Bribing Feedback
Like every game designer, I'd love to have a fanatical core of players who champion my game on various forums, in their local game stores, at conventions or among their regular gaming clubs. Not a huge number of people, but enough people paying attention to my design work and spreading their love for it more than I could do alone.
I've thought about way to do this...but I'm not one of the "hipster elite" on certain forums, I don't live in striking dstance of any major "globally signficant" convention, and it seems that many other designers are struggling just as hard a I am in these difficult financial times.
To these ends, I've offered free games, I've given away physical copies of games at local conventions, I've done game trades with other designers I respect. I've shared my design methodology.
I'm now thinking about upping the ante.It might not be enough to have a few core fanatics, it might be more worthwhile to cast a wider net.
To these ends I'm thinking of a few things to boost the profile of Ghost City Raiders...
First, I'll be putting together the starter kit for Ghost City Raiders on RPGNow(and DrivethruRPG), using a whole heap of my accumulated "Publisher Promotion Points" to get the product as advertised as possible. This will probably be a series of the core rules along with 10 characters and 10 scenarios for $10. It'll be the highest cost thing that I've put onto the site, but hopefully the advertising will pay off.
Secondly, I'll be starting up a crowdfunded campaign to create a series of game hardcopies (each in a hand customised tin). These tins will have a slightly different range of characters and scenarios so that they retain some value as a collectible for those people who might have already purchased the downloadable PDFs. After the issues I faced with producing the Goblin Tarot Deck, I'm in two minds about producing a custom deck of cards for this project.
Finally, I'll be offering a special bonus character and scenario free of charge to anyone who blogs about their experiences with the game or posts about it on a forum (such a person would have to get in contact with me regarding their entry, post or comment).
I've thought about way to do this...but I'm not one of the "hipster elite" on certain forums, I don't live in striking dstance of any major "globally signficant" convention, and it seems that many other designers are struggling just as hard a I am in these difficult financial times.
To these ends, I've offered free games, I've given away physical copies of games at local conventions, I've done game trades with other designers I respect. I've shared my design methodology.
I'm now thinking about upping the ante.It might not be enough to have a few core fanatics, it might be more worthwhile to cast a wider net.
To these ends I'm thinking of a few things to boost the profile of Ghost City Raiders...
First, I'll be putting together the starter kit for Ghost City Raiders on RPGNow(and DrivethruRPG), using a whole heap of my accumulated "Publisher Promotion Points" to get the product as advertised as possible. This will probably be a series of the core rules along with 10 characters and 10 scenarios for $10. It'll be the highest cost thing that I've put onto the site, but hopefully the advertising will pay off.
Secondly, I'll be starting up a crowdfunded campaign to create a series of game hardcopies (each in a hand customised tin). These tins will have a slightly different range of characters and scenarios so that they retain some value as a collectible for those people who might have already purchased the downloadable PDFs. After the issues I faced with producing the Goblin Tarot Deck, I'm in two minds about producing a custom deck of cards for this project.
Finally, I'll be offering a special bonus character and scenario free of charge to anyone who blogs about their experiences with the game or posts about it on a forum (such a person would have to get in contact with me regarding their entry, post or comment).
It's this last bit that I'm hoping will generate a bit more of a community around the game.
We'll see how things go.
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Comments
Best of luck!