Can I make a thread about this?

[Emperor Ing]

So i'm making an indie game that I one day plan to release commercially.

I just wanted to clarify if making a sort of dev-blog thread about its development would be forums-legal, because I honestly do not know if this sort of thing would be considered advertising or not. In this I plan on posting updates, screenshots, and even posting links to demo versions of the game for the purposes of testing and soliciting feedback, and probably even running a Steam Greenlight campaign.

So...yay or nay?

[Douglas]

That sounds very similar to my question about almost the same thing. My understanding of the answer I got is essentially as long as you are not yet actually selling it then it's fine.

I'm not sure what the policy might be for the eventual transition from "demos and feedback" to "I'm selling it now", though. At that point, I think you'd be safe responding to other people if there's public interest in the game, and posting factual "a new update is out" notices to an existing and active thread might be ok, but be very very careful about anything even close to unsolicited encouragement to buy it, and definitely don't post a new thread about it.

If and when I get to the commercial release stage of my project, I'm thinking I'll buy some Project Wonderful ad time but drop my related forum participation down to strictly reactive posts and (assuming an active discussion thread) "There's a new version, see patch notes at link."

[Emperor Ing]

*clicks link*

Yeah that sounds fair. I have no plans to solicit hiring. I want to wait for the word from a mod/admin before I do anything though.

By the way, would this kind of thread go under Gaming (Other) or Arts & Crafts forum?

[NerdyKris]

If you're planning on releasing something commercially, you should take the initial step of setting up a blog for it elsewhere. Otherwise, you're trusting the safety of your dev blog to an unaffiliated site that can remove it or shut down at any time. A message board really isn't a suitable format for something like that, when there are hundreds of blog sites specifically set up for the purpose you're looking for.

[Douglas]

By the way, would this kind of thread go under Gaming (Other) or Arts & Crafts forum?

Arts and Crafts is more about visual and writing projects. Stories, comics, avatars, paintings, videos, etc. A thread about the graphics, sound track, or story you're making for a game would fit there, a thread about the game itself not so much.

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff: That seems fie along the lines Douglas mentioned. Put it wherever you think it'll fit best and get you the most useful input.