Battlemaster growth cycle

[Dishman]

Y'know, you are allowed to create new threads...

I'm just not in a position to do anything like that, because I'm not a member of any forums like that, and while I'm sure I could find some if I put my mind to it, I'd just be some random person jumping in to advertise his own irrelevant crap. I dunno about you, but I wouldn't appreciate it if someone joined the BattleMaster forum solely to advertise for his own pet project.

If anyone knows of such places, though, they are invited to speak up...

I figure there are probably 3 or 4 relevant threads around already. For now I am brainstorming, and revisiting old discussions brings people back to it.

When I said a weekend of deskwork, I meant that fairly literally. Maybe spread over a month, but it still applies to about 48 hours. A full+ work-week (or light part-time, spread over a month) of research, testing of various forums, casual to dedicated posting (depending on how many you think you could attract). It might need to be well-worded, audience tailor-made, and require learning/trying some new hobby.

It would be a job (although possibly enjoyable) to juggle 70 or 80 forums fairly regularly, but almost all well traveled forums have a place or way to attract 100-500 views to a link. That isn't as much as a google ad or a expensive catch-all, but look at the efficiency of targeted ads. Facebook would know what your farts smell like if they could generate more clicks.

If a newbie came on, posted regularly and meaningfully for about a month (1 a day) on the forum, posted a link to RoyalConquest-Free Online Game (off the top of my head as something that might be equivalent to this audience) on the 'other games' board and you wouldn't think anything of it. Hundreds of views on each thread (on this forum) of less similar-geared tags for this audience. If we hit the right people, they click out of interest (say, even 10-20 clicks out of the hundreds of views). If we hit the right audience, they will be engaged and make an account (spare-time, interest in x part of game). Perhaps say 1 or 2 long-term players stick with it. Multiply that by 50, we have a continent.

Of course, like I said, this is all brain-storm. I could be vastly over-estimating my capability, I could be vastly over-estimating the appeal of Battlemaster. Regardless, all efforts would have to be made to:

A) Improve and distribute the good-name of Battlemaster and its owner/devs,
B) As un-official representatives, efforts would have to be made to make sure the name of Battlemaster is not associated with any negative connotations (no trolling, no flaming, no divisive topics, and other etiquette demands for marketing purposes)
C) Be unpaid....although I would hope if I (and others) could actually get a whole continent of players to battlemaster that we could get like....$20 and a good business reference. That might be enough incentive for me to try, not sure about others.

But, like I said...I've never tried anything like this. Do people think it is worth a new thread to see if we can get volunteers? Do you think it would actually effect the growth of Battlemaster?

[Anaris]

If we hit the right people, they click out of interest (say, even 10-20 clicks out of the hundreds of views). If we hit the right audience, they will be engaged and make an account (spare-time, interest in x part of game). Perhaps say 1 or 2 long-term players stick with it. Multiply that by 50, we have a continent.

Ah...do you have any idea how many players are on a continent?

The smallest continent, the Colonies, has over 50 players even now. The largest, Dwilight, has nearly 300.

To bring BattleMaster's density back up to where it should be, without removing any regions, we'd need to bring in around 1000 new players.

Now, I'm not saying your strategy couldn't achieve that, over time. But 50 players, even long-term ones, do not a continent make.

[Dishman]

Ah...do you have any idea how many players are on a continent?

The smallest continent, the Colonies, has over 50 players even now. The largest, Dwilight, has nearly 300.

Shhhh, I'm trying to sell something. I don't need your logic and skepticism all up in my rhetoric and misleading numbers.

I see what you are saying, that it would take time and not attract near enough to cover Battlemaster at its height. But more people can't hurt us (as long as we don't hit a patch of serious griefers). Without throwing money at advertising, you need an efficient (and volunteer in this case) approach to marketing. This is all first-day spit-ball, so I welcome any input.

If it doesn't work, I know I can't into viral marketing and I've wasted time/effort (and any who have helped). If it does, we have a good bump in numbers in Battlemaster and could probably re-campaign later. There may come a point where you don't get as much return on posting after exhausting the best places....but by then enough people might know about it and word of mouth might spread on its own.

Has there been a marketing effort for Battlemaster that attracted players more than posts on the Dwarf Fortress forum? I recall lurking old threads and finding a fair amount of players coming from there (that might be hindsight bias, though). I know the team has put together some really neat stuff for Battlemaster (which all can be used for hype, not to mention 10 year histories), but how much of it has been circulated?

[Anaris]

Shhhh, I'm trying to sell something. I don't need your logic and skepticism all up in my rhetoric and misleading numbers.

I see what you are saying, that it would take time and not attract near enough to cover Battlemaster at its height. But more people can't hurt us (as long as we don't hit a patch of serious griefers). Without throwing money at advertising, you need an efficient (and volunteer in this case) approach to marketing. This is all first-day spit-ball, so I welcome any input.

No, I completely understand that this is exactly the right kind of effort, and that any results is produces are worth it. I just want to make sure you're not getting unrealistic expectations, that's all

Has there been a marketing effort for Battlemaster that attracted players more than posts on the Dwarf Fortress forum? I recall lurking old threads and finding a fair amount of players coming from there (that might be hindsight bias, though). I know the team has put together some really neat stuff for Battlemaster (which all can be used for hype, not to mention 10 year histories), but how much of it has been circulated?

I think that the biggest single bump was when it got a front-page mention on Slashdot, several years ago. Aside from that, I think the influx of Bay12ers was, indeed, the best we've had.

I haven't tried to circulate much of anything, since I don't really much run in the right circles to do so. In fact, BattleMaster is really the main online circle I run in at all. Never really had time for another one

[Dishman]

I haven't tried to circulate much of anything, since I don't really much run in the right circles to do so. In fact, BattleMaster is really the main online circle I run in at all. Never really had time for another one

I've not been active in a lot of forums, but I've lurked my fair share. I may be pulling all of this out of my ass, but I might as well try using my BA in psychology for something other than RP evil.

I'm in a strange spot in life and this seems like a feasible project for me. Not sure how long my free-time will hold, but I'm willing to try. If it is fruitful, I'm serious about that 20 bucks and good references, btw.

I'll sleep on it and make a new thread tomorrow (or so) with a more coherent plan. Let this thread return to the nether pages or return to its previous discussion.

[Vita`]

Enoch, look around the wiki for stuff. I know there's older marketing idea pages on there. Maybe start in community section or miscellaneous? There's 3-4 wiki pages which I do believe link to each other.

[Indirik]

It may be possible buy advertisements on targeted sites where people who are interested in rpgs often hang out. If, for example, anyone knows of rpg-specific sites that sell banners, we may be able to buy them. Or perhaps web comic sites about fantasy rpg themes. Or sites like schlockmercenary.com, where the author of the comic often talks about rpg and gaming, even though it's a sci fi comic.