Getting Noticed

[BlackLiquidSorrow]

For guys who really made it big out there, how did you do it? I posted a link to my game in my sig and everything but I can still count the amount of feedback i've received on one hand.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

If you give, you will receive. You can't just make a page, or even a social media account, and expect people to find you. You have to find people. Self promotion is about going out into the world and making connections/networking with other people. A good marketing campaign helps but interaction is king. If you play other games, get to know other people, and otherwise reach out to those people; they will return the favor. A lot of them, at least.

 

[TheoAllen]

A cheap self promotion

Spoiler

- Help people- Until they say "thank you!" and will do anything to return the favor

- Ask them to play your game

 

[Bonkers]

I played around 100+ RM games, and given detailed feedback publicly and privately; even if the developer becomes vile after asking for it.

Find like minded people and make them your contacts.  Make friends.  Look at Dalph.  It takes so little effort to be a decent person and have it all come back to you.    

Find other resource artists/musicians and put in face time with them to get to know them.

If someone is in need of play testing, HELP THEM.

Be active.

Share your work.  Engage in Restaff, and make sure to give feedback to other restaffers.

Admit your shortcomings, and improve.  This was my most difficult obstacle and took a great deal of effort.

Hire people in need of work, and display their work with their permission.  Promote those who work hard and have helped you.  One hand washes the other.

Don't insult people for trying, no matter how many times they fail.

Find people's projects and learn from their mistakes as they develop their game too.  You will be noticed for your effort eventually.  It takes time.

 

[Matseb2611]

You will be noticed for your effort eventually.  It takes time.

I agree with the entire Palladinthug's post, but this part especially. It won't happen overnight. I remember those days when I'd put my first few projects up and not really get much feedback at all. Whatever happens, don't get discouraged and just continue making games and continue checking out other people's games. You kind of have to become a part of the community if you want to gain anything out of it. I notice some people only ever come in to post their game thread and then never post anywhere else, which makes it very impersonal.

 

[whitesphere]

One of the best ways to get other people to try out your game is to offer to play THEIR games and then offer detailed, constructive feedback and bug reports (My party got stuck at the bridge in Gotham for example).  It doesn't mean you need to play through their entire game if you don't have a lot of free time.  Sometimes even 15 minutes of playtesting can be a huge help.

Also, when people offer you feedback, it's very important to take it seriously and fix what's not working in your game.  Otherwise, why bother asking for feedback, if you're not going to fix what people find?  When I got some feedback on my IGMC game, I immediately addressed it, even though some of the problems required a fair bit of work on my part (changing floor tile types for example), and the result was a much improved game.

Beyond that I agree with what everyone else has said --- if you're an actively participating member of the RPG Maker community, you're a lot more likely to get people who will reciprocate and test out your game a bit.

On the bright side, it is a very active user community, so you actually CAN get noticed by other community members.  It does just take time.

Finally, when you make a game, even if you're not selling it, make sure you do your best to fix bugs and glitches before even asking people to playtest it.  If I offered to playtest someone's game, especially if they said it was Completed, and it was very buggy, I'd give them the bug reports and not play any more of their games, because I'd assume they couldn't be bothered to test their game before releasing it.

I'd expect early builds to have bugs, but even then I'd spend at least a day bugfixing before asking others to use their limited free time to playtest my game.  Remember, people's free time is at least as precious a resource as money, treat it with respect.

 

[B.Ultimus]

It's a great question that plagues everyone.  But in the end, is make yourself noticed (without breaking forum rules, or just being obnoxious).  Posting meaningful content/conversation is a plus. 

More importantly, everyone LOVES to talk.  And that's great.  But very few people listen.  Pose meaningful questions, listen when someone talks about a passionate project, and provide feedback to show that you're not bs-ing your way through a conversation.

Your Like Score (surprisingly) will show how you're doing and the impact you have on these forums.  It's like a reputation system.  I can generally tell when someone brings something to the table, and when others just like to talk but offer no substance.  Got more likes than your post count?  Congratulations, you're doing something right.

