Game Geek Speak

I was kind of shocked to hear that Project Darkstar has been shut down, and its staff laid off. My online multiplayer technology strategy was hinging on Darkstar. Major downer!

But I also learned that a couple of the original Darkstar team members, led by Owen Kellett, has forked the code and is trying to keep it alive as RedDwarf. So, that’s a very cool thing. I hope that it does thrive, because Darkstar is a pretty amazing server technology despite the fact that it’s not finished.

I hope all of Darkstar’s users will migrate to the new project and support it. Anyone can contribute code (though there is a sensible review process), so please go make your mark, and save this great server solution from the trash bin of history!

A company has to sell products or it can’t continue to create more. To sell, you have to be able to reach people so that they know you exist. I’d rather interact in a useful way with a company about its products than endure more traditional “talk at me” marketing. So I think social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) is a pretty cool way to achieve that because it’s very consumer friendly. If you don’t like what you hear, you just stop the interactions (unless it’s an email list you can’t get off of–grrr).

Particularly, I like Facebook’s way of doing things, where you can fan something easily and remove yourself just as easily if it gets spammy. I feel like I am in control, not the marketer, and that makes me more open to hear what’s being offered.

Interesting to those of us who make games and market them, I came across a great post about framing just what a “social media” strategy is and some thoughts on how such a beast ideally works. There was a list of questions to consider when planning, but also some good additions in the comments. So, I’ve gathered them here and integrated them (hopefully!) logically.

• Do you have something to sell in the end that you can deliver or communicate about? This is the starting point.
• What types of people do we want to talk to?
• Where do we find them?
• What are they talking about already?
• Is it appropriate for us to join that conversation and, if so, when? (Focus on the conversations that matter and that are relevant and impactful to your brand.)
• When is it not appropriate to join the conversation. What are the criteria?
• Who do we empower within the organization to serve as our conversationalists?
• How do we inject usefulness into the conversation without being overly promotional?
• What value can we provide in terms of knowledge, opinion or content?
• How can we earn their trust?
• When we do earn their trust, how can we best ask for their input into our product or service?
• Under what circumstances can we point the conversation toward considering our product?
• Can we say or do something that invites someone else to point the conversation toward considering our product?
• How do we leverage this vehicle of social media to create brand evangelists?
• How shall we apologize and regroup if we overstep their comfort level or accuse us of violating their trust?
• What do we do if people “call us out” and react adversely to our social media presence in a given network?
• If those unfortunate interactions take place, what can we do to offset said negative interaction from ranking well in search results?
• What are you learning from their adverse reactions to your product or service?
• Are you OK with social networks not being OK with everything you do?
• What is our strategy for true brand opposition?
• Continue traditional marketing and sales. Social media enhances it, it doesn’t replace it.
• Don’t expect a sudden influx in orders. It takes about 6 months of hard work and time to get the results coming through.

Very entertaining video about how drab following formulas can make things.

Now, there is something to be said about conventions. In games, specifically, many conventions are necessary and good: control schemes, for example, should be common between games because it’s less for a new player to learn (and thus less reasons to be frustrated and quit). Visual interface elements are often useful when shared across games (or computer applications, generally), such as X for “close this window” or a musical note icon for audio options.

The types of conventions I’m thinking of, though, are more along the lines of gameplay mechanics (shoot everything that moves for points) or story lines (save the princess) or visual style (photo-realism). These conventions really can make your game less than great if used carelessly.

The solution? Pick one thing, one feature or one facet of your game, and push it so far over the top that it grabs people right away. The key is balance: don’t overdo it. Too much change, and people will be left confused–and quit your game.