How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

Any ideas?

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

To start, why not go to the link at Gamespot and write a good review.
http://gamespot.com/gamespot/filters...366559,00.html

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

Tell your friends, write good reviws at any reviwe sites like ciao and hassle Shrapnel for merchandise (ie T-shirts=-)

Other than that, I don't know.

Captin, I suggest you come on over to the "War" thread - that's where everyon else appears to be.

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SE4 Code:
L GdY $ Fr- C- Sd T!+ Sf-- Tcp-- A% M>M+ MpD! RV Pw Fq+ Nd- Rp+ G-
/SE4 Code
Go to my meagre SEIV pages to generate your own code.

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

Has there ever been any advertising for the game?

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"Gentlemen, we have nearly a thousand ships waiting to be thrown into the fight at the proper moment to seize control of the Foundation. I say we should change that. I say, throw those thousand onto the board now--against the Mule."
-- Randu of Haven, from "Foundation and Empire," by Isaac Asimov

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

I have the radio and CNN on for the "War" part, just trying to keep busy on something else.

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Has there ever been any advertising for the game?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yep. Close to $10,000 to date and more planned for the Christmas season. But obviously NOT very effective, if you had to ask. http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif


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Tim Brooks
Shrapnel Games

[This message has been edited by Tim Brooks (edited 11 September 2001).]

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

This seems like as good a place as any to mention that the November issue of PC Gamer has reviews of Combat Command 2: Desert Rats and of Remote Assault, plus a news ticker mention of The War Engine.

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Cap'n Q

The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the
human mind to correlate all of its contents. We live on a placid
island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was
not meant that we should go far. -- HP Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

Maybe we could get LCC to do word of mouth advertising. He likes to post and email, and apparently needs something constructive to do.

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

Judging from the fact that they sold out their stock multiple times, I assumed the game's sales were doing pretty well. Was I wrong?

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Gritsucker:
Judging from the fact that they sold out their stock multiple times, I assumed the game's sales were doing pretty well. Was I wrong?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah, you prolly are Gritsucker. I suspect that SSI's "Reach for (your Wallet) the Stars" sold way more units even though it is a fairly poor game.

The way I see it MM made the following serious mistakes:

1. Spent way more then 2 days coming up with a solid game design to try and satisfy their target customers.

2. Didn't spend the other 99% of their budget on glitzy graphics while firing the design team.

3. Didn't claim to be a "real time strategy" game.( I'm still scratching my butt trying to figure out just what that term really means. I think it means, "We couldn't figure out how to work up a good turn phase order sequence and our customers will be too dumb to notice.")

4. Didn't slap the half finished project up on the shelves of CompUS for $49.95 and stop supporting it.

5. Didn't sell MM to Hasbro.

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/icon12.gif
*******************************************
I just keep recommending SEIV to anyone I know that likes this sort of game. MM does produce a quality product. There's only one other game I've spent more time playing the past year then SEIV. Since I buy like 60 plus pieces of cr#pola a year claiming to be great games, which rarely are, I suppose that says something.

Damn! I'm cynical. LOL!

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

Just some ideas

1. MM & Shrapnel sell t-shirts, make up as order come in. that way you don't put out the money ahead of time, give time period for everyone to order and send money in, then place order. include shipping & handling
take poll on forum what the gamers would like on them as far as logos

2. baseball hats, same as above

3. Players send in reviews to on line game mags, ie; Wargamer, etc

4. Obtain list of gaming clubs and send them e-mail newsletters

5. e-mail news letters like some of the other companies are doing, IE. Strategy first, EA, etc

6. Look into advertising on various game web sites of like, iwon, iwin, lycos, etc.

7. have all players on forum with web sites put ad & reviews on their respective sites and keep it up to date

8. attend the gaming conventions in Columbus, Ohio and Wisconson, get a booth

9. Company needs more exposure as well as their games, look into PC gaming world and other game magazines, take small add in the more popular ones, games don't sell if no one knows they are there,

I learned about the game by surfing the web
bought the game, showed some of my friends who each in turn ended up buying the game. Exposure is the key.

I just hope that as more games are sold and gamers join the forum it doesn't ruin the comraderary currently seen on this forum, I'd hate to see it turn into something that i've seen on other forums

just some ideas mac

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

A very popular advertising tool these days is viral marketing. (on the applied memetics tech area=-)

All you have to come up with a good meme: A good example are those entertaining little games and mpegs that fly from person to person around the office all day. The only rules for a good viral marketing meme are: It has to be simple, entertaining, and it has to fit into a few hundred kb.

Once created, all you do is release it into the wild. (ie us lot=-) We'll email it to our friends. If it's entertaining enough, they will want to email it to their friends, who email it to their friends, who mail it to their friends...

Viral marketing is cheap and effective. A good campaign can reach tens of thousands of bored office workers in a single day, and thousands more (exponentially) the next day... Eventually it will reach saturation and stop propogating itself, but a lot of ppl will have seen your message (and had som fun in the process=-)

I would suggest a little java/ flash game using a selection of SEIV's images. (ie the mini gfx or the race portraits etc) Space invaders, reversi, connect 4 or something. Have a big advert for SEIV on the title screen, and maybe the option to download new graphics or somthing from the website.

Note that the use of the word "viral" does not mean that you are creating a "virus" - or at least, not the kind that anti-virus software is concerned with. (In othr words, this is entirely ethical.) Anyone who doesn't already know about all this, put in a few websearches for "meme", "memetics" or "viral marketing".

Thoughts?

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SE4 Code:
L GdY $ Fr- C- Sd T!+ Sf-- Tcp-- A% M&gt;M+ MpD! RV Pw Fq+ Nd- Rp+ G-
/SE4 Code
Go to my meagre SEIV pages to generate your own code.

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>I would suggest a little java/ flash game using a selection of SEIV's images. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Whack-A-Phong? http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif

Re: How do we spread the word on what a great game this is?
 

QUOTE:
Whack-a-Phong http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/images/icons/icon7.gif
/QUOTE

Or Phong Pong. Or brEEEkout http://www.shrapnelgames.com/ubb/ima...ons/tongue.gif


(Have I double posted? Sorry if I have.)



------------------
SE4 Code:
L GdY $ Fr- C- Sd T!+ Sf-- Tcp-- A% M&gt;M+ MpD! RV Pw Fq+ Nd- Rp+ G-
/SE4 Code
Go to my meagre SEIV pages to generate your own code.