More importantly, new people come and go all the time.  Everyone here has posted something that didn't receive any attention at first.  Immediately leave and never come back, only to show up a year later with a new RM Project... guess what?  You'll encounter the same issue.

Good luck out there, champ.

 

[BlackLiquidSorrow]

That's the thing, I do all the stuff that you mentioned, (playtesting, feedback, marketing) but I still don't get any recognition. I'm obviously not expecting to become one of those people whose posts are automatically liked immediately, but i'd like to have some sense of recognition.

 

[TheoAllen]

To be recognized / noticed, you need something worth. Generally, people easily notice someone else if they're useful in their life than random people around. In this community, they're scripters who make awesome scripts, artists who contribute the resources a lot, tutorials maker who really like to submit tutorials for people, and probably let's play-er who really like to play someone's game, OR maybe a random people who talk active and being friendly to people like having jokes and such.

Remember, people here has their own problem, their own game need to be done. Note that different people, have different approach. What they said here are just the general way to get noticed.

Spoiler

For example, me ...I'm sure I will play people games which use my scripts

 

[Andar]

That's the thing, I do all the stuff that you mentioned, (playtesting, feedback, marketing) but I still don't get any recognition.

It takes persistance and time to get recognised. And that means especially that you have to be more active.
126 posts in about 1,5 years (your date of joining) is only one or two posts per week - people won't even remember your name under the hundreds of posts here unless you regularly participate in a lot of topics. Don't spam with zero content (that will get you only negative reputation), but post more often with good answers if you want to see answers to your own games and topics.

 

[mlogan]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. So much good stuff has already been said. Two things that have come to my mind:

1. I caution you with the name changing. I only noticed you had because I saw something about your game, and thought "hmmm, I thought somebody else had a similar game". Then I realized it was you with a different username. I'm not saying you can't ever. But in this internet world a username can mean the world. Think about it - if Mack started making tiles under a different name do you think it would have the same response as opposed to "New Mack Tiles!!" Nope, not all.

I've contemplated changing my username to something, uh, a bit more creative. But at this point I wouldn't as lame of a username it is, because too many people know me by this one.

2. I just want to reiterate that you have to put yourself out there. It's hard at times, I know. I'm an introvert until I feel comfortable and it took me a long time to feel comfortable here. I was here for almost a year and didn't really get to know anyone. After a long break, I came back and started putting myself out there a bit more. And now, I've made a lot of awesome friends.

Also, I thought of Alkorri here when thinking about this post and the answers. Alkorri's first game did well because it was a good solid game. However, I don't think so many people would have given it a chance if Alkorri had not invested a lot of time getting to know people, making friends and pouring herself into other people. She has helped so many people with their games in the short time she's been here, it's no wonder people were quick to help her out in return.

Last thought, I noticed this on your profile:  "I'm the guy that just sits in the corner and just blends in with everything, unless you know me."

I know it's hard, really, really hard sometimes to take the chance to put yourself out there where you're seen and not just blending in. But if you don't make the effort, few people will notice you in the corner as they bustle on their way.

Take heart. This is a great, welcoming community and we rarely bite. Let us get to know you - you might be surprised.

 

[BlackLiquidSorrow]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents. So much good stuff has already been said. Two things that have come to my mind:

1. I caution you with the name changing. I only noticed you had because I saw something about your game, and thought "hmmm, I thought somebody else had a similar game". Then I realized it was you with a different username. I'm not saying you can't ever. But in this internet world a username can mean the world. Think about it - if Mack started making tiles under a different name do you think it would have the same response as opposed to "New Mack Tiles!!" Nope, not all.

I've contemplated changing my username to something, uh, a bit more creative. But at this point I wouldn't as lame of a username it is, because too many people know me by this one.

2. I just want to reiterate that you have to put yourself out there. It's hard at times, I know. I'm an introvert until I feel comfortable and it took me a long time to feel comfortable here. I was here for almost a year and didn't really get to know anyone. After a long break, I came back and started putting myself out there a bit more. And now, I've made a lot of awesome friends.

