How do we get the word out?

[Marten]

So...

Cyan has indicated that they spent their money on development - not on advertising.

In "The Flaws" here on the Obduction forum, matthornb cautions against over-exuberance - that tendency of people who are fans to gloss over imperfections, which can lead to alienating others rather than expanding the potential audience. This is a sentiment with which I agree.

On Google+, Blade Lakem talks about raising increased awareness around the Myst fandom (and from that, I think it makes sense to extrapolate to the greater Cyan Worlds fandom).

Getting to my point: There are people "out there" who do not know about Obduction. Despite the seeming anti-MYST sentiment still oft-observed in the comments sections of video game "news" websites, there are people who have played MYST or Riven who do not know that Cyan has a new game out. And Cyan has asked us to find and draw in this audience.

So - we need to get the word out there, but without sounding like rabid insurance salesmen asking friends and family to buy into a rigged pyramid scheme.

So this thread is about collecting ideas on how we can raise awareness.

Idea #1: If you received an Obduction T-Shirt - wear it - out in public, not just at home. It could lead to people asking you what it's about... and then instead of seeming like you're pushing a subject on them, you're answering a question in a discussion they initiated.

What are your ideas?

[Artic_Wagon]

Look at this link on wikipedia re: Obduction video game...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obduction_(video_game)

You have to click another link to get there
"did you mean: Obduction (video game)"

Btw, if you can get there, check the article "Reception" at the bottom.

[korovev]

No wonder, your link is missing a parenthesis

[Artic_Wagon]

No wonder, your link is missing a parenthesis

Yep but that the way it works when I copy the link from the net. Try it. Unless it is my Firefox browser bug.

[Altairien]

It's just the way these forums handle a URL without the URL tag.

The parenthesis is separated when not using the URL tag:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obduction_(video_game)

It's fine if using the URL tag:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obduction_(video_game)

[Artic_Wagon]

It's just the way these forums handle a URL without the URL tag.

The parenthesis is separated when not using the URL tag:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obduction_(video_game)

It's fine if using the URL tag:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obduction_(video_game)

Thank you for the head up Altairien !

I had no such problems on Moula forums.

[JWPlatt]

All that helps the topic how?

I like Marten's T-shirt idea because it's so easy. I'm putting mine higher up on rotation for my next trip out of the house.

My son is one of the top contributors of the Gamepedia Obduction wiki, so I sorta did my part there by having a son and sending him to school. Contributing gameplay and on-topic community discussion also helps spread the word to other gamers who haven't yet thought about trying Obduction. When I think more about how, I'll try to post something about how to reach the Myst players who never really joined a community but loved the game nonetheless.

[Tai'lahr]

Thanks for the reminder about the t-shirt, Marten. Mine was still sitting in the package near the computer, but I've taken it out now with plans to wash it and wear it.

There was a lot of excitement and ideas surrounding the Kickstarter; perhaps some of those ideas can be borrowed. In SL, there are at least two Obduction groups for chatting about it, but I haven't seen any real promotion being done. I know there was talk of having shirts made to wear in SL, but nothing ever came of that as far as I know. Perhaps it's time to revisit that idea. I will start poking at the clothing designers I know.

[Charura]

I'm thinking of a pumpkin head scarecrow decoration for my yard in front of my apartment for Halloween utilizing the Obduction T-shirt I got from a sweet person (you know who you are, wink, wink). Hopefully people will ask about it...

[Tesseract]

Step 1: post a positive review on Steam and GOG.

[Baladria]

I'm going to spread the word to my students next semester. Maybe secretly offer them extra credit.

[Robin]

I'm going to spread the word to my students next semester. Maybe secretly offer them extra credit.

How about creating a course on "Game World Analysis", or something like that, with Obduction being one of the required examples to dissect? For the price of one of today's college texts, they could purchase several high-end game examples. This could also get the game into college bookstores... as required class material. They'd just have to have cards with a download code.

[Robin]

A more practical idea is "Drop Cards."

Come up with an official or semi-official set of business cards, and other size printable flyers and cards, that can be dropped or posted where people gather, such as various SF and gaming conventions, tech. gatherings, etc., that can be downloaded and printed by fans to spread the word. Some of us did that with URU. The fans themselves are more likely to know the best places in their travels to place items like these, or who to hand them out to.

Personally, I like a two-sided, color, business card. It doesn't cost much to print off a sheet of ten of these at home, and you can easily carry a few to hand out when you meet someone who may be interested.

Just make sure that any link address on the card is short and easy to type in, and include a 2D bar-code so people can use smart-phone and tablet Apps to link directly to the game trailer or other site.


Perhaps CYAN can design these (If they haven't already...), but it might be more fun if they held a contest for fans to come up with a variety of designs, maybe resulting in a wider choice of designs that could be downloaded. They might also provide some standard image files and font-type information, as well as the actual bar-code file(s) and specific addresses that could be included. Even with giving out a few prizes, such as T-shirts, it would be far cheaper than doing any kind of professional advertising.

[Robin]

I might also suggest that any "official" or home-made Obduction Tee-shirts going forward could include a larger (Longer wearing) version of the 2D bar-code.

A stranger walks up and asks, "What's this 'Obduction' that's on your shirt?", and the wearer replies, "Just scan this code with your phone and I'll show you." The trick is to use their phone if possible, so they have the link.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, just imagine how many a quick link to a video or many pictures is worth.

Actually, I'm a little surprised that this doesn't seem to have been picked up by main-stream Marketing yet.

[pat_trick]

If any of you are going to or attending any conventions of the nerdy-folk type, talk the game up to folks you see there! Maybe cosplay as one of the characters if you have the resources to do so. A Kaptar or Mofang costume would be awesome.