JoystickMonkey

As a game developer, my advice to anyone making their first game is to start small, and to certainly not make an mmo. You have not only made an mmo, but it has been released and has seen some success.

What would you say has made you the exception to the rule?

What would your advice be to others who are making their first game?

I suggest you get yourself a helium tank, a bunch of balloons, lots of string, a lawn chair, and a BB gun.

Accessibility is not necessarily a lack of learning curve, but rather how quickly a player can go from knowing nothing to feeling competent, able to contribute, and able to gain enjoyment from a game. There are plenty of accessible games with significant depth, but it is a considerable design challenge to successfully make a game with both accessibility and depth.

In the current indie game climate, I would consider anything above crickets chirping a success. The vast bulk of indie games make next to zero money, while the top few are breakout successes. If you can meagerly sustain yourself, you're probably doing better than 85% of the games out there. I hope that your transition to full-time development helps get you into even more success!

I am wrapping up a year of personal time off to work on my own projects, and will hopefully rejoin the professional work force soon. I can relate to how bewilderingly terrifying your full-time decision probably was. Good luck!