@ Jeku: As I said, there's a difference between an idea and a design. I must have misunderstood something, or maybe I was misunderstood, but it was my understanding that with a well-written/ planned design document and a quality presentation (including a demo of the game), you could set up interviews at game studios and potentially break into their ranks as a designer. I was trying to point out the difference between an idea and a design: people send their ideas to companies all the time. Whether or not the company in question reads the idea is irrelevant to my point that they're assuredly annoyed with it. I mean, that's why these unsolicited ideas are ignored in the first place (well, other than the obvious legal ramifications)... there's simply too many filling an inbox at any given time to consider any of them.
But then there's a design, and as I understand it, there are ways of presenting designs to mainstream studios. Maybe it's my lack of desire to work in the mainstream industry that's the root of my confusion, but that's how I always understood it. There are certain channels to go through when presenting a design, and certain methods of doing it, but it can and has been done... or maybe I'm wrong, and every designer in the mainstream industry started out in the proverbial mailroom. Again, it's just an assumption, but that's what I've been made to understand.
@ Cash: That's another reason why I'm so bullheaded about MISoft handling its own distribution/ marketing. Take EE for instance: no publisher in their right mind would go near it. It's an extreme niche market with no genuine, known consumer-base. But still, the very small handful of people who've bought it so far are absolutely in love with it, and I think there's definitely a chance it could pick up and start selling down the road as I learn more about publishing. But let's say I get successful, and over the next few games I learn more about marketing/ publishing. I would have the capacity, mentally and monetarily, to properly advertise a game and generate serious, noteworthy profit. Already I've made it further than some people thought I would... Most people said I wouldn't sell a single copy. Jeku said I would only sell 2 copies in some thread a while back, and we've already topped that (4 copies, woot!) lol.
Anyway, my point is, I think some ideas are worth money, but the idea-makers don't rightly know what goals to set, let alone how to reach them. That's why a lot of ideas never come into fruition. With Geisha House, I'm assuming you'll get it published and that's (hopefully) how you'll get recognition and at least a decent payday. With me, I'll keep trying to learn about publishing and marketing, and (hopefully) over time I'll build a fan-base and sell more copies of the games I make. They're two completely different routes to the same goal, but I think a lot of people don't know about either route... if they gave it a credible try, I think some of these ideas we see on TGC could develop into profit-turning games.
