I need some help to better promote my game.

[CedSense]

Hello!

I would like to ask all of you for ideas on how to better promote my game. It can be argued that my game is the least successful of all the games listed on F95 with good reviews (it received at 4.7 out of 5 rating). Based on the positive reviews and comments I feel people are enjoying the game, but I must be doing something wrong not to receive the exposure needed for Our Fate to become more successful.

When I Initially released the game, I posted threads here as well as on Hongfire, ULMF and there is also a page on svscomics. Since the initial release, I’ve had regular monthly updates of the game. However, the only forum that has provided me with any comments or private messages concerning the game is F95.

I am open to any suggestions on what I could do here on F95, other forums or my Patreon page to better promote my game to people who you feel would be interested in playing a game like Our Fate.

If possible, I would like to focus on how to improve the promotion of the game rather than specifically the content of the game. Of course, I am always interested in how to improve the game itself, and I am thankful for all of the comments and encouragement I have received from the forum.

Thank you in advance for your valuable comments to help get more exposure for Our Fate.

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Cedsense.

 

[ＧＡＢ]

put a cheat version = more ppl asking for this version
constant small updates = gets more screentime on latest updates pages
comment more often with your picture in your signature redirecting to your game thread

 

[Erros]

find a youtuber who plays that kind of game and send him your game.

 

[Palanto]

Wow that's a difficult question! We're in our 8th month now, and it still seems like we won't ever get to the point we're trying to get I guess it's either you get the jackpot and it spreads like a wildfire or you have to be patient because the patrons just come in slowly... You're doing as much as you can, you try to spread the word, you even share your game here yourself, so it's easier for people to communicate with you and to get the game to check out if it's worth p(l)aying... I don't think you can do much more, except for maybe the suggestion Erros76 had... Not sure what Gab means with the cheat version But the comment suggestion makes sense Also if it is possible for you, split the updates in smaller chunks and update more frequently like he said, but since I played your game just yesterday and didn't try all the routes yet, I think it wouldn't quite suit the game to have small updates since it's not an open world / sandbox kind of game


Also try to embedd your signature image into a link like this:

[CENTER]
[URL=https://www.patreon.com/cedsense][IMG]https://attachments.f95zone.com/2018/01/73264_f95_banner04.gif[/IMG][/URL]
[/CENTER]

which would look like this:

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​

If you want, also with a link to your f95zone thread below it or as a link on the image itself...

​

 

[Papa Ernie]

Hello!

I would like to ask all of you for ideas on how to better promote my game. It can be argued that my game is the least successful of all the games listed on F95 with good reviews (it received at 4.7 out of 5 rating). Based on the positive reviews and comments I feel people are enjoying the game, but I must be doing something wrong not to receive the exposure needed for Our Fate to become more successful.

When I Initially released the game, I posted threads here as well as on Hongfire, ULMF and there is also a page on svscomics. Since the initial release, I’ve had regular monthly updates of the game. However, the only forum that has provided me with any comments or private messages concerning the game is F95.

I am open to any suggestions on what I could do here on F95, other forums or my Patreon page to better promote my game to people who you feel would be interested in playing a game like Our Fate.

If possible, I would like to focus on how to improve the promotion of the game rather than specifically the content of the game. Of course, I am always interested in how to improve the game itself, and I am thankful for all of the comments and encouragement I have received from the forum.

Thank you in advance for your valuable comments to help get more exposure for Our Fate.

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

Cedsense.

You must be registered to see the links

 

[Zippity]

Hello!

I would like to ask all of you for ideas on how to better promote my game. It can be argued that my game is the least successful of all the games listed on F95 with good reviews (it received at 4.7 out of 5 rating). Based on the positive reviews and comments I feel people are enjoying the game, but I must be doing something wrong not to receive the exposure needed for Our Fate to become more successful.

When I Initially released the game, I posted threads here as well as on Hongfire, ULMF and there is also a page on svscomics. Since the initial release, I’ve had regular monthly updates of the game. However, the only forum that has provided me with any comments or private messages concerning the game is F95.

I am open to any suggestions on what I could do here on F95, other forums or my Patreon page to better promote my game to people who you feel would be interested in playing a game like Our Fate.

