[MUD-Dev] Marketing Resources?

[Michael Sellers]

Mike Rozak wrote:
> Michael Hartman wrote:

>> It seems like building hype and getting the community started
>> around a game is a vitally important aspect of having a good
>> release. The question then is how best to accomplish that.

This is vitally important, you're right.  And most MMOG companies
are terrible at it.  There are a variety of books and people with
solid knowledge in this area.  To get you started, I'd suggest the
book "The Secrets of Word of Mouth Marketing."  Well worth reading.
Seth Godin's book on this topic has some good stuff too.

> Is an early announce such a good idea?

>   1) You get a lot of initial buzz when your VW is newly added to
>   MMORPG.com (or whatever), but subsequent updates don't get as
>   much. Your 50'th update of the week is pretty much ignored.

You're right -- all of which adds up to the old adage, "well done is
better than well said."  The problem is, it's easier and much more
fun to talk or write about what you're doing than to actually do it.
How many interviews with MMOG developers do we see who tout their
game but nevertheless have little if any working code?  How many
games are in the "waiters with scripts" stage and nevertheless get
top billing -- for a week or so -- on one of the many game sites
voracious for new content?  How many games do you hear about for
years sometimes before they actually come out, if they do at all?

I suspect that for many MMOG developers, the intense desire to have
others see what they're doing (both for validation and bragging
rights) is more the root of early disclosure than is any planned
desire to build buzz.  After all, if no one else knows what you're
doing, you must not be doing anything, right? ;-)

Mike Sellers
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