On sales goals.

I've had the pleasure of reading a few very kind and encouraging comments from the sum of Rorasuketo's online presence. Folks, know that when you do that kind of thing, it pays huge dividends for a tired indie game developer. People took time out of their day to look at my thing, and they felt compelled to take even more time to let me know they liked it. That's incredible!

There's this weird experience I am having lately where I look around, trying to make sure people are walking around me and not through me, and I am, in fact, real. And I think to myself, "It's almost like this is a legitimate thing I am doing." And it is, by most measurements I'm aware of. Or at least it kind of looks like it is.

When putting Rorasuketo on Steam, someone told me that I should set a goal for sales. I thought up a very, very small number - because I have occasional delusions of grandeur - and have kept telling myself that that is the number that will make me happy. If we sell more - say, a thousand, a hundred thousand, ten million copies - that's a bonus. I just want x. Everything beyond that is x+1 and a nice little treat.

Right now, we have more than 3x wishlists on Steam.

(Never thought I'd see the day I used algebra in my spare time.)

I have to stress that the goal is a comically small number compared to what other developers shoot for, and not every wishlist is a sale, but the team and I are still amazed by the interest we've seen.

My self-esteem is not awesome. I am one of those classic moody artist types where I hate everything I make the instant it finds some sort of tangible form. So of course, my biggest fear is that other people will be disappointed in this thing I've made, and resent it (or worse, me). But, once in a while, a helper in my life asks, "Don't you believe in what you've made?" and I guess, all things considered, I do. At least, I believe in what I was trying to do.

Time will tell if I've accomplished it!