If possible, I would like to focus on how to improve the promotion of the game rather than specifically the content of the game. Of course, I am always interested in how to improve the game itself, and I am thankful for all of the comments and encouragement I have received from the forum.

Thank you in advance for your valuable comments to help get more exposure for Our Fate.

You must be registered to see the links

You must be registered to see the links

Cedsense.

Well right off the bat, based off the front page of your Patreon webpage, you may want to remove the punishment for folks donating for one month or so, and then cancelling... Someone made a DONATION to your project, why punish that, just because they don't want to pay a monthly subscription donation and preferred it to be one or a few times? Donations are donations... If it has become some sort of issue, perhaps then it's more to do with how you structured your patron reward system, and less to do with how someone stopped giving you money on a monthly basis because they got what they wanted and moved on... I think some folks forget that these are Donations, and not actual purchases... You may shun people away from your site the moment they see you've decided to punish some donators for not continuing to pay a donation subscription for content... You may not see it as a punishment, but that is how it looks at face value...

As to other methods... Ensure all the adult visual novel/game websites have links to your game... You've done a few, but there are lots of others as well... You can also maybe port a version for portable devices, to get even more avenues opened up... Also, make sure you are always communicating with your patrons, and not just when you've finished a monthly update or so on... Perhaps weekly or even a couple days a week, giving your subscribing patrons updates on current work, with or without teasers... Doing occasional voting on cosmetic stuff for either the game or bonus material you plan to offer to your patrons, which helps make them feel engaged in the development process... I'm sure there are lots of other things you could come up with...

I see you're already making a couple hundred dollars each month, which is not bad... If all you're trying to do is just make money as your primary goal for developing this kind of stuff, especially in a primarily amateur based industry, you may find it sometimes takes a while or sometimes just doesn't pan out at all... It's a constantly fluctuating market when it comes to this industry... Some folks hit it off quickly, for some it takes a while, for some it takes a long while, and for some it just never takes off at all... Even if it's a good product... It's not like you can advertise on TV, or cable, or Facebook, or other main stream media locations... It's the hazard of the porn industry, and even more so for this particular niche of the porn industry... And what's not also helping at all, is the insane Flood of new releases we've all seen over the past year or so...

 

[Ignazzio]

Hmm... In my opinion there is nothing meaningful you can do to promote it. The only issue you have is that our market is overloaded with same incest-type games and each new generation has less and less attention. With constant updates you should grow easily since your game is a slow starter. Most succesful games of this type have a lot of teasing and while your d looks amazing it's really slow in these terms as it has some story behind it. In my opinion you can only be patient as it's clear that at some point you'll grow rapidly in numbers. Honestly, it's a great way to test you as a developer.

 

[gamersglory]

The best promotion for your or any other game adult or not is a Real website, not a patreon page or F95. A page that has great SEO and allows you to go into detail about the game and post updates. Get it to the point where the only thing people use on patreon is a subscribe button. Promoting through a patreon page makes anything you're trying to sell people look and feel cheap. A well-made webpage makes a great presentation. Summertime Saga would not be as big as it is without the web site. Also make sure your web host allows adult content first.

 

[jande21]

Make a post here:

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[Nightcrawler]

From your patreon page. Unfortunately some people 'cheat' and pledge to get the reward, then cancel right after. So for now, and to protect people supporting the game, the Tier3 and Tier4 rewards will be sent by emails to already paying patrons :/. That for me is a turn off very abrasive and would make me wonder if you are worth supporting.!st impressions count and that paragraph doesn't give a great 1st impression

You could re word it and make it sound less abrasive to would be patreons.Something along the lines of ,Thank you for your T3 / T4 support a download link will be sent to you via Email once your payment has been processed.You are essentially saying the same thing but in a less in abrasive manner

 

[Hentami]

Release everything for free a month behind, with latest updates for your subs is what I will always do. Don't waste your time or life on whoever cheats/cancels/desubs - focus on the positive.

We seem about even and our games are nothing alike.. I'll toss you a shoutout if you do me

 

[User_10739]

As I have been one of your patrons since the first release showed up on this site. I have to say, don't even think of making smaller releases! For me, there is no bigger turn off than pining for an update only to play one scene then wait again... Those are the games that I not only drop my patronage for, but also don't even bother to play anymore.

