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Hi everybody! post is a bit overdue, and I apologize for that. However, I’ve been doing a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes with the team to identify problems and to make the Marketplace better, and I’d like to unveil them to you to see what everyone thinks.
First, the elephant in the room: Marketplace submissions take a while. Instead of making excuses, I’ll show the most common delays in publishing content to the Marketplace:
- Seller doesn't respond to emails for days to weeks
- Submitted files are incomplete or have problems and need work before release
- Marketplace Seller's Agreements or Bank Information forms are not filled out quickly or correctly
- Unreal Engine version incompatibility issues
- The submission needs more work before being published, and I'm personally working with the seller to improve it. Examples are art that needs improving, technical problems, improving presentation materials, requesting a video, giving suggestions to help stand out, helping with ideas to differentiate from other content on the Marketplace, etc.
Not a lot of you may know about that last part, but I have worked with dozens upon dozens of sellers to push their content to be the best that it can before releasing. So far that’s been working out really well, but it can definitely be time-consuming. And there’s really no way you would know, because all of that is done one-on-one, behind the scenes. It really does make a difference in the quality of what’s being published, so now you know that’s there. 
Now, onto the improvements we’ve been working on! Everything here is going into effect month. Here’s how things are getting better:
- Marketplace Seller Support dedicated email going live. We had a false start last month that misrouted some emails, but I'm working on today and will provide prioritized, fast updates for existing sellers. These take priority over new submissions because we need to support our sellers the best we can.
- Web Marketplace going live. is going to do a LOT for discoverability! In all forum posts and blog posts we make, we now link directly to every new item so even people without the UE4 launcher can view the content and make purchases. will make it much easier to advertise and sell your content.
- Submission speed increase! will take a few weeks to see because is hot off the presses, but I wanted to tell you guys ASAP. Long story short, we can now review and QA files BEFORE they reach the public Trello. Previously, for legal and process reasons, we didn't see the files until after voting, so we'd get nasty surprises at the last minute that would delay releases and frustrate sellers. Not ideal! The way it works now is that a) if it's on Trello, it's been tested by our team, and b) we have plenty of time to work with content creators to fix anything that's broken. will greatly increase the quality of what's on Trello, because we see it sooner and have time to fix and improve the pack.
- Faster graduation from Trello! If a submission hits the vote count threshold really quickly, instead of waiting the full four weeks, I contact the seller early and say "Hey, you're in! Let's publish NOW!" and the submission goes to the Marketplace much faster than before. The record turnaround time from submission to public Trello to being QAed then published is nine days, and I think that'll get even faster because of how many more people have been voting lately. There is a definite incentive for you to advertise when you go up on Trello. :)
- Signing legal documents and getting bank info is faster! I've been working with our team to speed up signing agreements and getting bank information, which used to be a huge blocker. I've also made it easier to know when to sign and where to see the documents when they come in. It used to take over a week, and now it only takes 2 or 3 days. Most of that is simply waiting for the sellers to read over the paperwork and return it to us.
- Comments and a ratings system on the web Marketplace! is an early first pass and we have some glitches with ratings right now that we're fixing, but is an encouraging first step. Also, you can only rate a pack if we've confirmed that you have purchased it.
Note that is just what’s happening month that I can confidently comment on. There is more than behind the scenes that we can’t talk about yet. We do read and listen to everything that’s been posted here, but can’t comment on much of it yet. Just know and trust that we want the Marketplace to be successful and we generally want the same things you do.
Invitation for feedback:
- Public Trello revamp! I think the public Trello definitely needs some work. The "In Processing" column is where everything hangs out for a very long time because of all the typical reasons for delays that I mentioned above. They all get lumped into that particular category and there's nothing really explaining what's happening or why. I want to change that.
- My first idea for is to show what's going to be released next week, and the week after that. may be subject to change depending on what requests we give sellers to fix or improve their work, but I think we understand things well enough internally to be able to show publicly what our release schedule is.
- My second idea is to explain what's happening when something gets delayed out of a slot. Is the Trello card itself the best idea for that, or would that be better somewhere else?
- My third idea is asking what you guys and girls want. :) I can't promise the world, but I'd like to know what's important to you and what kind of information you'd like to see about what's in the queue and when it's coming. All I can promise is that we'll do our best.
So let me know what you’d all like to see on the public Trello board, and any other feedback you have. Now that GDC is over and is back and fully dedicated to the Marketplace, I’ll have more time to post on the forums and talk to everyone here.
Thanks everybody! Looking forward to responses.
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Your first idea , second and third ideas are great , but You read something in thread ?