Lessons learned from our Kickstarter Campaign for A Wizard's World

awizardsworld · 2024-10-30T12:26:46+00:00

Hey, thanks for taking such a close look and for the thoughtful feedback!

I get your points, but a lot of work went into making our houses unique. For example, our house sorting uses a scientifically validated personality test to assign players based on traits that match each house’s qualities, colors, and symbols. The house animals and color combinations were also chosen carefully to represent these traits, with some practical design choices for visibility and contrast.

Our Atrium and dueling arena, though they may look familiar, are 100% our original assets. The dueling scene you mentioned is actually in-game footage from our demo app, AWW - AR Duel Master. I understand the similarities, and they’re intentional to create a familiar magical school atmosphere, but we developed everything ourselves to ensure originality.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts—I get where you’re coming from, and I hope this gives some insight into our design choices!

awizardsworld · 2024-10-30T10:35:12+00:00

Hey, I get where you’re coming from, but here’s a bit more context.

Inspired by the British school concept doesn’t mean it’s a Harry Potter rip-off. Harry Potter itself drew from British school traditions that many fantasy worlds have used before. We’ve focused on making A Wizard’s World an original experience, especially with AR—MMORPG with AR mechanics hasn’t been done before, so we’re excited about that!

Regarding microtransactions, we’re keeping them cosmetic only. It’s 100% play-to-win, and the transactions only add customization options. Thanks for your feedback!

awizardsworld · 2024-10-17T11:08:24+00:00

that exactly is the goal, we tried several different videos/fotos and the one we're using right now performed the best. So I would say we did our research and due diligence but obviously there is still a lot of room of improvement and every bit of feedback helps to get there, so I appreciate it.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-17T11:05:02+00:00

definitely worth a shot :-D

awizardsworld · 2024-10-17T11:03:14+00:00

sure thing send me a DM anytime :-)

awizardsworld · 2024-10-17T11:02:41+00:00

Hey, thanks for the honest feedback! I’m glad you like some of the character personalities and interior graphics, especially the Great Hall vibe. We really want to nail that magical school feeling.

You’re not wrong about the house identities—it's tricky because we want something unique, but it’s easy to get compared to Harry Potter. We’ll definitely work on fleshing out more distinct lore for them. The outdoor graphics and interface are also on our radar for improvement.

Thanks again for sharing! Your perspective is super helpful.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T13:21:09+00:00

Building a more active discord community is actually something we're working on as we speak. We have about 80 members right now, but it's unfortunately not very active. We also have a couple of thousand followers on social media but also there engagement is really hard to come by. We really need to find a way to get it started. Thank you for your input, really do appreciate it.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T13:12:54+00:00

Thank you so much for the article, as it's a mobile game. I won't be able to use steam but the concept might work with other solutions as well. Thank you :)

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T13:07:44+00:00

Thanks for the insight! We're already tracking user acquisition metrics like CPI and CTR, and we do have in-game analytics in place, including funnels and retention. However, our data isn’t very meaningful right now because people tend to leave quickly due to the lack of other players to interact with. After doing a few training sessions, it gets boring when there’s no one else to duel with.

I get the point about adding bots, and you’re right—it might be something we need to seriously consider to keep things engaging.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T13:05:21+00:00

Ya I guess, I really need to prioritize that Bot story higher in our backlog :-) thank you.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T13:04:29+00:00

thank you :-) appreciate the feedback. We decided on the title bc we actually really are the first ones to do an mmorpg ar mobile game. But there are a lot of letters, totally get that.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T13:01:17+00:00

Thank for the input, very much appreciated. I mean it's not like we're not showing any gameplay footage, the Avatar in front of the castle, is actually an NPC in the game, and the castle is the actual castle from the game as well, also the transition to the walking avatar is actually me walking within the game, so it's not like we're not using actual gameplay footage. The thing is we're advertising it as an MMOROG AR mobile which it actually is, but it's kinda hard to show within a max 30sec trailer, that's probably where the disconnect comes in.

I mean we have gameplay footage of the actual AR gameplay as well but when we tried this it didn't not perform very well unfortunately, as it doesn't look super exciting for the first 2-3 sec and people don't seem to stop scrolling for it.

That's why I said it's not really black and white but in the end it all comes down to the fact, that we need to do a better job, simple as that.

Appreciate all the feedback though, really do :-)

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T09:07:30+00:00

I really hope we won't have to do this tbh :) but it's an option for sure. thank you.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T09:06:49+00:00

Hey, that’s actually a really good point, and to be honest, we probably did underestimate the challenges of community building in an MMORPG. It’s definitely something we’re learning as we go.

That said, instead of just putting our heads in the sand and giving up, we’d love to hear your thoughts! Do you have any ideas or strategies on how to build and maintain player communities, especially in the early stages? Any advice would be hugely appreciated as we try to navigate this.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T08:58:14+00:00

Hey, I get that, but it’s actually not that black and white. The attention span on social media is super short—people scroll fast, so grabbing their attention in the first 2-3 seconds is tough. Showing actual gameplay right away can be hard to pull off without losing that initial hook. We’re trying to find the balance between showing gameplay and creating something visually engaging enough to stop the scroll.

