OFFICIAL GameMaker changes and Publishing

MilesThatch

Member
@The Sorcerer
I work for a tutoring company. They hired me because of my experience in several languages prime for teaching kids, as well as video game development, which is something kids are, naturally, very interested in and something that they have not yet tapped into as a market. They didn't pick me because I teach Game Maker Studio. They picked me because I teach Game Dev. I can teach game dev on Godot, App Game Kit, Leadwerks and Unreal. YoYo decided that this is not a good enough way of getting sales then I guess another company will get the money of my students. And that's $40 or a $100 that is not going into YoYo's pockets. Considering this is all about income for YoYo, this take seems counter intuitive. But I guess if them twisting hands and switching to the 30 day trial is going to be more profitable then power to them. I have alternatives.

As I said. I can get kids to buy Game Maker after about 10 lessons. The kids have a blast learning game dev and parents see that. That's not going to happen now. At least not with Game Maker being the final point of sale.
 

MilesThatch

Member
PS:

Oh yeah and I also teach Kids from their homes over the Internet. There's no Educational license that YoYo can offer that covers that. Their expectation of a education license is a rented space, out fitted with a classroom filled with computers and those computers hold the licenses. I work with students off their own computers over the internet. This is where the free version shined. Not offering too much to negate a need for a full license but just enough to learn, get the software to grow on you and finally casually suggest a sale when the students have witnessed the power of the engine..

I'm all for growing Game Maker Community with new talent. YoYo just shut down that avenue of revenue.
 
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Toque

Member
Gamesalad went from free to limit of 15 days (maybe its 30 days now?) . Their logic was that people were using the product to learn to code for free. That learning to code had value and people should pay for it.
I have no idea if this was a good or bad decision.

It doesn't effect me as I bought the basic module to export for game jams and the mobile one. GM was very cheap compared to what I was paying before.

I respect both sides. Students like the free version. Owners want people to pay for using their product and maximize profits.
 
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Misty

Guest
What if after the 30 days it then reverted to the super limited version? If people have done anything substantial with the engine at the point, I don't think they'd want to cripple their progress and would be willing to pay for the license to keep their project's progress intact.

After a taste of the full meal, I don't think they'll want to return to the crumbs... but you could still offer the crumbs anyway! ^.^
Seems reasonable.

Why aren't you CEO? I'll make you my second in command.
 
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Lonewolff

Guest
And that's $40 or a $100 that is not going into YoYo's pockets. Considering this is all about income for YoYo, this take seems counter intuitive. But I guess if them twisting hands and switching to the 30 day trial is going to be more profitable then power to them. I have alternatives.
Sounds like you are worried more about your own teaching income (generated as a result of GameMaker) being impacted. It's ok for you to make money from GameMaker but not ok for YYG to do so. Ironic. o_O

You say the students would be happy to pay $100 anyway, yet you are threatening to move elsewhere out of spite.

I see posts several times a year where " 'decision XX' is going to lose users and bankrupt the company". Guess what? They are still powering on strong. ;)


Kids withe no coding experience will love you for dumping Unreal on them as their first engine. I hear it is the easiest engine ever! :p
 
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Guess what? They are still powering on strong. ;)
I wouldn't call where GM is at right now "strong". It's nowhere near as ubiquitous as it once was, and it's getting to be next to impossible to release on mobile with all the issues.

My theory for why the trial license is changing is because of a decline in license purchases.
 
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Lonewolff

Guest
I wouldn't call where GM is at right now "strong". It's nowhere near as ubiquitous as it once was
That's your perception though and my perception is the opposite. I have never seen GM so strong. Six years ago, I had never heard of GM. Didn't know it existed.

But neither you or I have the figures to back up our viewpoints. Only YYG really knows that one.
 
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evilfabio

Guest
You say the students would be happy to pay $100 anyway, yet you are threatening to move elsewhere out of spite.
He said he can get them (or some of them) to buy after 10 lessons. You're assuming 10 lessons happens within 30 days? If it did, he wouldn't have an issue.
 
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Lonewolff

Guest
He said he can get them (or some of them) to buy after 10 lessons. You're assuming 10 lessons happens within 30 days? If it did, he wouldn't have an issue.
That's if you believe everything you read. A few things he said in his couple of paragraph's make me dubious.

Why buy it if there is (was) a free version?
 
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Misty

Guest
I knew of GM since 15 years ago so I have a bit more say so.

