Thinking out loud...

#21 @Winterleaf - no problem I didn't read all the posts, my mistake. However, it should be made clear that anything even slightly off topic won't be tolerated in blog comments, especially by others who didn't even start the blog in the first place. Then we will all know where we are.

#22 By the way - to keep on topic. Has anyone approached garagegames about having a central store there? Are they no longer accepting into the store? Has their policy changed? Some of you here are on the committee so is that why you're looking for other solutions because you know something I don't?

As one of the guys previous commneted you should be selling models for unity on the unity asset store because no-one will go looking anywhere else.

#23

Quote:Are they no longer accepting into the store?

We are still accepting content for our store. You can read this blog for more details on recent updates. There have also been some 2D art packs added recently, which are phenomenal. I'm hoping when Spine support is officially integrated in T2D MIT 3.0, we will see an influx of 2D content. Spine is a content maker's dream come true for 2D tech.

Quote:Has their policy changed?

Policy is pretty much the same. For any code packs, we are encouraging people to target compatibility with the MIT versions of the engines.

#24 @Garagegames has the web traffic count, it's probably pretty much immune to the vagaries of google. It's always the first stop of choice for people using the Torque engine. I hav ebought loads of stuff here. The shop is bare because they're in a transition phase. If you're looking to make a living selling assets the you have to do loads of formats and place them in all the major shops, Winterleaf, garagegames,unity asset store.

But if you want people to find stuff for Torque and sell Torque specific models for the new MIT versions, then they will be found here more than elsewhere. More importantly if you want to support these engines with addons then they need to be here because if they're only on a website on torque.net then new users coming here will not see that add-on because it isn't in this store, and may choose not to use Torque because the functionality they wanted was clearly sign posted. You don't support a community by setting up the community hall in the next town over.

#25 @JED
"You don't support a community by setting up the community hall in the next town over. "

I couldn't agree more! and WLE has never wanted to split the community. If you look, our forums only have posts for our specific products and the other products in our store. HOWEVER, going back top your other statement

"The shop is bare because they're in a transition phase. If you're looking to make a living selling assets the you have to do loads of formats and place them in all the major shops, Winterleaf, garagegames,unity asset store."

We are doing nothing more than offering an another option because other people who were looking for an alternative to GG saw that we had our own store and approached us instead of making one of their own. If people start comparing the two, traffic vs benfits offered vs service vs etc, and emails of "WLE, this is nice, but GG can offer me X also"..... there is nothing wrong with making someone who is offering a service step up their game a bit. Either way, sellers can get their stuff out on more than 1 site, and it seems like a win/win to me.

#26 @Winterleaf - I'm not accusing you of splitting the community. The creators here should go and put stuff on winterleaf store because it advances both you and them, why does everyone get so touchy. You are absolutely correct, people should palce all the stuff at Winterleaf and garagegames and they should ahve their own sites as well. Because it is all about driving traffic to points of sale but the guy posting the thread seemed to be asking for opinions as if everyone is looking for somewhere else to sell as a life raft because the garagegames shop failed, when it hasn't failed. In a sense it's a no-brainer question. The internet is not a high street where a customer always passes the same store, visitors turn up on a site for any number of reasons, driven there often for reasons even beyond their control (hello google). At the stage in Winerleaf's existence can you guarantee more sales than garagegames? No, and it needs to be said. Would visitors turning up at winterleaf be depriving garagegames of a sale? No, because there's a good chance they would never turn up at garagegames anyway. You don't even compete because GG are unlikley to want to host any other format than collada because no-one will go looking for an FBX at GG, whereas, Winterleaf caters for every format so the creators here could put every format on your site. Of course it's a win/win. BTW, I brought this up because the original post seemed to be suggesting GG had failed in someway and people should look for an alternative avenue to replace the GG shop. This may not have been the intention of the original poster but it is how it came across to me.

#27 LOL... Jed. I know Paul was NOT disagreeing with you. He is just trying to walk a 'fine line' between WLE's interests and the Torque Community. Think of his answer as the 'politically correct' version. Also, TRUST me, this is NOT a 'touchy' community. Most of us that have been around for a while can take quite a bit.... (torque is 1000$ oh wait it's 99$... oh wait it's free.... oh wait....) and it's VERY hard to judge 'intent' from a post. I just know Paul and many of the good people over at WLE, and I know this particular subject has come up more than a few times. They NEVER want to be viewed as 'splitting' the community, and they work hard to keep that particular viewpoint very clear. They support the Torque Community and they are happy to do so. (Oh keep in mind, I am NOT a WLE employee or anything but, I have a great deal of experience with WLE as a development team and as business partners.)

Now, as for the Garage Games Store. I like what I am seeing lately. There has been a quiet but, obvious effort to cross merchandise and clean up what was a pretty ugly storefront. The only reason I know this is because.... well I check at least once a week since I have a vested interest in how the store looks and performs.

I might be wrong but, I believe Raymond Mitchell may have a hand in this progress. My congrats to him and his fine work. I recommend you all check it out since the store appears cleaner and more organized than it has in a long while. www.garagegames.com/products.

Anyway, I agree with Jed and Paul and everyone. The more places we have to post good products for T3D or T2D, the better it is for the entire community. I actually intend to post in BOTH places from now on. Additionally, I will be hosting a specific store just for my products but, I will still submit to both WLE and Garage Games even if I have a space set up. Since I know WLE and Garage Games are both all about the Community and want to grow together. Anyway, more on all of that stuff later.

Now, I want to clarify since my name and situation came up early in the discussion. I think this is a BRILLIANT idea. Yes, I had issues with numbers and overestimating sales, etc. Keep in mind this is because MY business plan was flawed from the begining. The whole reason I posted anything was to avoid ANYONE else making the same mistakes I did. Now, if you want some honest advice on how to make a 'central location' work, don't look at my stuff. Look at Garage Games and Winterleaf. Fair prices, good service, and a community minded effort. BOTH of these sites have these things. I have assets in BOTH stores. Currently the Cave Pack is exclusive to WLE because I wanted to drive some awareness in that direction. Keep in mind BOTH are good and THANK THE GODS, Garage Games is putting some effort into cleaning up and reworking the store. Keep in mind though that they have TONS of web based contracts and only a single web dev so.... These fixes can be viewed as good or bad I guess. Anyway, DO NOT BASE SUCCESS or 'possible' success on any one person's tale. In my case, it was a bad business model and that was ALL ON ME.

Ron

#28 @Ron - great, so now everyone is happy. Anyway, it wasn't really about Winterleaf, it was the sugestion from someone that a link was put on TDN to Winterleaf, and not because of who the link went to. That comment makes it sound like a contingency plan because at no level does it make sense to go from GG to TDN, which is what I do, then go to Winterleaf, unless GG store is no longer being used so it made me wonder do you all know something I don't as TDN is the community site. How helpful someone is to a vendor has no bearing on whether an item will sell, that is simply set by how much traffic visits the site who want it and virtually all traffic for Torque ends up at GG sooner or later.

#29 Al Gore invented the internets... That is how the internets works...

#30 @Demolishun - I knew that, that's why when one enters a search item quite a few of the results are WTF?