk if there is not a suitable real player.

I didn't even know such a thing existed...thanks for the tip!

Re: Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#6

Post by adammichaelc » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 4:03 PM UTC

"VCs, for example, aren't really interested because we don't need very much money"

Not quite. Actually VC's normally won't fund a company unless they do have something that is working. So assuming that your game is worth paying for or the site can be monetized, talking to VC's wouldn't be a bad idea.

One example of this is Google. VC's would not have talked to Google if all the founders had was, "Hey we've got this great idea, and this is how it will work, and this is why it's so cool." Instead they said, "Here, try it."

Even then, you'll have to talk to 100 VC's before you get funding. Are you ready for some hard core rejection?

Re: Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#7

Post by fharper1961 » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 4:33 PM UTC

scottw wrote: post #4

slim wrote: post #3

your have to improve your website design. when i go to http://glassbead.net , i must see the game board. also, you should not require the player to register before playing.

You can see several sample games in the youtube videos on that page. Because it's a social game (i.e., you can't play alone), registering is more of a quality control than anything, like news.ycombinator, for example. Registration is extremely minimal (email address only required).

I agree with slim, you definitely need to give people a better idea of what to expect out of the game. Watching videos is too time consuming for many people if they have no idea if they'll be interested (it takes minutes). In comparison, scanning a web page takes seconds.

Good luck with the game.

Re: Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#8

Post by as » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 5:19 PM UTC

Hesse is on my reading list.

Re: Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#9

Post by TransientMuse » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 5:27 PM UTC

scottw wrote: post #4

slim wrote: post #3

your have to improve your website design. when i go to http://glassbead.net , i must see the game board. also, you should not require the player to register before playing.

You can see several sample games in the youtube videos on that page. Because it's a social game (i.e., you can't play alone), registering is more of a quality control than anything, like news.ycombinator, for example. Registration is extremely minimal (email address only required).

I have to agree - having to sign up before trying it out stinks. Rig up a robot if you must, or allow only eight moves, or have a separate lobby for unregistered users.

Re: Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

#10

Post by seregine » Fri, Mar 28, 2008, 6:24 PM UTC

scottw wrote: post #4

slim wrote: post #3

your have to improve your website design. when i go to http://glassbead.net , i must see the game board. also, you should not require the player to register before playing.

You can see several sample games in the youtube videos on that page. Because it's a social game (i.e., you can't play alone), registering is more of a quality control than anything, like news.ycombinator, for example. Registration is extremely minimal (email address only required).

Registration is not extremely minimal, I just went through it. It took about 5 steps, two of which were email confirmation.

Once I did complete registration, I was not logged in - why not? Instead you showed me a "2. Player Information" screen where I had to read about clicking a "home page" link (not underlined, similar color to the rest of the text, tiny font), and then log in again.

Take a look at the Tumblr signup page.

I'm motivated because I've read the book, but most people wouldn't bother jumping through all the hoops.