Ok its done. Now what?

[Talakeal]

As some of you may know, I have been working on an independent RPG system for a number of years now. I have finally gotten to the point where it is as complete as I am able to get it, and would like to distribute a playtest version so that I can get feedback from the broader community. Any idea how I would go about distributing it?

Obviously I am going to make a web site with a download option and put a link to it in my signature on this and other gaming forums I frequent, but beyond that I am kind of lost. Does anyone have any ideas how I can generate attention or distribute the file?

Thanks!

[Arbane]

Does anyone have any ideas how I can generate attention or distribute the file?


For distributing it, put it up on a blog. Possibly on DrivethruRPG, too, but I think they might charge money for that?

For getting attention: Email various bloggers/game reviewers whose opinions you respect, and offer to send them copies?

[NichG]

So from experience publicizing a small-scale computer game, here are some of the options I tried and how well the results worked (all assuming some pre-existing personal site/blog/etc that you're directing people towards):

- Reddit: If you find the right subreddit for your thing, and they have a policy that allows self-promotion (normally reddit doesn't), then this is the gold standard. This can be good for a few hundred views from people who are actually likely to be interested in your stuff.
- Various forums. This can be a good method if your game system is free, since while many forums have rules against advertising commercial products, they're just fine with free stuff that is topical. Simplest thing - put a link in your sig. I didn't get all that much traffic from this because I had to restrict myself to forums that were okay with advertising commercial endeavors, but I still got one or two views a day from this.
- YouTube. For a computer game, this makes sense. For a tabletop system, not so much... but you could record and upload an (edited, for length) video of your group playing. Or do a Livestream.
- Twitter. I found it to be pretty much worthless for advertising, but good for getting in contact with other people who are doing similar things.
- Advertising Stunts. Run one-shots in your system for random people off of e.g. Roll20 (virtual tabletop), GiantITP (play by post), etc, etc. Expensive in terms of your time, but this creates people who have had experience with your game and might talk to others about it. I would guess that this will not get you that many users of your system, but it could give you a seed of dedicated users who advertise it to others.

Now the expensive options:

- Project Wonderful: Mildly expensive, but can be used to prime the pump (e.g. get initial interest in your project going). Generally you can expect to get about 50-100 views per day, paying something like 10 cents per view, if you select the cheaper sites to advertise on. Cost goes up very quickly if you want to get more traffic than this.
- Google Adwords: More expensive than the above, but higher volume. Expect to pay ~50 cents/click. Probably out of the question for a free product.

And the options if you have a lot of confidence in your game:

- Do a press release. Find something like 30 gaming news sites, places that do product reviews, etc, and send a copy to the editors of each site. If you're lucky/good, then one of them will pick it up and then a few others will notice that one has picked it up and also pick it up. For my (computer) game, this was responsible for 95% of the sales.
- Store sites like DriveThruRPG. If you can get on this kind of thing, it definitely gets you better exposure. It may be hard to get them to carry your product though (especially if free?)

[Rhynn]

For playtesting, you really need to be in contact with people directly. Forums are a great way to find playtesters. (Alex Macris of Autarch recently asked a bunch of interested people over at their forums to email him to get in on the playtest of a very early-in-development supplement.) But directly asking players you know (online or IRL) to playtest your game is a good idea, too.

You'll want to provide them with some kind of "instructions" - nothing strict or demanding, but a basic explanation on what kind of feedback is needed, where to send it, etc.

[Talakeal]

So from experience publicizing a small-scale computer game, here are some of the options I tried and how well the results worked (all assuming some pre-existing personal site/blog/etc that you're directing people towards):

- Reddit: If you find the right subreddit for your thing, and they have a policy that allows self-promotion (normally reddit doesn't), then this is the gold standard. This can be good for a few hundred views from people who are actually likely to be interested in your stuff.
- Various forums. This can be a good method if your game system is free, since while many forums have rules against advertising commercial products, they're just fine with free stuff that is topical. Simplest thing - put a link in your sig. I didn't get all that much traffic from this because I had to restrict myself to forums that were okay with advertising commercial endeavors, but I still got one or two views a day from this.
- YouTube. For a computer game, this makes sense. For a tabletop system, not so much... but you could record and upload an (edited, for length) video of your group playing. Or do a Livestream.
- Twitter. I found it to be pretty much worthless for advertising, but good for getting in contact with other people who are doing similar things.
- Advertising Stunts. Run one-shots in your system for random people off of e.g. Roll20 (virtual tabletop), GiantITP (play by post), etc, etc. Expensive in terms of your time, but this creates people who have had experience with your game and might talk to others about it. I would guess that this will not get you that many users of your system, but it could give you a seed of dedicated users who advertise it to others.

Now the expensive options:

- Project Wonderful: Mildly expensive, but can be used to prime the pump (e.g. get initial interest in your project going). Generally you can expect to get about 50-100 views per day, paying something like 10 cents per view, if you select the cheaper sites to advertise on. Cost goes up very quickly if you want to get more traffic than this.
- Google Adwords: More expensive than the above, but higher volume. Expect to pay ~50 cents/click. Probably out of the question for a free product.

And the options if you have a lot of confidence in your game:

- Do a press release. Find something like 30 gaming news sites, places that do product reviews, etc, and send a copy to the editors of each site. If you're lucky/good, then one of them will pick it up and then a few others will notice that one has picked it up and also pick it up. For my (computer) game, this was responsible for 95% of the sales.
- Store sites like DriveThruRPG. If you can get on this kind of thing, it definitely gets you better exposure. It may be hard to get them to carry your product though (especially if free?)

Thanks for the suggestions! That's a lot of info. I am a total newb when it comes to social media, so it is going to take me a while to parse all of that :)


For playtesting, you really need to be in contact with people directly. Forums are a great way to find playtesters. (Alex Macris of Autarch recently asked a bunch of interested people over at their forums to email him to get in on the playtest of a very early-in-development supplement.) But directly asking players you know (online or IRL) to playtest your game is a good idea, too.

You'll want to provide them with some kind of "instructions" - nothing strict or demanding, but a basic explanation on what kind of feedback is needed, where to send it, etc.

I have been doing play testing with my gaming group for several years now, so the basic of the game are pretty well ironed out. At this point I am more looking for peoples broad impressions and specific errors / loop holes with the game than a focused testing group, at least until I can actually put together a playtest in person.


Anyway, I have launched a very basic web site with a download option at http://heartofdarknessrpg.com and it would be awesome if you could check it out or help me spread the word. Thanks!