The strongest versions of GM are GM 8 and Gm Studio 1.4. GM Studio 2 is a downgrade in some ways. It looks like its catered to avante garde rich people and the style of it no longer looks down to earth. But it's not so bad that it is not "game maker'. It is still a legit game maker. Even though the original Game Maker culture was mainly about hobbyist devs and casual people, making comedy games about anime and crappy games made in mspaint, and some weird avante garde stuff. Game Maker was the beverage of a Capri Sun, not a fine beer. Game Maker was the weird, yet popular kid at the school who sat at the bench at recess, but somehow always kicked the kickball the farthest.

GM Studio 2 is not really what is at fault here. The times simply are a changing. Developers are spamming alternative game engines such as godot and unity. Back in the day, GM was the only thing there was. Nowadays, there is game dev engine spam, and a sickeningly wide variety of other engines to choose from.
 
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evilfabio

Guest
That's if you believe everything you read.
Okay, forget what he wrote and what you believe of it. How many courses by an instructor have you taken (high school, college, etc) that have lasted only 30 days? That's intense study. Even college summer sessions last longer.

Why buy it if there is (was) a free version?
And the "why buy" is because you might want to, I dunno, publish and share your work after learning the software. Maybe earn money from it.

I find your arguments most dubious.
 
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Lonewolff

Guest
Okay, forget what he wrote and what you believe of it. How many courses by an instructor have you taken (high school, college, etc) that have lasted only 30 days? That's intense study. Even college summer sessions last longer.
Any courses I have taken require you to pay for text books, tools, software, etc. as a pre-requisite to taking said course.

I have never known a reputable course to be reliant on 'free stuff'. Proper education costs money, believe it or not.

But then, I have never taken any courses from randoms on the internet. :)

Anyway, this is starting to get old. YYG has made a business decision. It's up to you guys whether you wish to jump ship to another engine in protest. My guess is that the vast majority who have actually purchased it will stay using it.
 
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MilesThatch

Member
Okay, forget what he wrote and what you believe of it. How many courses by an instructor have you taken (high school, college, etc) that have lasted only 30 days? That's intense study. Even college summer sessions last longer.
Not to mention I have a lot of students who have one 2h class a week. So that's not 30 classes / days. That's about 4 classes with perhaps a little bit of experimentation on top if they manage. But the timer doesn't run out in classes, it runs out in days. So the available time is even less, realistically

Sounds like you are worried more about your own teaching income (generated as a result of GameMaker) being impacted. It's ok for you to make money from GameMaker but not ok for YYG to do so. Ironic. o_O
I'm a tutor. That's what I worry about. If you would have taught a platform and have that platform up and drastically change accessibility to the software you teach, you'd be arguing too. People who have no use for the Free Version have no quarrels with it changing to whatever monetization model it is now at. You clearly are not one of the people who will be affected by this change so it's apparent why you're ignorant or indifferent to how these changes affect others.

You say the students would be happy to pay $100 anyway, yet you are threatening to move elsewhere out of spite.
I can get the Student's Parents or Students themselves to invest in the software AFTER a substantial amount of lessons and time has been spend using and learning and witnessing the power of the engine. I can't WILL them to buy it on class 3. And yes, if YoYo decided that they don't care about private tutors then why should I go out of my way to line their pockets by teaching their software to my students? Clearly they don't care about this market area to be putting a stick in the spikes. Thankfully there are great alternatives and I'm more than happy to switch using them. Not out of spite, I'm not a child. Out of pure necessarily. You tell me what Incentive to I have as a tutor to still continue pushing sales for YoYo if you've just demonstrated how little they think of the private tutors?

Also keep in mind that the Free version is no good for anything BUT learning. Can't publish, can't export an executable, have to run from the engine, limited assets.

I see posts several times a year where " 'decision XX' is going to lose users and bankrupt the company". Guess what? They are still powering on strong. ;)
Someone here said, even if they can convert 1% of Free users, that's a win. My next student's won't be a part of that 1%. I get around 15 ne students over the course of a year. Say I get 10 of them to invest into GMS.. that's already $1000 and I'm just 1 tutor. Again, I will ABSOLUTELY without a hitch STOP promoting game maker to younger markets if YoYo gives 0 regards to the private tutors.

Kids withe no coding experience will love you for dumping Unreal on them as their first engine. I hear it is the easiest engine ever! :p
Unreal is not the only engine on the market. Neither is Game Maker. If feel like as you start running out of arguments you just switched to bitter commentating.
 