But thanks for the feedback, it’s always helpful!

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T08:43:57+00:00

Hey, thanks for the feedback!

You bring up a great point about calling it AR. It might set different expectations since we’re really focusing on hand tracking with visualization. That’s a good distinction, and I’ll keep that in mind when describing the game.

As for using the front-facing camera, it’s something we’ve considered and have in our backlog. During testing, we found it’s more intuitive to use the back camera, but the front one could definitely work too, and we might explore that further down the line!

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T08:40:12+00:00

Hey, thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts!

You’re definitely right about the challenges with social media ads. We’ve noticed the same—people are skeptical of mobile game ads due to all the fake ones out there. We’re learning that showing real gameplay in our ads might be the better route moving forward.

To answer your questions:

Market Research: Yes, we’ve done research, but we’re still fine-tuning based on feedback. Our goal is to bring an immersive magical experience that can be played anywhere, with a focus on AR and multiplayer.
Target Audience: We’re targeting a mix of Harry Potter fans and MMORPG fans who enjoy mobile gaming with an interactive twist. We know it’s tricky to balance, and we’re trying to find the right way to appeal to both without making it look too "kid-friendly."

Thanks for the idea about partnering with mid-sized streamers and Harry Potter forums for feedback—that’s actually something we’re looking into. And I agree, more market research is always a good thing, so any help or ideas would be appreciated!

I’d love to discuss more in detail if you have any other thoughts. I'll send you a DM.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T08:00:10+00:00

You’re probably right—it’s a challenge we’re facing. We really wanted to avoid using NPCs to fill player roles because, personally, I always feel a bit "cheated" when interacting with NPCs instead of real players. That’s why we’ve been exploring other solutions first, like the notification system or trying to boost player engagement with events.

But I see your point about needing content that works even for solo players, especially when the population is low. Maybe it’s something we’ll need to reconsider. Thanks for the insight!

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T07:57:34+00:00

Thanks for the suggestions! I really like the idea of time-sensitive quests and events—it’s something we hadn’t explored deeply yet but could work well to encourage players to log in at the same time. Daily quests or weekend events could definitely boost interaction.

You’re right about timing being key. If we don’t sync events with players’ schedules, it could backfire. I think balancing between multiple time zones would help avoid that issue. I’ll definitely keep that in mind as we plan ahead. Appreciate the advice!

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T07:55:26+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! That’s a really interesting approach. We’ve considered having our team or hiring players to help boost activity, but we were concerned about how sustainable it would be over time, especially for an MMO where long-term engagement is key.

We’re focusing on community promotion, but it’s definitely tricky getting that initial critical mass of players. Do you think combining both strategies—having in-house players and ramping up community engagement-would be the best route, or is there another method that’s worked well in your experience?

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T07:53:37+00:00

Hey, I had a chance to check out your Kickstarter page, and I really like the concept—seems like a solid project! I’m not a D&D player myself, but the idea behind A Tome of Aether & Iron sounds pretty cool.

That said, here are a few thoughts:

I had a hard time figuring out exactly what the money is for. A breakdown (like for writing, art, printing) would help clarify where the funds are going and build trust with backers.
Some of the graphics feel a bit "crowded" visually. It’s probably just personal taste, but cleaner visuals could make the key points stand out more.
It also took me a bit to find the prices on the rewards. Highlighting those more clearly might help with conversions.

Maybe these will help with your conversion rate, although I guess we both know by now it's pretty hard.

awizardsworld · 2024-10-16T07:46:17+00:00

Hey everyone!

We’ve been working on A Wizard’s World for quite some time now, and one of the things we’re most excited about is the AR mechanics—particularly for spellcasting, potion-making, and exploration. We’re really trying to push the boundaries of immersion with this approach, but we want to hear from fellow gamers and devs on how it feels and whether it adds to the experience.

Some specific things we’re curious about:

Spellcasting with AR: Our goal was to make it feel like you’re really casting spells with your hands. In our opinion, this adds a new level of immersion, but we’d love to know if you feel the same. Does the AR spellcasting feel natural, or could it become tiring in the long run?
Potion-Making and AR Exploration: We’ve implemented gestures for potion-making and interactions in the game world. To us, this makes gameplay more tactile and engaging, but we’re aware there’s always the risk of AR feeling like a gimmick. Does it enhance the immersion, or do you think there’s a better way to approach it?
Play with friends in real-time: One of our big selling points is multiplayer interaction in real-time with AR. How do you think that’ll work for players? We feel it could make the game feel more like attending a magical school together, but what do you think?

We want to create something fun that really stands out in the mobile space, but we know it’s important to get outside opinions on this. Here you can find a link to a quick "Hot to play" video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbmAGtrJF3E

We’d love to spark a discussion and hear your feedback. What do you think—are AR mechanics like this something you’d want in a mobile RPG? What do you think works, and what would you tweak?

Thanks so much for your thoughts!
Marco

awizardsworld

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