How to contribute when you have nothing to give

You're not an artist. You have little to no musical talent. You know what a map looks like, but you also know that yours won't be winning awards anytime soon. You don't understand the scripting language. You really don't even know how to come up with a good story for a game. Most importantly, you're not willing to try your hand at any of these things and get experience.

At this point, you may want to quit the whole RPG Maker thing altogether. You see so many wonderful resources, scripts, songs, and other things that make games wonderful to play and are just at a loss at what you could possibly contribute to a community so talented as this one.

Or perhaps you're just lazy.

Never fear: you have something to contribute after all! Yes you, casual forum lurker!

How to Contribute when you have Nothing to Give

Download and Review Other's Games

You see that someone has just posted a demo of their latest game. Why not download that puppy and play test it a little? I guarantee the creator of the game would like to know the following:

• Was the game fun? Challenging? Boring? Captivating?
• Were there any grammatical errors that need correcting?
• Did you encounter a glitch that caused the game to crash or not play as you expected?
• After you finished, did you want to play more?
• Did the music fit each scene and add to the game or take away from it?

These are just a few ways you could help someone who took the time and energy to upload a game improve on what they've created.

If you specifically address each issue you encounter, the game creator will thank you and will appreciate your feedback much more than:

"OMG, that game was teh worst. lol"

Be kind in your review. It takes a lot of guts to put something you've spent hours (well, hopefully) creating up for public critique.

Test out Scripts and ponder how they could be used or improved

Those who upload scripts are trying to meet the needs of many people by posting one particular script. To make a script that would only work for one game (and only one game) would be a waste of their time (unless paid for by the game creator). As such, they are generally trying to meet many generic needs with the scripts that they create.

You, as the tester, should download the script (and demo if applicable) and test it in your game. Let the creator know how you plan to use the script. Show them a screenshot of how it has improved your game. They like knowing their work has paid off.

And, if you've given it a lot of thought, offer SUGGESTIONS as to how the script might be improved in the future. Sometimes the creator has already moved on to other projects and won't touch the script again unless absolutely necessary. Just know that your suggested improvement may never materialize.  :'(

Offer Mapping Critique

You may map with such skill that game developers will be calling you to work on the next most popular game ever.

But more than likely you map like a 1 year old.*

Regardless of your skill at actually mapping, you may be able to let someone know how a particular map of theirs comes across to you.

• Is the map dramatic enough for a big scene?
• Does the village/town/city make sense when you first look at it?
• Does someone about the map seem "off" or "out of place" to you?
• Does it look perfect, except for one or two minor tweaks?

Letting someone know how their map looks to you will help them improve their map, which will eventually improve their game. The one that you will eventually play and review!

Try to steer away from critiques like: "That map is terrible!" or even "WOW! So good!"

Neither let the creator know what they have done well or need to work on.  Instead try: "I see too much dead space" and "I love how you've made the city look so structured and planned out."

Get Better at Something

So you're not the best (insert area of interest here). No one here is the best at their field. However, after many failed attempts, disgraceful projects, and terrible starts, they have improved on the area of RPG making that interested them the most.

Find ONE thing to get good at. Then practice. Practice, practice, practice. Post you're results here. Expect critique and criticism (both constructive and harsh). And the get better at what you enjoy doing.

Who knows, you may find yourself one day having a lot more than nothing to contribute! 

*edit - Logan 

I'm sure there's some good 16 year old mappers out there. I would say maybe lower that age, but then, I'm sure you've also seen those 4 year old Chinese kids that play musical instruments. I'm mostly just picking on you for no reason at all.

Nice little bit of info/advice, though, blunt.

You don't need to know technical things to know when something doesn't seem good to you. But it really is unhelpful to just say "Terrible". Giving some reasons, even if they are completely subjective, are always more helpful. Even reasons about why something is "Great" is also appreciated. Just saying "Awesome" doesn't tell the creator what is working well for you.

And I definitely support the bit about scripts. One person can only come up with so many ideas for improvement, and sometimes whilst we are aiming for a goal, we often forget about how usable the script actually is. Suggestions and feedback on those aspects are always welcome. I know it is for me, since I try to aim for as much customisation with as little user fuss as possible.

Once again, nice bit of advice.

Definitely useful advice! xD

This thread is really just a way of you contributing, isn't it?? :O!

Well, I like it!

No one here is the best at their field.

That's an outrageous claim
I am an outrageous clam

No one here is the best at their field.

That's an outrageous claim
I am an outrageous clam

You've outraged me with your outrageous claims!

Also, you've forgotten one thing.

Even people who can't do any of this, can still be of help to others.
They could always show others how NOT to do something. Which may help some people

Like, I see a terrible map, but really, REALLY, very, utmost stinking, terrible.
I'll always say to myself: "Amycha, if you EVER make a map like that, I'll personally slap you in the face "
I also do slap myself in the face a lot

However, I really like this topic you made!
Thank you 

I will link to this whenever I see a "This is terrible!" reply or whatever.
I also raped... eh, repped you

No really, cool topic man!!!!!! 

Another thing to add to your list is to be good at keeping track of interesting threads, tutorials, blogs and websites. It's immensely helpful when someone asks for a resource and you can point them in the direction of the person who made something just like that. Likewise with questions - especially recurring questions. 

Another thing to add to your list is to be good at keeping track of interesting threads, tutorials, blogs and websites. It's immensely helpful when someone asks for a resource and you can point them in the direction of the person who made something just like that. Likewise with questions - especially recurring questions. 

Excellent advice!

I'll add your suggestions soon!

Another thing to add to your list is to be good at keeping track of interesting threads, tutorials, blogs and websites. It's immensely helpful when someone asks for a resource and you can point them in the direction of the person who made something just like that. Likewise with questions - especially recurring questions. 

Excellent advice!

I'll add your suggestions soon!

I'm pretty sure this is what the Notify button is for next to Reply and Mark Unread. So in the event that you aren't too great at keeping track, you have some assistance from the forum itself.

Another thing to add to your list is to be good at keeping track of interesting threads, tutorials, blogs and websites. It's immensely helpful when someone asks for a resource and you can point them in the direction of the person who made something just like that. Likewise with questions - especially recurring questions. 

Excellent advice!

I'll add your suggestions soon!

I'm pretty sure this is what the Notify button is for next to Reply and Mark Unread. So in the event that you aren't too great at keeping track, you have some assistance from the forum itself.

Lunarea means that if someone else asks about resources and you came across them a few days before that you can give them the link to the topic, blog, website or whatever.

My mistake. That's what happens if you have a late night. Just because you might not have to be awake early on a certain day does not mean you should stay up watching films.

Still, those notify buttons can be found a few forums, and some sites may have some way of tracking things like that, for when new additions come in. So those can be handy for that too.

Keeping track of resource sites is good to do, though.