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Toque

Member
I'm a tutor. That's what I worry about. If you would have taught a platform and have that platform up and drastically change accessibility to the software teach, you'd be arguing too. People who have no use for the Free Version have no issues with it changing to whatever monetization model it is now at. You clearly are not one of the people who will be affected by this change so it's apparent why you're ignorant to how these changes affect others.


I can get the Student's Parents or Students themselves to invest in the software AFTER a substantial amount of lessons and time has been spend using and learning and whitening the power of the engine. I can't WILL them to buy it on class 3. And yes, if YoYo decided that they don't care about private tutors then why should I go out of my way to STILL fill their software to my teaching. Clearly they don't care about this market area to be putting a stick in the spikes. Thankfully there are great alternatives and I'm more than happy to switch using them. Not out of spite, I'm not a child. Out of pure necessarily. You tell me what Incentive to I have as a tutor to still continue pushing sales for YoYo if you've just demonstrated how little they think of the private tutors?

Also keep in mind that the Free version is no good for anything BUT learning. Can't publish, can't export an executable, have to run from the engine, limited assets.


Someone here said, even if they can convert 1% of Free users, that's a win. My next student's won't be a part of that 1%. I get around 15 ne students over the course of a year. Say I get 10 of them to invest into GMS.. that's already $1000 and I'm just 1 tutor. Again, I will ABSOLUTELY without a hitch STOP promoting game maker to younger markets if YoYo gives 0 regards to the private tutors.


Unreal is not the only engine on the market. Neither is Game Maker. If feel like as you start running out of arguments you just switched to bitter commentating.

I would contact Yoyo and describe your situation. I bet they would be happy to find a mutually beneficial solution.

Private tutor license or something...?
 

MilesThatch

Member
I would contact Yoyo and describe your situation. I bet they would be happy to find a mutually beneficial solution.

Private tutor license or something...?
I will contact them once again with an inquiry but my last one was met with the description of their standard Educational Institution oriented License, where you need a classroom with computers which hold the license.
 
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Toque

Member
I will contact them once again with an inquiry but my last one was met with the description of their standard Educational Institution oriented License, where you need a classroom with computers which gold the license.
That’s unfortunate.

I was hoping they had a great sales team. I find good sales people bend over backwards to keep customers. Find win win situations. Creative solutions/ generally people that are happy when they can solve your problems.

I would request to speak to a sales manager.

At least your concern was heard by sales.
Best of luck.
 

MilesThatch

Member
That’s unfortunate.

I was hoping they had a great sales team. I find good sales people bend over backwards to keep customers. Find win win situations. Creative solutions/ generally people that are happy when they can solve your problems.

I would request to speak to a sales manager.

At least your concern was heard by sales.
Best of luck.
It could perhaps be that they have not yet considered this from this point of view. I'll ask them about it and perhaps they can offer to arrange some sort of a special tutor educators program.

Come to think of it, If they give you 30 Days in Usage Time then this might not be so bad for the tutors. 30 Days is 720 Hours. If you're not running the software, the hours are not ticking. 720 hours should be more than enough to teach kids the basics and some more flashy features (Especially since it's unlimited) and build up the incentive to purchase the software.

That's is case if we can't get the old free version back, perhaps even if for the tutors.
 
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Misty

Guest
Yes Yoyo may be able to convert 1% of Free Users or even more. The problem is, the 30 day trial is going to result in less downloads and users. What YOYO needs to do is advertise on mainstream TV. Us as game devs need to step up the plate and give them exciting content that will make casuals see amazing stuff and want to get into this software.

I was under the impression it was a standard 30 day trial where the clock is ticking even if not using the software. The 720 hour limit is much better.
 

rIKmAN

Member
Us as game devs need to step up the plate and give them exciting content that will make casuals see amazing stuff and want to get into this software.
If only they had a section of the website that would list all of the commercial games made with GM in some sort of showcase.
I was under the impression it was a standard 30 day trial where the clock is ticking even if not using the software. The 720 hour limit is much better.
I also think it's a standard 30 day trial from the date of first use.
I think if it was 30 days cumulative "only when being used" sysem then that would have been specifically mentioned in the press release since it deviates from the norm, although it wouldn't hurt to ask them and get confirmation rather than speculating about it.
 

