PDA

View Full Version : Advice on opening a book store



Tinlaar
07-01-2020, 08:39 AM
Hi, my name is Tinlaar and I started writing leveling guides and putting them in libraries. But then, I quickly noticed some very glaring flaws inherent in my work.

First off, all of my books are separated into 10-level intervals. It's really unrealistic to boil down what dungeon should be at what level range, considering the fact that there are so many builds out there and they all do very different things. Say for example I could solo Rahu Sewers at level 40 something with AH or fire magic just fine, but I would be completely stomped into the ground using something like BC at the same level range, since fire magic could burst down poison slugs and ratkins fast enough while BC is just a lot of farting (I didn't really mod my gear because I switch skills all the time). Level 40-50 content for fire magic could be completely different for level 40-50 BC, and yet from my experience, exp and gear rarity is often determined by levels of the equipped combat skills. I also occasionally find myself disagreeing with other players on where to level things because I'm an AH main, and therefore I usually have higher damage and survivability at the level ranges I write my guides for. I still find myself struggling against poison slugs without AH or fire magic.

I also find myself skipping over a lot of the nuances in my guides for the sake of speed and presentation. I imagine people who read my books to be lost and frustrated, and simply need a nudge or two in the right direction, to grind in dungeons suitable for their tastes. A lot of the details inside the dungeons are important, and yet I glossed over them. I didn't explain things like using the snare arrow + hook shot combo to pull mobs away, I didn't tell the readers that body pulling out of the LoS of mobs would make them come closer, and I definitely ignored damage types in writing my guides. I sometimes also didn't mention the drops available in these dungeons, which might be valuable information to some people.

This game is very much in progress, and that means I couldn't really evaluate a zone accurately if Citan decides to put 3 caves there in a single update (*cough cough* Sun Vale *cough cough*). Rahu is still 1/3 implemented, and so it would be unreasonable for me to evaluate it right now. Gazluk and Fae Realm feel like death traps with that kind of mob density out in the open. Ilmari's war caches are terrible for leveling, and the rest of the zone is not solo-friendly, but I digress. The point is, I find it really difficult to continue writing this series.

Because of all of this, I plan to write dungeon guides instead, since Citan seems to be less likely to change dungeon layouts. One book, one dungeon, and I'll sell them in my own shop. How high should I price them at? What details do you want me to cover in these books? Would selling these books be a good idea in the first place?

Lyesea
07-01-2020, 09:55 AM
I actually read your books and found them very useful and relevant as a sword/knife. I was able to try each place mentioned and pick which worked well / what was fun.

Part of what I enjoyed about exploring was finding out of the way libraries and reading what's there.

For pricing, think of audience, you are gonna sell to first time players most likely, and I probably wouldnt pay more than 1k for that info. Would be cool if there was a way to somehow give +1% combat experience in that specific dungeon whilst that dungeon guide.book is in inventory since I love.your idea.