 

[muttdoggy]

@CedSense -
The more eyes you get on the game, the more word spreads. Just because a site contains 500k members, it doesn't guarantee success. You want active members going through the threads and to click on yours. Design the post and title to get the maximum "click factor" and once they're hooked, hit them with your best shot! Next thing you know, you've got a "Fan 4 Lyfe".
With that said, either you or a few trusted soldiers (those you trust) can set up "satellites" in other sites like Fenoxo.com, Anime-Sharing, Planet Suzy, Int-Porn, Itch.io, and like-minded sites. When those posts are made, it's gotta be attention-grabbing with high speed links. And be sure to post links to other sites you have posts on if at all possible. This makes you look head and shoulders above the other developers vying for attention. It's a crowded market so branch out and make it H.O.T.

 

[215303j]

First of all, Our Fate is still quite early in development. These things do take some time.

One thing that's not yet mentioned here: there seems a correlation between game popularity and F95zone thread size.

The more popular games apparently create more discussion. Thread size is of course partly caused by popularity, but I think that in some games also give reason to discussion for some reason. E.g. in the Big Brother thread, there were good discussions about Eric, NTR, the MC's morality etc. In the DmD thread there were endless discussions about D's intelligence (or lack thereof), morality of F, the progression of the story. Both games therefore had something contentious (sp?) which I think did a lot for their popularity.

 

[Zippity]

First of all, Our Fate is still quite early in development. These things do take some time.

One thing that's not yet mentioned here: there seems a correlation between game popularity and F95zone thread size.

The more popular games apparently create more discussion. Thread size is of course partly caused by popularity, but I think that in some games also give reason to discussion for some reason. E.g. in the Big Brother thread, there were good discussions about Eric, NTR, the MC's morality etc. In the DmD thread there were endless discussions about D's intelligence (or lack thereof), morality of F, the progression of the story. Both games therefore had something contentious (sp?) which I think did a lot for their popularity.

Just because a thread has a ton of traffic, that doesn't always mean the game is becoming famous or popular... Sometimes there can just be tons of posts asking for download links, or complaints about issues, or walkthrough requests, or people asking for hints to get past certain places their stuck at, or players asking for cheat codes, or lots of tirades about an aspect most players don't like (stuff like NTR etc.), or other discussion topics brought up during normal conversations about the game, or short reviews that could have been in the Review section instead, and the list goes on... Sometimes they are just lengthy because a thread has been in existence for a long while with all these things being talked about over and over again over that lengthy period of time... It could be the thread is mostly negative in nature towards a game because it's infamous more so then famous... You really should not gauge if a game is good or not good based on a threads size... Better to read through a thread from beginning to end before opting that it's because the game is popular due to lots of positive posting, that the thread is so lengthy...

 

[Erros]

an other idea, if you have the money for it. Is to translate your game in other languages to attract new players.

 

[Zippity]

You could also provide a text based story introduction that you include along side of the overview... Something that shows the creative side of your story telling talents to introduce would be players/readers to the visual novel/game... An overview is alright, but those tend to sound more technical rather then necessarily enticing...

 

[215303j]

Just because a thread has a ton of traffic, that doesn't always mean the game is becoming famous or popular...

Even though that's basically true, I do see a correlation between the two.

And as the old marketing adage goes: "any free publicity is good publicity":

A spam post, or even a negative post, brings the game's thread back up at the front page just as much as a good, insightful post...

 

[Zippity]

Even though that's basically true, I do see a correlation between the two.

And as the old marketing adage goes: "any free publicity is good publicity":

A spam post, or even a negative post, brings the game's thread back up at the front page just as much as a good, insightful post...

Be careful with that last sentence... A lot of forums sites frown on Thread Bumping... Posting non-sense or repeated messages just for the sole purpose of bumping a thread back to the top of the list... It's a good way to get yourself banned or ignored or a warning...

 

[CedSense]

I would like to thank all of you for your suggestions and comments. I'll take the time to look into everything, to try what you told me.
It's a pleasure to be part of this community.