A new continent?

[Tom]

It would be even cooler if a player did it. I think a game that's been in beta for almost 10 years would get some interest. If anyone manages to cause RPS to write an article about BM, I'll give him 5 years of free goodies.

[De-Legro]

http://www.indiegogo.com/ is an alternative to Kickstarter. If I remember correctly they allow a funding model that doesn't require you to reach the set goal in order to actually get the money. That said Kickstarter and its like are not as easy as people seem to think. I watch them a lot, mostly because there are a lot of interesting games posted up on them. Many fail to reach even modest targets, one of the main reasons is a lack of updated to the Kickstarter page during the campaign. The successful projects usually have a great wow factor, nice in game videos (not exactly applicable to BM).

[Tom]

Like everything, Kickstarter is not magic. I do like the "all or nothing" model, because it means that if the funding needed for the project doesn't come, you're probably better of not doing it anyways.

[Azerax]

It would be even cooler if a player did it. I think a game that's been in beta for almost 10 years would get some interest. If anyone manages to cause RPS to write an article about BM, I'll give him 5 years of free goodies.

Gamers and Games have changed in 10 years, and unfortunately I don't think for the better.  The MUD I used to play is still up, but empty (Necromium), the other turn based strategy games that requires some thought (new1000ad) is bleeding players, while places like Facebook / Zynga have made an entire generation of people who don't really want to use their imagination or put an ounce of thought into one. 

I don't know how many active players there are now vs even 2 years ago, but I suspect it's lower.  Perhaps making the game available to more people would attract more players.  Using something like Buzztouch (http://www.buzztouch.com/) to compile an android/IOS interface for the game (though you could compile a simply jquery app) wouldn't take long and make attract attention/more players.

I started playing BM because of an article posted on Slashdot a few years ago, but haven't seen any articles since.  I know that the BM team is incredibly busy, maybe you should take applications for a PR person to help get stories on Slashdot/Blues News, etc.

Anyway, my two cents.

[Anaris]

I don't know how many active players there are now vs even 2 years ago, but I suspect it's lower.  Perhaps making the game available to more people would attract more players.  Using something like Buzztouch (http://www.buzztouch.com/) to compile an android/IOS interface for the game (though you could compile a simply jquery app) wouldn't take long and make attract attention/more players.

A mobile interface is underway, and will definitely improve the experience on iOS and Android when it's done.

I started playing BM because of an article posted on Slashdot a few years ago, but haven't seen any articles since.  I know that the BM team is incredibly busy, maybe you should take applications for a PR person to help get stories on Slashdot/Blues News, etc.

I would prefer not to start a PR push until we have finished with at least the most important of the current slate of major improvements that the dev team has in mind. There are so many things that are currently half-broken or "yeah, we plan to replace that soon" that I'd really rather not introduce the game to large numbers of new players in this state.

[Perth]

maybe you should take applications for a PR person to help get stories on Slashdot/Blues News, etc.

This sounds like a good idea.

[Indirik]

Like, say.... a Community Manager?

[egamma]

Like, say.... a Community Manager?

Fixed that for you

[Azerax]

A mobile interface is underway, and will definitely improve the experience on iOS and Android when it's done.

I would prefer not to start a PR push until we have finished with at least the most important of the current slate of major improvements that the dev team has in mind. There are so many things that are currently half-broken or "yeah, we plan to replace that soon" that I'd really rather not introduce the game to large numbers of new players in this state.

This is the first problem, Tom says he wants more players and you say you want to wait.  Marketing is all about a consistent message.  Honestly, it would take a month to develop a great on-line strategy, and then you can hold on to it.  I speak from experience, my brother and I started a website (www.crosswinds.net) and we went from no traffic to over 100 million visitors per month based on a consistent marketing message, and lots of hours of promoting it online.  As you'll see, it's nothing but a shell now, and where we failed was, we did not adapt to the changing atmosphere of the internet.  People wanted a dumbed down version of what we had, and we refused to deliver it.

If you get 3 or 4 Community Managers, and they each spend 2-3 hours per day posting on forums of really popular boards (rockpapershotgun), and reference BM, you'll get a huge influx of players, 80% who will quit because it requires thought, but the 20% will be great.

Also, start a Facebook group.  One (and I think the only) reason Faerytale thrives so much is because of their FB page.  People want to play games with friends, and FB makes that stupid easy, even if it's just a group.

There's also voting sites, which I hate, but I have tried many of the top ranked sites there and they are really great (Supremacy 19114) .  Many of these sites require less than 20 votes per day to to the #1 position, and they do drive traffic, even in small quantities.  And yes, it is prostituting yourself to get users, but that's what marketing is, accept it or shut down.

Again, my 2 cents.

[Zakilevo]

We already have a facebook group. You can easily find it by typing battlemaster. I think we have what 99 people so far?

[Anaris]

This is the first problem, Tom says he wants more players and you say you want to wait.

Don't get me wrong, I want more players too. We need to keep getting more players all the time, or we will be bleeding slowly to death. I just don't think that right now is the right time for a major PR push, especially since it would necessarily take a certain amount of dev time (or at least Tom's time) to get Community Managers or other PR types vetted, set up and briefed.

[Lanyon]

Well, I and many others i would think, aren't going to join the facebook page because BM is a very nerdy (*gasp*) passtime that they wouldn't like their friends laughing at them for. Just my two cents.

[Gustav Kuriga]

Since when have nerds cared about FB? >_>

[Foundation]

I, for one, welcome no Facebook.

[Tom]

I would prefer not to start a PR push until we have finished with at least the most important of the current slate of major improvements that the dev team has in mind. There are so many things that are currently half-broken or "yeah, we plan to replace that soon" that I'd really rather not introduce the game to large numbers of new players in this state.

Then again, I've kind of told myself that same line for years now.