@WTFE said:
My reaction to you right now is not territorial protector mode. It's anti-sales&marketing mode.
Do I come off like a salesman? Granted, I do have a marketing/fundraising background in real life (specifically for the theatre companies I work for), but I wasn't aware that this was a perception of me on this board.
I think the idea that some folks here are so adamantly anti-marketing is interesting. I can relate to a certain extent. I hate commercials. Because I hate commercials, I only use streaming services that don't have commercials to watch television and movies now.
But, there's two sides of the coin to me. You have corporate advertisement, in which corporations follow a formula of throwing money at saturating the market until they sneak into viewers' subconsciousness (there are a few great documentaries out there on how and why this works). Most corporate advertisements aren't even "on topic" or useful in terms of content, because all that really matters is that you think of them first when you're at the store and need to buy cleaning products, or paper towels, or electronics.
But then there is also grassroots marketing, used by small companies. I think about the theatre again. There's just no way that the theatre could survive without a robust attempt at marketing; I do believe it's the same way for games, and for our genre.
The MUSH community has stayed tight-knit over the years, and has been much less prone than other MU* communities to promote beyond their borders. But, what if you did promote more? What if we did advertise more? What if the most brilliant, progressive, hobby-saving minds out there aren't ours, but are the people who don't even know that we exist yet?
What happens in another 10-20 years, when the majority of us are too old and too busy to continue to keep this hamster wheel turning for free anymore?
This goes back to my firm belief that we need to invest in recruiting a younger generation, and in sizable numbers. It's easy to not look ahead, but watching the slow decline of MU*s over-time, I can't help but to look ahead. I want us to survive, even improve and grow (because more players = more interaction, more collaboration, more roleplay).
I think that that demands some marketing here and there.
You want in? You want respect?
I actually just want to have good discussions about subjects more meaningful than what sort of person I am, based on peoples' limited interactions with me. It's like people focusing on anti-candidate smear propaganda (whether true or not) in Presidential debates. I don't care about that stuff. I want to hear about things that actually matter to the greater populace as a whole.
@Thenomain
If you believe that there's value in attempting to revitalize our genre by re-branding and trying to create a professional product that's more likely to draw new, younger players to us, then I think that considering professionalism in regards to communities that you run or games that you own/work for is important. It's expected, in the rest of the world.
Sure, the "community as a board of directors" analogy doesn't do anything for me, and it's not something that I personally believe ... but I do think that there is value in good customer service. Just like I think promotion is important. Why?
Because they've both proven, universally, to increase "customer" retention. And for us, I think retention's super important. Nah, there's nothing cool about customer service or advertising. MUSHes have a bit of a counter-culture within the larger community, which is cool.
Do I think that MUSHes would draw and keep more players, over the long run, if they promoted themselves more and had good systems for customer service? Yeah, of course. Those tactics work for everyone, anywhere.
@Sunny said:
I don't really have much to say about the other things noted, except 'what do you mean an interactive fiction game'?
Interactive Fiction is sort of the granddaddy of all of our genres. Strangely enough, it's seeing a resurgence right now, partially thanks to mobile publishing platforms, and folks are producing numerous professional IF again, in quantity.
While it can vary greatly in style, depending on the story, you have two basic forms:
The Text-Adventure: these are the games that inspired MUDs (games like 'Zork' and 'Colossal Caves'). They're basically single-player MUDs, often with a focus on problem solving and puzzles and exploration (though not always).
The Gamebook: these are like Choose Your Own Adventures or Fighting Fantasy. Sometimes, they have simple tabletop-like RPG mechanics for rolling dice to resolve simplified combat. Sometimes they are just a series of choices. Gamebooks, in particular, vary in style greatly.
Arguably the easiest way to create such a game (without programming experience) is with this free engine: http://textadventures.co.uk/quest/
There are two versions of the Engine. One's geared more towards Text-Adventures. One's geared more towards Gamebooks.
I think that a lot of MUSH folks dig IF. I know that RPI folks do. Some of the interactive novels/games out there are really rather brilliant. I'd encourage you to google 'Interactive Fiction' ... you'll find an endless number of free games you can try out over the web.
Hope that answers your question sufficiently.
@BetterJudgment said:
Or feel that they are important. It's all game-playing in one form or another, and this "I'm a professional" schtick is part of the administrator game. It's a business simulator without the risks of running a real business.
I wish that that were true, sometimes. There are some very real risks for what we're doing, precisely because we are a business. We don't make any money off of Optional Realities (that's not a business), but the game REDSHIFT is a professional endeavor. We're paid a regular rate for it. There's real capital invested, and real risk being taken. To be fair, that risk is largely @Jeshin's. However, we both believe (as I talked about earlier) that it's important for our genre that new, high quality, "professional" games are released. I think it's the best way to attract young, new players for the next generation.
But, since we are, I'll clarify.