It thought it might be good to collect some general "tips for success" for aspiring game makers. These are some tips I've read from successful game producers here and on other sites.
Work steadily.
Serious game making requires momentum. Setting aside time to work on a project regularly (several times a week) should increase the odds of completing the project successfully.
Have realistic goals.
Everyone would love to make an epic game their first time out, but it requires a huge amount of talent and labor to produce such a masterpiece. Start off with making a small simple game increases the odds of success. You can always move on to an "epic" after you get a few simple games under your belt.
Start with the "hard parts".
People often start making a game by tackling the easiest parts- writing the story or making items/weapons. The hardest part of making a game is usually map/level design and creating entertaining events to fill in gameplay time. It's normal to be more enthusiastic when a project is new, so projects often stall as the newness wears off and they hit the "hard" parts of game-making. If you tackle the hard parts first - make your maps/levels and design entertaining gameplay event layouts, you should have a much easier time efficiently filling in items, story and decorations.
Have a good plan before you start building.
Sketching out map/level designs before you start building can save a lot of wasted effort. Make sure you have enough entertaining gameplay events to spread across and fill your map before you spend time building.
Don't let perfectionism shackle you.
It's tempting to give in to perfectionism and expend a lot of time/energy trying to make a game exactly as you picture in your mind, but that makes it easy to become burnt out. If your game has a good solid idea behind it, people will enjoy playing it even if it is a "pale shadow" of your perfect vision. Most gameplayers are trained to not even notice minor imperfections. You can always "add frosting" to your game at the end, or better yet, use your experience to make a sequel that moves closer to your "ideal" vision.
If anyone has more tips, please add! 
Work steadily.
Serious game making requires momentum. Setting aside time to work on a project regularly (several times a week) should increase the odds of completing the project successfully.
Have realistic goals.
Everyone would love to make an epic game their first time out, but it requires a huge amount of talent and labor to produce such a masterpiece. Start off with making a small simple game increases the odds of success. You can always move on to an "epic" after you get a few simple games under your belt.
Start with the "hard parts".
People often start making a game by tackling the easiest parts- writing the story or making items/weapons. The hardest part of making a game is usually map/level design and creating entertaining events to fill in gameplay time. It's normal to be more enthusiastic when a project is new, so projects often stall as the newness wears off and they hit the "hard" parts of game-making. If you tackle the hard parts first - make your maps/levels and design entertaining gameplay event layouts, you should have a much easier time efficiently filling in items, story and decorations.
Have a good plan before you start building.
Sketching out map/level designs before you start building can save a lot of wasted effort. Make sure you have enough entertaining gameplay events to spread across and fill your map before you spend time building.
Don't let perfectionism shackle you.
It's tempting to give in to perfectionism and expend a lot of time/energy trying to make a game exactly as you picture in your mind, but that makes it easy to become burnt out. If your game has a good solid idea behind it, people will enjoy playing it even if it is a "pale shadow" of your perfect vision. Most gameplayers are trained to not even notice minor imperfections. You can always "add frosting" to your game at the end, or better yet, use your experience to make a sequel that moves closer to your "ideal" vision.
If anyone has more tips, please add!