Crossing the Bridge without feeding the Trolls
David Berg:
Hi T.,
Personally, if I put out a press release for my game, and some folks came along to critique the release, I would try to find a way to turn that attention into attention to the game itself. The people who are just there to bash will be no help, but the people with opinions on how to market games could totally be engaged in a conversation like, "Well here's what my game's about; how would you market it?" Maybe they'll have some good ideas, and maybe they'll get interested in your game in the process.
I don't know if that's actually the best use of your time and energy; just throwin' out the possibility.
Dunno if you want to discuss the press release itself in this thread, but after looking at it here, I have some thoughts. I totally dig Jung, Campbell, Tarot, astrology, and a focus on immersion, but I'd want to know more about how those enter play before I'd plop down any cash. There are also a few elements in the release that carry negative associations and make me worry.
Ps,
-David
tymotzues:
Hi David
Thanks for the feedback - yes would love to hear your comments on the press release as I'll be doing a lot more of them in the future good to get criticism and practice.
I also agree with you that engaging those who are genuinely interested into giving me constructive feedback is a positive, but honestly the feedback so far is rather mundane rather than informative.
I was about to cave and feed the trolls a short excerpt from the book detailing a combat, as they've been beating down my door to get a sample of play. And while the example gives a good showing of the combat mechanics it does nothing for the more in-depth roleplay side of the system and therefore I think paints it in a very two dimensional aspect, when it is anything but.
Any opinions? I understand what David is saying about wanting to know more about how the mechanics work before throwing his cash down, but really, I can't post the whole book, the system works like a clockwork, there are all these little cogs being driven by the bigger cogs to do little things that add to the whole but trying to distil that down into a sound bite is near impossible.
I'm desperately trying to convince a reviewer to take the plunge but as I think I mentioned in another post, they seem very reluctant for whatever reason. And so the trolls keep scratching.
David Berg:
Tim,
I just read that first RPGnet thread you linked. I'm afraid I have to strongly disagree with your assessment of what's going on there. The first page was snarky, sure. But the people who are still there are not trolls. They are the second best thing you can possibly hope for -- potential customers who weren't immediately sold by your press release, but are enthused enough to seek more info. These people like your ideas and just want a little proof that you can deliver on them, unlike all the games they've seen that failed to deliver on such promises.
If people are asking for an example of play, I have no idea why you wouldn't want to provide one, and it baffles me that you'd call them trolls. They are your audience -- gamers with a million games to choose from who are pondering giving you $25 for a PDF, but not without a little more demonstration of value. I mean, dude, there's no reason at all to expect selling an RPG to be easier than that. If you'd rather not deal with with skepticism, requests, and the occasional jerk, then I wouldn't blame you, but I'd expect that you'd only reach a small percentage of your potential audience.
I might be interested in reviewing your game. I'll PM you about that. I can be a tough critic, though.
Ps,
-David
tymotzues:
Hi David
Yes, I know the guys that are still there aren’t trolls, and I’m not treating them as such.
My wife just told me I deserved your chastisement LOL
Alright so I’ll be nice from now on.
I fully appreciate their position. I wouldn’t want to just throw my cash around either. But I’m really concerned that publishing an excerpt of the book is not going to give the right idea about the game.
http://www.fatestorm.com/fs_admin/FS_MechanicsExample.pdf
So, I’ll put my heart out there and show you guys and you can tell me what you think. Please keep this link to yourselves as I’m still debating whether to allow public access or not.
This is the example of combat which comes directly from the book. The issue I have is that it shows none of the roleplay side of the game, it shows none of the character nuance that makes the game what it is; it’s pure mechanics, so even though it demonstrates the success of the combat system it doesn’t highlight any of the really cool bits that are behind the scene.
Ron Edwards:
Another solution: post here in the Actual Play forum. I suggest doing so quite literally, that is, talk about a real and actual experience that you and others had during a particular session, when the fictional result was especially fun. Include how people's decisions at the table were expressed in mechanical terms using the rules, and what happened when the mechanics were applied.
Although such an example will not showcase every aspect of your game, it will show some of the clockwork gears in action, which is not only what jpeople are reasonably asking for, but will advertise your game better than any summary statement possibly could. This advice is quite battle-tested, and I recommend you seriously consider it.
Best, Ron
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