So... how's our marketing?

What marketing? I hope for yourself that a tube video and a thread on ta is not what you call marketing but the bare minimum!?

* Do you think our teaser video is effective? NO
* What about the app description text? No one reads that anyway
* Is the website design OK? NO
* Would you do anything else differently? YES

Go read on headcasegames and 180 and the crapload of things he did ( and not succeded, sorry pal) and compare that to your "efforts".

 

Well, I think your game concept looks hilarious and quirky, and your teaser video is great and shows the overall off beat humor and personality your game will have, so those are two pluses in your favor.

However, you still have a long way to go for getting the word out, so don't stop yet!

Literally nobody reads the descriptive text, especially not the kind of audience you are aiming your game at, so you are much better off doing brightly colored and descriptive screenshots with short snappy captions.

Website looks decent. If I were you I'd turn it into a blog format where you tease out new details as you get them, and email it to your list at the same time. That would get your followers to stay interested.

You should launch some kind of campaign to get more fans and offer to let them have their own character in the game or something if they donate or do something. Get your fans involved, get them to spread the word for you, and make them feel like they are a part of the development, and that is the best marketing you can do!

 

People might not read the text but search robots do.

It looks like kids could have a lot of fun with your game. Have you play tested with any children yet?

And next question - have you thought about how to market the game at kids/parents?

 

children? if anyone targets children he will have a tough time.. judging from the comments in his thread its obvious that alot of people where looking more into something pokemon like.. so something for teens+ rather than a more "childish" approach..

i also find comments like bravado to the website more than glooming.. the page is more than basic and the design anything to brag about..

but as long as there are enough yay sayer everything will be good.. till people crash into the wall the appstore is and wonder why it did not work out..

kind and illusionary word does not help anyone.. the projects core might be a solid pokemon like experience but without even the close polish of its originator chances are more than slim..

there is a reason why cresent moon handpick promising project and give them a complete rework to up the ante.. either people realize that "handpainted gfx done in ms-paint" does not attract anyone and don't give you an illusionary bonus.

every once in a while i think most indies could need a bucket of water to clear their head and face reality at least to some extend.

but at the end (tm) everyone wants to listen to nice stuff about his work.. if its realistic or not.. who cares if you are in a competive market or not.. lets all dance around nicely together and everything will be alright..

pffzz.. just a little ramble.. go one padding each others back..

good luck.

 

Mr.Ugly - the smiley at the end of your post seems quite out of place.

It sounds like you have permanent emotional damage from having been bruised by the app store. Anyone with half a brain knows that a few kind words won't tell you whether or not your app will do well commercially.

I used to work with kids. I can imagine them being attracted to the visuals of this game and generally liking it. Hopefully fuzzyprofessorhead won't need to speculate and will already have some observations/feedback from children.

 

Whoa! Am I the only one who reads the descriptive text?

 

Lol, doctor your words shine a light into my darkness.. Lol.. Permanent emotional damage hehe.. I actualy laughed out loud and i got an odd look from my gf.. I told her not to worry the doctor is near..

So you used to work with kids who own an ipad or ipod and who constantly browse the appstore for their next game, great. You might check on chart positions of favourite kids games, especialy thoose wo cant deploy big iap income via uncaring parents..

Its awesome that one has todo absolutly nothing with the other.. I hope you dont mix an casual approach to one for children.

And of course kind word do not reflect anything.. but most people rather say yay just to be nice which never helped anyone to improve anything.. But apparenty thats what you are looking for, a pad on the back for time spend one something.. But thats not the way it works. Maybe im the only one who does not care for positive feedback because that does not help you to evolve.. The bad things are holding you back not the good ones..

 

Well, Mr. Ugly's points are all valid, albeit it was said in a harsher way. While he is often attacked for this, his presence is a welcome when the truth in its definitive form is needed. Taking just the advice and ignoring the rest from his comments actually makes him one of the most helpful on the forums.

 

I agree and to be honest, you're posts are one of the only reasons I stick around on this forum. They provide some of the few truly useful insights into the industry for me.

For the record I said the website was "decent" and suggested a different approach. If I had your "die Hoden" I would have said that it was quite basic and needed a ton more work and should be modeled after something like Moshi Monster's website (http://www.moshimonsters.com/) to attract the attention it will need.

But I don't. I knew you'd say the hard stuff so that I didn't have to.

In the end, they've been featured on TA now, so that's about all the marketing they need.

 

see that was tons better.. because the other side is a nice example how an website with a cutsy theme could look..

as for the impact of making the front page of TA.. talk to NorEagle.. he can tell you that this means actualy not much.. TA does not represent the appstore, while any exposure on any new site is helpfull is does not gurantee anything.. in this case even false hope for a real pokemon clone.

again in one of my first comments you can see i said the core gameplay may be exactly what people out there want.. but thats it.. check the games thread and the biggest beef in this early stage is the gfx.. because its ugly and aims to low.. getting a real illustrator into this project and overhault it could lead to something worthwhile.. again cresent moons rehauls of other people projects show that as a good example..

at the end (haha).. stop liking your own work, no one cares you love yourself.. the others have to like it and to buy it not you.. so if for example the gfx is ok for you but alot say its not what they expect you should think twice about such pure and early feedback..

take care guys

 

Wasnt there a game like that out called Monster Ranch. It seemed like a nice Pokemon-Clone, but even now I saw only 3 people on the server...

Honestly I would prefer pixelated graphics over the "drawn" ones. When I see it like that it just looks like a cheap flash-game. But maybe thats just my preference.

 

what i don't get is comments like this

since when was pokemon & co about gory monsters?

 

In between us is your head! You make the final choice, and choose what advice to take and what to ignore.

I do agree with Mr. Ugly about aiming a bit low on your graphics. My biggest suggestion is to take any money you plan on spending on marketing/advertising the game, and put it back into UI design and get some professional illustrations in there. Your biggest marketing tool is your icon and your screenshots, so make sure you polish the crap out of the UI and the visuals. www.game-artist.net is a great place to find some awesome artists who will do you proud for a decent price.

You're game has such awesome snark and personality, it deserves some professional illustrations and UI design to really make it pop.

 

I only read the text if every sentence doesn't end in "!" ...otherwise, how am I suppose to know what's exciting?


As for OP - need to really ramp up those efforts, think if you're doing all you can in preparation of launch

 

Nope, me too.

 

+1 better shorten every sentence to the core and make them open-and-shut with good layout.

 

I'm going to write mine in glitter!!