Nocturne

Friendly Tyrant
Forum Staff
Admin
Also keep in mind that the Free version is no good for anything BUT learning
See, this is part of the issue right here... The free version was never intended as a teaching tool, it was intended as a "try-before-you-buy". YoYo Games offers other avenues for educators, and I can't help agreeing with the @The Sorcerer about the irony of YoYo Games making no money while you benefit from their product. Yes, there is a potential for sales, but it's like me telling an artist that they should work on my game and I'll pay them in exposure in the future. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dismissing your situation, and I myself have already brought up many of these issues with YYG right from day one, but I also feel that it's a bit unfair to complain about something you've been profiting from for free changing.
 

rIKmAN

Member
@Nocturne
Is the new 30 day "fully featured" trial going to include the ability to export/compile for those 30 days?
Will the 30 day trial require an internet connection to login and be able to use the software?
 

Nocturne

Friendly Tyrant
Forum Staff
Admin
Is the new 30 day "fully featured" trial going to include the ability to export/compile for those 30 days?
https://help.yoyogames.com/hc/en-us/articles/230407528-GameMaker-Studio-2-Trial-Limitations :)

Will the 30 day trial require an internet connection to login and be able to use the software?
Umm... iirc, it should work the same as the rest of the licences, in that you will need to be online to initially log in, but then it should work for at least a few weeks without requiring a "call home", as it were. I'll confirm that with YYG on Monday and add it into the linked article above for clarification.
 

rIKmAN

Member
https://help.yoyogames.com/hc/en-us/articles/230407528-GameMaker-Studio-2-Trial-Limitations :)


Umm... iirc, it should work the same as the rest of the licences, in that you will need to be online to initially log in, but then it should work for at least a few weeks without requiring a "call home", as it were. I'll confirm that with YYG on Monday and add it into the linked article above for clarification.
I didn't realise the Trial Limitations article had been updated for the new 30 day trial, my bad.

I'll keep an eye on it for the updated info, thanks.
 

MilesThatch

Member
See, this is part of the issue right here... The free version was never intended as a teaching tool, it was intended as a "try-before-you-buy". YoYo Games offers other avenues for educators, and I can't help agreeing with the @The Sorcerer about the irony of YoYo Games making no money while you benefit from their product. Yes, there is a potential for sales, but it's like me telling an artist that they should work on my game and I'll pay them in exposure in the future. Don't get me wrong, I'm not dismissing your situation, and I myself have already brought up many of these issues with YYG right from day one, but I also feel that it's a bit unfair to complain about something you've been profiting from for free changing.
YoYo Does not offer an adequate Educators Plan for independent tutors who teach over the Internet.. They offer an Educational Institution license which requires a location with a classroom and computers.

Independed tutors noways often teach over the Internet and YoYo has fallen behind the times to keep up. There's no mention of HOW we're allowed to use the software. The software can be taught or used for game development, there's no clause or restriction to your application.

Now let's wait for YoYo to update their terms again and block out access to GMS to force us to accept a new EULA with these new terms in palce.
 
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MilesThatch

Member
irony of YoYo Games making no money while you benefit from their product.
I actively promote the engine to my students and I'm responsible for driving full license and creators license sales. All the time YoYo doesn't have to lift a finger or spend marketing and education budget to push the engine to new user-bases. So you have no stance to call me callously profiting from the free version. I love the GMS platform and I want it to grow, I'm doing the real leg work here, teaching the userbase that will be spending their money on future versions and modules of GMS, I'm a part of the mechanism that grows the community that will be spending their hard earned cash.

You know.. if you want to start talking about profit and benefits here.

I am not going to go suggesting parents or students to spend money on an engine after 4 lessons. That's not enough time to teach them the power of GMS.

If YoYo cares about immediate sales by twisting hands of their consumers, That's fine, it's their software, power to them. But I'm not going to stand for having people tell me I'm wrong for "Losing an educational tool and still be in the wrong for not wanting to continue pushing sales to YoYo"

I'll take my business elsewhere and with every subsequent student I get, perhaps a company the TGC with App Game Kit will stand to benefit from offering their users an unhindered opportunity to learn at their own pace. Take note, an opportunity to learn - Not make a commercial product that can be published and profited from.
 
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Nocturne

Friendly Tyrant
Forum Staff
Admin
So you have no stance to call me callously profiting from the free version version.
I didn't say anything "callously"! But the situation is what it is. You may be spreading the word about the software - which is great! - but you are profiting from it too, so be honest about it. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just pointing out that you and others have been profiting from something that was free. It's not a judgement on you, nor a criticism, it's just the facts.

