Twilight Heroes needs cheap/free/good marketing ideas!

[Ryme]

Absolutely. Assuming retcon ever comes out and Jick's feeling generous about it, I certainly hope to get a few mentions.

[Corrupt Shadow]

The easiest way to market oneself is to create a Twilight Heroes app for FaceBook

I'd use it. I'd be proud to show off my character!

[Satan]

So, I was sitting here playing an MMORTS on Kongregate, and I was like, *slap self in face*, advertise to these people about TH. And then I was like, *slap self in face*, better idea, tell Ryme to get TH integrated with Kongregate for badges. Now, I realize that TH isn't even flashed based, but it /is/ a game and according to the documentation on the Kong API, you can use JavaScript and PHP for making API calls. The pros: TONNNNNNNSSSSSS of potential new players and alot of publicity. The cons: Someone will need to learn how to implement the API, not of all of the incoming playerbase will stay after they get badges for Kongregate. But I think a large amount of players will like the game enough to play even after getting the badges. So...? *slap self in face*

[Cristiona]

Good idea. *slaps Satan*

[Muhandes]

Not really a big thing, but in case someone has a wikipedia user page, they might want to use:

{{User:Muhandes/Userboxes/Twilight Heroes}}

To see how the user box looks like:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... ght_Heroes

(If I had the actual moon used it would be even closer, but I think it's pretty close)

[Harry Dresden]

But if they can't read English, then why would they play a text-based game that is entirely in English?

[Satan]

It's not that they can't read English, it's probably that they prefer to use their primary language wikipedia. Similar to how we in the US using the US google search tend to find things written in our language, they probably find things written in their language.

[Patojonas]

does TH has a Facebook page?

That thing is the new fashion, everyone has it, creating a page there and sending a message to all players asking for them to add that account as friends if they have a Facebook account would give more visibility to the game and those players' friends could stumble on it, thus coming here and check it out.

I guess in that account there could be the game updates that show up in the log in page.

Also, what about making a video about the game to post on youtube?

[Ryme]

does TH has a Facebook page?

Yep! We do! I think we have a "page" but not a "site" or maybe it's the other way around. Facebook was weird terms for different ways to use them to blab about yourself. I've been told that whatever one we *don't* have is the one we should have, and I'll get around to it someday.

creating a page there and sending a message to all players asking for them to add that account as friends if they have a Facebook account would give more visibility to the game and those players' friends could stumble on it, thus coming here and check it out.

I guess in that account there could be the game updates that show up in the log in page.

The existing page never seemed that active, and the Twitter account we have seemed simpler and more effective at delivering updates, but I may try it again.

[Muhandes]

We're in the process of drafting an Italian wiki article for TH: http://twilightheroes.com/forums/viewto ... 350#p24350
...
Ryme, please advise. Thanks.

Better not. You don't want Ryme to be obviously involved with the article, or it gets tagged with COI (Conflict of Interests) and then it can be speedy deleted. Fans are OK.

[Harry Dresden]

Facebook quizes get very annoying very fast.

[Ryme]

If we did anything, I'd like to see one that basically had something kind of silly like "what class are you" where the questions might be:

1) When in a tricky situation, I rely on:
a) my brain
b) tools
c) my brawn
d) firey explosions

Nothing serious, just a way to identify preferences, or joke around.

That said, I have zero time for months to come. Retcon is priority #1. And I have no idea how to program Facebook anything. If someone happens to be inclined, I'd spare 5 minutes for some guidance and copy editing, but otherwise the idea is going to languish until I don't have anything better to do, which comes after a looooooong list of additions and updates.

[Citizen James]

I was going to suggest adding a page to TV tropes, but it looks like you're already there.

(Please be aware that TV tropes is slightly more addictive than crack, and should be avoided if you plan to do anything else within the next 6-10 hours)

[Harry Dresden]

It has been far too long since this thread had the dust kicked off.

Anyone have a new idea for getting some free/cheap advertising to bring in more players? I know the flyers idea was one of the good ones that I think we never actually followed through on (c'mon Cris, you know you want to make flyers!) but maybe someone can come up with an even better idea.

[Ryme]

I know someone pinged me about flyers the other day, even. Sadly, art isn't my strong suit. Especially non-web art.

Anybody want to paint their body and streak the world series?

No, no, just kidding. That's totally illegal, nobody should do that. And the cameramen are very good about not letting the public see that stuff, so it'd be totally wasted.

[Harry Dresden]

Have you ever tried Google AdWords or the Facebook ads, Ryme? I was just looking at AdWords today, and the cost seems fairly reasonable. The minimum was $.01/click on the ad, and you can set a maximum so that you don't get hit with some kind of thousand dollar bill each month.

[Ryme]

I've used AdWords in the past for other businesses, but not for TH. At the time it seemed like a really huge waste of money. It was a completely different business, though, so maybe I've ruled it out unnecessarily.

The FaceBook ads that I see tend to really annoy me. Maybe because they're all Zynga games and I've got a little bit of loathing for Zynga's business models and gameplay. I probably should look into them too.

[Harry Dresden]

I'll agree with the Facebook ads usually being annoying. It's almost always an ad for some game that is entirely different from what the ad seems to suggest, too.

