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Jeff's article is spot-on as always. I'm a bit surprised that any of this still has to be mentioned, but I guess people forget. It's the same reason why I would

Jeff's article is spot-on as always. I'm a bit surprised that any of this still has to be mentioned, but I guess people forget. It's the same reason why I would never go to Roger Ebert for a movie review: he and I like drastically different things. That said, please allow me to make two suggestions to anyone reading this: 1) Check out more of Jeff's blog. His writing is fun, excellent and educational. Even if you only care about tech it will be interesting for you to read Jeff's frank discussion of his game sales numbers and the challenges he has overcome almost single-handedly coding and writing his many games. 2) Give Jeff some of your money. His games are unapologetically targeted at people who enjoy rpg elements, turn based combat and an interesting story. If that sounds like your cup of tea then buy one of his games if you like the gameplay video.

eropple 9y ago
Jeff's blog has been amazing for as long as I can remember. I've been reading his stuff on a regular basis since I was in college and I've been playing his games since I was seven, downloading them off of AOL and getting mad at the Shareware Demon who told me I couldn't go any further. Exile II remains the only game I ever cracked (I don't mean with-a-keygen, I mean with-a-hex-editor; I never got into games pirating from other people), because I was like nine years old and hex editors were easier to come by than credit cards, but I'm pretty sure I've made up for that by buying everything he's released since. Blades of Exile was the first game I ever bought through the mail, Geneforge was never my jam but I bought them all anyway on principle, and I still want a Nethergate 2.
- lobotryas 9y ago
  You should send Jeff a quick email explaining how you became a life long customer. I am sure he would get a kick out of it! Jeff wouldn't be writing games after all these years if he was in this strictly for the money.
  - eropple 9y ago
    We've corresponded before. ;) I tried to get him on a podcast once, but he's not big on them. Maybe someday! (This is unrelated, but loads of people find it very difficult/intimidating to reach out to people who do interesting stuff. I love shooting emails to people who've done stuff that I find awesome and just about everyone is responsive and extremely gracious.)
jholman 9y ago
I agree strongly with (1). Jeff is brilliant, and wise, and his writing is terrific. I wish him success. (And yeah, this article is spot-on, as always.) But there's a problem with (2): his games are fucking terrible (for context, I've played 3 of his games, for a total of perhaps 50 hours, because I was really trying to like them). I mean, I'm super glad that someone that I admire so much has an audience, and I hope that some people continue to give him some money, but I could never recommend any of his games to anyone. Then again, the things I think are terrible about his games, perhaps lots of people won't mind. I guess what I'm trying to say is, just because Jeff Vogel is a wise dedicated respect-worthy guy, doesn't mean his niche will work for you. But then again, maybe you should give him some money anyway, and then just burn the game.
- lobotryas 9y ago
  I did encourage folks to watch some gameplay videos (there are plenty of streamers, "Let's Play" bloggers for folks to choose from) before making up their mind. I'm genuinely curious: what makes you say Jeff's games are terrible? Honest question. Personally I played Geneforge and Avadon series and enjoyed both.
  - eropple 9y ago
    Coming at it from the other end, I'm pretty sure that if my experience with Jeff's games was Geneforge and Avadon, I'd think they were terrible. I don't enjoy the gameplay pretty much across-the-board and while Jeff can tell a good story I don't like having to chew my way to it. On the other hand, I literally grew up with Exile, Nethergate, and Avernum (1-3, I'm not as hot on 4-6), and I will give that guy money for all his stuff (I will buy the Avernum 3 remake day-and-date, and it'd have been the only game I've preordered this year if I could) just because those work for me so well.

eropple 9y ago

Jeff's blog has been amazing for as long as I can remember. I've been reading his stuff on a regular basis since I was in college and I've been playing his games since I was seven, downloading them off of AOL and getting mad at the Shareware Demon who told me I couldn't go any further. Exile II remains the only game I ever cracked (I don't mean with-a-keygen, I mean with-a-hex-editor; I never got into games pirating from other people), because I was like nine years old and hex editors were easier to come by than credit cards, but I'm pretty sure I've made up for that by buying everything he's released since. Blades of Exile was the first game I ever bought through the mail, Geneforge was never my jam but I bought them all anyway on principle, and I still want a Nethergate 2.

lobotryas 9y ago
You should send Jeff a quick email explaining how you became a life long customer. I am sure he would get a kick out of it! Jeff wouldn't be writing games after all these years if he was in this strictly for the money.
- eropple 9y ago
  We've corresponded before. ;) I tried to get him on a podcast once, but he's not big on them. Maybe someday! (This is unrelated, but loads of people find it very difficult/intimidating to reach out to people who do interesting stuff. I love shooting emails to people who've done stuff that I find awesome and just about everyone is responsive and extremely gracious.)

jholman 9y ago

I agree strongly with (1). Jeff is brilliant, and wise, and his writing is terrific. I wish him success. (And yeah, this article is spot-on, as always.) But there's a problem with (2): his games are fucking terrible (for context, I've played 3 of his games, for a total of perhaps 50 hours, because I was really trying to like them). I mean, I'm super glad that someone that I admire so much has an audience, and I hope that some people continue to give him some money, but I could never recommend any of his games to anyone. Then again, the things I think are terrible about his games, perhaps lots of people won't mind. I guess what I'm trying to say is, just because Jeff Vogel is a wise dedicated respect-worthy guy, doesn't mean his niche will work for you. But then again, maybe you should give him some money anyway, and then just burn the game.

lobotryas 9y ago
I did encourage folks to watch some gameplay videos (there are plenty of streamers, "Let's Play" bloggers for folks to choose from) before making up their mind. I'm genuinely curious: what makes you say Jeff's games are terrible? Honest question. Personally I played Geneforge and Avadon series and enjoyed both.
- eropple 9y ago
  Coming at it from the other end, I'm pretty sure that if my experience with Jeff's games was Geneforge and Avadon, I'd think they were terrible. I don't enjoy the gameplay pretty much across-the-board and while Jeff can tell a good story I don't like having to chew my way to it. On the other hand, I literally grew up with Exile, Nethergate, and Avernum (1-3, I'm not as hot on 4-6), and I will give that guy money for all his stuff (I will buy the Avernum 3 remake day-and-date, and it'd have been the only game I've preordered this year if I could) just because those work for me so well.