Hello there.
I'm a newcomer here, having only recently stumbled across the site while blithering my way around the internet. From what I've seen it's a fantastic resource, and I have a feeling I've only just scratched the surface.
Something that's been on my mind for a bit, though, is the question of printing and manufacturing board games, boxes and the like. I'm at that stage where I'm torn between sending out my game to an agency or a company, and going it alone and trying to do it myself, though as a recent ex-student with almost no means I can't help feeling that I'm going to HAVE to license it out. Then there's the question of protection, patenting and design rights: a lot of people say 'protect, protect, protect!' while others seem firmly to imply that the money spent on that could be better used elsewhere... though if you do that, what's to stop someone cloning your idea?
Frankly, my head is spinning. I'm tired of being poor and I'm tired of working for someone else - though I appreciate fully that there's a lot of hard work involved in getting anything going.
I apologise for the incoherent, undirected ramble... that's how I feel right now. Which way to go? what to do next? and, above all, just how am I going to afford any of it?