Look, I understand the situation and I think there's room here for YYG to work something out with independent educators like yourself, and I urge you (and anyone else in this situation) to get in touch with YYG and let it be known that this change hurts you. That was obviously NOT the idea behind this change, and so the more people contact them to negotiate some plan the more likely it is that something will be done to accommodate you.
 

MilesThatch

Member
I didn't say anything "callously"! But the situation is what it is. You may be spreading the word about the software - which is great! - but you are profiting from it too, so be honest about it. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just pointing out that you and others have been profiting from something that was free. It's not a judgement on you, nor a criticism, it's just the facts.

Look, I understand the situation and I think there's room here for YYG to work something out with independent educators like yourself, and I urge you (and anyone else in this situation) to get in touch with YYG and let it be known that this change hurts you. That was obviously NOT the idea behind this change, and so the more people contact them to negotiate some plan the more likely it is that something will be done to accommodate you.
Yeah, my first reply from the Admin was the forward to the same old educational license that's oriented for Physical Institutions.

I have sent them a reply with an outline of the general points here. Here's to hoping they'll grant me an audience to present the case.
 
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Misty

Guest
MilesThatch aside, the rest of us have a goal of increasing the profits YYG makes. We dont think GM should be free, our question is is YYG really sure this 30 day trial will actually increase profits. We are not sure it will.
 

dapper

Member
As others have said, I'm sure this wasn't a decision made on a whim.

However, I, too, am skeptical of its ultimate efficacy, especially if it's 30 days from activation and not total usage. As a kid, I think I took six months to ultimately ask for GM for, what, $40 on my birthday? I remember using Macromedia Fireworks at the same time to make sprites- and then my free trial ended, and I never returned to the software again. Hilariously enough, I wound up finding GM for its free sprite editor.

I'm also worried about the community- as others have said, it's a unique value proposition. When I was just starting out, the GMC hooked me into GM like nothing else. I worry that the GMC will get fewer people to stick around for good if they're limited to thirty days with the tool before they have to buy or move on.

At a time when so much software is getting freer and more open, it makes me sad to see GM retreating behind DRM that requires you to check in over the Internet to agree to new terms of service, and time-limited trials that lock you out of asset purchases and projects you've created. And don't forget that time when everybody's art assets got hit by an anti-piracy watermark time bomb...

It honestly really reminds me of the times when I used to use Microsoft Word and PowerPoint- and then I discovered text files and LaTeX and InkScape and Beamer and vi... and then I lost my Microsoft Office license and I realized that rather than locking all of my own content behind proprietary file formats, I could just use free, open tools- and I haven't looked back. Closed source, DRM, and time-limited trials are just irritating friction- friction that prevents user conversion and harms paying customers. In my view, GameMaker in no way occupies the kind of dominant market position in games making software that allows it to act like the Photoshop of game engines.

If it really is necessary to increase revenue, is there nothing more interesting and less controversial that could be explored? For example, Godot has a Patreon tier that lets you vote on the roadmap!!! If GameMaker had something similar, I'd absolutely be on board with contributing a few dollars a month.

On a side-note, does a renewed focus on education worry anybody else? It still feels like GM lacks a reputation for being a professional engine. There are so many advan---err, basic features, like lightweight objects, that I want to see in GML five years ago.
 
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chmod777

Member
I'm in two minds about this change. For experienced developers, they will be able to try any features of the software, which will certainly be a good thing for sales.

For young people or those who do not have programming experience in general, that's a disaster and it also breaks the spirit of the software.

Ideally, two types of free licenses would have been required:
- for confirmed developers: 30 days trial with all the features.
- for beginners: no limitation in time, but only the possibility to use the "Drag and drop" mode with some limitations (eg. scripts could not be used), but it would be possible to preview what the D&D code would give in GML (but without the conversion being possible). So they could learn and ideally move on a paid version later.


Just my 2 cents.
 

Dog Slobber

Member
Any courses I have taken require you to pay for text books, tools, software, etc. as a pre-requisite to taking said course.

I have never known a reputable course to be reliant on 'free stuff'. Proper education costs money, believe it or not.

But then, I have never taken any courses from randoms on the internet. :)

Anyway, this is starting to get old. YYG has made a business decision. It's up to you guys whether you wish to jump ship to another engine in protest. My guess is that the vast majority who have actually purchased it will stay using it.
If you aren't aware of "Reputable" courses being reliant on free (or heavily discounted) software, you simply don't have much experience with education.

