Glass Bead Network launches (finally) | Hacker News Reader

Glass Bead Network launches (finally)

8 pointsscottw18 comments

http://glassbead.net/

This is a social game played (for free) in a flash client. It's been 5+ years of nights-and-weekends bootstrapping (we did receive a few thousand dollars from one of our dads a couple of years ago, but that's all the funding we've got).

We (three founders) are mid-thirty-somethings with families. We feel pretty confident in the game itself--people who play it enjoy it and come back to play again.

What we're trying to figure out now is three-fold: a) how to get the "critical mass" of users we need so that something is always going on so when new users come to visit, there's someone for them to play, or at least a few games they can watch (and what is that number?). We've pretty much milked our family and friend connections at this point.

b) we'd love to have money so we could do it full time, market it, etc. but because we're so far along already (i.e., it's working) we're not sure whom to turn to (VCs, for example, aren't really interested because we don't need very much money). Do we just keep bootstrapping, or are there groups that fund people like us?

c) any feedback (we're looking for feedback mostly from anyone who's actually played it, but we'll consider anything really)?

We hope to be able to take subscriptions soon ("premium service" which would give you some minor advantages in the game, or at least a few more options, cash tournaments, blog, etc.) and we're considering having "sponsored" beads (beads are our playing pieces, which represent everything in the known universe--from Oreo cookies to apples to Darth Vader) as the primary revenue source someday.

We're holding a tournament tomorrow (Saturday, March 29) at 6p MDT if anyone wants to just come and watch (or play, of course).

Some comments, written as I think them as I navigate your site:

1. No explanation: A first-time visitor will have NO idea what the site is about. You have a bunch of "Register now" links, but without some idea of what the site is, there's no reason for anyone to register. This is a fairly serious deal breaker that will significantly limit your rate of adoption.

2. Email confirmation sign up: Once again, this will limit the number of people who sign up. Requiring users to first give you their email, and only then register once they've received it, is slow and outdated. I'd remove the confirmation step entirely, but if you really feel you need it you should allow the user to first sign up and only then confirm.

3+ The concept vaguely intrigued me (what little of it I could glean from your confusing videos on the main page), but for this to be successful you need to seriously revamp your site. To be frank, it looks like something made in a previous era of web development.

Interfaces should be easy to use and clearly laid out. Yours does not provide enough information at the start, and presents too many irrelevant pieces upon login.

As in all startups, the ideas behind them could be great, unique, groundbreaking, etc. but if the implementation isn't up to snuff you'll go nowhere.

I realize this criticism may be harsh, but you did ask how to gain a more widespread user base. The best way to gain users is to make the concept easy to understand, and dead simple to begin using.

We appreciate all the feedback; thanks!

I wonder if bootstrapping a game community can be accomplished with Amazon's mechanical turk?

You'd probably want a tiny game change to keep the turks from playing each other, and to only bring in a turk if there is not a suitable real player.

I didn't even know such a thing existed...thanks for the tip!

If you get into Mechanical Turk and have questions about it, shoot me an email. I worked on it at Amazon, and I'm using it in my current project.

"VCs, for example, aren't really interested because we don't need very much money"

Not quite. Actually VC's normally won't fund a company unless they do have something that is working. So assuming that your game is worth paying for or the site can be monetized, talking to VC's wouldn't be a bad idea.

One example of this is Google. VC's would not have talked to Google if all the founders had was, "Hey we've got this great idea, and this is how it will work, and this is why it's so cool." Instead they said, "Here, try it."

Even then, you'll have to talk to 100 VC's before you get funding. Are you ready for some hard core rejection?

"Are you ready for some hard core rejection?"

lol. That and some hard core misinformation apparently (at least according to a few of the VCs we've talked to).

We'll keep at it; where does one shop for good VCs who would look at someone in our situation?

You know, I'm not really sure where to find VC's. I've done a lot of homework on Angel investors, and there are lots of good resources, like FundingUniverse.com as one example.

Sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Good luck!

Addressing 'b': Since you won't need a lot of money, you should try approaching angel investors -- affluent individuals who invest small amounts in startups in return for some share of the company. I suggest looking in your local area for angel networks and see if you can gain audience with them. You'll usually need a full business plan and presentation for audience with them.

I spent about 5 minutes on the site and couldn't figure out what it was for. I even registered, and still couldn't figure it out. I then watched the videos and still couldn't figure it out.

I may be dumb, but I may be your average user, as well. I would put up a tutorial or something.

If you only had 30 seconds of attention, what's the best way to prove to the user that you're worth any more investigation?

Right now due to the current design deficiencies mentioned by AnotherUser, that user is heading elsewhere.

your have to improve your website design.

when i go to http://glassbead.net, i must see the game board. also, you should not require the player to register before playing.

You can see several sample games in the youtube videos on that page.

Because it's a social game (i.e., you can't play alone), registering is more of a quality control than anything, like news.ycombinator, for example. Registration is extremely minimal (email address only required).

I agree with slim, you definitely need to give people a better idea of what to expect out of the game. Watching videos is too time consuming for many people if they have no idea if they'll be interested (it takes minutes). In comparison, scanning a web page takes seconds.

Good luck with the game.

I have to agree - having to sign up before trying it out stinks. Rig up a robot if you must, or allow only eight moves, or have a separate lobby for unregistered users.

Registration is not extremely minimal, I just went through it. It took about 5 steps, two of which were email confirmation.

Once I did complete registration, I was not logged in - why not? Instead you showed me a "2. Player Information" screen where I had to read about clicking a "home page" link (not underlined, similar color to the rest of the text, tiny font), and then log in again.

Take a look at the Tumblr signup page.

I'm motivated because I've read the book, but most people wouldn't bother jumping through all the hoops.

You should offer a few static screens for people who browse with flash and javascript disabled.

Hesse is on my reading list.

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