Whew

Update: Registration no longer required for demo downloads.

So it appears that we've nailed the most horrendous of the bugs, at any event--the SSL is working, people can download demoes consistently, and UK users can use Paypal. So over the next week, our efforts will be devoted to important but not oh-my-god critical issues. Most importantly, ensuring that forum navigation doesn't suck, that registration is smoother, and that a whole slew of graphic and cosmetic fixes we know we need to get in place do.

For those who have contributed suggestions and comments in the forums, thanks, and we've taken many to heart. You may already have noticed a number of little changes--like the fact that the middle navigation area now calls what used to be "Central Committee" Editors' Blogs (which will probably change to Staff Blogs, as not all of us are editors)--and Forums has replaced Voice of the Masses. We were persuaded that clarity trumps cleverness; we may have the old names appear as titles on the target pages, but the navigation will remain more direct.

Perhaps the biggest criticism we've received--less here than in posts elsewhere--has been on our policy of requiring users to register before downloading demoes. We had two reasons for doing this: First, a fear that the bandwidth costs of providing demoes would be too large otherwise; and second, a desire to get as many registered users as possible, because "how many users do you have?" is a question we're going to get constantly, from both press and investors.

However, so far at least, it appears that our bandwidth fears were excessive; the games people are downloading the most are ones with modest-sized installers, rather than the ESD versions of commercial-release software we carry, which tend to have much larger installers. (And good for you--file size has no relationship to merit.) And as for user numbers--well, okay, big deal.

So I'm convinced, and we'll be moving to allowing downloads by anyone, whether or not registered--[update: done].

It's been enlightening to see actual sales patterns to date--which are at a modest level, of course, as our marketing efforts haven't begun, and we're still in beta. Our first sale was to an old friend who purchased Aveyond--and it was a bit of a kick to be able to look at that and say, oh, excellent, that game is right up John's alley, he'll like that. We don't know most of you that well, but we like to think there's some chance you'll have that kind of experience, too.

The surprise so far has been Oasis, which isn't featured on the front page or on any genre page (although it does show up under Cool Indie Games). It's sold better than some of the games we do have on the front page. It's a surprise not because it isn't a great game (it is), but because it's been around for a while, and I assumed most people had been exposed to it. Of course, it was marketed through the casual game portals--and while it may be a simple enough game to work in that environment, it's a strategy game as its core, and quite possibly someplace like the Manifesto site is a better environment for it.

In general, it's been an intense weekend, with not a lot of sleep for our core team, but it's nice to look up at the end of it and say, yeah, things don't suck, and they're getting better.

In general, thanks to everyone who posted in the forums with bug reports and suggestions; thanks to the brave souls who persisted to the point of actually buying games during this rocky initiation; and thanks to everyone who's stopped by, for your interest and support.

The Revolution has a long way to go, but we're on the move.