Forward looking software companies recognize that when an educational institute is training students to use their products, they are the biggest beneficiaries. Both in the short-term, but also in the long term. Getting someone else to train the future work-force and decision makers to use your product at their expense is one of the best deals around.

Microsoft recognized this years ago when Apple had the educational market locked up and created their MSDN-AA, Imagine, and Azure Dev Tools for Teaching programs. Now virtually all schools, at all levels graduate students familiar with Microsoft OSes, applications and development tools.

When software is being delivered it's not just a single sale per student it's multiple sales. Software needs to be sold to the school, but it also needs to be sold to each student for use outside of school use. Future sales should also be a consideration as one day current students will enter the industry of their given discipline, they will start to have influence in their business, and people support and recommend what they know.

Microsoft, VMware, AutoDesk, Oracle, Adobe, Intuit, Unity, to name a few, have educational programs where the School can install the software for free or heavily discounted and is made available to the students for free or heavy discounted.

The correlation between the above software companies having strong educational programs and huge industry marketshare isn't coincidence.
 
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Rattlejaw

Guest
I actively promote the engine to my students and I'm responsible for driving full license and creators license sales. All the time YoYo doesn't have to lift a finger or spend marketing and education budget to push the engine to new user-bases. So you have no stance to call me callously profiting from the free version. I love the GMS platform and I want it to grow, I'm doing the real leg work here, teaching the userbase that will be spending their money on future versions and modules of GMS, I'm a part of the mechanism that grows the community that will be spending their hard earned cash.

You know.. if you want to start talking about profit and benefits here.

I am not going to go suggesting parents or students to spend money on an engine after 4 lessons. That's not enough time to teach them the power of GMS.

If YoYo cares about immediate sales by twisting hands of their consumers, That's fine, it's their software, power to them. But I'm not going to stand for having people tell me I'm wrong for "Losing an educational tool and still be in the wrong for not wanting to continue pushing sales to YoYo"

I'll take my business elsewhere and with every subsequent student I get, perhaps a company the TGC with App Game Kit will stand to benefit from offering their users an unhindered opportunity to learn at their own pace. Take note, an opportunity to learn - Not make a commercial product that can be published and profited from.
Most parents are willing to spend some money for their child's interest, whether it's buying them a glove for baseball, a pair of cleats for soccer, a violin for the school orchestra etc......I mean, $39 bucks isn't a huge chunk of cash. I'm sure after a month you could talk the parents into investing $39 bucks for their kid. Then if the kid is still into it after a year, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to pay the difference for a permanent copy.
 
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Rattlejaw

Guest
As others have said, I'm sure this wasn't a decision made on a whim.


On a side-note, does a renewed focus on education worry anybody else? It still feels like GM lacks a reputation for being a professional engine. There are so many advan---err, basic features, like lightweight objects, that I want to see in GML five years ago.
I think this sentiment is way overblow. I actually think there is a healthy respect for GM's 2d power and engine as a whole. Heck, Unity has a stigma of being associated with a lot of shovelware. Unreal has a great rep, but nobody uses it for 2d, and Unreal abandoned their 2d a while back.
 

MilesThatch

Member
Most parents are willing to spend some money for their child's interest, whether it's buying them a glove for baseball, a pair of cleats for soccer, a violin for the school orchestra etc......I mean, $39 bucks isn't a huge chunk of cash. I'm sure after a month you could talk the parents into investing $39 bucks for their kid. Then if the kid is still into it after a year, I'm sure they'll be more than happy to pay the difference for a permanent copy.
It's not a month. It's one 2 hour lesson per week. That's not a month, that's 8 hours. You can't convince parents to buy software in 8 hours, especially when those hours are spread throughout the month. There's not enough time to make substantial progress to show the worth of buying software. And no $40 Isn't a lot of money but parent's don't like throwing money away on software that isn't going to be used after the classes are over.
 
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Misty

Guest
If you aren't aware of "Reputable" courses being reliant on free (or heavily discounted) software, you simply don't have much experience with education.

The correlation between the above software companies having strong educational programs and huge industry marketshare isn't coincidence.
Agreed. When I was in high school, everyone was talking about Game Maker. And game maker was the thing everyone used to make games. And GM was very downloaded during that time.
 

rIKmAN

Member
They pay the tutoring company that hired me for classes.
So they are willing to pay for classes for their kids to learn gamedev using GMS2, but not the $40 that will allow their kids to then use and improve the skills they just paid for them to learn for the next 12mths with a Creators Licence?