Google, though, seems like it might be worth a shot. Even if it only brings in a dozen or two new players a month.

[Sanjuro]

Please pardon the necro-bump.

Kinak, do you have any thing to say on this topic?

[Kinak]

Kinak, do you have any thing to say on this topic?

Oh, lots

Two warnings before I start, though. First is that I haven't gone back and read the thread, this is my raw thoughts on the topic. Second is that I want to build up a cushion for server fees before I start jumping into advertising, so none of this will happen immediately.

Cons:
I like (tabletop) gaming conventions. Not necessarily because they're the best fit, although it works pretty well, but just because they're "my people" and I can talk to them comfortably for an entire weekend.

This is actually one of the things that me also running Metroplexity will help with directly. Neither Metroplexity nor Twilight Heroes needs a whole table, but with our powers combined...

Anyway, I expect to do Origins at some point because it's literally down the street. But I can't do too many others, even if the table space was magically free, because hotel stays are killer.

Web Advertising:
There are a number of ways to do cheap targeted web advertising. Off the top of my head: Google AdWords, Facebook ads, and Project Wonderful (the webcomic ads people).

Any of the three would be fine, although my natural inclination is Project Wonderful. Google can do some pretty amazing things, but I foresee a lot of effort going into balancing costs and effectiveness for different terms. And, frankly, I'd rather never give Facebook a dime while there's an alternative. Sorry Facebook fans.

But low-cost, targeted (at least to a specific comic's audience) advertising that helps other people's labors of love? That I can deal with.

Cheers!
Kinak

[Harry Dresden]

If you ever need a volunteer to help with one of those gaming convention booths, consider my hand raised high.

[Isladar]

I haven't been to Origins or Gencon in *years*.
Always had fun, though. Where else can you play Car Wars with modded matchbox and hot wheels toys? Or play Robo Rally with Richard Garfield? Or Twilight Imperium with eleven opponents?!

Hm...

[Kinak]

If you ever need a volunteer to help with one of those gaming convention booths, consider my hand raised high.

Careful, I might just take you up on that

I haven't been to Origins or Gencon in *years*.
Always had fun, though. Where else can you play Car Wars with modded matchbox and hot wheels toys? Or play Robo Rally with Richard Garfield? Or Twilight Imperium with eleven opponents?!

Man, now you make me wish it was GenCon.

I will do my best to refrain from singing its praises, but it's been my wife and I's yearly vacation since we started dating, back when it was still in Milwaukee. Lots of life changes, some moving into and out of the industry, but it's never stopped being awesome.

Cheers!
Kinak

[Theo]

Don't do stuff at Origins... I could drive there and I would feel obligated to go again! Haven't been in a few years. This year was my first GenCon since 08 or so.. wasn't as good as I remembered.

[Kinak]

Don't do stuff at Origins... I could drive there and I would feel obligated to go again!

It's a harsh fate

Haven't been in a few years. This year was my first GenCon since 08 or so.. wasn't as good as I remembered.

This year's GenCon was a little weird with neither Wizards nor White Wolf selling anything. Nobody seemed to know quite what to do with themselves.

Not to get too much into insider baseball, but the tabletop RPG industry is at a crossroads of sorts and the companies are all trying to figure out which way things are headed. My professional guess is that things will still be a little weird this year and probably calm down after that.

Cheers!
Kinak

[Theo]

Honestly, my main concern this year was buying the Shadowrun Runner's Toolkit that was delayed for-frickin'-ever. After that I bought a lot of Steampunk costuming supplies that I couldn't make, namely latex weapons. Getting more into boardgames than RPGs now though... too difficult to get a group of people to consistently meet anymore.

I actually picture the future of RPGs to turn into more boardgames, like D&D is doing. More mainstream appeal, easier to learn, can get more people, a lot harder to pirate.

[ZehduPikado]

I could, if nobody else can since i am a terrible writer, make a post about the game at www.9gag.com. It's mostly a humor site
but not strictly and has the bonus of having a gazillion visitors. Only con would be drawing trolls attention to the game making it just like every other comunity, but we can never be sure that will happen, might be the opposite.

[Kinak]

I could, if nobody else can since i am a terrible writer, make a post about the game at http://www.9gag.com. It's mostly a humor site
but not strictly and has the bonus of having a gazillion visitors. Only con would be drawing trolls attention to the game making it just like every other comunity, but we can never be sure that will happen, might be the opposite.

Yeah, I'll admit I could do without a lot of trolling. At least for the mod team's sake

I think we need to hard-code in some form of referral system. I was recently referred to a game called E-sim, which is frankly not nearly as good a text-based game as this. The game gives a bonus, in the form of a currency similar to silver stars for reaching a a certain level/staying for a certain length of time, which I think could be easily transferred to this system. I think it would be a great way for the player base to expand itself, maybe giving a bonus to those who refer a player who stays for a certain amount of time. I know I'd throw these referrals around and I have a fair amount of clout in other games that i think would go a decent way.

Honestly, I really don't like those systems. Both personally, because it makes me feel like I can't trust people's suggestions, and because it encourages rampant multi-abuse even in games that would never have problems with it normally.

Cheers!
Kinak

[Cristiona]

If we're going to do the potential-troll mega site route, I'd rather deal with Something Awful goons...