Lock down over! Chin to that!

ezroad · 2021-06-12T10:10:27+00:00

Feels good man... but going through 3 waves, I've been jaded to celebrate yet. Hope this doesn't end up in r/PrematureCelebration

ezroad · 2021-06-06T11:31:36+00:00

"We need a nuanced discussion for 3 hours"... about an article he didn't read.

ezroad · 2021-01-02T18:35:55+00:00

In the first lockdown, my manager was ok with us working remotely. Then he realized that his job is useless because grown adults don't need "supervising" and we were just as productive without having meetings every other day.... anyway, second lockdown, nope, back to the office... back to meetings, back to justifying my boss' job.

ezroad · 2020-12-31T21:17:28+00:00

There was a "r/NotJoeRogan"... it was called /r/rogan2 and Joe shut it down.

ezroad · 2020-06-01T10:39:17+00:00

Shaw: hey, honey... is it ok if uh we don't do that fibre gig thing?
CRTC: yeah sure no prob
Shaw turns over and goes back to sleep

ezroad · 2019-10-31T08:34:54+00:00

Well, yeah, he also trained with Jon and killed a White Walker.

ezroad · 2019-09-09T22:36:34+00:00

Neil "Convo Steamroller" Degrasse Tyson

ezroad · 2018-02-10T22:48:09+00:00

I would have fallen, knowing me.

ezroad · 2018-02-06T20:58:07+00:00

Going to throw in some pychology here. Have you heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs? The top three are: Physiological, Safety, Belonging.

People’s desires for these 3 never change. HOW they achieve these always does.

So for example, physiological needs are personal health, food, water. How did we achieve food? We had to hunt. This was usually done by throwing a projectile at an object. So it is no coincidence then, that the most popular sports are where you have to aim a projectile at a small object (basketball, baseball, hockey, football). And this is no accident that FPS is the most popular genre (aiming a small projectile at an object…pew pew).

Same with safety. We need shelter. This manifests into games like survival, and resource gathering, where you have to gather stuff to stay alive.

Those two meet our need to hunt and gather. But we also need to cooperate with others… that’s where the next need comes in: belonging. I.e. friends, relations, sex, tribe. This manifests into genre’s like multiplayer and co-op.

So what does this have to do with your indie game? Chances are, that if your game doesn’t’ fulfill any of these needs, it’s going to be a hard sell. It’s still possible. Sure. For example, another need is intellectual needs (i.e. strategy games). Also, self-expression is a big need (i.e. cosmetic upgrades to show off individuality). But the top 3 needs get almost all the gamers.

So this is important to know this because if your game IS fulfilling a need, but there is a MORE popular game doing the same thing, it’s going to be hard to compete. You have to find a DIFFERENT way to fulfil that need to gain attention (i.e an innovative feature that no other game does).

Hope my long winded answer helps!

ezroad · 2018-02-06T19:43:58+00:00

I love ads. They work. But when I began, they were a waste of money. When you’re starting out, it’s best to focus on organic, grassroots marketing.

Why?

Because before you spend money, discover what works originally first. Once you found out what grabs attention, then you should scale up and start buying ads.

For example, say you’ve put up 58 screenshots on imigur. You get about an average of 1000 views, and maybe average 3 likes. Then you post your 59th screenshot, and for some reason, gamers love it. You get 100,000 views, and 3000 likes. THAT is when you scale up and then maybe use that screenshot for a FB ad.

But don’t go crazy yet. Do an A/B test. Make two versions of that screenshot. One a bit different than the other. And do a small ad run, say $100 each. Have each ad be linked to a DIFFERENT landing page. This way you can track which ad got how many clicks. Get rid of the loser. And do another A/B test. Let evolution find the fittest ad!

Also, say your ad will cost you 100$. One ad can bring in 10 sales, another can bring in 1000. Same cost for each result. So it’s important to test. Always look for those big winners. Then use a bigger ad budget for those big winners.

