Not to rain on the parade but as someone in the game industry I have never heard of any online petitions (which is not what this is anyway) having any result at all, especially not in the gaming industry.
Most petitions are not directed towards anyone at all, and when they are they are misdirected.
For example, if you had a petition for a sequel to a game you loved, you would end up sending it to the company that developed the original, wouldn’t you? But that would be foolish, don’t you think? Since it is not up to the developer, it is up to the publisher. The developer already wants to make a sequel; their problem is showing a publisher/venture capitalist/someone with money that a sequel can
sell, and the way of doing this is
not by showing them a list of 1,000 names, but by showing them figures on the original game + projected improved figures - cost of development.
Besides that, even
if 1,000 signatures on a petition equates to 1,000 guaranteed sales, that is considered absolute failure. No publisher can be persuaded by such a small number. Publishers are expecting 50,000 sales in the least, depending on the complexity of the game/cost of development.
In this case there is not a cost to develop, but a cost to maintain. And there isn’t a publisher because the game can be published by Aeria directly. But the numbers still apply. Why would Aeria care about a measly 1,000 accounts? 2,000? Absolute failure. My mIRC fighting game from years ago accumulated more accounts than that and it was on a small server and was never advertised.
Notice that I said
if 1,000 signatures equated to 1,000 sales.
Signatures on a petition can be faked. One guy could add 3 or 4, or 700.
So let’s say I am a big boss in Aeria and I get this “petition” in my e-mail box.
I am not an idiot who can be impressed by something that could just as easily be faked.
I quickly hit the Delete button and move on to the more important e-mails regarding business meetings with clients etc.
Similarly, if I were a developer trying to raise funds for a game by showing potential publishers/VC’s/etc. a petition started online, I would be laughed out of the room and die under a bridge cold and alone.
End the nonsense. No e-petition has ever had any result and never will.
Want to read more?
http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/petition/internet.aspL. Spiro
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