That doesn't make sense to me, it's like throwing away money.

I don't agree with the 30 day trial limit, but I personally think 8hrs of tutoring along with the childs own 30 days trial to use at home between lessons is more than enough time for the parent to be able to see whether their child is genuinely interested in the subject and and whether spending $40 on the software for them would be worth it.
 
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Rattlejaw

Guest
It's not a month. It's one 2 hour lesson per week. That's not a month, that's 8 hours. You can't convince parents to buy software in 8 hours, especially when those hours are spread throughout the month. There's not enough time to make substantial progress to show the worth of buying software. And no $40 Isn't a lot of money but parent's don't like throwing money away on software that isn't going to be used after the classes are over.
I really don't believe most people think in the terms of hours. When I took guitar lessons years ago, it was like 50 bucks a month. It was a one hour per week schedule. When someone asked how long did I take guitar lessons for, I didn't say 12 hours. I said a few months. I'm pretty sure most parents aren't thinking, "my kid has been doing this activity for 8 hours." They are thinking "our kid has been taking game design lessons for about a month".
 

MilesThatch

Member
So they are willing to pay for classes for their kids to learn gamedev using GMS2, but not the $40 that will allow their kids to then use and improve the skills they just paid for them to learn for the next 12mths with a Creators Licence?

Parents aren't paying to teach kids Game Maker. Parent's are paying to teach kids game programming and it's Up to me to chose which software to use. As I said, If YoYo doesn't offer an suitable solution then I have no problems teaching Godot or AGK. That's just going to be a loss for YoYo. It will be immensely disappointing however as even passively I'd be growing the community for the engine I like working on.

I personally think 8hrs of tutoring along with the childs own 30 days trial to use at home between lessons is more than enough time for the parent to be able to see whether their child is genuinely interested in the subject.
Yeah, if only kids worked that way. Not every student has the ability to experiment with programming on their own without help, regardless of how many online tutorials are out there. You and I sink in programming courses completely differently than how kids do it. A lot of my students pick up the basics on an independent level only after month 3 of studies. You have to realize that kids learn at a different pace than you and I. I only have a couple of students who, literally will surpass 80% of developers here because they have the knack for it. The rest need more help. Way more than the 1 month trial has to offer.


I really don't believe most people think in the terms of hours. When I took guitar lessons years ago, it was like 50 bucks a month. It was a one hour per week schedule. When someone asked how long did I take guitar lessons for, I didn't say 12 hours. I said a few months. I'm pretty sure most parents aren't thinking, "my kid has been doing this activity for 8 hours." They are thinking "our kid has been taking game design lessons for about a month".
No people don't think it terms of hours, people think in terms of progress and results that their kids can showcase to reflect on what they have learned and developed. And 4x 2h long classes ( and most of my students even do a 1h long class for that matter) is not nearly enough to make that happen.
 
G

Greg4564

Guest
The problem being that GM is already bleeding hobbyist programmers to alternatives. Alternatives which are free for hobbyists. Assume you've got a newbie who wants to try out GMS2. End of trial comes and he's not sold yet. Moves on to something else. Eventually he wants to give GM a shot again. Oops! Free trial is over; he'd have to pay to give it another shot. It would take someone very loose with their money to say anything other than "Meh, I'll just go back to Unity/Unreal/Godot/etc."

I agree with the trial period in concept, but in reality I don't think it's going to get a significant amount more people to buy in and it's pretty unarguable that it's going to turn off a lot of people.

I absolutely agree with you and with all others which thinks that is absurd and non productive, I just start GM, so ... I'll finish right now, i'll not wast my time for 30 days because theire are many other free solutions.

I'm agree with the fact that you participate when you've done something commercial but I do not agree when you are in training/learning .... especialy when the initial product was dédicated for studying !

Your financial strategy is not progressist, maybe you want to clean up your userbase ?

It was nice meeting you ... /uninstall
 

Toque

Member
Im sure they are expecting uninstalls. People like free and just move on. Do customers that never pay anything have value? Thats a good question. Obviously they expect some will find value in GM and stay and purchase. I assume they will try for a while and crunch the numbers and see if it increases revenues or not.
 

rIKmAN

Member
Parents aren't paying to teach kids Game Maker. Parent's are paying to teach kids game programming and it's Up to me to chose which software to use. As I said, If YoYo doesn't offer an suitable solution then I have no problems teaching Godot or AGK. That's just going to be a loss for YoYo. It will be immensely disappointing however as even passively I'd be growing the community for the engine I like working on.