Also, I thought of Alkorri here when thinking about this post and the answers. Alkorri's first game did well because it was a good solid game. However, I don't think so many people would have given it a chance if Alkorri had not invested a lot of time getting to know people, making friends and pouring herself into other people. She has helped so many people with their games in the short time she's been here, it's no wonder people were quick to help her out in return.

Last thought, I noticed this on your profile:  "I'm the guy that just sits in the corner and just blends in with everything, unless you know me."

I know it's hard, really, really hard sometimes to take the chance to put yourself out there where you're seen and not just blending in. But if you don't make the effort, few people will notice you in the corner as they bustle on their way.

Take heart. This is a great, welcoming community and we rarely bite. Let us get to know you - you might be surprised.

When I say, "I'm the guy that just sits in the corner and just blends in with everything, unless you know me." I 'm referring to real life, not the internet. Regarding the username changing, do you think that avatar changing is appropriate? 

 

[mlogan]

When I say, "I'm the guy that just sits in the corner and just blends in with everything, unless you know me." I 'm referring to real life, not the internet. Regarding the username changing, do you think that avatar changing is appropriate? 

Maybe, but as Andar pointed out 1-2 posts a week is not a lot. So just a question for you to ask yourself: Do you really think you've come out of the corner here at RMW? I don't say that harshly at all - just trying to help you figure out why you haven't gotten the notice you feel you should have by now.

One of the ways that I started feeling more comfortable here was from posting in the status feeds. I've found it can be a great way to start some conversations that let people get to know YOU - not your game. If I had to, I would say the status posts I've made that have gotten more response are about silly ordinary stuff that allow people to get to know me.

As for as avatar goes, I don't think it's as imperative to keep the same. It's nice because a lot of people are very visual here and remember the pictures better. I would just caution about changing it real often.

Again, I hope you realize none of this is said harshly, just trying to make you think.

 

[BlackLiquidSorrow]

I don't think you're being harsh at all.

 

[mlogan]

   Good, sometimes you just never know how people will take things.

 

[Clord]

Well, one way to do it is to hang here and post often.


Also, people tend to contribute more once you offer something for them to play. Lack of comments doesn't mean that your project is going to be a failure once released. I have personally overlooked many games due I haven't got way to play them.

 

[phoenix_rossy]

For guys who really made it big out there, how did you do it? I posted a link to my game in my sig and everything but I can still count the amount of feedback i've received on one hand.

Always concentrate on improving your craft, keep an active profile in various communities and social media, be as helpful as you can, but most importantly, have a game/s that really entice people to play.

In a phrase: persistence pays off. 

The most successful people in this community have been around for quite some time.

EDIT: In your sig it reads "An internet themed RPG with over 10 unique classes!"  So... is that 11? If so, say 11. *pet peeve*

 

[Dalph]

The secret is:

Be supportive, test\play other people's games, give feedback to the developers and the Restaff guys, take part of events. BE ACTIVE and HELPFUL. Do what palladinthug and the others said.

I learned to make my own games playing the ones made by other people. I basically learned helping others.

Why bother about being noticed though?

It will happen automatically, just be yourself and you will achieve what you want without even realizing it. Good luck!

 

[BlackLiquidSorrow]

Always concentrate on improving your craft, keep an active profile in various communities and social media, be as helpful as you can, but most importantly, have a game/s that really entice people to play.

In a phrase: persistence pays off. 

The most successful people in this community have been around for quite some time.

EDIT: In your sig it reads "An internet themed RPG with over 10 unique classes!"  So... is that 11? If so, say 11. *pet peeve*

There are 15 classes in my game.

 

[bgillisp]

Just keep on giving it time. My game has been posted for 3 months now, and at first I only had feedback from 2 people (plus 4 more who went to the now outdated IGMC page), then one person found it and gave the most detailed feedback I've seen. It was so detailed, I'm still trying to implement all of it.

So, just give it time, and the players (and testers) will come.