Comment by sangnoir
6 years ago
> how does he even know how it would affect sales?
He doesn't know - but he feels he does not need to take the risk to find out because the stakes are too high for him (since he'll need to borrow from a bank or his retirement savings).
I'm sure those who feel strongly about the potential on HN, reddit and elsewhere could band together and crowdfund/formally pitch Jeff on an investment in an artist for a subsequent game and capture the upside while shouldering the risk - he probably would be happy to take the money; he's not ready to put up his.
> He doesn't know - but he feels he does not need to take the risk to find out because the stakes are too high for him (since he'll need to borrow from a bank or his retirement savings).
Then that should have been the main crux of his argument, without the need to start making up questionable numbers and making comparisons with other titles; particularly when it's an open letter on a subject nobody really seemed to care about prior to the previous article.
It seems his audience, his customerbase, is so extraordinarily specific that the letter would really have been better addressed to his fans and nobody else; instead, the two posts come off as unsolicited whining which I believe is what is rubbing people the wrong way.
> instead, the two posts come off as unsolicited whining which I believe is what is rubbing people the wrong way.
They are sound business advice from someone who knows what he talks about (because he has had a successful business for a long time). Far better than the usual "hey, I'm a unicorn startup and obviously I will change the world" which will then implode a few weeks or month later, when their "revolutionary" idea and/or business opportunity turns out to be useless.
He's had a small successful business for a long time, though, with an extremely limited audience and no intent to widen it with a view to potentially much better profits. I'm not sure I'd call it "sound business advice" unless one's business intent is to barely float above water.
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