Totally depends on the legal matter. If I have a tax problem, or had some government process that had to be navigated, I went to the best, most well-known law firm in that space. They were expensive, but in the long run, they are the ones with the reputation and experience, and their name alone carried a lot of weight. For instance, when I was applying for the Canadian Scientific Research and Development Tax Credits, I went to the law firm that was known for doing that. They were expensive, but even the SHRED guys in the government said that they usually rubber-stamped those applications that came from them, only occasionally doing a random check, because they had a rep. They spent 99% of their time going over the apps that the cheaper or unknown guys submitted. Same thing with my tax lawyer. Now, if I needed a numbered company set up, etc., I'll go find the cheapest no-name guy out there, because it doesn't matter.
How much of being "the best" was due to innovative solutions the firm had devised over the years, and how much was due simply to top-notch execution of old ideas?
I got a lot of rep comments on my previous post. The whole mantra that its unethical to copy something of others and market it, and perhaps do it better, is nonsense. If its legal, its fair game. The last 10 minutes of Pirates of Silicon Vailley illustrate it perfectly (specifically, the last 5 minutes):
It was because they used to work in the government system and then went into private practice to help others do the same. It's because they know the process and people cold, and have established a reputation with those people that authorize/approve that stuff now.
So going back to the OP, these people might not have had a single original thought, ever. Odds are they did, but what got them to their position was being able to execute (and for legal stuff, accumulating a wealth of knowledge is of course necessary to great execution). Odds are their lawyers spend a lot of time reading papers published by other attorneys and studying the market's best practices.
Alright, since I came to you all for advice, here's my idea. As most of you are 100000% aware, everyone alive seems to be plugged into some sort of electronic device, be it an ipad, Kindle, phone, gaming console, whatever. Most of us like to play video games. There are, however, a lot of people (mostly the 30-50 year old female bracket, which is a BIG, money spending bracket) that hate video games. My wife, for example, can't understand why I can play Arkham Asylum or NBA 2k11 for 3 hours straight. I'm going to show her LA Noire since that might be up her alley, but I doubt she'll get into it. What does she like? Good old-fashioned books, especially murder-mystery shit. The puzzle and problem solving of video games appeal to her, but not the actual game play. So, let's combine the best of both worlds: Books that are interactive and require thought. Imagine a murder/mystery book where you would buy the first few chapters, and have to solve shit to get the next parts of the book. Remember Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Harrison Ford got "the Grail Diary" from Sean Connery? You go to the book store and get the first part of the book. Register online, and we mail you the "diary" with the start of all the clues and shit. You have to solve stuff using the diary to get the next parts of the book. At random intervals, you get e-mails with additional clues. Some of the stuff would have video messages, which is why I need actors/actresses. I need people who can help figure out puzzles, codes, that kind of thing. I can do math/number based codes all day long, but the more people who come up with clues/problems, the better. So that's my big idea. Figure you can access/download chapters immediately to your ipad/kindle, and that there would be server requirements and shit to do so.
Kinda, except you need to crack passwords, hunt through "the diary" for clues, that kind of thing. Not just a "if you go down the tunnel, go to page 34, if you bang the barmaid, go to page 67." I want to make it WORK to earn those chapters. The kind of shit people would start discussion boards about for help that could really go viral.
Meh. I feel it would be too much upkeep as most people will want to just keep reading. You said your target audience is the 30-50-something group, but this group doesn't seem like it has enough of a messageboard community presence to make it go viral or generate hype. If it does go viral, what if the content provider (you) can't keep up with content production? You'd have to work around the clock cranking it out, and even then it wouldn't be fast enough. Your intrigued fan base will turn hostile very quickly. Don't be discouraged, just my $0.02.
Kind of like Myst? <a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myst</a>
I'm thinking Myst on a Kindle, wherein there's definitely a market there. I just think the interface would have to pop to get people to try it. Edit- Damn you Net!
Great example. My thing is, people are not going to want to keep having to go obtain the content. Myst is a completed game, where this sounds like you have to go get the chapters you want. If it's all put together and there's some sort of logic where different parts of the book open up depending on what you want, then maybe, but the kindle can't do that processing as far as I know.
I'd have content done before it ever went live. The story would be totally finished and all production done before I put it out to market.
Additionally: what differentiates this from the hundreds of text-based games that existed prior to modern console and computer gaming? 100T2, you are aware that you described pretty much every game prior to NES, right?
Except I've played Myst, and it's just you randomly going and clicking. This is more of a "your sister works at XYZ Corp, stumbled upon a deadly whatever, and has disappeared" kind of thing, where it's an actual story line. It's a novel, but you have to earn your way to the next parts rather than just turning pages. Hell, there can even be dummy chapters (dead ends) if you fuck up. Think of it like a novel form of a real detective investigation.
I don't mean to be a dick, but as it's been mentioned, an idea is all in its execution. Especially from someone with no programming experience. It's like saying "I'm going to save BILLIONS on fuel for airlines by making the 747 a few pounds lighter". Yeah, it's an awesome idea, but from someone with no experience in the industry, it's a bit naive.
Actually, I disagree with this. The technical side of this is secondary. The creative side is the key to something like this working, because if the content is crap, doesn't matter how it's delivered, it's still crap. The technical side of things are just pesky details to be worked out. Sometimes you get your best ideas from people that aren't familiar with the tech, because they don't know what is or isn't possible, just what they envision. Too many techs I know limit themselves because of this. This is a prime reason why you want to have 2 leads on this; one creative, one technical.
Which is why in the very first post in this thread, I stated quite clearly: "I have an idea without expertise." I can write the entire story. I can come up with the clues and puzzles, shit like that. That part I can handle. The expertise is in the areas you talked about, which is why I started this thread. ETA: And that's part of the reason why I floated this out to you guys. We have writers, editers, computer programmers, technical gurus, everyone on this site has something to offer. I am not going to sit here and say, "This is my idea, it's brilliant, it's perfect, I don't need any outside expertise." If I learned anything from the other board, it's that you need to know when you can do certain things yourself and when you need to get the fuck out of the way of people who can do it better. Luckily, we're a small enough board that I can put this out there and we can kick ideas around and those who know chime in and those who don't read along and learn. I know jack shit about the computer side. I guarantee you someone like Nett can probably do every inch of the computers in 1/1000th the time I could do it. I know jack shit about the servers, publishing, etc. I came up with an idea, I've worked it about as far as I can, and I realize my limits are x and the collective limits of this board are x^7, so why not bring it here?