Yeah, if only kids worked that way. Not every student has the ability to experiment with programming on their own without help, regardless of how many online tutorials are out there. You and I sink in programming courses completely differently than how kids do it. A lot of my students pick up the basics on an independent level only after month 3 of studies. You have to realize that kids learn at a different pace than you and I. I only have a couple of students who, literally will surpass 80% of developers here because they have the knack for it. The rest need more help. Way more than the 1 month trial has to offer.

No people don't think it terms of hours, people think in terms of progress and results that their kids can showcase to reflect on what they have learned and developed. And 4x 2h long classes ( and most of my students even do a 1h long class for that matter) is not nearly enough to make that happen.
I don't want to get in a big OT debate about it, but I find it very hard to believe that a parent would be fine with paying for private tutoring for their child to learn game dev, and then cause a fuss and balk at the idea of having to pay $40 for the software to allow them to carry on learning to code in their own time for the next year after they had attended weekly 2hr classes for a month and really enjoyed them.

I might think differently if you were running free community classes in low income communites or something similar, but you're not, you're a private tutor giving paid lessons and I would assume that your company charges close to (if not more) than $40 for 8hrs of tutoring, so they have already made an investment in the child that is going to be completely wasted by not allowing them to continue their learning, and I also would fully expect a child to be capable of following the YYG Tutorials on their own after 8hrs of tutoring.

I coach football to children so I have experience with teaching, and in over 20yrs of doing it I have never had a parent pay to enroll their child on a coaching course, have their child enjoy themselves, learn new skills and want to do it regularly and then kick up a fuss and refuse to buy them boots, shinpads, shorts etc to allow them to continue playing football after the course had ended.

It'd be like paying for music lessons and then being shocked when the child asks for their own $40 flute to carry on playing and learning at home.
My point is that it's an expected expense that when you enroll them on the course that they will eventually need their own instrument.

As I said I don't think the 30day trial is a great decision, but I also think that a months private use with their own licence along with 4 x 2hr tutoring sessions is enough time for the parent to decide whether or not it is something that the child is interested in and is getting something out of - and thus whether I think it is worth spending $40 on the software they they are using to allow them to carry this on.

They've already spent money on lessons and $40 for a years licence works out at ~$3 per month for something the child is obviously enjoying, and that is cheaper than many other hobbies where once the child starts doing it regularly requires purchasing kit and equipment etc to allow them to do so.
 

TrunX

Member
The big difference between paying for an instrument or sports equipment and paying for software is that there are free alternatives for the software and these free alternatives are even somewhat of a standard in educational environments. If free musical instruments and free sports equipment would exist that are just as good as the paid ones with the only difference that you can use them only for educational and private purposes and have to pay money only if you become a professional pianist or professional sportsman then who would pay big money for said musical instruments or sport equipment?

Here in Germany it is not common to ask students to pay for additional stuff aside from the tuition fees and therefore also not accepted by parents. Professors send excerpts of expansive books either as PDFs or make physical copies of it. No student has to buy the books that are used in classes them self. The university where I've studied game design had classes for Unity, Unreal and GameMaker. And although the GameMaker course was the shortest it was the only (game engine) software the university was paying for. After GMS1.4 Standard Edition was discontinued and there was no way for students to use a free version of GameMaker on their own devices for project work the GameMaker course was cancelled. It was a great pity as I was a big fan and advocate of GameMaker at my university. I haven't seen a student project at the university that was made in GM since that day.
 

Kenshiro

Member
IDo customers that never pay anything have value?
I believe they do. Said customers may not pay for the engine, but they may answer forum questions, write tutorials, make youtube videos about it (or watch channels that talk about it), or make a good game which could be positive to the public perception of the engine. All those actions add value to the software, because now there's a bigger community around it (which means more tutorials, more games, more people to answer questions, etc etc.)
 
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Toque

Member
I believe they do. Said customers may not pay for the engine, but they may answer forum questions, write tutorials, make youtube videos about it (or watch channels that talk about it), or make a good game with that would be positive to the public perception of the engine. All those actions add value to the software, because now there's a bigger community around it (which means more tutorials, more games, more people to answer questions, etc etc.)
I think you would have to buy the engine to release a game with it.

I agree the community has value. I picked gamemaker because it had a good friendly community and lots of learning resources.

I just read today another engine is going the free model.

I hope gamemaker does well whatever model it chooses.
 
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