Should there be Quality Control in the Scirra Arcade?

I've visited the arcade a few times and have played only the Top-rated games.

I occasionally visit the arcade looking for ideas and I don't want to offend people but to be honest there is a lot of shit in there. Games that don't work as intended, some that just require polish and some that are just plain ugly. I hate to be using that word but I've made games that have been called exactly that which forced me to improve my art style maybe not to industry standards but at least presentable to the average player.

I understand that plenty of the games are just there for testing mechanics but I came across this quote from another thread:

I know you want to sell C2 and C3 engines but the fact is that most people visit Scirra to see the games and that is how they judge the quality of the engine and after they try the games in the arcade they go and get a free copy or maybe a licensed version.

and thought maybe the reason C2 isn't as popular as it should be is because of the amount of bad games. Maybe not the amount of bad games directly but the easy access to these games. Newgrounds has a quality control system where a game submitted is put in the judging section before it can be featured in the "New Games" section. I'm not proposing we delete the uploaded creations but maybe put them in a separate category named "test games" or something.

Obviously we have to scale down the amount of votes required to put these games since the arcade doesn't get as much visitors as NG or Kong . Maybe we can go with an average of 3-star rating or higher after 10 votes and your game is published in the New Games category and the ones that don't make it go to the "Test Games" category.

Do you agree the Scirra Arcade needs quality control? What would you propose?

Do you agree the Scirra Arcade needs quality control? What would you propose?

I have brought this up a few times and my suggestions:

1) Have new game developers without reputation points and a license be limited to 5 game uploads. They can delete and replace games as needed.

2) Games not played after 30 days get automatically deleted so as to not take up server space.

3) Create a search feature like used in the Scirra store so people can find relevant games.

3.5) Allow licensed users to use an animated gif instead of the poorly proportioned game pic that tells users nothing about the game. Similar to what the Scirra store uses.

4) Allow only licensed developers to upload more games and have the games sections divided into licensed game developers and free edition users. That would encourage more users to get a licensed version.

5) Allow licensed developers to include 3rd party advertising for free or a nominal fee of maybe $10 a month. That encourages users to get a license and will bring over more good game designers to Scirra if they know they can offset the cost of a C2 or C3 license with their games in the arcade.

6) Stop the multiple account rating pirates from pushing their games to the top of the games lists. I see this happening a lot with the same few games not getting new plays but getting high ratings that keep their games at the top of the listings.

Scirra wants more users to get a license but if the games they see in the arcade are low quality they will think the engine is low quality when it isn't. Scirra also wants to attract better game developers to showcase their games in the arcade and allowing 3rd party advertising and a way for those licensed developers to showcase their games and make a little revenue from their games would be an incentive for more people to get a licensed version.

This isn't any slam against new game developers and honestly most of my first games were shit and we need a place to try out our shit games to get feedback and make them better but they should not be front and center in the arcade where people visiting will think that represents the quality of the Scirra game engine.

So have two different sections and encourage more advanced licensed game developers with the incentive of using ads in their games and selling their games through the arcade would be a solution and would also provide Scirra some extra revenue if they charged a nominal fee for advertising in games but if they want to make that free that is fine by me.

Just my thoughts and I have brought this up to Ashley & Tom and got shot down so I am now publishing on Itchio, Kongregate and other arcades because I don't feel the Scirra arcade is helping promote our games and has some unresolved server issues with CAPX files and loads get screwed up leaving my games in 404 limbo.

...so I am now publishing on Itchio, Kongregate and other arcades because I don't feel the Scirra arcade is helping promote our games and has some unresolved server issues with CAPX files and loads get screwed up leaving my games in 404 limbo.

While I agree with most of your points I understand why they wouldn't want to implement Ads anyway.

Even if there were ads you would still need to have at least 100 visitors to accidentally click on them to be able to get what? $0.03?

We can hardly attract players at the Scirra Arcade even with separate threads for all our games.

Kongregate, Gamejolt, Itch, iOS, Android and all other platforms are good enough for that.

I brought this up because I want more new people to try C2/3.

Because right now seems like their target audience for C3 is the existing community which as of right now split right down the middle because of the subscription model.

....Because right now seems like their target audience for C3 is the existing community which as of right now split right down the middle because of the subscription model.

