Wouldn't be the first time I've posted about it, but in light of recent discussions regarding Simu 'doing something', I'll put my two cents in towards Facebook advertising.
We hashed over the details once before, but basically, click-through advertising is dirt cheap if you tell them it's for a text-based game. And, since no one on Facebook has a life anyways, the odds there are more favorable than anywhere else that you will find people would play a game like DR.
IM: Dannyboy00001111
"Fool proof system do not take into account the ingenuity of fools, nor the power of numbers."
GORTEOUS
TEVESHSZAT
Re: Advertising
02/09/2016 12:00 AM CST
Anyone can literally advertise anything they want on Facebook.
Toss $10 into running a FB campaign for clickthrough to DR, see the results. Just make sure you don't appear to be the company itself. You'll reach ~1,000 people and probably get 10-25 to click to the site.
Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.
Toss $10 into running a FB campaign for clickthrough to DR, see the results. Just make sure you don't appear to be the company itself. You'll reach ~1,000 people and probably get 10-25 to click to the site.
Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.
JHALIASCLERIC
Re: Advertising
02/09/2016 12:03 PM CST
/r/MUD is still an active place, and while it's mostly been overrun with mentions of Avalon or IRE games, there are still weekly posts where people ask about a game recommendation.
/r/Dragonrealms is also pretty active. I'd suggest looking to both of these platforms as a means for spreading the word of DR. Perhaps more than voting on TMS, as many people are disinterested in checking the outdated and rarely shifting listings.
GORTEOUS
Re: Advertising
02/09/2016 02:11 PM CST
>> /r/MUD is still an active place, and while it's mostly been overrun with mentions of Avalon or IRE games, there are still weekly posts where people ask about a game recommendation.
>> /r/Dragonrealms is also pretty active. I'd suggest looking to both of these platforms as a means for spreading the word of DR. Perhaps more than voting on TMS, as many people are disinterested in checking the outdated and rarely shifting listings.
I wasn't talking about what Joe/Jane Mudskipper can do to convince their friends and family that they aren't fanatics for paying above market price for a 20 year old text game. Simu needs to act in Simu's own self-interest here - the ball is in their court to advertise their game. Besides that, they have enough money and resources to be able to do it far more effectively than players, such as devoting a budget to it. TBH, it really says a lot about your company when one player with a ~30$ budget can put your entire marketing department to shame.
Simu aside, recycling players from any of the homogeneous MUD groups is a terrible suggestion. I would be willing to wager that most of the 3000 subscribers to /r/MUD have been playing since before most of us were born. They already know what DR is about and why they don't want to play it.
IM: Dannyboy00001111
"Fool proof system do not take into account the ingenuity of fools, nor the power of numbers."
>> /r/Dragonrealms is also pretty active. I'd suggest looking to both of these platforms as a means for spreading the word of DR. Perhaps more than voting on TMS, as many people are disinterested in checking the outdated and rarely shifting listings.
I wasn't talking about what Joe/Jane Mudskipper can do to convince their friends and family that they aren't fanatics for paying above market price for a 20 year old text game. Simu needs to act in Simu's own self-interest here - the ball is in their court to advertise their game. Besides that, they have enough money and resources to be able to do it far more effectively than players, such as devoting a budget to it. TBH, it really says a lot about your company when one player with a ~30$ budget can put your entire marketing department to shame.
Simu aside, recycling players from any of the homogeneous MUD groups is a terrible suggestion. I would be willing to wager that most of the 3000 subscribers to /r/MUD have been playing since before most of us were born. They already know what DR is about and why they don't want to play it.
IM: Dannyboy00001111
"Fool proof system do not take into account the ingenuity of fools, nor the power of numbers."
TEVESHSZAT
Re: Advertising
02/09/2016 02:38 PM CST
>>Besides that, they have enough money and resources to be able to do it far more effectively than players, such as devoting a budget to it.
IMO, they might have [arguably correctly] decided that their best marketing for them is in the form of customer advocates because with the increased use of things like AdBlock people don't actually pay attention to online advertisements at all.
I mean, if you go with the assumption that esoteric/old-school text-only RPGs might hit a more tech-focused demographic (despite being rather lo-fi itself), they're also probably the market that doesn't really allow ads to show up to begin with (or just don't pay attention to ads).
Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.
IMO, they might have [arguably correctly] decided that their best marketing for them is in the form of customer advocates because with the increased use of things like AdBlock people don't actually pay attention to online advertisements at all.
I mean, if you go with the assumption that esoteric/old-school text-only RPGs might hit a more tech-focused demographic (despite being rather lo-fi itself), they're also probably the market that doesn't really allow ads to show up to begin with (or just don't pay attention to ads).
Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.
DRFREAK3
Re: Advertising
02/09/2016 03:58 PM CST
I have always been under the impression Simu breaks even or takes a loss every year since its peak in popularity. Simu (and its owner) made millions a few decades ago, so I thought it is using this profit to keep the game running.
NINEVAH1
Re: Advertising
02/09/2016 05:10 PM CST
>>I have always been under the impression Simu breaks even or takes a loss every year since its peak in popularity. Simu (and its owner) made millions a few decades ago, so I thought it is using this profit to keep the game running.
Hardly. They licensed and then sold the Hero Engine, which was used for Star Wars: Old Republic, and I'm sure that brought in a good amount of money, and they now have developed several games for social and mobile platforms. They may run the old text games at a loss (I doubt it though) but they are not being sustained on the money they made over a decade ago.
Hardly. They licensed and then sold the Hero Engine, which was used for Star Wars: Old Republic, and I'm sure that brought in a good amount of money, and they now have developed several games for social and mobile platforms. They may run the old text games at a loss (I doubt it though) but they are not being sustained on the money they made over a decade ago.
DR-RAESH
Re: Advertising
02/09/2016 10:52 PM CST
I'm going to tactfully suggest that we move the topic away from Simu's financial structure. Nothing useful is going to come of the conversation because the only people who can contribute anything other than speculation or misinformation aren't going to be participating in the thread.
-Raesh
"It was wise enough to know itself, and brave enough to BE itself, and wild enough to change itself while somehow staying altogether true." ― The Slow Regard of Silent Things
-Raesh
"It was wise enough to know itself, and brave enough to BE itself, and wild enough to change itself while somehow staying altogether true." ― The Slow Regard of Silent Things
