On the main topic of this thread. Any decent marketing campaign needs a good 4-6 months of build up. Crowdfunding negates some of this, but the longer the marketing has been going on for a product before crowdfunding launch, the more successful it tends to be (assuming the marketing is persistent). The best option at this time would likely be to regroup and push the project back until the start of 2015, start a viral marketing campaign, and release more details of what people can actually expect from the game.
That being said, don't take my word for it. I just joined this game today, and it will be my first ARG, nor do I have a degree in marketing. This is just my speculation and opinion. This seems like an amazing opportunity, and an amazing game, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'd just like to see it go above and beyond expectation.
Edit:
Also, the idea of crowdfunding is great for players who want to be more or less involved, but also having a simple "preorder" option during the marketing campaign for players who like the game, find it interesting, but will probably forget about it in a week. Do a one year subscription that puts the player automatically at the orange level, and when the game launches, they can decide whether or not they want to move up or down the ladder. Basically a buy it and forget it until it launches thing, which I think will capture a lot more people over time than a simple crowdfunding run. Do the crowdfunding at the end, a month or two before launch, to give the players who want to be more or less involved a chance to either change their prepurchase or get in for the first time.
What Ruke said. We need numbers more than bodies at the moment. Numbers will bring the additional bodies afterwards. Use a backbone of marketing models that are tried and true at the lowest investment of costs (almost nil, just grunt work and backdrop enabling)
I've been thinking about the fundraiser and the possibilities for how to get better results in the next try.
I'm new to ARG, fairly pleased with how much of Division66 I could do solo. I like the challenging puzzles and I'm looking forward to more. Sitting at a keyboard being a cerebral problem solver is fun.
The puzzles have to be very difficult or the answers fairly arcane to stump a community of intelligent people for very long. But, I think therein lies a problem. Not everyone is a cerebral problem solver, the puzzles aren't replayable and a new player coming in late mostly has to accept the results already discovered. Having selected the gaming community down to the small subset of cerebral puzzle solvers, that are interested in a Secret World style content, that have money to pledge, and a small advertising effort to find them, I think we see the results in the pledges.
A more successful pledge drive should remove some of these selection criteria. I think being more clear about the "Alternate Reality" aspects of the game will help.
The other crowdfunded game I'm involved with is Camelot Unchained. Mark Jacobs has done an incredible job of outlining his guiding principles so the player community knows exactly what to expect from the project when it is completed. His project scope and timeline are more ambitious than TBW but his target audience is clearly stated to be the small subset of the MMORPG community that likes his style. I think his crowdfunding marketing methods can be instructive in how to get a small community motivated to support a project: Primarily, a dedicated website, a crowdfunding platform people can be more comfortable with, videos and text clearly stating (or demos) about what supporters can expect from the project.
Comments
Thanks guys for the suggestions. I shall!
On the main topic of this thread. Any decent marketing campaign needs a good 4-6 months of build up. Crowdfunding negates some of this, but the longer the marketing has been going on for a product before crowdfunding launch, the more successful it tends to be (assuming the marketing is persistent). The best option at this time would likely be to regroup and push the project back until the start of 2015, start a viral marketing campaign, and release more details of what people can actually expect from the game.
That being said, don't take my word for it. I just joined this game today, and it will be my first ARG, nor do I have a degree in marketing. This is just my speculation and opinion. This seems like an amazing opportunity, and an amazing game, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'd just like to see it go above and beyond expectation.
Edit:
Also, the idea of crowdfunding is great for players who want to be more or less involved, but also having a simple "preorder" option during the marketing campaign for players who like the game, find it interesting, but will probably forget about it in a week. Do a one year subscription that puts the player automatically at the orange level, and when the game launches, they can decide whether or not they want to move up or down the ladder. Basically a buy it and forget it until it launches thing, which I think will capture a lot more people over time than a simple crowdfunding run. Do the crowdfunding at the end, a month or two before launch, to give the players who want to be more or less involved a chance to either change their prepurchase or get in for the first time.
I was suddenly reminded today of this, from one of the first TSW ARGs, in 2009. It's a pretty simple video, but it did its job!
Also we clearly need a mascot, like the bees, to just plaster all over the internet XD
A.K.A. nikel
I've been thinking about the fundraiser and the possibilities for how to get better results in the next try.
I'm new to ARG, fairly pleased with how much of Division66 I could do solo. I like the challenging puzzles and I'm looking forward to more. Sitting at a keyboard being a cerebral problem solver is fun.
The puzzles have to be very difficult or the answers fairly arcane to stump a community of intelligent people for very long. But, I think therein lies a problem. Not everyone is a cerebral problem solver, the puzzles aren't replayable and a new player coming in late mostly has to accept the results already discovered. Having selected the gaming community down to the small subset of cerebral puzzle solvers, that are interested in a Secret World style content, that have money to pledge, and a small advertising effort to find them, I think we see the results in the pledges.
A more successful pledge drive should remove some of these selection criteria. I think being more clear about the "Alternate Reality" aspects of the game will help.
The other crowdfunded game I'm involved with is Camelot Unchained. Mark Jacobs has done an incredible job of outlining his guiding principles so the player community knows exactly what to expect from the project when it is completed. His project scope and timeline are more ambitious than TBW but his target audience is clearly stated to be the small subset of the MMORPG community that likes his style. I think his crowdfunding marketing methods can be instructive in how to get a small community motivated to support a project: Primarily, a dedicated website, a crowdfunding platform people can be more comfortable with, videos and text clearly stating (or demos) about what supporters can expect from the project.