Just playing 'Devil's Advocate' here, but such a statement is impossible to justify, as you don't have access to any such quantitative data to make such a statement.

All that can really be said is that some users are for and some against.

> ...so I am now publishing on Itchio, Kongregate and other arcades because I don't feel the Scirra arcade is helping promote our games and has some unresolved server issues with CAPX files and loads get screwed up leaving my games in 404 limbo.

>

While I agree with most of your points I understand why they wouldn't want to implement Ads anyway.

Even if there were ads you would still need to have at least 100 visitors to accidentally click on them to be able to get what? $0.03?

Well click bait banner ads are not the only advertising I use and there are many ways of getting advertising revenue besides those ads BUT that is how many game designers get their revenue and if a game goes viral it can bring in a lot of revenue and if that game is on Scirra arcade when it goes viral that attracts new visitors and gives them incentive to get a license.

It is also a good starter platform for people just getting into making revenue from their games to try out different advertising methods and get help setting up ads in their games in the forum that is directly related to the games in the arcade.

It may even be the stepping stone to Scirra competing with Steam and other game selling websites and a platform for independent instant gaming which I feel will replace app games in the near future.

Well click bait banner ads are not the only advertising I use and there are many ways of getting advertising revenue besides those ads BUT that is how many game designers get their revenue and if a game goes viral it can bring in a lot of revenue and if that game is on Scirra arcade when it goes viral that attracts new visitors and gives them incentive to get a license.

The way I see it Scirra Arcade is not the end goal but more of a place to test your game and show aspiring developers the possibilities.

Would you play a great game on say an Android device or on Newgrounds and be thinking "Hmmm maybe this game is one Scirra Arcade to. I'll go play it there." ???

I just don't see that happening any time soon. I can see people possibly visiting your game on the Arcade, , liking it and hoping the game is on Android/iOS too but never the other way around.

>

> Well click bait banner ads are not the only advertising I use and there are many ways of getting advertising revenue besides those ads BUT that is how many game designers get their revenue and if a game goes viral it can bring in a lot of revenue and if that game is on Scirra arcade when it goes viral that attracts new visitors and gives them incentive to get a license.

>

The way I see it Scirra Arcade is not the end goal but more of a place to test your game and show aspiring developers the possibilities.

Would you play a great game on say an Android device or on Newgrounds and be thinking "Hmmm maybe this game is one Scirra Arcade to. I'll go play it there." ???

I just don't see that happening any time soon. I can see people possibly visiting your game on the Arcade, , liking it and hoping the game is on Android/iOS too but never the other way around.

That is exactly the point. When I publish my games to Itchio or other arcades I remove any Scirra advertising so they are not getting promoted and those games are not helping Scirra attract new designers that will buy a license.

BUT if that game is on Scirra arcade and goes viral everyone knows it was made with a Scirra engine and that encourages more game designers to get a licensed engine.

Scirra needs better game designers to use their engine and that is what attracts more designers to get a license and that is what the arcade could be used for but instead has been going downhill steadily for the last few years.

You have to look at it like there are no bad games, only wrong categories.

Everybody gets to use it, nobody gets to abuse it.

Ask for changes that work with that.

You have to look at it like there are no bad games...

Oh but there are bad games... Fallout 3 for example.

Make a category called "Stinkers".

Let the users rate it to a category.

Make a category called "Stinkers".

Let the users rate it to a category.

User ratings only work if you don't have pirate raters using multiple accounts to rate their own games up and other games down.

That is one thing Scirra needs to get fixed as the rating system stinks.

I think only registered members with a reputation over 500 should be able to rate games.

Sure.

Give rewards to those who choose to help rate.

I would just suggest Ashley & Tom take some time to look at how Itchio, Kongregate, and Newgrounds handles their arcade and they don't have an engine they promote.

The Scirra arcade could be just as good or even much better with JUST Scirra engine games that attracts people to get the licensed version and could actually compete with those arcades and websites like Steam to get the best designers to get a licensed version and become sponsors for their engine and that is what they need to compete against other engines out there.

The arcade already exists and would not require that much to make it work and certainly not a lot of money to accomplish so I think the only thing keeping it from happening is lack of desire and vision for the future.

Just my opinion!

Should be!

I think curation would be the best approach, but that would be a full time job.