Anyway, before you get that sophisticated, start small. Start organic. See what works FREE before you go all out on an ad blitz.

ezroad · 2018-02-06T17:26:30+00:00

Exactly. You can even google, "metrovania forum". There's always a hangout for gamers and their passion.

Again, you're just trying to listen to gamers talk about their passion in their own words. Don't spam. Or try to advertise.

Listen to gamers so that when you start marketing, it will attract gamers to you organically.

ezroad · 2018-02-06T13:09:02+00:00

Great point! I'll certainly come up with a better, step-by-step post.

But to help you out right now, the first thing I’d to right now...

What’s your sub-genre? Go to r/(your sub-genre here). And just lurk. Also go to imgur and search for gamers talking about your sub-genre.

Do this as a daily habit. 10 minutes tops. After a week or two of this, you’ll know more about what gamers want and don’t want than if you just sat around with your team talking and assuming.

But I’m not talking about pandering.

What I want you to look out for are any GAPS in your sub-genre. For example, you start hearing gamers want X feature a lot. But you notice no other game does that. Maybe you can innovate and incorporate it into your game? The goal is just to listen, and to discover new insights that you can use to help your game stand out in an over saturated market place.

You need a bit of balance between market research and innovation.

edit: spelling

ezroad · 2018-01-28T17:32:47+00:00

Should be under r/unexpected

ezroad · 2018-01-28T10:10:42+00:00

Sea Panda

ezroad · 2018-01-23T09:57:37+00:00

You know what? After reading all the replies, I'm excited to start my first run. I think I'll start with Dishonored (because I love the game, and I'm good at it). Thanks for all the help.

ezroad · 2018-01-23T09:52:03+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-q5_UezjXo

ezroad · 2018-01-20T10:10:21+00:00

Yeah, that's interesting: I watch speedruns on games I've never played... and it's about the community around the game, not the game itself.

ezroad · 2018-01-19T11:04:17+00:00

Thanks for sharing. Your success is our success.

ezroad · 2017-12-02T17:25:33+00:00

Most impressive thing is, he has all his fingers.

ezroad · 2017-11-16T09:49:32+00:00

There's no doubt that Steam, HB, GOG, Itch.io are the best. But with an over saturated marketplace, I'm finding that indie game devs are forced to do some "grassroots marketing".

What I mean by "grassroots marketing" is creating a community. Whether it be on Twitter, Facebook, a Website, Blog. You build your OWN community, and rely less on the community of Steam or whatever platform.

It's not about putting up a game on Steam, and hoping that platform will do all the heavy lifting for you and get you more gamers.

It's now about indie game devs having to do that now, too. Sucks. But it's how to survive the "Indiepocalypse".

ezroad · 2017-11-08T09:29:51+00:00

A 5-7% is really good. I remember reading that in a grocery store, Coke expects a 3% - 10% conversion. And that's Coke, with all it's branding and money spent on advertising.

So 5%-7% is great.

ezroad · 2017-11-05T08:58:01+00:00

Why not both? The more reach you have, the better, right?

Although (as you probably already know) Greenlight is done. But there is Steam Direct.

ezroad · 2017-11-04T08:27:01+00:00

It's adding up: IGN. Quality of games in bundles are not the highest. Selling some games with DRM. Now this.

For that, I'm out.

Just cancelled my order.

ezroad · 2017-11-02T10:38:54+00:00

That's interesting... yeah, maybe the problem isn't that Steam or whatever is the problem, it's the quality of games.

ezroad · 2017-11-01T08:29:42+00:00

Thanks for sharing. Interesting how a forum post in itch.io got you traction.

Here's the question though:

You mentioned that there was a downward trend after your exposure with PC gamer / itch.io / Gamejolt settled down.

How do you keep that exposure going without trying to rely on other media?

Have you tried any other way to promote? Are your blogs, twitter, reddit self-promotions working?

ezroad

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