In all seriousness I have to say that these guys are right.

A good couple of years ago now, when I joined the GS community I had some big ideas, and was confident that I could produce a multi-million dollar smash hit game. I had a good concept, found my market niche, spent 12 months developing it and trying to get more people involved in my fantastic idea..... Then THQ released Dawn of War, which is a excellently developed title, and realised not only had I missed the boat, but that what I was developing, wouldn't have even got my a ticket at the dock, let alone beaten them for the contract bid!

During this time I posted similiar things, asking for people to join up on a, I'll pay you when we're all rich type approach. I can say that at the time I was very serious and truly believed that this would work....

2 Years on, after working free with a small developer who sold a million copies of a AAA game, on most platforms.... I can now look back and see just how nieve I was.

Developing a title is nothing like what I expected back then. I have learned about the value of a business plan. For the record, a business plan is not one document and it's not just financial.

The Business Plan, is your bible. It's your collection of everything, your proof-of-concept (the GS powered bit), means nothing without the concept. After all that's why its called a 'proof' of concept. If you want serious people to be envolved in your project, they would expect milestones, targets at the very least a list of things that will be needed to complete the proof.

If you have ideas about merchandising, storylines, model style, multiplay, promotion, sound effects, actors, music......write them down, organise your thoughts. Then invite people to read it, ok get them to sign a simple NDA first to protect your idea, but give them something they can take away, and think about.

I have learned this lesson and I am still paying for the mistakes I made then. My small indi development house have got a couple of very promising projects on the burner, which would benefit from the aid of the experts here at GS, but due to my record, all be it one flopped project, I still have a lot of respect to earn back

TBH: Thats the number one lesson I have learned in the last 2 years away from GS: Eat a little humble pie and remind yourself you don't know it all. Hope you take that in the way it was intended